Bishop Barron on Why Do We Believe in God?

Summary

The transcript explores various approaches to understanding the existence of God. One is the 'argument from desire,' which suggests that humans' endless pursuit of truth, goodness, and justice implies a deeper, transcendent source—God. Another approach links science and religion, positing that the intelligibility of the universe indicates a divine intelligence behind creation. Lastly, the 'argument from contingency' highlights that the world exists without necessity, pointing to God as the ultimate source. These reflections aim to show how human experiences and the universe itself suggest the presence of a greater divine reality.

Takeaways

• 🤔 Human desire for truth, goodness, and justice suggests a longing for something beyond this world.
• 🔍 The argument from desire implies that if we desire something beyond this world, we must already have some knowledge of it.
• 🙏 God is not just another good or just thing in the world but is the essence of truth, goodness, and justice itself.
• 🌌 God is not found within the cosmos but is the creative source of everything that exists.
• 🔬 Science and religion both assume that the world is intelligible, meaning it can be understood and has meaning.
• 🧠 The world’s intelligibility suggests it has been ‘thought into being’ by a higher intelligence, which is God.
• 🌍 The argument from contingency posits that the world exists but does not have to, pointing to a necessary being—God.
• 💡 Everything in the world is contingent and fleeting, requiring a grounding in something that necessarily exists—God.
• 👶 Dorothy Day’s experience of overwhelming gratitude highlights the sense that some feelings and experiences point to something beyond this world, which is God.
• 🙌 The proper response to the existence of the world and life is gratitude towards God, the creator.

Q & A

What is the 'argument from desire' as presented in the transcript?

The argument from desire suggests that humans have an inherent desire for truth, goodness, and justice. Even when we experience these things in the world, we remain unsatisfied. This indicates that we are seeking something beyond the world, which implies that we already know it. This 'something' is God—truth, goodness, and justice itself.

Why does the speaker argue that 'we can't desire what we don't know'?

The speaker suggests that humans cannot desire something they have no knowledge of. Since we desire things like ultimate truth, goodness, and justice that transcend the world, this implies that we already have an innate knowledge of God, who embodies these concepts.

How does the speaker describe God in relation to truth, goodness, and justice?

The speaker explains that God is not just one more true, good, or just thing in the world but rather the source of truth, goodness, and justice itself. God is the ultimate reality that seizes the minds and wills of those who seek these ideals.

What does the story of the Russian cosmonauts illustrate?

The story of the Russian cosmonauts illustrates the misunderstanding that God can be found as a physical entity within the cosmos. The speaker explains that God is not part of the cosmos but is the creative source of everything within it.

How does the second approach connect religion and science?

The second approach argues that both religion and science assume that the world is intelligible, meaning it can be understood. This intelligibility, or meaningfulness, of the world suggests that it was 'thought into being' by an intelligence—God. This brings religion and science together through the idea that the world’s reason and order stem from a divine mind.

Why is the universality of the world's meaningfulness important in the speaker's argument?

The universality of the world’s meaningfulness is important because it suggests that the world has been created with reason and purpose. The speaker argues that this intelligibility implies that it was 'thought into being' by God, an ultimate intelligence.

What is the 'argument from contingency' as mentioned in the transcript?

The argument from contingency states that everything in the world exists but does not necessarily have to exist. Since the world is fleeting and dependent, there must be something outside of the world that necessarily exists and sustains it—this something is God.

How did Dorothy Day’s experience relate to the 'argument from contingency'?

Dorothy Day experienced an overwhelming sense of gratitude while holding her child, a gratitude so immense that it couldn’t be directed at anything in the world. This sense of profound thankfulness led her to recognize the existence of God, the one who created her, her child, and everything in existence.

What point does the speaker make about gratitude in relation to God?

The speaker highlights that a deep sense of gratitude, like the one Dorothy Day experienced, points to the existence of God. This gratitude cannot be adequately directed toward anything in the world, implying that it is directed toward God, the creator of all.

What does the speaker mean by saying 'When you're seeking God, the most important thing to realize is that you've already been found by God'?

The speaker means that the very act of seeking God indicates that God has already initiated a relationship with you. The desire for truth, goodness, and justice that drives one to seek God is itself a sign that God has already reached out and 'found' you.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 The Argument from Desire: Our Deepest Longings and the Nature of God

This paragraph explores the theological approach known as the 'argument from desire,' which suggests that our inherent longing for truth, goodness, and justice points to a reality beyond this world. Humans seek truth and justice, and while we may achieve some of it, we are never fully satisfied. This insatiable desire indicates that we are aware of a higher truth, goodness, and justice—God. God is described not as one of the many good or true things in the world, but as the essence of truth, goodness, and justice itself. This desire, which pushes us beyond worldly limitations, reflects our innate knowledge of God's existence. The paragraph also touches on how humans have already been found by God, emphasizing a biblical perspective.

05:02

🧠 Religion and Science: The Intelligibility of the Universe

In this section, the speaker highlights an argument made by the current Pope in his book 'Introduction to Christianity,' which demonstrates the compatibility between religion and science. It asserts that all scientific disciplines rely on the assumption that the universe is intelligible, meaning it can be understood and is imbued with meaning. This meaningfulness, the Pope argues, exists because the world has been 'thought into being' by God, who is the ultimate intelligence. The scientist 'recognizes' truth because it has already been infused with reason, suggesting that God's intelligence is what makes the universe knowable and understandable. This presents a bridge between science and religion, as both seek to understand a world shaped by divine thought.

🌍 The Argument from Contingency: The World's Fleeting Nature and the Necessity of God

This paragraph introduces the 'argument from contingency,' which proposes that the world, while existing, does not necessarily have to exist. Everything in the world, including ourselves, is temporary and could have easily not been. This transitory nature points to something beyond the world that necessarily exists—God, who sustains and creates everything. The paragraph also references Dorothy Day’s personal spiritual experience. Upon holding her child, she felt immense gratitude that could not be directed toward anyone in this world, reflecting the sense of awe and thanks directed toward God as the ultimate creator and sustainer of all things.

Keywords

💡Argument from Desire

This is a philosophical and theological argument that suggests human beings have deep desires for truth, goodness, and justice, which are not fully satisfied by anything in the material world. The argument posits that since we desire something beyond what this world offers, this indicates knowledge of a transcendent being—God. In the script, this argument is used to explain how humans long for something more, pointing toward the existence of God.

💡Truth

In the script, 'truth' refers to an ultimate reality or knowledge that human beings seek but can never fully attain in this world. It is suggested that this desire for truth drives human inquiry and that God is not just one truth among many but the truth itself. This concept ties into the broader argument that the quest for truth leads to a recognition of the divine.

💡Goodness

Goodness is presented as something humans naturally seek through moral actions and ethical living. However, no matter how much good is achieved, the longing for ultimate goodness remains unfulfilled. According to the script, God is not one of many good things but goodness itself, and our striving for good reflects an inherent connection to God.

💡Justice

Justice is defined as the pursuit of fairness and equality in the world. The script gives examples like the civil rights movement and the end of apartheid as manifestations of justice. However, it argues that even significant advancements in justice still leave people wanting more, suggesting that true justice exists beyond the world and points to God as justice itself.

💡Intelligibility of the World

This concept is central to the argument that the world is not random but filled with meaning and order, making it possible for scientists to understand it. The script mentions that science assumes the world is intelligible and suggests that this universal intelligibility implies the existence of a divine intelligence (God) who has 'thought the world into being.'

💡Contingency

The argument from contingency states that the existence of the world is not necessary—it could just as easily not exist. This points to the need for a necessary being (God) who grounds and sustains everything else. The script uses this concept to explain that the world’s fleeting and passing nature pushes us to seek something eternal, which is God.

💡Gratitude

Gratitude is highlighted in the story of Dorothy Day, who experienced a deep sense of thankfulness that she felt could not be directed toward anything or anyone in the world. This profound gratitude led her to recognize God as the source of all existence, which she couldn't explain through worldly means alone.

💡Lagos

Lagos is the Greek term for 'word' or 'reason' and is used in the script to describe the underlying order and intelligibility of the universe. The argument presented is that the world is imbued with logos, or meaning, because it has been 'thought into being' by God. This concept links both religious and scientific understandings of the world.

💡Primacy of God

The primacy of God refers to the idea that God is not something to be found in the physical world, but rather the source of everything that exists. The script cites the example of Russian cosmonauts who claimed not to have found God in space, explaining that such a search is misguided because God is not a part of the created universe but its creator.

💡Recognition of Truth

This concept is based on the idea that when humans discover truths, they are not creating them but recognizing something that already exists. The script explains that this 'recognition' is possible because the world has been imbued with meaning by God, and humans are capable of thinking it again because it was first thought by a divine intelligence.

Highlights

The approach to understanding God that begins with human desire—humans desire truth, goodness, and justice, but are never fully satisfied with what the world provides.

Argument from Desire: If humans desire something that transcends the world, they must have some knowledge of that transcendent reality—God.

God is not just one more truth, good, or just thing in the world, but rather is Truth itself, Goodness itself, and Justice itself.

The Bible emphasizes that when seeking God, it's important to recognize that you've already been found by God.

The sarcastic remark of Russian cosmonauts about not finding God in space is contrasted with the idea that God is not a physical being in the cosmos but rather the creative source of all that exists.

The link between science and religion: both assume that the world is intelligible and filled with meaning, which implies it was thought into being by an intelligent source—God.

Joseph Ratzinger's argument that scientists recognize the intelligibility of the world, which suggests that the world has been 'thought into being' by a higher intelligence—God.

The Argument from Contingency: the world exists but doesn’t have to, which points to the existence of a necessary being—God—who creates and grounds the existence of everything.

Dorothy Day’s experience of overwhelming gratitude while holding her child, which she realized could only be directed towards God, the creator of all things.

Religion and science are not enemies, but deeply connected in their exploration of meaning and intelligibility in the world.

Even though humans attain truth, goodness, and justice in various ways, they are never fully satisfied, indicating a longing for something beyond this world.

Science assumes that the world is imbued with meaning, and this assumption aligns with the idea of a divine intelligence that infuses the world with reason.

Human desire for truth, goodness, and justice can be seen as a reflection of God's own nature, as God is the ultimate form of these concepts.

The scientific method of recognizing meaning in the world echoes the idea that the world was created with meaning by a divine intelligence.

The contingent nature of the world points to a creator who exists necessarily, grounding all other existence.

Transcripts

That's the great question

[how] do we know there's a gun why do we believe in God at all that's the foundation for the whole spiritual life and

The Great Theologians and spiritual teachers have used different approaches this question over the centuries

One of my favorites is the approach that begins with desire

We human beings desire the truth our minds seek the truth and we get it sometimes

But no matter how much truth we get out of this world

It's never enough the mind remains unsatisfied [I]

Will seek the good and they find it a lot of ways in this world

But no matter how many goods we attain were never really satisfied

We seek Justice in all kinds of ways

And [we] achieve it sometimes to a remarkable degree

think of in our own time [a] civil rights movement the end to apartheid the

Breakdown of the soviet Union all those were wonderful things that [were] attainment of justice

But no matter how much justice we attain we never have enough

There's something in us this desire for the good the true the just that pushes us Beyond this world

This approach is called the argument from Desire

You can't desire what you don't know

Therefore if we're desiring something that transcends anything in this world in

Some way we must already know it

Therefore [we] do know

the truth itself

We do know the good itself. We do know justice itself, and that's who God is

God is not one of the true things in the world

But God is the truth itself which has seized the mind of any scientist any philosopher any seeker after the truth

God is not one more good thing in the world

But God is goodness itself which has seized anybody when he's living the moral life or seeking the ethically good

God is not one more just thing in the world

But God is justice itself which has seized the will

Of the lawyer or the judge or anyone seeking justice

the Bible talks about

the primacy of God

When you're seeking God the most important to realize is

You've already been found by God

Remember the Russian cosmonauts went up into space and they kind of sarcastically radioed back to Earth

Well, we're up in the heavens, and we haven't found God

Of course any biblical person would know he'll never find. God that way of course not you don't find God

Anywhere in the cosmos he's made, but God is the creative source of all that exists in the cosmos

So that's one approach to God beginning [with] our own deep desire

Here's a second approach and it comes from our present pope who wrote a great book in 1968 called introduction to Christianity in

[that] book he formulates this argument and what I like about it. Is it shows the link between

Religion and science because very often those two were seen as enemies. He says [know]

At their depth religion and science come together here's why?

What does every scientist assume?

Whether you're a physicist [a] chemist biologist

[psychologist], whatever you are you assume that?

being is

intelligible

That means that the world can be known look even though even the name

psychology

you know

Designates logos word the scientist goes out to meet a world that's imbued with meaning

Well, how do you explain [that] how do you explain the universality of [the] meaningfulness of the world?

Rotzinger said it's because it's been thought into being

in other words the world is not just dumbly they're

Rather the world is filled with lagos. It's filled with reason with mine. Which is why when we?

Understand the truth. We say we recognize it. He says right you

Recognize it you think it again because it's already been thought into being by God

so he argues from the

objective intelligibility of the world

to the existence of a great

Intelligence which has thought the world into being here's a third approach the philosophers and theologians have used

It's called the argument from contingency. It's a fancy way of saying that the world as we know it

Exists, but doesn't have to exist

You and I are here, but we don't have to be here. There's nothing

Necessary about our being and it's true the world. We know it is fleeting. It's passing

Therefore we have to go outside the world

to God

God who does exist through himself and who therefore?

Grounds and creates the whole of the world that we know

relatedly

dorothy day

When she was in the process of coming to the church she was going through a process of conversion. She had a child and

One day when [she] was on the porch of her house and she was she was holding her child

She said I felt a gratitude that was so enormous

That I knew it would correspond to nothing in this world. There was nothing nobody in this world. She could possibly thank

That would correspond to the gratitude. She was feeling. That's it. That's exactly it what she was sensing was God

This world myself my child none of it has to be here yet. It's here and the proper responses

Thank you to the person who made

you