12 Steps to Christian Theism: Step 3, Metaphysical Realism

In our quest to show that God exists and He has shown Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, we are on step 3, which is: it is true that the theistic God exists. We have discussed both the kalam cosmological argument which argues for a creator from the beginning of the universe and the argument from contingency which argues for a necessary being sustaining the contingent universe. Now we will turn our attention to Thomas Aquinas' argument from metaphysical realism. In order to be clear and concise due to the difficulty of this argument, I'm going to quote directly from Frank Turek and Norman Geisler's booklet entitled; What if Christianity is really true? (1) This is a condensed version of their book; I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist where they lay out the 12 step argument that we are in the midst of. So, none of the following are my own words.

"By observing physical reality we can reason from effect to cause and see that even the most mundane object we encounter can lead us to the existence of God. "There is nowhere the unbeliever can hide in all reality where he is not standing on some ground that can be shown to point to its Creator." (2)
From the cosmological argument, to the design argument, to the argument from objective morality, there are many popular lines of thinking, both scientific and philosophical, showing that theism is true; that is, that there exists a God who is separate from yet active in His creation. We will look at one argument, by 13th century thinker Thomas Aquinas, built upon metaphysical realism.
The argument begins, some thing, a tree for example, undeniably exists. Essence is what a thing is, and whatever is true of a tree is because of its essence or not. For instance, to be a tree is to grow roots, sprout leaves, etc., not to be in a particular location such as a backyard. We must ask, is existence part of what it means to be a tree? The answer is no. Even if all trees ceased to exist we would still know what a tree is because its' essence and existence are distinct. For example, you can know what a unicorn is even though it does not actually exist. From where, then, does existence come? The tree either causes itself to exist, exists necessarily, or is being caused to exist by something else. Self-causation is a contradiction and thus false. Trees go from potentially existing to actually existing and thus do not exist necessarily. Therefore, the tree is being caused to exist.
Whatever is causing the tree to exist is either receiving its existence from another or it necessarily exists by virtue of its essence. Like an infinite chain of train cars with no engine, a chain of existence-receiving causes cannot account for its own existence. Hence, there must exist an uncaused cause, who's essence simply is existence, causing all other things. As Being itself, its essence and existence are identical such that it is unlimited Being while everything else only has being. Aquinas says, this everyone knows to be God. (3)"

And now I'm back. God bless.

Update: Since I started teaching the 12 steps at my church, I posted the rest of this series from those lessons. You can start here. There are 8 total lessons that cover all the steps.

Notes
1. follow the link, step 3
2. Richard Howe, "It's worse than I thought", Quodlibetal Blog: Musings from Anywhere by Dr. Richard G. Howe. http://quodlibetalblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/its-worse-than-i-thought/.
3. Edward Feser, Aquinas (Beginner's Guides) (Kindle locations 573-577). Oneworld publications (academic). Kindle edition.

Victory in the Risen Christ

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I recently watched all three movies in the series again and I was struck by one scene in particular. It is the scene where Denethor is about to burn himself alive. As Gandalf enters the chamber to stop him, Denethor says:
"You may triumph on the field of battle for a day; but against the power that has risen in the East, there is no victory."
Denethor's mind had been poisoned into believing there was no way to win. The irony of this scene is that the Rohirrim had just shown up and were slaughtering the orc armies. If Denethor had just looked at the battlefield at that moment he may have been persuaded that victory, not just on that day, but total victory was possible.
As I watched this I was struck by the thought that we already have total victory in Christ. Not only in one battle but for eternity. From the moment God pronounced the curse on the serpent in Genesis 3:14-15, the war was virtually over. Jesus completed the victory in His death and resurrection and He will consummate it at His second coming. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep that in mind as we walk with the Lord day to day. A lot of the time we are like Denethor when we consider this earthly life; believing that there is no victory against Satan or against the power of our flesh. The Lord reminded Israel of His power in Isaiah 60:1-3:
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."
Though things look bleak and dark for the Israelites, God will win through. The victory will be so complete and evident that nations and kings will be drawn to Israel. God has promised those who are faithful in Christ a victory even more complete in the conquering of death:
"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 1 Cor 15:50-55
Victory is already ours! Death has already lost! The message of the cross is victory in God's love and not just at the end of the age, but right now. The inauguration of that victory occurred on a Sunday morning when Christ rose from the grave. That is why Paul taunts death at the end of that passage. Jesus has won and given us the victory. No fighting on our part, no conditions attached.
So my message to you is this: don't be like Denethor when your life looks bad, when you struggle with sin, when you contemplate suffering and evil in the world, or when the day to day grind of this fallen world tries to drag you down. Look out at the battlefield and see that the Lord has won. If you are in Christ, you've already won through Him and you can change Denethor's words to read:
"Satan may triumph on the field of battle for a day; but against the power that has risen from the grave, there is no victory."