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Essay / The Divine Attributes of God - 1626
The argument to remember in this article is that of Anselm's "Proslogian" where he argues for the existence of God in a less complex way than the Monologue. Inevitably, the proslogian received criticism from other notable philosophers, some of which will also be discussed in this article. Once the fool understands that nothing greater can be thought, he will understand the existence of God. The divine attributes of God will also be discussed to help fools understand the existence of God. The premises of the ontological argument are as follows:1. If that which nothing greater can be thought of can be thought, then it exists in reality.2. We can think so.3. Therefore, that which nothing greater can be thought of (this) exists in reality. The main reason for writing the Proslogian was to offer a self-contained argument that would explain the existence of God but also the various attributes that Christians believe God to possess. Some of these attributes belong solely to God while others are shared with His creatures. The attribute of Almighty completes Anselm's argument "that nothing greater can be thought." God is the creator of the universe, He is present everywhere, He is Infinite and Immutable. A fool may not fully understand the essence of God, but Anselm offers the proslogian as a simpler argument to help understand the existence of God. There is a difference between the object existing in the mind and the object actually existing. For example, when a director plans in advance what he is going to film, he has the idea in his head, but he does not yet think it actually exists because he has not yet made the film. However, when he actually...... middle of paper ......, 2014. http://www.aquinasonline.com/Topics/godtalk.htmlB Magee, Joseph M. Aquinas Online.2013. May 4, 2014. http://www.aquinasonline.com/Topics/godtalk.htmlN Meg Wallace, “The Ontological Argument,” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, May 4, 2014, http://www.unc. edu/~megw/OntologicalArg.htmlB Wallace, Meg. “The Ontological Argument, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, May 4, 2014, http://www.unc.edu/~megw/OntologicalArg.htmlN Thomas Williams. “Saint Anselm”. Edited by Edward N. Zalta. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2013 edition): Section 2. May 3, 2014 http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/anselmB Williams, Thomas. “Saint Anselm”. Edited by Edward N. Zalta. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2013 edition): Section 2. May 3, 2014 http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/anselm.