Arguments for the Existence of God #7

The Argument from Degrees of Perfection...

The Argument from Degrees of Perfection

We live in a world where things vary by degree. A color may be lighter or darker, a fire may burn hotter or cooler, and a life lived in love and charity is evidently richer than one lived in isolation and selfishness. These differences are not mere subjective preferences; rather, they point to something objective: degrees of perfection.

Now, in accordance with the natural order created by God, we recognize gradations of more and less. This is evident not only in the physical world - where, for instance, proximity to a flame makes something more hot - but also in the moral and spiritual realms. A thing receives its quality, in part, from its relation to a source: heat from fire, light from the sun, goodness from God.

This is especially clear when we reflect on being itself. A fleeting existence, like that of a mayfly or a fading shadow, is clearly inferior to a lasting, stable being - such as that of man, who not only exists, but knows, wills, and loves. Why do we think this way? Because deep within, our souls (formed in the image of God) recognize that being is better than non-being, that fullness of being is the root of all value.

On the Earth, which God placed at the center of His cosmic order for the sake of man, His image-bearer, there exists a clear hierarchy of being. From minerals to plants, from animals to man, and from man to the angels, all created things partake in being to greater or lesser degrees. We naturally judge that a being capable of rational thought, love, and self-giving, such as man, is superior to those that lack such faculties: the stone, the flower, the ant, or even the graceful but irrational seal.

This hierarchy implies a standard - an absolute fullness of being -from which all these degrees derive. Just as the warmth of earthly fire points to the greater fire of the sun, all lesser goods, beauties, and truths point to a highest Good, Beauty, and Truth. This supreme standard, this source of all perfections, must itself be pure being - perfect, unchanging, eternal.

That being is God, the Being of all beings, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, Who orders the cosmos with wisdom and love, and Who placed man at its heart to know, love, and serve Him.

Now, some may claim that our judgments of better and worse are purely subjective. But such a claim refutes itself. For in asserting it, one is saying it is better to believe it than not to believe it, that it is more true to deny objective values than to affirm them. This contradiction shows that even the skeptic depends on an implicit recognition of real value and real truth.

In truth, you can speak subjectivism, but you cannot live it. Every choice we make affirms that some things are truly better than others. And every such affirmation points, ultimately, to God, the measure and cause of all that is good.

When we look around us, we notice that things differ. Some things are warmer, brighter, or more beautiful than others. A fresh apple pie is hotter than one left out all day. A life full of love and purpose is clearly better than a life full of loneliness and despair. These differences show that things come in degrees more or less of something.

We naturally think of these differences on a scale. For example, when something is very bright, we say it’s closer to pure white, and when something is very dark, we say it’s closer to pitch black. Things are hotter the closer they are to a fire. That means their heat comes from something else, the fire gives it to them. So, the quality they have depends on their closeness to a source.

This isn’t just true with physical things, it’s true with life and being itself. A stone exists, but it does nothing more. A plant grows, an animal moves and feels, but a human being can know, love, and choose. That means a human being has more being, a fuller, richer way of existing. And that’s better. We all recognize, deep down, that a creature who can think, love, and worship is greater than one who can’t.

God created the universe with an order. In that order, the Earth stands at the center, not just physically, but spiritually. It is where man was placed, the only creature made in God’s image. The stars and planets move around the Earth, not by accident, but by divine design, pointing to the fact that man and Earth hold a special place in creation.

All the things around us - stars, animals, trees, people - have different levels of goodness and being. And if there are degrees of something, there must be a highest point. Just as all heat comes from a source like the sun, all goodness and being must come from a perfect source, one that possesses all goodness in full. That source is God, who is pure Being, the fullness of all perfections, the One who gives life and order to everything.

Some people say, “Isn’t all this just opinion? Aren’t values just things we make up?” But that can’t be true. Even asking that question means you think it’s better to know the truth than to be wrong. If values were only personal opinions, nothing would really be better than anything else - not even love over hate, truth over lies. But no one really lives that way. We know, in our hearts, that some things really are better than others.

And that points us to God - the highest Good, the cause of all being, and the center not only of the universe, but of our lives.