God's existence

Many great philosophers have tried to prove using reason alone that God exists. Some people think this is unnecessary: why do we need to prove his existence by reason if we know it by faith? Perhaps strictly speaking, we don't, but 'faith without reason' is more a myth than reality (try to believe in something without thinking about it, describing it, justifying it etc.). We can no more escape from reason than from our bodies. If we can reason to God's existence, we have a good foundation for supporting our own faith and communicating it to others.

Some argue God's existence is self-evident, others that we can prove it by studying the meaning of the word 'God' or by considering the intricate design of the natural world. St Thomas Aquinas suggested we can prove that 'God is being' the source of the existence of everything else. Aquinas thought there were '5 Ways' for proving this and that they rely on the sort of things everyone knows: sequences of events need a beginning, things act for goals they have been set by a higher intelligence etc.