-Whether the existence of God is knowable
-Whether anything at all can be know about the origin of the universe and life
Objection 1:
It seems that God exists not. For that which is invisible and beyond the reach of human verification cannot be confirmed to be real or not. Therefore since God is invisible and beyond our physical reach, nothing about Him can be known and the best conclusion for us would be that God exists not.
Objection 2:
Even if God were to exist, nothing about Him can be known with full certainty. For how can a man be fully certain of the existence of such a one whom he cannot physically see or hear or touch. Unless the existence of such a being can be empirically verified(using sense perceptions), nothing about God can therefore be known with certainty.
Objection 3:
It seems that nothing beyond the point of the origin of the universe can be known at all. For none of us were present to witness its origin. Nor were any recording of its origin made to be presented to men for their knowledge. And since such an event can also not be recreated, therefore nothing about the origin of the universe can be known and at best all man can do is speculate about it.
Reply to Objection 1
I answer that, Gods invisible attributes are revealed through what has been made. Though we cannot see God, the medium through which God broadcasts His existence is the whole Universe itself. The properties of the universe lead us to the kind of Creator we would expect as its cause. And since there only happens to be only two kinds of causes i.e. a someone or a something, then our options are simple enough. One also happens to know the creative capabilities of a someone and a something as a matter of self evident knowledge. One only has to look for the marks of a someone or a something in the properties of the universe.
And since the universe displays the marks of a someone such as purpose, intentionality and specificity, then such a one cannot be the product of mindless unguided creation, (a something) but rather is properly the act of intelligent creation, for the three marks mentioned are only realized through a mind (a someone). It is manifest that the sense perceptions are not the only way through which one can demonstrate anything to be real but rather one of the ways through which one can know anything to be real. It therefore does not follow that nothing about God can be known.
Reply to Objection 2;
I answer that, empirical truths provide certainties about past events with high probability levels, but only in the mind can complete philosophical certainties be achieved, truths beyond a shadow of doubt. If the writer walks into his office one morning and finds that his computer has been hacked, there are certain things that he can know for sure and there are other things he cannot know for sure unless some evidence presents itself. For instance, unless with some kind of reliable eye witness or video evidence or any other kind of evidence, the writer cannot know for sure if his computer was hacked by Peter or John or Susan. But on the other hand he can know with full philosophical certainty that his computer was hacked by a someone and not a something. For the properties demonstrated in the event that has occurred bear the mark of a someone. A mind must have been involved.
That predictions about past events without speculations can be known with full certainty is true. That it can only happen in the mind through self evident truths is also true. That such predictions likewise can also be done to events preceding the origin of the universe is likewise true and necessary, for the mind can take the person where the physical body cannot.
Reply to Objection 3
I argue that, no person who is seriously seeking for truth should stop where it matters most. It follows that, objective truths through proper reasoning were still applicable before the beginning of the universe. It appears that the truth about the origin of the universe can be known by applying the same cannons of reasoning that are applicable today, for objective truths were still true before the universe began. That objective truths do not have a manufacturing date is obvious, and that it does not come with a selective application mode is self evident. That self creation is an absolute logical and physical impossibility is one such truth and therefore it validly follows that this universe cannot be the sufficient or efficient cause to its own effect and something other than itself must be the sufficient cause to its effect of origin.
The writer further proposes that it is intellectually dishonest for one to stop at the beginning of the universe for whichever reason. For the decision to stop at that point is not a dead end but a self imposed dead end. And that the reason why they cannot go beyond that point is because they WILL not go beyond that point, a voluntary inability, for the know all to well WHO they will find beyond that point.
Conclusion
The knowledge of the existence of God is not only knowable but self evident. It is pressed upon us and mediated through what has been made and also in our minds. For it would be unreasonable and unjust for God to command the knowledge of His existence to all men and on His part leave little or no evidence at all for such knowledge and still hold all men accountable at the end. It is for that reason why it is said in scripture that;
''For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.''
Romans 1:20