by Megan Furner

Created on: October 19, 2009

I love God, and God loves me. While many people live according to this simple notion, God's existence and identity have proven elusive throughout history. Globally, God manifests Himself in many forms and under a variety of circumstances. However plausible it may be, no single perspective has been able to factually verify the reality of a superior being.

Modern day philosophy holds no true reality, either. Nonetheless, many people tap into their spiritual side to get through the monotony or hustle and bustle of a normal day. Or, perhaps they see faith as a form of hope. Regardless, belief in God forms a unifying bond among people in a widely diverse world. Variegated is the degree and practice by which said belief is expressed.

Deists are known to render little effort toward their faith. In fact, they merely acknowledge the existence of God and maintain an impersonal relationship with Him. According to this tradition, God created the world and has since left it alone. A little more extremist and detailed is the pantheist belief, which describes God as both immanent and transcendent. Here God simultaneously has direct involvement with the universe and exists beyond it. Essentially, everything sought, touched, tasted, and heard is the making of God. However, like deism, this view merely requires an impersonal assent.

Significantly more personal are the theologies surrounding the existence of God. Theists identify themselves as having a direct, individual relationship with God, regardless of the tradition they follow. Famous theist Thomas Aquinas has constructed a set of logical standards postulating the definite existence of a good and loving God. The issue has been long debated since it is not fallacious to deny the existence of a perfect being. Thomas Aquinas' first rebuttal relates to the concept of motion insofar as it is finite and brought about by some object or force, which in this case is God. Second, Aquinas calls upon the law of cause and effect by suggesting the universe and all of its wonderful science is the product of God's hand. Moreover, Aquinas demonstrates how God is man's superlative, or common standard for human emulation. For example, a stove is hot, an inferno is hotter, and the sun is the hottest. By this analogy, God is the quintessential person embodying the highest, most praise worthy attributes and pureness in character.

Aquinas also depicts God as intended to steer people on the path of good will. It is almost like He is the

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