Knowing the Spirit

Chapter One: Establishing the Existence of the Divine Artisan

Chapter One Establishing the Existence of the Divine Artisan A great many arguments and proofs establishing the existence of the divine Artisan and Lord of the worlds, as well as sure signs and evidences of the unicity of the Unique and Majestic Creator, have been set forth in the sacred scriptures as well as in the works of scholars, mystics, philosophers, and theologians, encompassing arguments based on (religious ) tradition, the intellect, the sciences, and philosophy. However in this book, which follows a summary approach, we must forgo a detailed exposition of all those works and limit ourselves to mentioning certain arguments based on tradition, the intellect, and the evidence of the senses. We hope this will prove acceptable to our esteemed readers. First Argument [for the “Necessary Being”]: It is postulated that everything conceivable must fall under one of the following three modes: that which is necessary, that which is impossible, and that which is possible. Each of those modes includes the following further subdivisions: 1. That which is necessary in virtue of itself; that which is necessary through another; and that which is necessary by relation to another. 43 44 Knowing the Spirit 2. That which is impossible in virtue of itself; that which is impossible through another; and that which is impossible by relation to another. 3. That which is possible in virtue of itself; that which is possible by relation to another. The definition of each of those three modes is as follows:1 A. What is necessary by virtue of itself refers to that whose being is necessary by virtue of itself. This means that each of the different kinds of essential nonexistence—whether preceding it, or as its concomitant , or imaginary—is logically and really impossible with regard to its being: an example is the being of the Creator. This mode is called “necessary by virtue of itself.” So everything else that exists is “necessary through another” or “necessary in relation to another,” in that (its existence) goes back in the end to this (Creator or Source which is) “necessary by essence.” For those beings that come into being through another by the intermediary of primary and secondary causes, as well as those beings that are necessarily brought into existence through a relation which is analogous to that of being brought into being through another2 —in other words, the whole field of primary and secondary causes caused by another or through relation to another: all of these go back in the end to the original Cause of causes, which is necessary by virtue of Itself, the Essence of the Necessary Being. B. What is impossible by virtue of itself, as opposed to what is necessary by virtue of itself, is that whose nonexistence is necessary in itself. In other words, none of the different kinds of existence by virtue of itself—whether preceding it, as an essential concomitant, or in imagination—are in any way applicable to it. An example (of this kind of impossibility) is the existence of a partner for the Creator (i.e., another “God” exactly like the Creator). This mode is what is called “that whose existence is impossible by virtue of itself.” All the other impossible things, including what is “impossible through another” or “impossible by relation to another,” also come back in the end to this (i.e., to what is impossible in itself). C. What is possible by virtue of itself is that which, in itself, is not necessarily or preponderantly either necessary or impossible. So there is no determining factor (as to whether it is either necessary or impossible) intrinsic to itself. In other words, since the two sides (of its necessity or impossibility) are equal and it is intrinsically in need (of another external causal factor to determine whether it is necessary or impossible), the deciding factor in either direction must be caused by an external preponderating cause that moves it in one direction or the other (i.e., toward that whose existence is either necessary or impossible). Establishing the Existence of the Divine Artisan 45 (Furthermore), if necessity is excluded with regard to only one side (i.e., if something is said to be either “not-impossible” or “notnecessary ”), that is called “general possibility.” And if necessity is excluded with regard to both sides, that is called “particular possibility .” But if all of the forms of necessity are excluded—whether essential , descriptive, or...