Truly there is a God, although the fool has said in his heart, There is no God

The statement, “Truly there is a God, although the fool has said in his heart, There is no

God” stands as one of the reckoning forces of Anselm’s ontological arguments (Halsall, 1998).

The argument asserts that the very existence of God becomes founded on the premise of God.

Further, the argument occurs as a hypothesis that remains inclined to its logical conclusions, with

unreasonable implications, for instance the fool’s idea that God does not exist. In view of

Anselm, God is described as, “that than which no greater can be conceived." In this regard, God

becomes associated with various imaginative characteristics, including ever-presence, goodness,

and power (Barnes, 1972). All these attributes support the claim of God’s existence.

According to the argument, if nothing greater than God is imaginable, then a non-existent

God possesses one thing greater for imagination - the existing God. From the definition, a non-

dependent being arises above the dependent one.

Anselm states, “For, it is one thing for an object to be in the understanding, and another

to understand that the object exists. When a painter first conceives of what he will afterwards

perform, he has it in his understanding, but be does not yet understand it to be, because he has

not yet performed it.” (Halsall, 1998).

The above quote shows that something existing in reality proves more superior to that

which only exists in the understanding. On this note, the idea of God makes the non-existence of

God an unthinkable situation (Halsall, 1998; Barnes, 1972). A person cannot, therefore, imagine

the greatest of all creations being non-existent, even though it may be possible to conceive of a

God that does not exist. Here, the assertion that God is non-existent arises as an irrational

thought since it translates to a higher Being as ‘that than which no greater can be conceived’.

Thus, the idea could be existing in the mind, but not in accrual sense.
 The verses, “The fool says in his heart, and ‘There is no God” appear in Psalm 14:1 and

Psalm 53:1 respectively. Taken from a believer’s perspective, some individuals consider the

statements to mean that atheists are misinformed (Got Questions Ministries, 2018). Nonetheless,

several meanings can be derived beyond the general statement, which would occur as ‘people

who are not intelligent have no belief in God’. In essence, the deep meaning is that individuals

who engage in sinful behavior and actions lack a firm belief in God. Simply stated, denying God

is wrong, and followed by an unacceptable lifestyle.

Reading further in Psalm 14, a list of other characteristics of the non-believers appears,

including, “They are corrupt; their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” Atheists are

not entirely ‘stupid’; they show great intelligence. This means that a lack of righteousness stands

as the key reason why an individual deny God (Got Questions Ministries, 2018). Psalm 14:1

asserts that denying the existence of God is founded on the premise that a person desires to lead a

wicked life, in particular the desire to avoid moral restraints.

By believing a divine being, an individual becomes guided by a sense of accountability to

remain true or loyal to the being. Therefore, some individuals will deny the existence of God to

avoid being condemned by their conscience. In this view, such people deny the claims of an

existing divine being to look after the world, and lack of judgment. The end concept is that they

possess the right to do as they desire (Got Questions Ministries, 2018). In terms of morality, the

idea Godly conscience becomes avoided as a whole.

Then idea of claiming the non-existence of God is highly misplaced. Here, the statement

of “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” describes a sinful heart in denial of God. For

the non-believer (or sinner), such denial becomes clear under the evidence to the contrary
(Halsall, 1998). Thus, atheists will deny a belief I God to fulfil their need to live free of the moral

constraints provided by the Being.

 References

Barnes, J. (1972). The Ontological Argument. London: MacMillan Publishing Co.

Got Questions Ministries. (2018). What is the meaning of Psalm 14:1 (53:1), "The fool says in

his heart, 'There is no God'"? Retrieved from: https://www.compellingtruth.org/fool-

heart-no-god.html

Halsall, P. (1998). Anselm (1033-1109): Proslogium. Retrieved from:

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/anselm-proslogium.asp#PREFACE