Problems of God

CONSOLATA INSTISTUTE OF PHILOSPHY
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSPHY
COURSE UNIT: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
COURSE CODE: CPH100
TASK: MENTION AND EXPLAIN THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY IN RELATION

TO GOD, MAN AND WORLD
LECTURER NAME: DR FREDRIC WANJALA
STUDENT NAME: MORRIS MUTINDA NTHENYA

REG NO: 3105
SUBMISSION DATE 19/04/2023

Introduction
This written paper is going to explore the problems of God, world and man to philosophy by
raising all un answered philosophical questions in an attempt of seeking to know the ultimate
truth. The paper is exploring the problems critically and give the reader any opportunity to
contrast one point after the other.
THE PROBLEM OF GOD
In philosophy God is considered as a problem when the question about his existence and
attributes are not well answered by the sacred books and writings of the church. Philosophers
have always raised some questions in regard to his existence in which to some of them
sufficient and convincing answers have not been provided yet.
Monotheism
Do we have one supreme God? Is God purely monotheistic? Do the religions which practice
monotheism practice the correct and appropriate religion?1 This has been a great area of
concern for the philosophers and according to Xenophanes who was an exclusive and
outstanding monotheist who once quoted and said Heis Theos megistos which meant one God
greatest of all is the fundamental reality which is eternal.2 He critically maintained that there
are no gods but only one supreme God and not like mortals in body or in mind. To him there
is only one God who is eternal and greatest of all in the universe, spherical in form
comprehending all things within himself in absolute mind and thought. for him God is the
strongest of all other things and that’s enough for God to be one, for if there were others gods
two or more than that He would no longer be the strongest and best of all things for Gods
nature is to master not to be mastered and he can neither be in need nor limited. F. Ochieng
Odhiambo3 in his book also borrows the philosophy of Xenophanes and conclusively affirms
that God is only, one who is the sole creator of everything good and sustains the existence of
the world and depends on nothing other than himself.
Polytheism
Another area of concern for the philosophers is on Polytheism religion which critiques and
contrasts the Monotheistic philosophy of Xenophanes. The word Polytheism stems from
Greek words Polys and Theos which means multiple and God respectively. Therefore,
polytheism can be understood as the worship and belief of multiple deities or gods who are
believed to be grouped in pantheon of gods and goddesses along with their own religious
sects and rituals.4 for instance, there is god of creator deity, death deity, love goddess, mother
goddess, solar deity, lunar deity and many others. Each of this gods play has a specific role in
the universe which can’t be done by the other. Notably unlike in monotheism polytheists do
not worship all their gods equally they can be henotheists focusing in worship of one
particular god or kethenotheists that is worship of different deities at different times.
1
Etienne Gilson, Christian philosophy in the Middle Ages, London, Lowe and Brydon limited 1995 pg134-135
2
Luciano Mattei, Introduction to philosophy, Nairobi, Consolata institute of philosophy2007 pg58
3
F. Ochieng -Odhiambo, A companion to philosophy, Nairobi, Consolata institute of philosophy press 2009
pg235
4
Https://WWW.sd74.bc.ca/school/Is/learninghub/Documents/11%2Osocials
%205.%2OPolytheism.pdf.Accessed
Buddhism and Hinduism are the leading world religions which are known as the great
practioners of this religion.
Dualism
Dualism religion is an area of focus which has raised many philosophical questions for
philosophers in relation to other religions which advocate different forms of veneration and
reverencing either God or other gods. Therefore, dualism can be understood as the belief in
only two supreme powers or gods opposed to each other and they are responsible for the
existence of the world.5 These contrasts it from monotheism which sees world as consisting
of only one supernatural being which is the only principle unit of power and that thing is
God. polytheism on the other hand sees the world as having multiple deities each taking a
specific and unique responsibility from the other. According to this philosophy there are two
types of dualism that is radical or absolute dualism which outlines that the two principles of
power exist from eternity for instance Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism and the other is
mitigated or relative dualism which states that the two principles of power may be derived
from the other as a basis.
Attributes of God
One of the major attributes strongly associated with God is that God is holy, God is
omnipresent and God is a6 honest creator God. These attributes have raised countless number
of philosophical questions for instance to begin with God is a true and honest God.
philosophers have always asked if truly God is transparent and straight why do have two
different creation accounts each recording different versions of creation stories as recorded
both in Genesis 1:1-28 and Genesis 2:1-15. This contradicts God own work and philosophers
wish to know the ultimate cause of creation. God is holy and therefore everything that he
created is holy and his holiness is associated with holy things. Therefore, if God is holy why
do we have evils like human murder cases, corruption, theft, homosexuality and many others.
Is God not powerful enough to control all these evils and he is the supreme bearer of power
and authority? Does it mean he is not holy? This problem is yet to have an answer. God is
omnipresent meaning God is everywhere at any time and day meaning he is fully aware of
every occurrence that is taking place, that will take place and that which will come to take
place in future. this is highly contrasted by Xenophanes when he said its not appropriate to
his nature to be in different places at different times. On the other side if he is truly one in
spirit what makes him to be present in different place at the same time in the universe?
Gods’ language
The language of man to God has kept the philosophers thinking. according to monotheistic
philosophy God is only one and he alone is the supreme principle of power this follows that if
God is one then we have only one language to address him. therefore, if that’s the case why
do we have countless number of languages in the world? Does it mean we have countless
number of gods as it is with the languages? Can it be possible to have one unit of power in
which there are many languages attached to it? Therefore, if God is really, one does he
understand all these languages?
5
Online Sources: https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-
concepts/dualism. Retrieved on 17/04/2023.
6
F. Ochieng-Odhiambo, A companion to philosophy, 2009. pg235
THE PROBLEM OF THE WORLD
The world is a very broad and complex issue of study in the philosophical field starting from
its origin, composition and its existence. Philosophers have raised countless number of
questions in their quest to know the ultimate truth and reality on the composition and origin
of the universe. In this paper am going to cover the philosophical problems of the world.
Change of the world

Change was causing philosophers a great perplexity in their research for truth this is because
for example if white object changes to red.7 Then in really sense what is permanent.? Do we
have something that remains permanent in its original state? What is this behind the many
forms of appearances that we have in the world? philosophers intuited that in spite of all the
change and transition there must be something permanent why? Because change is always
from something to something else and that something should be primary so that it can
undergo the process of change.
The composition and origin of the universe
According to Anaxagoras world in spite of all appearances was made of infinite number of
elements called seeds (Spermata) that are set in motion by a cosmic mind. And everything
was formed by these particles so that all things are in everything for instance hair cannot
come from what is not hair. The original form of something is the second product of its form.
The most important part of this philosophy was the theory of the mind which according to
Anaxagoras caused a revolution at a definite point in the original chaos which was about the
separation of the elements and emergence of order. According to him mind took charge of the
cosmic situation so that the universe proceeded to relate from the beginning. Everything is
contained in the mind the movement of the sun, moon and stars separates them off. It’s this
movement which causes separation of the dense from rare, hot from cold bright from the dark
and dry from moist.
Anaxagoras contemporaries criticized this philosophy by explaining the coming into being
with analogy of generation in reiteration he explained it by the theory of dissociation where
he explained when mind first set things in motion there began a process of separation was
greatly increased by rotary movement. Anaxagoras stated it’s the sun that puts brightness into
the moon which contradicted the myth of iris which was about the personification of the
rainbow and explained rainbow is a glimmer of the sun reflected on the clouds which is a
sign of a storm. For the water flowing about it in the cloud may produce and may poor forth
as rain.
THE PROBLEM OF MAN
7
Mattei Luciano. Introduction to philosophy., pg. 47-52
Man is considered as a philosophical problem to philosophers on the basis of his true
existence and composition.in this sub section am going to contrast his true problem in the
urge of knowing the ultimate truth of reality.
The composition of man
According to Socrates man is his soul and the soul makes man what he is. soul is the intellect
principle of our intellectual and moral activities therefore man can be healed from his
miseries only if the soul is cured and not only the body. According to Socrates human beings
were not born readymade. He is to make himself free because from birth man is a prisoner of
ignorance and by means of serious commitment examination. Ancient theme proposed by
contemporary philosophy point out man is correctly understood as a project. Man is
maintained as a being in making. Man with his vulnerability and fragility face irrational force
that may claim to control his life. Therefore, if man wants to actualize successfully the
project he must conquer and preserve true knowledge, control and educate his emotions,
conquer and preserve his own freedom.
The origin and development of man
According to the sacred doctrines man is seen to have been created by a supernatural being
called God. According to the doctrines God created man and breathed the breath of of life
into his nostrils and man become a leaving being. In genesis 2:7 the work of Gods hands is
seen in work when he created man. Therefore, according to Christian doctrines man came to
existence as a result of Gods work. This philosophy is highly contrasted by Charles Darwin
who was a naturalist and is widely known for his contributions to the evolutionary theory of
man. In his preposition is that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor
which in this case is the ape. According to him evolution is descent with modification the
idea that species change over time give rise to new species and share a common ancestor and
his ideology proposed that evolution is all about natural selection
Conclusion
This paper has covered the three major problems to philosophy on the basis of monotheism,
polytheism, dualism, attributes of God, Gods language, change of the world, composition of
man and origin of the universe and man. It has outlined the problems in details and
highlighted the major areas in which philosophers are seeking to know the ultimate reality of
truth.
References
Etienne Gilson, History of Christian philosophy in the middle ages, London, Lowe and
Brydon limited 1995
F. Ochieng -Odhiambo, A companion to philosophy, Nairobi, Consolata institute of
philosophy press 2009
Luciano Mattei, Introduction to philosophy, Nairobi, Consolata instate of philosophy press
2007

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CONSOLATA INSTISTUTE OF PHILOSPHY

COURSE UNIT: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

COURSE CODE: CPH100

TASK: MENTION AND EXPLAIN THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY IN RELATION

LECTURER NAME: DR FREDRIC WANJALA

STUDENT NAME: MORRIS MUTINDA NTHENYA

SUBMISSION DATE 19/04/2023

Change of the world

THE PROBLEM OF MAN

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