(November 5, 2016 at 7:26 pm)Alex K Wrote: @theologian
theologian Wrote:So, everything that has a cause, has a manner of being. But God doesn't have a manner of being. Therefore God must be Uncaused
What on earth is a "manner of being" and why does everything that has a cause have it?
Manner of being is the nature or essence of a being. Man can't be gold or paper when he dies. He always rot. All created things have nature. Plants behaves as plants and not by anything else. Animals behaves as animals and not by anything else. Thus, manner of being is the essence of being or its nature. It is the what-ness of something.
It is different from the act of being which is the perfection of a being, which is to be there instead of not being there. So, every created being is composed of: 1. Manner of Being and 2. Act of Being. So, God Whom is not created doesn't have a manner of being, but He is just Pure Act of Being (Ipsum Esse Subsistens or He that subsists by Itself).
Why is that every being that has manner of being must have a cause? Everything that doesn't have in itself its reason of existence must be caused, just as our projects don't have in itself the reason of its existence, (because our projects in itself doesn't include us whom made it), and thus it is caused. Now, every manner of being doesn't have in itself its reason of existence, because it is impossible that a being that has manner of being gives itself its manner of being, for to give something its manner of being is to be greater than its manner of being which is absurd (for example, a dog makes itself a dog while it is more than a dog at once and therefore not yet a dog). Therefore, everything that has manner of being is caused including, matter, energy and particles which has manner of being, for they are limited in being, that is, limited by its nature. Only God cannot have manner of being and only Him can be the Pure Act of Being. As the Scriptures said, He says that "I AM WHO AM".
So, if by principle of sufficient reason there must be a Pure Act of Being to explain the existence of beings which have manner of beings, then God Whom is Pure Act of Being must exist. Hence, atheist are gravely mistaken