Argument from the Existence of Necessary Truths

This continues the series of weekly posts dealing with some basic theistic arguments. The purpose here is to introduce the reader to the idea behind each argument. Strengths and weaknesses will be presented after each summary. These are only summaries and springboards for further study in the theistic arguments. See Reason for the Hope Within for more.

An Argument from the Existence of Necessary Truths

Humans are capable of apprehending necessary truths, propositions like “2+2=4” and “No proposition can be both true and false at the same time.” These truths would be true, however, even if no human existed, indeed, even if no physical thing existed at all. But no proposition could exist without a mind to entertain it, so there must be a mind (God) that necessarily exists.

Greatest Strength: The truths of logic and mathematics seem to be true in a way that is independent of both what humans think and even practical facts about the makeup of the universe.

Greatest Weakness: Confidence in the existence of mind-independent objective truth (let alone necessary truth) is currently declining.1

1 William C. Davis, Reason for the Hope Within (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1999), p. 33.