Proofs about God

'Abdu'l-Bahá said:

"The contingent world is the source of imperfections: God is the origin of perfections. The imperfections of the contingent world are in themselves a proof of the perfections of God.

For example, when you look at man, you see that he is weak. This very weakness of the creature is a proof of the power of the Eternal Almighty One, because, if there were no power, weakness could not be imagined. Then the weakness of the creature is a proof of the power of God; for if there were no power, there could be no weakness; so from this weakness it becomes evident that there is power in the world. Again, in the contingent world there is poverty; then necessarily wealth exists, since poverty is apparent in the world. In the contingent world there is ignorance; necessarily knowledge exists, because ignorance is found; for if there were no knowledge, neither would there be ignorance. Ignorance is the nonexistence of knowledge, and if there were no existence, nonexistence could not be realized." [1]

So there must be One, or Something, that possesses all perfections. Since imperfections, or the absence of perfections, exist for us no one and no combination of things here or anything directly associated with them could be that Perfect One because a perfection that can be conceived is Unity and the One who possesses perfections must also possess that one and therefore possess all perfections, so anything that possesses any limit to its perfection must not be God. Also, in order for there to be the order and progress in the Universe that we can perceive there must be a goal towards which everything is advancing, like the virtues mentioned above. Without that goal to move towards nothing could progress, it would either halt or immediately become chaos, neither of which occur. All progress must, therefore, also be towards being more like God. And since the ideas of limited time, space, existence, continuity, ability, order, and identity exist there must be a Being that possesses those qualities to an unlimited degree. As Bahá'u'lláh said:

"In the name of God, the One, the Incomparable, the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise." [2]

Also, since the way things are are the way they must be since God is One and His work is One, and the Manifestations must have had great joy in order to willingly sacrifice their lives, and there must be selfless love because the single Being must be self-subsistent by the proposition above since dependency exists, things are probably pretty good in existence. Also, nothing must be unnecessary because it is part of existence and must have some relationship to the rest and only nonexistence could separate it. Especially since we can imagine that One must be able to describe all of existence their must be a relationship, and therefore a place, for everything. Absolute non-existence can't have any qualities of existence because then it wouldn't be nonexistence, so it can't interfere with existence, and anything that appears to must be an existence that is part of the whole.
Since imperfect beings exist, the All-existing One must have created us, done so happily, and there must be joy and good things since existence is such that that creation took place, which also proves again that there is a Creator. Also, that One must be Pre-existent since everything must have a cause, but there must be Something that caused all the causes because it must have caused all other causes no matter how far away you trace them and must still be capable of causing whatsoever It wills and pleases, as Bahá'u'lláh said:

"Praise be to God, the Eternal that perisheth not, the Everlasting that declineth not, the Self-Subsisting that altereth not."

From that, also, God must be immortal because from the quote above there is an all-powerful One and being ALL-powerful must be the only all-powerful One. SinceGod possess all power He must be the only one with that power, and since ending can be conceived everlastingness must apply to to the qualities of that Being and He, therefore, must always be the only One with such power and therefore nothing besides Himself could harm Him. Going back a ways, since everything coexists and relationships between things, as well as good and bad relationships, can be conceived there must be ideal relationships between the components of the Perfect Being, and non-coexistence must be a sign of the non-existence of a Godly quality. Also, since decline can be conceived non declining must exist; and since dependent existence exists there must be Something that exists independently. Going back again, since there must be unity between the component elements of God and disharmony and incompletion can be conceived He must be in perfect order and completion. I think this quote is a good guide for carrying on the kind of thinking that I have been doing:

"As to the attributes and perfections such as will, knowledge, power and other ancient attributes that we ascribe to that Divine Reality, these are the signs that reflect the existence of beings in the visible plane and not the absolute perfections of the Divine Essence that cannot be comprehended. For instance, as we consider created things we observe infinite perfections, and the created things being in the utmost regularity and perfection we infer that the Ancient Power on whom dependeth the existence of these beings, cannot be ignorant; thus we say He is All-Knowing. It is certain that it is not impotent, it must be then All-Powerful; it is not poor, it must be All-Possessing; it is not non-existent, it must be Ever-Living. The purpose is to show that these attributes and perfections that we recount for that Universal Reality are only in order to deny imperfections, rather than to assert the perfections that the human mind can conceive. Thus we say His attributes are unknowable." [5]

In that vein, since God is only and singly One He be the only One like Himself so nothing could compare to Him. His qualities, also, must be greater than anything else in His helpfulness, state, preciousness, quantity, quality, continuity, or station as an extension of Abdu'l-Bahá's principle above.

Also, since not being aware of something exists being aware of it must Exist, and that attribute must also apply to One that is capable of comprehending the Perfect Existence: Itself. Going back yet again, this is all in reference to what we can perceive here based on patient reasoning and is asserting the existence of a creator of this reality, since "reality is one and not multiple" [5]. That being must also be aware of all things, first Itself which is the complete Existence, and must have Knowledge of all things since ignorance of them can be conceived, I think like Bahá'u'lláh said:

"He it is Who is transcendent in His sovereignty, Who is manifest through His signs, and is hidden through His mysteries."

Adding to what I said after reading that, like the thinking related to His being Incomparable since He is the only One Who has all knowledge, power, and authority (the last inferred from the principle at the beginning), only He and possibly any who He chose to give the ability to would be able to be All-Knowing about Him. God wouldn't create another like Him because He ia already perfect, and the instances I can think of that might be an imperfection are just things that can be worked through and understand, if it be God's will.

(I am going through that quote of Bahá'u'lláh's in order because I find if I try to make the connections between the thoughts on my own I gain more and more understanding of His train of thought.)

Going back to Bahá'u'lláh's statement that God is the "Eternal that perisheth not" [7] that also implies that He is a Living God.

He, the Living God, must also be Able to accomplish whatsoever He will with Will, Knowledge, Perception, and Perfection wherever, however, with whomever, with whatever, and for however long He will, to whatever end He will and for whatever purpose He will. I think the last two imply that all of His attributes also have expressions in actions, because not producing is an attribute of non-existence and there must be an existence for any non-existence to be conceived so that must apply to motions as well; therefore, since there must be a relationship of orderly expression of His attributes in His motions God must do whatever and exactly what He will in every situation, and what exists must be within the bounds of His will, I think as the Bab said "all are His servants, and all abide by His bidding" [8], and like Baha'u'llah said:

"He it is at Whose bidding the standard of the Most Exalted Word hath been lifted up in the world of creation, and the banner of "He doeth whatsoever He willeth" raised amidst all peoples." [9]

I would like to get into more about His creation next, but will consider that later. For now, another helpful tool I think is to consider that there must be harmony and unity between His attributes, so anything from which non-existence can be perceived must not be an attribute of His.

P.S. A Further thought: Compared to God and His will, all things must be small, short, insignificant, of little consequence, unimportant, feeble, and poor, as Shoghi Effendy referred to us as "puny mortals". Also, there can't be any evil qualities because they are qualities that exist and therefor must be a relative perfection of one of God's perfections, as old age is having little life.

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[1] Some Answered Questions, p. 5

[2], [3] Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 1

[4] Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet to August Forel, p. 17

[5] Abdu'l-Bahá, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 226

[6], [7] Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 1

[8] Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 215

[9] Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 1

[10] The Promised Day is Come, p. 123