Does God exist?

“If there were no God, there would be no atheists.“

– G.K. Chesterton, Where All Roads Lead, 1922

I find G.K. Chesterton’s comment enlightening. Logically, one cannot prove a negative, which is the point of the whatever-you-call-it-line at the head of my blog, “…there is no such thing as nothing.”

And though Chesterton’s remark is unrelated to the following book, it does express a supporting idea and is therefore equally spot-on.

My deacon suggested I read The Dark Night Of The Soul, by St. John of the Cross (1542-1591). Previously known as Juan de la Cruz, he is regarded as the greatest Christian mystic, and “his life and work received official sanction when, on July 27, 1926, Pope Pius XI by solemn declaration raised the Spanish Scholar and poet to the dignity of a “Doctor of the Church.””

In this 1957 second printing translation by Kurt F. Reinhardt, and editor F.W. Strothmann, both of Stanford University, (Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., N.Y.) I found a rather fascinating idea, one which I’d also had, though this is the first time I’d ever read such. The essence of the idea is perhaps best understood in context of “In Him we live and move and have our being.” [Acts 17:28] The old Christian hymn “This is my Father’s world,” also equally expresses it.

For your perusal, and benefit, I present:

The Dark Night Of The Soul

Part I: The Ascent to Mount Carmel
Book Two: The First Dark Night of the Spirit: Faith

Chapter V

The union of the soul with God is a union of love and of likeness, not division of substance.

To understand, then, the nature of this union, it must be known that God dwells or is present substantially [per essentiam] in every soul, even in the soul of the greatest sinner. This kind of union between God and all His creatures is never lacking, since it is in and by this union that He sustains their being; and if it were ever lacking, these creatures would immediately cease to be and would fall back into nothingness.