Early Writings — Page 22
22 THE because even the other party accepts this fact. Hence, there is no need to further establish this argument. The major premise of the first part of this compound syllo- gism, i. e. the proposition that he who eternally deserves to be wor- shipped by all things is the one who is Ever-Living, Eternal and Provider of subsistence to all things, stands proven in the sense that if God is not Eternal and Ever-Living, then one must pre- sume that He came into existence at some time in the past, or that He will no longer remain at some time in the future. In both cases, it would be false to state that He is the Eternal being who is wor- thy of worship. The reason for this is that when He does not exist anymore, He cannot be worshipped either. For the worship of a thing which does not exist is futile; therefore, when God does not exist and is no longer present as the Eternal being that is worthy of worship, the proposition that God has the right to be worshipped eternally is also rendered false, whereas it has just been proved that the proposition mentioned above is valid and credible. Hence, it must be accepted that he who has the right to be eternally wor- shipped by all things is the Eternal and the Ever-Living. Further, if God is not the Provider of subsistence for everything, that is, if the life and survival of all other things does not depend upon His life and existence, His presence will not be necessary for the survival of any kind of creation. In such a case, His role will essentially become ineffective. He will not be the real, essential cause for the survival of other things, for an ineffective being is one whose being and existence is not a necessary condition for the survival and existence of a thing under its influence. For example, if person A throws a stone and then dies immediately after throw- ing the stone, it will invariably continue to move for some time