In the 11th-century C.E., Anselm of Canterbury put forth an argument now referred to as the ontological argument.

Ontology is just the theory of being, of what is, or, of what exists. Although there have been many philosophers since the 11th-century that have attempted to refute it, there are still contemporary philosophers who maintain that it has yet to be proven false. In this essay, my goal is to simply expound the argument logically.

God is a being than which no greater can be conceived. Therefore, if God does not exist, then it must be possible to conceive of a being that is greater than that particular conception being put forth as God. And although it is possible to believe that the being conceived in ones mind is the greatest being, there is necessarily a greater being that can be conceived. The God that is conceived in ones mind cannot be greater than that same God who exists in reality. , with the very same traits of the perfect God existing in ones mindat which is conceived and exists in reality. , with all the traits of the greatest being conceived, when it exists in reality. And likewise, a God in reality that is a being which none greater can be conceived, cannot be conceived because the greatest being that can be conceived exists both in the mind and in reality. Therefore, God exists.