Different Approaches to the Belief in God and Avicenna's Perspective on Evidentialism

Does God’s existence need proof or evidence? Evidentialists believe that our knowledge duty necessitates that we provide proof or evidence that God exists. On the other hand, fideists refuse this claim and argue that God’s existence is a matter of faith. Although not every fideist sees the evidentialist claim to be in contradiction with faith, all of them are united in denying the need of proof or evidence for this central religious belief. In the Islamic philosophical tradition, both views have their own proponents. Avicenna is regarded as a well-known proponent of the first view. He believes that evidence for the existence of God is available and he himself provides us with one of the most important arguments for the existence of God.The question which arises is whether his argument is allusive or demonstrative. The study of Avicenna’s works shows that his argument should be demonstrative and allusive. From Avicenna’s perspective, the primary proof of God existence comes from contemplation on the origin of existence. Therefore, it might be possible to claim that, for Avicenna, there is a distinction between personal proof and general argumentation. The present article demonstrates that Avicenna is an evidentialist and his evidentialism is of the personal type and not the group type.