Works on the proofs for the exi̇sttence of god i̇n the recent period

The term "Recent Period" is the name that I prefer in order to be able to express the recent studies for the proof of existence of God. In this thesis, entitled "Ithbat al-wajib (the Proofs of the Necessity of the Existence of God) in the Recent Period" I have investigated from the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, three philosophers who wrote in the frame of ithbat al- wajib within approximatly a hundred-year period, what the classical and modern evidence they used to prove God's existence, whether they provide a contribution to the development of existing evidence and what kind of original evidence they have developed. The thesis consists of an introduction and three parts. In the introduction, I have focused on the aim, importance, scope, limitations, methods, and resources of the study; also I have dealt with the position of the these three thinkers in terms of kalam. Although my main aim is to expose the work of the scholars of the recent term, I examined the tradition of ithbat al-wajib and the terminology of ithbat al-wajib in order to constiture a conceptual ground in the first chapter. I introduced the literature on the existence of God in the history of kalam, then I have analyzed, as examples of this kind, the treatises on the demonstration of the existence of the God penned by Katibi and al-Tusi to each other. As the major concepts concerning the demonstration of the ithbat al-wajib, I examined the concepts of existence, essence, necessity, possibility, impossibility, precedence (qidam), emergence (huduth), davr, subsequence (tasalsul), cause, agent, signification, induction, substantiation, and also the necessity of the existence of the God (wajib al-wujud) and the demonstration of the necessary existence of the God (ithbat al-wajib. In the second chapter titled as "The Proofs of the Necessity of the Existence of God in the Recent Period", I have examined the evidence of the three scholars utilized in demonstrating the wajib al-wujud. In this context, I applied various works of every thinker as needed, but in terms of determining the views of the mentioned thinkers I mainly resorted Tankih al-Kalām by Harputi, Is It Possible to Deny God (Allah'ı İnkâr Mümkün Mü?) by Filibeli, The New Science of Kalām (Yeni İlm-i Kelâm) by Izmirli in terms of determining the views of the mentioned thinkers. While all the three scholars used the proofs of emergence (huduth), possibility, purpose, and design as classical proofs with nuances; only a some of these scholars used the proofs of nature (fitrah) and conscience, grace and perfection of action (itqān), creation (ikhtirā) and origination (ibdā'), ethic, perfection (kamāl) and the general acceptance (kabul al-'amma). The modern proofs that only Izmirli used based on the Western philosophers are the proofs of exclusivity (inhisār), eternal, essential, and eternal truths, and psychological powers. We have determined that Izmirli came forward in terms of developing original evidence. Filibeli, with a Quranic reference, argued his afāq argument -which could be called the cosmic evidence, in a similar way to the evidence of emergence (huduth), purpose, and design- and anfus argument which referred to conscience proof. In the third chapter titled "Answers to the Objections of the Deniers" I have examined the explanations and proofs developed by these three scholars to respond to the doubts and objections that were put forward by the deniers of their time. Filibeli, who is not particularly prominent in terms of developing original proofs for demonstrating the ithbat al-wajib is more successful in responding to them. My thesis, at least, by considering three thinkers with similar and different aspects, can be considered as a modest contribution to the study of kalām. Key Words: Proof, Huduth, Possibility, ithbat al-wajib, recent period.