HI THERE

HI!
Anselm of Canterbury here, and I'm gonna sell you on the existence of God in 9 simple steps!
First things first, let's define God!
God is the being than which none greater is possible.
By greater I mean superior to or better than.
In my book Wisdom and Moral goodness are great-making qualities!

The second thing we need to straighten out is Things that exist in reality, things which don't exist in reality, possible things, impossible things, and things that exist in the understanding.
Examples are the easiest way to sort these out.
Things that exist in reality: dogs, televisions, trees
Things that don't exist in reality: the fountain of youth, Santa Claus, unicorns
Possible things: Santa Claus, Unicorns. (Just because they don't exist doesn't mean it's impossible that they could.)
Things that exist in the understanding: Basically anything you can imagine.
Things that don't exist in the understanding: a four sided triangle or a three sided square, things that have never been thought of that may exist, and things that have never been thought of that don't exist.

Whew, OKAY! Now that we've handled those little disclaimers, lets get the the meat an' potatos of this discussion.

1. God exists in the understanding.
2. God might have existed in reality. (God is a possible being.)
3. If God exists only in the understanding, but might have existed in reality, then he might have been greater than he is.
4. Suppose God exists only in the understanding.
5. God might have been greater than he is. (2, 4, & 3)
6. God is a being than which a greater is possible. (5)
7.  God is a being which none greater is possible.
8. It is false that God exists only in the understanding. (4 - 7)
9. God exists in reality as well as in the understanding. (1, 8)