The Origins and End of God: An Essay Exploring Man’s Power Over God

Edited by Mirabelle Martin

Abstract

This paper argues that God exists, but only as a social construction through the use of human projection, collective recognition, and reflective consciousness. Drawing on Ludwig Feuerbach's theory of religious projection, Georg Simmel's analysis of social abstraction, and Ibn 'Arabi's mirror analogy, this paper reframes God's divine authority as relational to human consciousness and not absolute. God, therefore, is reimagined as a socially constructed form of authority: real and powerful, yet entirely dependent on human recognition. This paper utilizes the theme of beginnings and endings by tracing how divine authority originates in human psychology, is maintained through institutional reinforcement, and faces potential unravelling when belief fades. The paper then considers a potential counter to this claim, brought forward by Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi, who defends divine independence through his light metaphor. The paper finally concludes that divine authority lacks metaphysical autonomy and is best understood as a social phenomenon, reframing God as a product of social processes rather than an eternal and independent being.