The mother of all proofs of God

That's one hell of a title don't you think? Well at least it got your attention;-)
First, we have to ask ourselves: what actually constitutes a proof? "A proof is only a proof when your opponent accepts it" as I once stated in the theses accompanying my doctoral Thesis. Actually what I'm presenting here I consider to be a convincing line of argumentation and hopefully you are going to agree with that. Yet the word proof is generally used and so that's why I use it here as well. 
Then, about this being the 'mother of them all,' I propose that any convincing "proof of God" can be seen to use the same line of reasoning; in other words, it 'just' is a specific application of this one. And I hope that in the end you will agree with that as well:-)

Starting points 
In order for the proof to be as convincing and general as possible, the starting points should be as reasonable (and general) as possible.
What then is reasonable to presuppose? First, don't you have the strong impression that your observations come forth from a reality independent of yourself, in other words that there exists something like an objective world?
Further, that your subjective experiences point towards the existence in that world of persons like you and me that have an inner life and the possibility to exert (external) influence themselves? 
Finally, haven't you experienced things like Goodness, Beauty and Love that go beyond your own subjectivity? 
It will turn out that these three very general assumptions will be all we need.

Reasoning steps 
Let us realise first that all of these matters are finite: the objects in the world are finite as regards dimensions but also regarding their duration (even something as durable as Mount Everest has come into existence and will perish again); as a person you're finite both regarding your lifespan and regarding your possibilities; moreover, all experienced Goodness, Beauty and Love come to us one way or another via the world and so are finite as well (yet especially these three let us experience a certain grandeur; besides, it's an open question still whether the world as a whole is finite or not).
Next, a different way to say that something is finite, is that it is limited or restricted; in other words by something else (even though that were the air surrounding and eroding the mountain); and this in its turn signifies that the borders of its existence (in space ánd time), and with that its existence itself, depend on something else: it exists only conditionally, by the grace of that other thing.
Now one can try to build an infinite chain of finitudes that will then be unlimited itself (in space but especially in time), and so possibly exists independently / unconditionally. Interestingly, there exists the postulate of Finitude, already discussed in Greek philosophy, that states that such an infinite chain of finitudes can't exist [NB We're discussing here an actual infinity in contrast to the potential infinities from mathematics like the collection of all whole numbers]. 
One way to see what kind of weird situations such a chain would lead to, is to imagine a completely filled hotel with an infinite number of rooms. Despite that the hotel is full, there's always place for someone extra by simply shifting everyone one room further on [NB the postulate of Finitude moreover directly leads to  (a realistic) Quantum Mechanics in physics (according to prof. Ian J. Thompson), not a bad argument either].

Summary
Matters in the world are finite, what is finite exists by the grace of something else and the 'Else' that does exist by itself cannot be build up from finite elements.
In other words, the world needs an Independent Infinite whereon its existence depends. And because persons (with free will) bring forth things but things not persons, we can state that this Independent Infinite is a Fully Free Personality; usually the word God is used. 
Additionally, the Goodness, Beauty and Love that we experience then also originate in God, those are His (most important) traits [NB the laws of physics are a possible other starting point that can say something about God's traits: those are very Trustworthy and show great order which can be linked to God's great Intellect].

Yet you might complain: why only focus on Goodness, Beauty and Truth? Anyone at times has also experienced evil, right? Things and acts of persons that go against what is Good, Beautiful and Loving. Why not start with that? Wouldn't that greatly change the outcome of the reasoning? Well, doesn't our experience tell us that, precisely as it is expressed, evil is not primary? That just like darkness and cold it is a deficit, a lack of something, not a thing in itself?! And so it couldn't have originated in God only in His creatures with free will.
To conclude, a little reflection on the importance of this post: what will it bring the reader? It can hardly be expected that an intellectual exercise like this "proof of God" will bring someone a life-changing Faith. However, it can take away (unreasonable) stumbling blocks and stimulate him/her to start a personal journey, salud!

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