As in the adventures of Indiana Jones, the famous archaeologist who delves into jungles, temples, and ruins in search of hidden treasures, human beings are also called to an adventure: the search for the ultimate foundation of the mystery of reality. There are no whips or ancient tombs, but a much deeper challenge: to understand why something exists and not nothing, why the universe, life, and consciousness are possible.

From wonder to thought

Children, with their inexhaustible curiosity, remind us that reality is a mystery. Their questions—so simple and so profound—make us uncomfortable because we are no longer accustomed to looking at the world with wonder. We have replaced mystery with problem: we solve the immediate, but we forget the essential.

However, mystery and problem coexist. The problem is faced, the mystery is contemplated. And if we close our eyes to mystery, life loses its depth. Hence, the approach to the subject of God begins by opening our eyes to the nature of things.

Thinking beyond the problem: the mystery of reality

Over the centuries, humanity has focused on the  “how”  of things—how the universe works, how living beings evolve—forgetting the “why.” This neglect of being, denounced by philosophers such as Heidegger and Zubiri, has reduced man to a simple, complex animal, incapable of recognizing his own transcendence.

Philosophy, especially metaphysics, seeks to go beyond phenomena to the foundation. Zubiri expressed it clearly:  science explains the how, but not the why, of existence. Why did the universe bother to exist?

The adventure of thought: the will to fundamentality

The first step in this quest is not only intellectual, but also volitional. It requires a “will to fundamentality,” as Zubiri called it: the sincere desire to find the foundation of mystery. It is not enough to understand that reality is inexhaustible; it is necessary to dare to ask about its origin and meaning.

Those who abandon this quest fall into indifference or agnosticism, suspending their intellectual progress. Others adopt an atheistic stance, considering reality as a mere fact without foundation. But this absolute denial is paradoxical: how can we deny the existence of an absolute being if we lack absolute knowledge of reality?

The paths to the existence of God

From here, philosophical thought opens up to the so-called paths of access to God. These are not scientific “demonstrations,” but rather rational and metaphysical paths toward the foundation of being. Juan José Muñoz proposes two major paths inspired by Xavier Zubiri:

1. The cosmological path, which starts from the universe and seeks its ultimate foundation.

2. The anthropological path, which starts from man as a conscious and free being.

1. The cosmological path: the universe is not self-sufficient

For centuries, the universe was believed to be eternal, self-sufficient, and stable. But modern physics—relativity, quantum mechanics, and Big Bang cosmology—shows us a finite, expanding, dependent, and evolving universe. Everything in it is relative, interconnected, and changing.

If nothing in the universe is absolute, the foundation of the universe must lie beyond it. Pantheistic views, which identify God with the cosmos or a “universal force,” are insufficient: if the foundation were part of the universe, it too would be subject to change and would not be absolute.

The universe, therefore, cannot be its own cause. Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, it would be absurd to think that reality arises from nothing. The foundation of the cosmos must be absolute, personal, and transcendent, capable of giving rise to new realities, such as human consciousness and freedom.

2. The anthropological path: the human being, conscience of the universe

Man is not just a product of the cosmos; he is its consciousness. Thanks to his intelligence and freedom, he can question the meaning of being, something no machine or animal can do. Therefore, if the human being is a person, the foundation of the universe must also be personal.

Einstein recognized that the greatest enigma of atheism is the rationality of the universe. The mathematical coherence of nature suggests an ordering intelligence, not blind chaos. Intelligence and freedom are, therefore, attributes of the ultimate foundation: God.

Denying this foundation leads, as Nietzsche and Sartre showed, to the dissolution of the person and of ethics. Without an absolute being,  everything becomes relative : truth, goodness, beauty, even human dignity. As C.S. Lewis said after the death of his wife:  “If she is no more, she never was.”  Without transcendence, love itself vanishes.

God, absolute foundation of reality

Accepting God as the absolute foundation doesn’t mean imagining a distant being “beyond the galaxies,” but rather recognizing his presence at the very core of reality. God is not outside the world, but rather the reason for its consistency, the source that sustains its creativity.

The existence of God, understood philosophically, gives solidity to reality, meaning to the individual, and coherence to the universe. Without this foundation, everything is reduced to appearances, like the virtual world of The Matrix. With it, life acquires weight, value, and direction.

Epilogue: Reason and Faith

The path of reason allows us to access the existence of God; the path of faith allows us to enter into a personal relationship with Him. Both are complementary paths in the same adventure of thought and spirit.

Because, like every great quest, this one also requires courage:  daring to think, and thinking big.