Confused re: Plato, the Supreme Being and Christianity

OK, I hate to seem thick, but can somebody explain this to me, please? I've been puzzling over it for some time, but Plato is indeciferable and I haven't found a satisfactory explanation for this.

Namely, what is the argument that proves or implies the existance of the existence of the Supreme Being?

Does this help?

Not really; aside from being exceedingly confusing in itself, I don't understand what "the Good" is; it appears to be a concept that Plato has pulled out of thin air, which we have no reason whatsoever to believe exists.

This might be of a little more use.

edited 21st Oct '10 6:09:42 PM by delta534

I've never thought Plato was confusing.

^^ I already read it, but it's just gibberish to me. It gives no reason why we should suppose that "the Good makes all other universals intelligible, and in some sense provides being to all other Forms", or even that there is any need to suppose the existence of anything which makes all other universals intelligible, and in some sense provides being to all other Forms.

Edit: I found this◊, which makes the whole thing seem very mystical to me, like a religion. Is it?

edited 21st Oct '10 6:38:14 PM by BobbyG

From what I understand of it,yes it is a religion.

Hmm... so in that case, I don't see how it can be used as a "proof" of God, when Plato's ideas themselves haven't been proven. It's just changing the nature of the unevidenced claim, not solving the problem of the unevidenced claim itself.

Plato would have claimed that they'd been logically proven, although others would disagree.

But... I don't understand, where is this logic?

The dialogues, obviously.

Oh, of course.

I never had much patience with them, and I found them difficult to follow. But then, I was never big on philosophy.

Thanks for the help.

People don't Plato very seriously nowadays. They didn't have much in the way of argumentative rigor back then. He's important historically, but his ideas aren't really well founded.

Who was the philosopher that came up with impetus? Blasted twit should have stayed away from physics!