Belief in God

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Proof of God's Existence

Saint Thomas Aquinas

 

          Saint Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) was a Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher.  Called the Doctor Angelicus (the Angelic Doctor), Aquinas is considered one of the greatest Christian philosophers to have ever lived.  Two of his most famous works, the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles, are the finest examples of his work on Christian philosophy.  He proposed five cosmological arguments for the existence of God.

 

 

The First Way

Argument from Motion

 

 

          St. Thomas Aquinas formulated the First Way after studying the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle.  Aquinas concluded from common observation that an object that is in motion (e.g., the planets, a rolling stone, etc.) is put in motion by some other object or force.  From this, Aquinas believes that ultimately there must have been an Unmoved Mover (God) who first put things into motion.  Follow the argument with this summary:  (a) Nothing can move itself;  (b) If every object in motion had a mover, then the first object in motion needed a mover;  (c) This first mover is the Unmoved Mover, called God.

1. Our senses prove that some things are in motion.
2. Things move when potential motion becomes actual motion.
3. Only an actual motion can convert a potential motion into an actual motion.
4. Nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in the save respect (i.e., if both actual and potential, it is actual in one respect and potential in another).
5. Therefore, nothing can move itself.
6. Therefore, each thing in motion is moved by something else.
7. The sequence of motion cannot extend ad infinitum.
8. Therefore, it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other, and this everyone understands to be God.

 

The Second Way

Argument from Efficient Causes

 



 

          The Second Way deals with the issue of existence. Aquinas concluded that common sense observation tells us that no object creates itself. In other words, some previous object had to create it. Aquinas believed that ultimately there must have been an Uncaused First Cause (God) who began the chain of existence for all things. Follow the argument with this summary:  (a)  There exists things that are caused (created) by other things;  (b)  Nothing can be the cause of itself (nothing can create itself);  (c)  There can not be an endless string of objects causing other objects to exist;  (d)  Therefore, there must be an uncaused first cause called God.

1. We perceive a series of efficient causes of things in the world.
2. Nothing exists prior to itself.
3. Therefore, nothing is the efficient cause of itself.
4. If a previous efficient cause does not exist, neither does the thing that results.
5. If a previous efficient cause does not exist, nothing in the series exists.
6. The series of efficient causes cannot extend ad infinitum into the past, for then there would be no things existing now.
7. Therefore, it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.

The Third Way

Argument from Possibility and Necessity

(Reductio Argument)

 

 

          The Third Way defines two types of objects in the universe:  contingent beings and necessary beings.  A contingent being is an object that cannot exist without a necessary being causing its existence.  Aquinas believed that the existence of contingent beings would ultimately necessitate a being which must exist for all of the contingent beings to exist.  This being, called a necessary being, is what we call God.  Follow the argument with this summary: (a)  Contingent beings are caused;  (b)  Not every being can be contingent;  (c)  There must exist a being which is necessary to cause contingent beings;  (d)  This necessary being is God.

1. We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, that come into being and go out of being (i.e., contingent beings).
2. Assume that every being is a contingent being.
3. For each contingent being, there is a time it does not exist.
4. Therefore, it is impossible for these always to exist.
5. Therefore, there could have been a time when no things existed.
6. Therefore, at that time there would have been nothing to bring the currently existing contingent beings into existence.
7. Therefore, nothing would be in existence.
8. We have reached an absurd result from assuming that every being is a contingent being.
9. Therefore, not every being is a contingent being.
10. Therefore, some being exists of its own necessity, and does not receive its existence from another being, but rather causes them.  This all men speak of as God.

The Fourth Way
Argument from Gradation of Being

 

          St. Thomas formulated this Fourth Way from a very interesting observation about the qualities of things.  For example, one may say that of two marble structures that one is more beautiful than the other.  So for these two objects, one has a greater degree of beauty than the other.  This is referred to as degree or gradation of a quality.  From this fact Aquinas concluded that for any given quality (e.g., goodness, beauty, knowledge, etc.) there must be a perfect standard by which all such qualities are measured.  These perfections are contained in God.

1. There is a gradation to be found in things:  some are better or worse than others.
2. Predictions of degree require reference to the "uttermost" case (e.g., a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest).
3. The maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus.
4. Therefore, there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

The Fifth Way

Argument from Design

 

 

          The Fifth Way that St. Thomas formulated deals with the observable universe and the order of nature.  Aquinas states that common sense tells us that the universe works in such a way, that one can concluded that it was designed by an intelligent designer, God.  In other words, all physical laws and the order of nature and life were designed  and ordered by God, the Intelligent designer.

 

1. We see that natural bodies work toward some goal, and do not do so by chance.
2. Most natural things lack knowledge.
3. But as an arrow reaches its target because it is directed by an archer, what lacks intelligence achieves goals by being directed by something intelligence.
4. Therefore, some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.

 

Reasons to Believe in God

Bishop Fulton Sheen

"There is no God; the world is only a machine."

 

Did you ever know a machine without a designer?  Did you ever see a shadow that was not caused by light?  Have you ever read a book that was not first in the mind of the author?  Then you have seen a world without God!  Remember the wise words of the soldier at Bataan:  "There are no atheists in foxholes."

 

 

"I am an atheist:  I do not believe in God."

 

Would there ever be prohibition unless there was something to prohibit?  Would there ever be anti-cigarette laws unless there were cigarettes?  How could there be atheists unless there was something to atheate?  Atheism is not a doctrine; it is a cry of wrath.  "By night an atheist half-believes there is a God.  Before you deny God, ask yourself why you deny Him.  Is it because of the way you live? 

 

 

"Christ is a good man:  a great humanitarian."

 

If Christ is not all He claimed to be, the Son of the living God, then He was not a good man!  A good man never lies; but He lied if He was not God, for He said He was God.  A good man never leads others into false belief.  But He asked that men die for belief in His divinity, which they are doing even at this moment.  If Christ was not God,then He not only was not a good man, He was the most villainous impostor and scoundrel the world has ever seen.  If Christ is not God, He is the Antichrist.

 

 

"I have no need of religion."

 

No man has need of religion who is self-righteous, who is all he wants to be and all he ought to be.  Anarchists have no need of law:  they are a law unto themselves.  Hitler had no need of God:  in his own conceit, he was a god.  This man who never made a mistake has no need of an eraser; just so, the man who has never done anything wrong has no need of a Redeemer.  Our Lord Himself has said: "Those who are well have no need of a physician."

 

 

"We have no freedom; our wills are determined."

 

Then why do we say "Thanks" for a favor?

 

 

There is no right or wrong:  it all depends upon your point of view."

 

If there is no difference between right and wrong, how can Hitler be wrong and how can we be right?  Why are [were] we at war [with Germany in WWII], if it is not because right is more precious than life?

 

 

"It makes no difference what you believe; it's how you act."

 

It makes no difference whether you have any rule sin football; it depends on how you play.  It makes no difference whether you believe triangles have three sides; it depends on how you draw.  Can we not see that if we believe wrongly, we will act wrongly?  The trouble with Hitler and other tyrants is that they practice what they preach.  Because their doctrines are wrong, their deeds are wrong.  Because Nazism as a creed is wrong, it's workings are wicked.

 

 

"Christianity has been tried and found wanting."

 

Certainly, but did you ever know a Catholic who not only knew that he did wrong, but also wished that he did not?  A Catholic who does wrong still believes his Faith is true.  There is always hope for the man who knows that he is doing wrong; but there is no hope for the man who in doing wrong calls the wrong right.  The Catholic gets off road like anyone else, but he never throws away the map.