The Existence of God
Journal Reflection – Proofs for the Existence of God
St. Thomas Aquinas’ 5 Ways
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways (3)
God either exists or doesn’t, believe what you want but many have argued over this ongoing topic including famous philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, who created 5 ways to prove that God actually exists. I will be focusing on three of his ‘Five Ways’, which include the ideas that there has to be a first mover that had initially started everything in motion, there must have been a time when nothing existed at all and the idea that if there is a design, then there must be a designer as well. Aquinas’ “ways” can actually get a person thinking whether they believe in God or not, I myself am sometimes uncertain of God’s existence but after analysing his work thoroughly, I had a better perspective.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ First Way is the idea of how everything in motion cannot initiate change by themselves, so there must be a “first mover” that got it all started. An example that Aquinas uses to further explain this way is how a fire which is actually hot, causes wood to become hot as well; if the wood could make itself hot, it would have been hot already, meaning nothing would change. What Aquinas means by this is that in order to turn something from a state of potentiality to the state of actuality, there has to be a “first mover” that started all this this, who was known as God.
The Third Way by St. Thomas Aquinas states that if there was a time when certain things didn’t exist and if there will be a time when they no longer exist, then there also must be a time when nothing existed at all. What he means by this is that if God didn’t exist, then nothing else would exist either. I personally agree with Aquinas’ argument here, because I think whatever first existed has to be the creation of God, including God itself. This reasoning can be sophisticated when put to a deeper thinking because there obviously isn’t any real
St. Thomas Aquinas’ 5 Ways
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways (3)
God either exists or doesn’t, believe what you want but many have argued over this ongoing topic including famous philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, who created 5 ways to prove that God actually exists. I will be focusing on three of his ‘Five Ways’, which include the ideas that there has to be a first mover that had initially started everything in motion, there must have been a time when nothing existed at all and the idea that if there is a design, then there must be a designer as well. Aquinas’ “ways” can actually get a person thinking whether they believe in God or not, I myself am sometimes uncertain of God’s existence but after analysing his work thoroughly, I had a better perspective.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ First Way is the idea of how everything in motion cannot initiate change by themselves, so there must be a “first mover” that got it all started. An example that Aquinas uses to further explain this way is how a fire which is actually hot, causes wood to become hot as well; if the wood could make itself hot, it would have been hot already, meaning nothing would change. What Aquinas means by this is that in order to turn something from a state of potentiality to the state of actuality, there has to be a “first mover” that started all this this, who was known as God.
The Third Way by St. Thomas Aquinas states that if there was a time when certain things didn’t exist and if there will be a time when they no longer exist, then there also must be a time when nothing existed at all. What he means by this is that if God didn’t exist, then nothing else would exist either. I personally agree with Aquinas’ argument here, because I think whatever first existed has to be the creation of God, including God itself. This reasoning can be sophisticated when put to a deeper thinking because there obviously isn’t any real