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  • Anselm & Aquinas:: Proofs of The Existence of God

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    St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th century Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher known as the "Angelic Doctor". He is famous for his works Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles in which he expounds his proofs for the existence of God. Aquinas proposed five rational arguments, known as the "Five Ways", to prove God's existence based on motion, causation, necessity, gradation, and design. While he disagreed with St. Anselm's ontological proof, Aquinas sought to demonstrate God's existence through reason and empirical observation of the natural world.

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    St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th century Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher known as the "Angelic Doctor". He is famous for his works Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles in which he expounds his proofs for the existence of God. Aquinas proposed five rational arguments, known as the "Five Ways", to prove God's existence based on motion, causation, necessity, gradation, and design. While he disagreed with St. Anselm's ontological proof, Aquinas sought to demonstrate God's existence through reason and empirical observation of the natural world.

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    206 views20 pages

    Anselm & Aquinas:: Proofs of The Existence of God

    Uploaded by

    Ash1
    St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th century Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher known as the "Angelic Doctor". He is famous for his works Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles in which he expounds his proofs for the existence of God. Aquinas proposed five rational arguments, known as the "Five Ways", to prove God's existence based on motion, causation, necessity, gradation, and design. While he disagreed with St. Anselm's ontological proof, Aquinas sought to demonstrate God's existence through reason and empirical observation of the natural world.

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    Anselm & Aquinas:

    PROOFS OF THE
    EXISTENCE OF GOD
    St. Thomas Aquinas
    • 1225 – 1274
    • Born in Roccasecca, Italy
    • Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher
    • Called the Doctor Angelicus (the Angelic
    Doctor), Aquinas is considered as one of the
    greatest Christian philosophers to have ever
    lived.
    • Two of his most famous works:
    the Summa Theologica (in which he
    expounds his systematic theology of the
    “quinquae viae” or the five proofs of
    the existence of God),
    Summa Contra Gentiles (On the Truth
    of the Catholic Faith)
    St. Thomas Aquinas did not accept
    St. Anselm’s proof.
    Anselm vs. Aquinas
    Anselm of Canterbury Thomas Aquinas
    (1033-1109) (1225-1274)
    A priori A posteriori
    God’s love is derived in His God’s righteousness is derived
    righteousness. from God’s love.
    God’s love and mercy Mercy and love are virtues that
    are contained in His justice and stretch beyond the bounds of
    are necessary fruits of it. justice.
    Righteousness is finite according
    God’s love is contained within
    to its desserts while God’s love is
    his righteousness.
    infinite.
    The Five Ways
    The Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas are
    the primary rational arguments used by
    Aquinas to defend the existence of the
    Christian God.
    Argument from
    Argument from
    Efficient
    Motion
    Causes

    Argument from Argument from


    Possibility and Gradation of
    Necessity Being

    Argument from
    Design
    The First Way
    • Argument from Motion
    - An object that is in motion (e.g. the planets, a
    rolling stone) is put in motion by some other
    object or force. There must have been an
    unmoved mover (God) who first put things in
    motion.
    - It points out the need to have something capable
    of causing the changes we observe: God, the Un-
    Moved Mover.
    Follow the argument this way:
    1. Nothing can move itself.
    2. If every object in motion had a mover, then the
    first object in motion needed a mover.
    3. This first mover is the Unmoved Mover, called
    God.
    The Second Way
    • Argument from Efficient Causes
    - The argument for causality
    - Everything that occurs is caused by something
    else.
    - All events are dependent on some other
    occurrence or thing in order to make them
    happen.
    - So, there must be an uncaused thing that causes
    all other things. This argument is not related to
    time or a sequence of events. Rather, it considers
    the fact that all things are dependent on
    something else for their existence.
    - All effects are caused by some other event,
    which in turn is the effect of some other cause.
    - There must be some uncaused cause: God, the
    First Cause.
    Follow the argument this way:
    1. There exists things/ events that are caused
    (created) by other things.
    2. Nothing can be the cause of itself (nothing can
    create itself.)
    3. There can not be an endless string of objects
    causing other objects to exist.
    4. Therefore, there must be an uncaused first cause
    called God.
    The Third Way
    • Argument from Possibility and Necessity
    - This 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 this way:
    1. Contingent beings are caused.
    2. Not every being can be contingent.
    3. There must exist a being which is necessary to
    cause contingent beings.
    4. This necessary being is God.
    The Fourth Way
    • Argument from Gradation of Being
    - Degrees or gradation of a quality
    - For any given quality (e.g. goodness, beauty,
    knowledge) there must be a perfect standard by
    which all such qualities are measured.
    - These perfections are contained in God.
    - In order to speak of “goodness” or “power,” we
    must have an absolute standard against which to
    judge those terms; there must be some other
    thing from which they ultimately derive that
    characteristic: God, the Ultimate Standard.
    The Fifth Way
    • Argument from Design
    - Has to do with the observable universe and the
    order of nature.
    - Common sense tells us that the universe works in
    such a way, that one can conclude that is 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.
    Thomas Aquinas
    • Aquinas believed that Jesus Christ was truly
    divine and not simply a human being or God
    merely inhabiting the body of Christ. However, he
    held that Christ had a truly rational human soul as
    well, producing a duality of natures that persisted
    even after the Incarnation, and that these two
    natures existed simultaneously yet distinguishably
    in one real human body.
    • For St. Thomas Aquinas, the goal of human
    existence is union and eternal fellowship with God.
    For those who have experienced salvation and
    redemption through Christ while living on earth, a
    beatific vision will be granted after death in which a
    person experiences perfect, unending happiness
    through comprehending the very essence of God.
    References:
    Got Questions Ministries (2002). What are the Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas?
    Retrieved March 21, 2018 from https://www.gotquestions.org/Five-Ways-
    Thomas-Aquinas.html

    The Basics of Philosophy (2008). St. Thomas Aquinas. Retrieved March 21,
    2018 from https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_aquinas.html

    Todd, O. (2015). Anselm V. Aquinas: Is God’s Existence Self-Evident?


    Retrieved March 21, 2018 from http://themajestysmen.com/obbietodd/ anselm-
    v-aquinas-is-gods-existence-self-evident/

    Weiss, P. (2018). St. Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways. Retrieved March 21, 2018
    from
    http://www.religiouseducation.co.uk/school/alevel/philosophy/cosmological/5
    ways.htm
    THANK YOU

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