St. Thomas Aquinas's Cosmological Proof for God's Existence
Explain St. Thomas Aquinas's cosmological proof for God's ExistenceIn his monumental works, Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles, Aquinas offered a total of five proofs of God's existence. The first two proofs begin with an observation about the physical universe. They are called a kind of cosmological argument because they result from a study of the cosmos. Much of Aquinas version of the cosmological argument was borrowed from Aristotle. Aquinas's cosmological argument consists of his first 2 of the 5 proofs for God's existence, or the "Five Ways". His first two ways are two proofs based on logic and observation of nature in proving God's existence to those who could not accept or believe God on faith alone. Aquinas' first way is based on motion. He calls it the most obvious way. This first argument, the Argument from Motion, tries to prove the existence of God as the first mover which is unmoved. Now, it is certain as a matter of sense-observation that some things in this world are in motion. Whatever is in motion, Aquinas states, is moved by something else. So, it is impossible that in the same respect and same manner anything should be both mover and m
It states that God is the uncaused cause. There can be no infinite chain of movers/movees so there is a first, unmoved mover. In this, Aquinas means that nothing can move itself. In conclusion, the uncaused cause exists and is called God. Therefore, it is my view that without a moving cause and an efficient cause there would simply be "nothing" and the universe and concept of time would cease to exist. There must always be a cause for any change, a "moving" cause. Therefore, if something is in motion, it must have been put in motion by something else, which must have been put in motion by yet another thing, and so on. Thus, this leads to the conclusion that there is a first mover which is not moved by anything, and this first mover is what we understand to be God. " The first argument is about motion, which means every kind of change, not just local motion or change of place, but also ripening, heating, etc. Efficient causation, however, is the production of the result, or the activation from being merely possible or potential into accomplished fact. In the observable world we discover an order of efficient causes, but no case is found, or ever could be found, of something efficiently causing itself. Thus, the efficient cause is what brings about the result to be effectively realized as actual. What are the main ideas in Aquinas' first two ways? Basically, I perceive that his arguments are equivalent to the proposition, "There is no thing that came from nothing. Nonetheless, as with all arguments attempting to prove the existence of God, Aquinas' first two ways are subjected to possible criticisms, objections and/or weak points.
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