using the arguments of st thomas aquinas's five way path, how will you prove god's existence
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Answer:
The existence of such gradations implies the existence of an Absolute Being as a datum for all these relative gradation. Thus Aquinas' five ways defined God as the Unmoved Mover, the First Cause, the Necessary Being, the Absolute Being and the Grand Designer
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Thomas Aquinas and the Five Ways
St. Thomas Aquinas (c1225-1274) is arguably the most important Catholic theologian in history. In his major work Summa Theologica, widely considered as the highest achievement of medieval systematic theology, Aquinas presented his five proofs of God's existence known as the Quinque Viae (Latin for "Five Ways"). [1] We will be presenting all the arguments in more detail a little later, at present we will give a brief rundown of all five arguments.
* Thomas' first way involves the evidence of motion. The fact, to Thomas, that every moving thing needs a mover shows that God, the Unmoved Mover, exists.
* The second way involves the notion of efficient cause. For the series of causes and effects, that we see in the world, to make sense it must have a beginning. God, the First Cause, therefore exists.
* The third way notes that every existing thing does not owe its existence to itself. However, if all things are contingent, there could not have been anything as at one time all these could be non-existent. To account for all existence, there must be a Necessary Being, God.
* The fourth way shows that there exist gradations in things, for example more noble and less noble, more true or less true. The existence of such gradations implies the existence of an Absolute Being as a datum for all these relative gradation.
* The fifth way argues that the behavior of things in the world implies a Grand Designer or architect, God. [2]
Thus Aquinas' five ways definedGod as the Unmoved Mover, the First Cause, the Necessary Being, the Absolute Being and the Grand Designer.
It should be noted that Aquinas' arguments are based on some aspects of the sensible world. Aquinas' arguments are therefore a posteriori in nature. By contrast, Anselm's argument is based purely on an a priori definition of God. [3] Aquinas' Five Ways are based ultimately on sense experience. Sense experience can never be infallible. Thus by themselves these arguments cannot establish the existence of God with complete certainty. However, should his arguments be valid, the existence of God would be an established fact on par with many of the discoveries of modern science.
The Roman Catholic Church considers the first three ways of Aquinas (collectively called The "Cosmological Arguments" [a]) as conclusive evidence for establishing the existence of God. [4] The Catholic Church notwithstanding, we will now proceed to examine for ourselves the validity of Aquinas' arguments.
We will now see how none of the five ways prove the existence of God:
* The First Way: God, the Prime Mover
* The Second Way: God, the First Cause
* The Third Way: God, the Necessary Being
* The Fourth Way: God, the Absolute Being
* The Fifth Way: God, the Grand Designer
The First Way: God, the Prime Mover
In the first way, God is defined as the Prime Mover. We will let Aquinas speak for himself in explaining his first argument for the existence of God.
The first and most manifest way is the argument from motion. It is certain, and evident to our senses that in the world some things are in motion. Now whatever is moved is moved by another, for nothing can be moved except it is in potentiality to that towards which it is moved; whereas a thing moves inasmuch as it is in act. For motion is nothing else than the reduction of something from potentiality to actuality. But nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actuality, except by something in a state of actuality. Thus that which is actually hot, as fire, makes wood, which is potentially hot, to be actually hot, but only in different respects. For what is actually hot cannot simultaneously be potentially hot: but it is simultaneously potentially cold. It is therefore impossible that in the same respect and in the same way a thing should be both mover and moved; i.e. that it should move itself. Therefore, whoever is moved must be moved by another. If that by which it is moved be itself moved, then this also needs to be move by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover, and consequently no mover, seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch that they are moved by the first mover; as the staff move only because it is moved by the hand. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, moved by no other; and this everyone understands to be God. [5]