Aquinas's Five Proofs for the Existence of God

Does God exist? Can we even answer this question reasonably?

St. Thomas Aquinas, a great theologian and philosopher, expressed the rational basis for the existence of God with five proofs:

👉 The First Mover
🧨 Causation
♾ Contingency
👌Degree
🥅 Final End

1) 👉 The First Mover

Everything can move.

Everything that moves was moved by something else.

Something must have been the first mover.

God was the first mover.

2) 🧨 Causation

Nothing causes itself to exist.

Without our parents, we don’t exist.

Without their parents, they don’t exists.

What existed first?

The first cause: God.

3) ♾ Contingency

Something either exists or not.

There was a time when something that exists didn’t exist yet.

What existed before all things existed?

All that exists is contingent upon that which always existed: God.

4) 👌Degree

We can compare things by degrees of perfection.

Some things are more perfect than others.

A circle, for example, can be drawn more perfectly round than another circle.

What would be the most perfect of all?

God is absolute perfection.

5) 🥅 Final End

Everything has a goal.

Why?

What tells a plant to grow or an animal to eat?

What tells the planet to spin?

There must be some intelligence behind all these ends.

God gives the goals.

God directs the final end.

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[blitzzkrieg]

Keep your great work going, brother! I wish you more subscribers and viewers in the future

[tlewisable]

Great episode! I agree with all five and your final point about relationship with God. Very important.

[lightowl]

I just came across your channel. You have great content and are an excellent teacher. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[Enigmatic_philosopher]

Here is a philosophical critique of the arguments presented:

The cosmological arguments presented (first mover, causation, contingency) all suffer from similar flaws. They attempt to prove the existence of God by arguing that everything must have a cause or origin, and that the ultimate origin must be God. However, this reasoning is circular - it assumes what it sets out to prove. Why must there necessarily be one "first mover" or "first cause"? Could there not be multiple origins, or an infinite regress of causes stretching back eternally? Asserting the necessity of a single, divine origin is an assumption, not a proof.

The argument from degrees suffers from anthropocentrism. It assumes human notions of perfection and scales of value apply universally. But why should degrees of perfection necessitate a most perfect being? Could there not be multiple paths toward perfection, or different types of perfection not comparable on a single scale? This argument seems to project human biases onto the cosmos.

The argument from final ends has difficulties as well. Even granting goal-oriented behavior in nature, why must those goals originate from a divine source? Could they not emerge spontaneously according to natural principles? Associating intentionality with natural processes may be an unwarranted projection of human qualities onto non-conscious systems.

Overall, these arguments offer intriguing perspectives, but seem to rely more on intuitive leaps and assumptions than deductive logic. Valid critiques could be raised about the necessity of first causes, whether divine attributes apply universally, and assumptions of intention underlying natural phenomena. While these arguments may point to interesting philosophical possibilities, they do not appear to constitute definitive or airtight proofs. There seem to be reasonable counterpoints and alternative perspectives that cannot be logically excluded.

[zoetic]

This still doesn't get you to any of the religions that have ever existed.

[d.o.]

I don’t think anyone in 2024 would be moved to believe by these arguments. To me, faith is the strongest argument. If you prove God, then it is not God anymore

[gowdsake]

Really ? middle age debunked waffle ? Not surprised iron age myths convince you