God Our Father

(looking at nature, creation, reason)

Light Notes on St. Thomas Aquinas Five Proofs

I. Motion. We observe motion is all around us. (conditioned on the here and now dependent) For something to be in motion, it must be put into motion by another object in motion. This other object was put into motion by another object preceding it and so forth.

Cannot have an endless backwards infinite series, an infinite series would have no first mover and thus no subsequent movement. There is a first unmoved mover, which we understand to be God.

potential movement -> actual movement

motion/motus: change, of any kind. Growth in physical life and knowledge. (The unenergized energizer)

examples: learning a language, logs in a fireplace can potentially be cold or hot

motion is going from potentiality to actuality. Something can move from potential to actualized, and requires another actual for it to be moved. That moved actuality was moved by a mover and so on.

Life. That mysterious thing. That thing that makes me happy and sad, at times the greatest gift and sometimes burdensome, what I know best and I know least.

We always associate life with movement or activity. An animal moving is an animal that is alive. A child filled with joy – full of life. The activity must come from the inside. Inner activity.

(Motion here meaning motus, “change” and not to be confused with moving from one location to another in the same state without change, not mere animation or movement)

II. Efficient Cause. We observe that everything has an efficient cause and that nothing is or can be the cause of itself. (table made by carpenter, carpenter made/created by parents, etc)

Cannot go back infinitely, because every cause is dependent on a previous cause. No first cause means no intermediate cause and no final cause. There must be a first efficient cause, which we call God.

The First Cause outside of all creation that caused creation to come into existence.

III. Necessary vs Possible Being. Contingency. We observe in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, as they come into existence and pass out of existence. There is a time before they are yet to be and a time after when they are no more.

Cannot have everything as merely possible contingent beings, then it would allow a time of nothing. Therefore some being exists of its own necessity, and does not receive its existence from another being, but rather causes them. This all men speak of as God.

There must be one Necessary Being, one non-contingent being, we call God.

Something is contingent if it depends on something before it to exist.

IV. Degrees of Perfection. We evaluate things and people in terms of their being more or less perfectly true, good, noble, etc. We have certain standards of how things and people should be.

But we would have no such standards unless there were some being that is perfect in every way, something that is the truest, noblest, and best. That most perfecting being we call God.

Story: We say something is good when it the purpose in which it was made for. Example: a pencil.

It is good when it writes, bad when it breaks or used for another purpose, such as a can opener. It would be bad, and destroy it.

Evil= excess or defect of what is good (too much or too little sleep or food is bad). All badness is spoiled goodness.

V. Design. In nature, we observe that inanimate and non-intelligent objects act toward a goal or purpose. These objects do not achieve their purpose or goal by chance, but rather according to a plan.

An arrow reaches its target because it is directed by an archer, what lacks intelligence achieves goals by being directed by something intelligent.

An intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end, this being we call God.