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Sept. 1, 2008 St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), considered by many as the greatest theologian of the Catholic Church, enunciated five proofs of the existence of God. Three of these proofs are so similar to each other that they might be called clones. So there is no need to deal with all three. Perhaps the most famous is the Argument of the First Cause. Basically, the argument goes like this: It is inconceivable that the Universe is eternal, so it must have been created. And that which created the Universe is what people call God. Anyone who doesn't trust or like my paraphrase may read the authoritative translation of the argument below. And to that I have appended Wikipedia's summary. I can't understand how a man who lived in the thirtenth century thought he could decide at his writing table whether or not the Universe is eternal. No one knows or can ever know the particulars of the existence of the ancient Universe. The one fact that I think everyone can agree upon is that the Universe now exists. And that is all that Aquinas would have had to state to make his case for the existence of God. He might have said that that which enables the Universe, whether eternal or finite, to exist is what people call God. Therefore the truth or falsity of the idea of a created Universe is irrelevant. There could be a God in any case. However, let's not quibble. Let's let Aquinas have it his way: the Universe was created and that which created it is what people call God. But, instead of calling it God, let us call it the Creator of the Universe. Then we conclude: That which created the Universe is the what people call the Creator of the Universe. Quite true! But not very informative. Aquinas has attempted to hide a childishly stupid tautology by making Creator of the Universe synonymous with God. We can accept the idea that the Creator of the Universe, if indeed it was created rather than eternal, may be called God. But that does not entitle us to make any other statements about God. We don't know whether God is concrete or abstract, material or spiritual, organic or inert, animate or inanimate, mortal or immortal, conscious or unconscious. We don't know whether God has volition, emotion, senses, rules or memory. All we know is that God created the Universe, if it was created. Water is wet, so something must have made it wet, and whatever made water wet is what people call God! God as thus delineated can in no way be connected with the Bible. Nor does it matter, since the Bible is demonstrably false in many, many particulars, and should not be trusted at all. Authoritative translation of Aquinas' proof: The second way is from the nature of the efficient cause. In the world of sense we find there is an order of efficient causes. There is no case known (neither is it, indeed, possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself; for so it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now in efficient causes it is not possible to go on to infinity, because in all efficient causes following in order, the first is the cause of the intermediate cause, and the intermediate is the cause of the ultimate cause, whether the intermediate cause be several, or only one. Now to take away the cause is to take away the effect. Therefore, if there be no first cause among efficient causes, there will be no ultimate, nor any intermediate cause. But if in efficient causes it is possible to go on to infinity, there will be no first efficient cause, neither will there be an ultimate effect, nor any intermediate efficient causes; all of which is plainly false. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God. http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/fiveways.htm Wikipedia's summary: The argument of the first cause (ex causa): Some things are caused. Everything that is caused is caused by something else. An infinite regress of causation is impossible. Therefore, there must be an uncaused cause of all caused things. This causer is what we call God. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquae_viae ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Visit my website here. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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