5 Reasons God exists.

 

The human being has been considering the existence of God practically since its origins. In the Christian religion, part of our belief in God is based on faith. In other words,  it cannot be demonstrated that God exists  and that our relationship with Him and with life effectively passes through choosing to believe. But today one of the most important philosophical bases to talk about this subject is what a saint wrote in the 13th century:  Thomas Aquinas.

Santo Tomás is a historical reference of philosophy, and his five ways for the demonstration that God exists, are only a small part of his contribution. He was part of the Order of Preachers and  is considered one of the Doctors of the Church.  Even today the author of the Summa theologiae and its famous five ways are studied.

5 Reasons God exists by Thomas Aquinas.

The five ways are five reasons by which the human being reaches the conclusion of the necessary existence of a superior being. In other words,  faith and reason are not only not at odds,  but they can walk hand in hand. It is obvious that this important text is not a scientific experiment, and that it does not certify that God exists. Nor is it his claim.

1. The movement

“The senses show us that there are things in the world that change. Everything that moves is moved by another. In the series of engines you cannot continue indefinitely. There must be a First Engine not moved by anyone, that is to say God.”

The reasoning is simple. If I drop a glass and spill the water on my shirt, it is not a coincidence, but there is a causation. There has been a force (my elbow), which has thrown that glass, and the water has not magically ended on my shirt,  there is a cause, and that is that the glass was full.

Who is the God that the Catholic Church really believes in?

Therefore, if everything we see is moving – it is evident – and everything has been moved by another force, there  must be a First Motor . Something that is the first move, that has made everything else move.

2. Efficient causes

“In the sensible world there is an order of efficient causes. However, we do not find, nor is it possible, that something is an efficient cause of itself, since it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. […] If it is efficient if we take this procedure to infinity, there would be no efficient first cause, consequently there would be no ultimate effect or intermediate cause, and this is absolutely false. Therefore, it is necessary to  admit a first efficient cause.  Everyone calls it God. ” and they thank you God for forgiving them.

Nothing is the cause of itself, that is, I don’t know why I exist.  I have not created myself , and I do not find anything in our world that is caused by itself. So there is a need for there to be a first cause, which is God.

3. Be absolutely necessary

“Things may or may not exist, so they are contingent. Contingent beings do not have the principle of their existence in themselves. The indefinite series of relatively necessary beings is not possible.  There must be an absolutely Necessary Being.”

Neither you nor I are necessary. But we exist, and we don’t know why. We have already seen that we have not created ourselves, but in addition, we would not have to exist. Obviously there was a time when we did not exist,  but if that happened with all beings, we would not exist. There must be something that has always existed. We exist, therefore there must be a being that exists out of necessity, and that being is God.

4. Perfection

Well, we find that goodness, truthfulness, nobility and other values ​​are found in things. […] There is something, therefore, that is very truthful, very good, very noble; and Consequently, it is the maximum being; for things that are extremely true are maximum beings, as stated in II Metaphys. Since in any genus, the maximum becomes the cause of what belongs to that genus – thus fire, which is the maximum heat, is the cause of all heats, as explained in the same book – in the same way  there is something that in all beings is the cause of their existence,  of their goodness, of any other perfection. We call him God. “

There is good and evil, and we know that there is a graduation in both good and evil – which may be the lack of good. Therefore, there must  be a Supreme Good , a Perfect Being that we call God.

5. The order of the universe

Well, we see that there are things that do not have knowledge, such as natural bodies, and that work for a purpose. This can be verified by observing how they always or often do the same to achieve the best. From which it follows that , to achieve their goal, they do not act randomly, but intentionally.  Things that have no knowledge  do not tend to the end without being directed by someone with knowledge and intelligence, like the arrow by the archer. Therefore, there is someone intelligent by the fact that all things are directed to the end. We call Him God. “

It is not difficult – nor does it take a great scientist – to see the order that exists in nature and the universe. The world is governed by a series of ‘laws’ and there can be no ‘laws’ without a legislator. There must be an Intelligent Being  who has ordered the world and who directs natural things.