St. Thomas Aquinas Cosmological Argument

Words: 601

Pages: 3

Open Document

In St. Thomas Aquinas Cosmological argument he tells his listeners that because the universe is currently in motion something first had to start that motion. I find this part of his argument to be very interesting and incredibly plausible. When studying science one of the first things we cover is Newton's Law of Motion. Newton tells us that in order for an object to move it must first meet with and external force. The object cannot move without some cause behind it. When we consider Newton's Law with our currently moving universe the idea of a higher being seems more likely. If there is not a higher being this still leaves us with a curious question. What moved our universe?

William Paley's argument seems most likely to be true when questioning the existence of God. Paley's argues that because artifacts that are created by humans, and that the universe itself resembles human artifacts, that the world must also have been created by intelligent design. He also argues that the world is too complex to be anything but a creation of a grand designer. Paley's argument seems the most plausible. This is because just looking at how large of a scale the universe is on, and how incredibly complex it all is. Everything from a single celled organism to the vast expansion of …show more content…
This is the argument that St. Anselm presented. In someways this could be seen as logical and plausible argument. After all if we think up an infinite and all powerful being that's greater than God, wouldn't that become God? On the other hand just because a person can think of a something doesn't mean that it necessarily exists. Gaunilo argued against St. Anselm's with this very logic. But in order for Gaunilo's argument to work that would mean that God would have to have a beginning and an end, which would completely void the term infinite from God's definition. In order for God to be real he would have to be

Cosmological argument essay

“Explain Aquinas’ cosmological argument” The cosmological argument or first cause argument is that everything has a cause, causal chains cannot be infinite, and so there must be an uncaused cause at its origin. It is a posteriori argument (knowledge gained after experience) which attempts to prove that there is a rational basis for the belief in God. Christian philosopher St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) came up with the cosmological argument not to prove the existence of God but rather solidify his…

Words 507 - Pages 3

League of Natyiom Essay

What is Cosmological Argument? The word ‘cosmos’ refers to the universe as an ordered, harmonious and holistic entity. The cosmological argument therefore argues for the existence of God a posterior based on the apparent order in the universe. There was a Saint called St. Thomas Aquinas born 1225 March 7th and he died 1274. He is the idea that philosophy can help us come to a better understanding of theology- the study of God. Aquinas asked this question “is it obvious that there is a God?” he…

Words 464 - Pages 2

The Existence Of God

with me nor am I the only one to have questioned it. The existence of God has created controversial issues and questions for as long as time itself. There are many arguments for and against the existence of God. To clarify this question, on a lot of minds all over the world, whether or not God exists I will explore atheism, the cosmological proof theory, and the necessity in proving his existence. Proof is usually necessary in Science. This occurs when an experiment is conducted and the evidence…

Words 2512 - Pages 11

Cosmological Argument Essay

features of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. The cosmological argument comes from the Greek ‘cosmos’ meaning universe. It is one of the oldest arguments that attempts to prove the existence of God. It does this based on the starting point that there is a universe, and seeks to prove why there is a universe rather than nothingness. It takes the form of an a posteriori argument. This means that it is inductive and so based on experience. It is also a synthetic argument, meaning that…

Words 1304 - Pages 6

REsearch God Existence Essay

Long Tran Phil 1301 November 25, 2014 Quiz 4: Part II. The traditional arguments for God existence are the ontological argument and the cosmological argument. Begin with two out of five ways of the cosmological argument. The very first one is the way of Motion. According to Aquinas information, the motion is certain, and evident to our sense, 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…

Words 1086 - Pages 5

Essay on Does God Exist?

when their faith alone was just not enough for them to believe. Humans have a natural instinct to find reasons for events that can't be explained. For some, the existence of God may help provide them the answers they are looking for. The ontological argument proposed by Saint Anselm of Canterbury in 1708 suggests "that than which nothing greater can be conceived", arguing that this could exist in the mind and what exists in the mind, must also exist in reality. "Even when a fool hears of a being than…

Words 1981 - Pages 8

Module 4 Essay

The second way dealt with events that cause other events. If an event happens, then some prior even outside of itself must cause it. It can not be an infinite chain of cause and effect. God was the first cause and effect. The third way (cosmological argument) stated that contingent things exist. Each contingent thing has a time when it fails to exist since objects can not be eternal. If everything was contingent, then there would be a time in the past when nothing existed. There has to be some…

Words 1426 - Pages 6

Essay about God cannot be proved

The Mysterious God The need or desire to worship and revere seems to be inherent in man. We have always been spiritual beings, praising the gods and fearing the demons. We have always held deep beliefs regarding the afterlife and our nature. For centuries, the idea of a God has been a part of mankind’s history. Its human nature to attempt to intellectually analyze, criticize and evaluate the information in which we come in contact. However, we often struggle with matters regarding “eternity” because…

Words 2301 - Pages 10

The First Way: a Thomistic Cosmological Argument Essay

Thomas Aquinas was a medieval Aristotelian philosopher and theologian who played a very influential role in shaping Christian theology and Scholastic philosophy. Though Thomas Aquinas’ writings covered a wide range of philosophy, for this essay I shall utilize his writings on philosophy of religion. Thomas Aquinas has five primary arguments for God’s existence that come from his most well known work, the Summa Theologiae. Those five arguments are known as the “Quinque Viae” or Five Ways. St. Thomas…

Words 4603 - Pages 19

Existence and God Essay

EXISTENCE OF GOD Logical argument: Gods existence doesn’t use evidence only thought. (Idea that you can prove that God is real by using the word God.) If you can picture something greater then God then you don’t really believe in God. Empirical Argument: Used evidence, its uses our observation. (“the fact that we can observe that most people believe in God, for ex. Provides evidence that there is God.” -Pena) Most arguments of God are empirical. Argument of design : (things look…

Words 1018 - Pages 5