Aristotle and St. Thomas: Five Proofs of God’s Existence
The following are five proofs of God’s existence, drawing from the philosophies of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas:
The First Cause Argument
The second proof comes from Aristotle and is based on causality. It stems from the premise that “nothing can cause itself,” leading to the concept of God as the first cause, the foundation for all purpose. Nothing can cause itself because it would have to exist prior to itself. St. Thomas elaborates on this, presenting God as the first cause, not a cause in itself. The proof lies in the idea that without the influence of a first cause, all secondary causes would be deprived of activity. The nature of any secondary cause is that it is God’s instrument. St. Thomas expands the meaning of cause to include the very being of things, thus arriving at the idea of creation ex nihilo (out of nothing).
The Argument from Contingency
The third proof is based on the contingency of beings and draws from Arabic philosophy. It starts with the premise that “that which can not be, ever gets to be free.” God is reached as the necessary foundation for all contingency.
“Contingent beings” are those that exist after not having existed. They are limited beings, opposed to a necessary being (which must exist). If only contingent beings existed, then there would be nothing, because the contingent cannot be the basis of absolute nothingness, as it can cease to exist.
However, there is something in the world; therefore, there must be a necessary being: God, the creator and curator of contingent beings.
The Argument from Degrees of Perfection
The fourth proof is based on the degrees of perfection. It begins with the premise that “different degrees of perfection imply a maximum degree, because of the lower grades,” and leads to God as the perfect being.
A limited perfection cannot exist by itself, and if there were no limit, there would be a being that comes close. However, this pathway is difficult to show that there is a maximum of maximum perfection, and that is because of the lower grades.
St. Thomas, in other works, made this argument in another way, using the concept of participation. It starts with the premise that “there are beings that contain being by participation, but are not being itself,” and leads to God as being in essence.
Thomas views the world as a hierarchy of degrees of perfection, emulating God or partaking of the divine perfection in terms of its essence.
Thomas connects two philosophical truths with the Bible: that man was made in the image and likeness of God, and that God saw that everything done for him was good. Thomas weakens the notion of participation to avoid pantheism.
The Argument from Harmonious World Order
The fifth proof is based on the harmonious world order. It observes the final order and intelligence in the universe, which God has ordained as intelligence.
There are two opposing interpretations of the universe: mechanistic and finalist.
- The finalist interpretation is based on the complexity and perfection, consistency, and accuracy of the universe. These facts lead the finalist to deny chance as an explanation, affirming the need for an orderly mind.
- The mechanistic interpretation points to facts that cast doubt on the wisdom of nature, such as mass production, waste, useless and whimsical structures, vestigial organs, defective designs, species extinction, and the appearance of anomalies.
These facts lead the mechanist to deny any purpose in the universe and claim that random elements explain the state of nature.
Kant criticizes this proof, acknowledging its sensible nature, but argues that order can be caused by an anthropomorphic view. The order is relative and also indicates disorder. The proof, in any case, proves the existence of an architect, but not a creator.