Thomas Aquinas 5 Proofs

Thomas Aquinas

In my paper I am going to talk about Thomas Aquinas and how he discusses the five proofs of Gods existence. I am going to do this by first giving you the exact wording of what Thomas said in each of his five proofs. Then I will give you my description of it and how I defined what he is trying to tell us about these proofs and the existence of God. After giving you a description I will then give you a couple examples to hopefully give you a better understanding in what Thomas is saying.

Thomas Aquinas had many great works and writings. He wrote “many disputations on various theological questions, commentaries on books of the Bible, commentaries on twenty works of Aristotle and others, and nearly forty miscellaneous notes, sermons, lectures, poems, and treatises.” (Soccio, Douglas J. 234-247). He is known for his greatest work, the Summa Theologica, in which he developed a summary of logical conclusions about his faith. “ In reality it is a complete scientifically arranged exposition of theology and at the same time a summary of Christian philosophy.” (Kennedy, D. J.) In the first part of this work, Thomas Aquinas discusses about the five ways of proving the existence of God. The question of whether God exists or not is one of the most asked question in philosophy. Out of the five proofs each of them has a pattern that it follows. Each one starts with a natural effect that we can all relate to which makes it easier for us to understand what Thomas Aquinas is trying to discuss. Movement and growth are examples of this. Thomas then explains that the only answer for all five proofs is God. This proves his point that God exists.

-The first proof on the existence of God that Thomas discuses’ is based on motion. Thomas says:

Therefore, whatever is moved must be moved by another. If that by which it is moved by itself moved, then this is also must needs be moved by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then...