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Medieval civilization was greatly influenced by the Muslims in Spain and The Middle East, and by Byzantine Empire and Christians in Southeast Europe. The power of The Church, in The Middle Ages, was enormous. It touched almost everyone’s life in many important ways. The Church baptized a person at birth, performed the wedding ceremony at people’ marriages, and conducted the burial services when one died. The Church would threaten to excommunicate (excommunicate-cut the person away from church and take all hope to go to heaven), those who would rebel against its power. Monopolization of culture, literature, science and philosophy in its hands gave The Church almost an unlimited power over the body and mind of medieval people. It is impossible to see the spiritual quest of medieval man outside of the boundary established by the church. On the other hand, The Church was creating universities and schools, encouraging theological debates and publishing of books. The search for God, inspired by religious ideals, gave birth to a colorful, diversified, and breathing culture of Middle Age. The church’s rule caused the fact that the main characteristic of medieval philosophy was theocentrism. During Middle Age philosophy was developing as a part of theology. Philosophy was a methodological basis for theological work of medieval, rather than independent study in constant search for the truth. One of the most important problems of medieval philosophy was the proof of God’s existence. As one of most valuable works on this topic one can name St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae, in which he states that existence of God, can be demonstrated in five different ways. Aquinas, Saint Thomas was born at approximately 1225 at Aquino castle in Roccasecca, Italy. As a philosopher-theologian he was arguably the most influential thinker of the medieval period. He produced a powerful synthesis that combined Aristotelian and Neoplatonic elements within a Christian context. He maintained the Christian theological traditions, inspired by Aristotle’s approach sought his own argument for God’s existence. Some people might say that proof of God’s existence empty of concept. Others, that God’s existence can not be rationally justified and acceptance of creator, no less than that of a Savior is a matter of Faith. But I agree with Anthony Kenny who wrote “… a valid philosophical proof of God’s existence would be sufficient, though not a necessary, condition for the possibility of a rational acceptance of theism…” That is why I would like to examine the five ways introduced by St. Thomas. St. Thomas combined, as I mentioned before, Aristotle's teachings with Christian doctrine. For example, Thomas argued that no conflict exists between reason and faith. Philosophy is based on reason, he declared, and theology comes from faith in divine revelation, yet both come from God. So Thomas believed that any differences between divine revelation and the conclusions of philosophy result from faulty reasoning. He also maintained that reason could support faith. Thomas accepted—on faith—the idea that God exists. However, he formulated five proofs of His existence to support such a belief. “The first way and most obvious way is based on motion (motus)”. It is very important to understand the true meaning of the word Motus. It can be translated as motion, this is the most conventional translation, but based on the text of the first way one can give it much wider meaning, like change. The word change would give us a full picture of the word motus; change of quality, like when the hot body becomes cold, change of quantity, like with an object increasing in size, and change of place, like local motion. Knowing this we can understand the fact that various things in our world are moved. But whatever is moved is moved by something else. To justify this, Thomas reasons that to be moved is to be reduced from potentiality to actuality. Nothing can then have to be in potency and in act in the same time and in the same respect. Whatever is moved, therefore, must be moved by something else. One can not regress to infinity with moved movers. If you have an infinite series of moved movers, you have an infinite number of bodies in motion whenever one of the series is in motion. “But any one of them, being finite, is in motion for finite time. Therefore all these infinite bodies are in motion for finite time. This is impossible.” Aquinas argues that one body can move another only if it is in contact with it, so all these contiguous moving and moved bodies make one large body, which is not infinite. This body would have to travel infinite distance in finite time; which is impossible. There we have it, we can not form infinite chain of moving and moved bodies, which leads us to the idea of the ultimate beginning which is not an infinity away. This might stand well with Aristotelian mechanics, but what about Newton and his laws? I would argue than, that the more we know about the universe, then with higher level of certainty we can say, everything in our world is affected (moved or changed) by something else (being moved by a mover). Einstein brought his theory of relativity to this world. Knowing it we can say that an X can be at rest relative to Y, but X at the same time can be moved by Y relative to Z. For example a rock which is on the surface of the earth in relation to the sun. Where the rock is X, the earth is Y and the sun is Z. Another point I would like to bring up is The Law of Conservation of Energy which states “Energy can not be created nor destroyed. It is only changed from one form to another.” What does it mean to the argument and us? It means that at one point all the energy was created at once and it changes its form by moving and being moved. The energy travels from X to Y to Z to…N, while X moves Y, Y moves Z and Z moves … N. Going back to infinite series of movers, which is impossible, we can argue about existence of a first mover which is moved by nothing else and this “everyone understand to be God” “The second way is based on the notion of efficient causation.” The second way has Aristotelian background. Aristotle proposed four types of explanations (causes). Material cause, like bronze of a statue. Formal cause, like definition of a man as “two legged land animal”. Third is the origin of a change, like father who begets a child. The Final cause, like the end or a goal, that for the sake of which something is done. Aquinas uses third type of Aristotelian explanation when he speaks of efficient cause in the second way. It might seem that second way overlaps with first way, but it is not true. The first way looks at the problem from the point of view of body acted upon, while the second way considers process from the other end, from the mover’s side rather then thing in motion. By the second way, Aquinas means that we that certain efficient causes cannot exercise their casual activity unless they are also caused by something else. But nothing can be the efficient cause of itself. One cannot regress to infinity in ordered efficient causes. In ordered efficient causes, the first is the cause of the intermediary, and intermediary is the cause of last, whether the intermediary is one or many. Hence if there were no first efficient cause, there would be no intermediary and no last cause. Animal reproduction is great as a support to the second way. The parent is an efficient cause of a child. A couple can have a particular child. Our knowledge of DNA and genes would support that there are no accidents, and that The Father and The Mother are the efficient cause of the child. But we also know that a very important part of evaluation is an environment. Could environment be accidental? Instead of making a statement on accidentalness of the environment I would rather refer to St. Thomas’s fifth way. In fifth proof Aquinas talks about the universe and how things are governed. He argues that ‘natural bodies’ (environment) rich their ends by ‘intention’. Which means that environment is not accidental ether. Therefor “man and sun beget man”. Using the example of parent-child series of causes we can see that something cannot be efficient cause of itself. ‘Such a thing would have to be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now it is impossible to go on forever in a series of efficient causes… if series goes on forever, then there will be no first efficient cause; and so there will be no final effect and no intermediate efficient cause, which is obviously false. Therefore it is necessary to posit some fist efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name ‘God’. ‘The third way is drawn from the possible and the necessary’, or contingent and necessary objects. Aquinas appeals to the fact that certain things are subject to generation and corruption to show that they are ‘possible’, i.e., capable of existing and not existing. Not all things can be of this kind, for that which has the possibility of not existing at some time does not exist. If, therefore, all things are capable of not existing, at some time there was nothing whatsoever. If that were so, even now there would be nothing, since what does not exist can only begin to exist through something else that exists. Therefor not all being are capable of existing and not existing. There must be some necessary being. Before Aquinas, Avicenna operated with a concept of necessity similar to that. The concept stated that God is a necessary being, since only in God does essence entails existence, and all creatures are contingent. But in his third way St. Thomas does not stop there. The establishing of necessary being does not proof God’s existence to Aquinas. He isolates ‘necessary beings who have the cause of their necessity outside themselves’ a description which could not apply to God. The third way, then, is not simply an argument from contingent being to necessary being. It does indeed start from contingent beings (things Which ‘have the possibility of being and of not being’), but it works through the existence of caused necessary being, to the existence of a being whose necessity is uncaused, which alone, among necessary beings, can be called God. In order to show that the necessary being can be uncaused, Aquinas refers to his earlier regress argument. In order to show that the uncaused necessary being is God, he offers no proof, and we may ask why might it not be perpetual, indestructible matter, and how can it be everlasting? The fourth way is based on the varying degrees of perfection we discover among the being we experience. Some are more or less good, more or less true, more or less noble, etc., then others. But the more and less are said of different things insofar as they approach in varying degrees something that is such to a maximum degree. Therefore there is something that is truest and best and noblest and hence that is also being to the maximum degree. To support this Thomas comments that those things that are true to the maximum degree also enjoy being to the maximum degree’ in other words he appeals to the convertibility between being and truth of being. In the second part of this argument Thomas argues that that what is supremely such on a given genus is the cause of all other things on that genus. “ Therefore there is something which causes being and goodness and any perfection in all things; and this we call God’ For example one may say that of two marble sculptures one is more beautiful then the other. So for these two objects, one has a greater degree of beauty than the other. Aquinas concluded that for any given quality (like beauty in this case) there must be a perfect standard by which all such qualities are measured. ‘…and this we call God’ The fifth way is based on the way things in the universe are governed. Thomas observes that certain things that lack the ability to know, i.e., natural bodies act for the sake of an end. This follows from the fact that they always or at least usually act in the same way to attain that, which is the best. Aquinas indicates that they reach their ends by ‘intention’ and not merely from chance. This proof of God’s existence is very important to me. I was told a story once. A agnostic came to a wise man and asked him: ”Is there God?”. The wise man told agnostic to comeback next day for an answer. When he came back next day he did not see the wise man there was only a beautiful poem written on the piece of papyrus. When agnostic finished reading it the wise man cam out and asked him:” Did you like it?” Agnostic sad:” Yes, I loved it, who is the author?” Wise man answered:” Nobody. Papyrus was laying on the table and ink spilled all over it, and this poem came out of it.” Agnostic sad:” No way. Such a beautiful poem has to have an author!” “If you think that this simple poem needs an author, why do not you think that this beautiful universe does not needs one?” This was the one and the only way I could argue Gods existence before I read Thomas’ five ways. Nowadays it is biology, rather then philosophy, that is called in aid by the argument of design. Some has argued that evaluation has a direction, a tendency to produce organisms of ever-greater complexity and ever-higher consciousness, which is the key to the future. Even Darwin’s theory of natural selection merely inserts an extra step between the phenomena to be explained and its ultimate explanation. Darwin’s success proved that lower animals did not have minds. ‘Now things which lack awareness do not tend towards a goal unless directed by a something with awareness and intelligence, like an arrow by an archer. Therefore there is some intelligent being by whom everything in nature is directed to a goal, and this we call God.’ Five ways can not be separated from its medieval background. Aquinas’ arguments would have to be modernized to withstand contemporary opposition of our days. But the thing that was the most appealing to me in St. Thomas’s work was its purity. ‘Acceptance of the truth of divine revelation presupposes the gift of the theological virtue of faith in believer’. Faith is prior to hope and charity. Some people might say that proof of God’s existence empty of concept. Others, that God’s existence can not be rationally justified and acceptance of Creator, no less than that of a Savior is a matter of Faith. But I agree with Anthony Kenny, who wrote, “… a valid philosophical proof of God’s existence would be sufficient, though not a necessary, condition for the possibility of a rational acceptance of theism…” Whenever I would need rational justification, or philosophical proof of God’s existence, I will offer the arguments of St. Thomas Aquinas as such justification. Bibliography: Bibliography Books Kenny, Anthony The Five Ways, Schoken Books Inc., New York 1969 Plantinga, Alvin The Ontological Argument, Anchor Books, New York 1965 Ansombe, G.E.M. and Geach, P.T. Three Philosophers, Cornell University Press, New York 1961 References Audi, Robert The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 1999 Longman Dictionary of American English, New York, 1983 Internet America on Line, keyword Search and Learn Word Count: 2620
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