Out of necessity in Aristotelian philosophy, God is the ultimate cause, the “first mover,” that ends infinite regressions in philosophical debate over what set the physical world into motion (q.2 a.3). Aquinas explicitly references Aristotle’s Metaphysics in his fourth argument for the existence of God, naming God as the ultimate form of attributes of gradation from which all other things derive their level of any particular quality. Moreover, Aquinas utilizes Metaphysics again to demonstrate that while the sacrament is physically two separate components, consisting of “dry” and “wet sustenance,” it is “formally and perfectly one” (q.73 a.2). By separating the physical and formal natures of a substance or object, Aquinas is able to explain the process of transubstantiation; the substance of an object changes while its accidents, or non-essential qualities, remain the …show more content…
Further, he later employs predication to discuss the attributes of creations in relation to God, arguing that descriptors of creations are not univocal to God as “‘healthy’ [is] predicated of medicine” (q.13 a.5). In addition, Aquinas adopts Aristotle’s theory on knowledge, stating that “natural knowledge begins from sense,” which carries on to influence how he analyzes human intellect (q.12 a.12). Lastly, Aquinas adopts the Aristotelian theory of the forms, naming God as a form and declaring that only blessed men can know his essence (q.12 a.1 RObj.2). Through his adoption of Aristotelian philosophy as an avenue to enhance the understanding of his religious arguments, even if out of necessity for his arguments to be considered valid during his time, Aquinas made his proofs intellectually accessible to a larger number of people and, most importantly, used connections from the physical world to delve deeper into