Aquinas Proof For God's Existence

Significant evidence for God’s existence has failed to settle the ongoing debate regarding whether or not God exists. Philosophers have formulated theories to either prove or disprove God’s existence. Evidently, there is not a correct theory since God’s existence can actually ever be proven, however, there are philosophers who are more successful in arguing for their views of God’s existence compared to other philosophers. Thomas Aquinas, a renowned philosopher and regarded as one of the greatest Christian theologians, philosophized about the existence of God. Aquinas’ five ways thoroughly explain how God exists by noting how certain notions in our universe cannot work solely on their own. Thomas Aquinas’s proof for the existence of God is …show more content…
Self-evident propositions are propositions in which the evidence of its truth lies in the proposition itself. Aquinas says “God exists” is a self-evident proposition in itself. Which is true, but just stating “God exists”, does not permit for those who do not believe God exists, to understand how the proposition will prove any existence. In order for a proposition to be self-evident to us, there must be an understanding in addition to the proposition being self-evident within itself. An atheist may argue that solely saying “God exists” does not imply he actually exists, there has to be further analysis in order to make an atheist question whether or not God exists. Aquinas does not rely exclusively on self-evident propositions for his argument for God’s existence, his argument for God’s existence answers the proposition and guides us through the five ways in which prove that God does in fact …show more content…
There are two types of existence that Aquinas introduces: necessary and contingent existence. Aquinas’ third way is the concept of necessary and contingent existence. As humans, we are contingent beings; we at one point had no existence, are born into existence and when we die we no longer exist again. In order for a contingent being to exist, there must be a necessary being that does not go out of existence like a contingent being does. In order for our existence to occur there had to be a being that existed before us in order to allow for our existence. Considering we exist, there must be a necessary being that allowed contingent beings to exist. That necessary being is God because it is impossible for a contingent being to come from a contingent being in the beginning of time because there was a point where the contingent beings did not exist, so the necessary being had to have initially intervened to create the first contingent being. The fourth way, Aquinas elaborates on human characteristics, ranging from awful to excellent, but he comments on there’s a being that is the maximum of greatness, a being that is the embodiment of perfection, which Aquinas says is God. The fifth way that God exists is the movement towards the final end. There are objects that are non-intelligent which require guidance in order to reach the final end. If these objects do not receive