Through the Argument of Possibility and Necessity, the existence of God is proven. Possibility is having the tendency to stop existing or being contingent. Necessity is a form from itself, which could not possibly have failed to exist. These two concepts and forms of being and the way they interact represent the existence of God.
Thomas Aquinas, medieval theologian and philosopher, asserted and taught Five Ways to prove the existence of God. One argument of these five that I find to be especially valid is his Third Way, which is the Argument from Possibility and Necessity. A brief overview of Aquinas’s argument begins with knowing things in nature either are or aren’t as they come into being just as they go out of being. These are contingent …show more content…
A being exists in material form from external cause. By looking at the classifications of God as being absolutely simple and perfect, not entering into composition from other things, unlimited, omnipresent, and immaterial it is apparent how he can be addressed as the Necessary Being. As stated in Metaphase Ii of Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, “so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being,” presents the purest form of God as truth (Evans, 2016). In recognizing this truth in its nature it is apparent how its existence shapes and causes all other contingent and possible beings. If God is of truth and unlimited nature then the creation of all possible beings under him can be true.
On the contrary, there are several objections and defenses against Aquinas’ Five Ways and in specific to the argument of Possibility and Necessity proving the existence of God. There are other beliefs on the initial creation and beginning of the world. The overall argument is tautological and repetitive. How can it be assumed there is only one non-contingent and Necessary Being. With different religions how can one God be seen as this Necessary …show more content…
The end argument of the whole argument on Possibility and Necessity concludes by saying, “this all men speak of as God,” but it is not justified why this being would be defined as God. God is a conscious being but Aquinas’s argument does not provide reason why that first cause and necessary being must be conscious. In one of Aquinas’s works, the Summa Theologiae, he gives an assertion of the existence of God in which both the opponents and audience were familiar with the background and philosophical outlooks of the subject at hand. Some of these people included Christian scholars and followers of certain Muslim and Jewish philosophers. In this sense, Aquinas was, ‘preaching to the choir,’ or to all who already accepted the existence of God, as presented in, An Examination of Thomas Aquinas’ Cosmological Arguments as found in the Five Ways (Foutz, 1999). This God is self-caused and exists in his own necessity and it is absurd to claim that nothing is in existence now, so we know something started it all. In saying that it is one God will always be refuted by different religions if they already believe in different Gods but a supreme being is indeed a Necessary being needed for creation of all
Thomas Aquinas, medieval theologian and philosopher, asserted and taught Five Ways to prove the existence of God. One argument of these five that I find to be especially valid is his Third Way, which is the Argument from Possibility and Necessity. A brief overview of Aquinas’s argument begins with knowing things in nature either are or aren’t as they come into being just as they go out of being. These are contingent …show more content…
A being exists in material form from external cause. By looking at the classifications of God as being absolutely simple and perfect, not entering into composition from other things, unlimited, omnipresent, and immaterial it is apparent how he can be addressed as the Necessary Being. As stated in Metaphase Ii of Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, “so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being,” presents the purest form of God as truth (Evans, 2016). In recognizing this truth in its nature it is apparent how its existence shapes and causes all other contingent and possible beings. If God is of truth and unlimited nature then the creation of all possible beings under him can be true.
On the contrary, there are several objections and defenses against Aquinas’ Five Ways and in specific to the argument of Possibility and Necessity proving the existence of God. There are other beliefs on the initial creation and beginning of the world. The overall argument is tautological and repetitive. How can it be assumed there is only one non-contingent and Necessary Being. With different religions how can one God be seen as this Necessary …show more content…
The end argument of the whole argument on Possibility and Necessity concludes by saying, “this all men speak of as God,” but it is not justified why this being would be defined as God. God is a conscious being but Aquinas’s argument does not provide reason why that first cause and necessary being must be conscious. In one of Aquinas’s works, the Summa Theologiae, he gives an assertion of the existence of God in which both the opponents and audience were familiar with the background and philosophical outlooks of the subject at hand. Some of these people included Christian scholars and followers of certain Muslim and Jewish philosophers. In this sense, Aquinas was, ‘preaching to the choir,’ or to all who already accepted the existence of God, as presented in, An Examination of Thomas Aquinas’ Cosmological Arguments as found in the Five Ways (Foutz, 1999). This God is self-caused and exists in his own necessity and it is absurd to claim that nothing is in existence now, so we know something started it all. In saying that it is one God will always be refuted by different religions if they already believe in different Gods but a supreme being is indeed a Necessary being needed for creation of all