St. Thomas Aquinas & His Proof

What are five examples of proof that Aquinas gives to prove the existence of god?

The first example that St. Thomas Aquinas gave is the idea of motion and change. Change occurs, according to him, when an external factor causes the change. There must be a thing that sets the change in motion as everything has a potential for change. Aquinas uses firewood as an example, the firewood has potential to be hot but that change cannot occur until something that exist lights the wood on fire. Once it has changed, the process cannot keep continuing. This thing cannot be the mover and the moved, similar to something hot cannot get hotter, but had the potential to be cold. He says that in the grand scheme of things, there must have been a first mover, which according to him is God.

The second example is chain of cause. Basically, a proof is tied with the first one, that every single cause and effect must start somewhere which is like dominoes. One cause leads to another to then another one. Not having the first cause prevents the last cause from occurring or the whole chain. The first cause, he claims, is God.

The third example of proof is that everything has a cause for existing or does not. Although, there is one thing that exists without a cause of anything. It must exist in nature of its own, independent which in other words is God.

The fourth proof that Aquinas said is that everything has certain attributes, such as good and evil etc. These degree of attributes can increase or decrease, hence they are some kinder than others. He provides an example about heat and that it continues until it reaches it’s great extent which similar to the degree of things that are found in the world which also increase towards the highest or greatest point. God, as Aquinas points out, is the cause of all existence and perfection.

The last proof is the claim of that natural beings function to a plan. These beings follow the plans of higher being than them, similar to an arrow by an archer. According to Aquinas, there must be one thing that is smarter than others and is capable of guiding itself and everything below it to which he says that that is God.