Thomas Aquinas's five ways and philosophical arguments for God's existence

Existence of God for years has been the most debated topic. Many philosophers, scientists and theologians have presented their views about the existence of God and provided proofs to validate their theories and beliefs in this regard (Existence of God, 2004). Without the evidences all arguments and theories shall be rendered useless due to lack of generalization. It would be more of a subjective argument, pertaining to one's own concepts and beliefs, rather than an objective one. Knowledge about the God's existence according to epistemology differs from a mere belief about it, by justifications and verifiable evidences that help in the identification of truth and reality. However, if no conclusions can be derived from scientific or non-scientific approaches and no proofs or evidences are found then it simply indicates that the existence of God is not a question that could scientifically be proven.

Arguments

There exist a number of arguments that support or refute the view that God exists. All these arguments are different aspects of a worldview and each of these appear as the most important aspect compared to the others.

Empirical Argument

The empirical argument includes Aquinas Five Ways, Quinque viae, by the theologian Thomas Aquinas. Gracyk (2004) in his article states that Aquinas's argument does not provide self sufficient evidences to prove that God exists but to give an introduction to God without any involvement of religious experiences. The first and the foremost way is the Unmoved Mover argument, according to which some things are always in motion according to human senses as the potential motion becomes actual motion. A potential motion cannot be converted to actual motion itself; that is nothing can move because of its independent forces. Something else therefore having actual motion helps in the conversion of potential motion. From this it is derived that there exists a first mover, that has not been moved by anything else and this is whom everyone refers to as God.

The second way is the Efficient Causes argument, according to which nothing in this world exists prior to itself, that is everything that happens has a cause. Without the cause the resultant wouldn't happen. For this reason in a series of happenings if the first thing does not happen or the cause for the other things is series does not exist then nothing exists in that entire series. Therefore, people admit that the first efficient cause is God.

The third way is the Necessity and Possibility argument, which claims that all beings are contingent that there is a possibility that they may not exist. At some point in time when nothing may have existed and nothing could possibly bring into existence the contingent beings today. From this it is derived that not all beings are contingent that is there should exist something that exists of its own necessity and is the cause for the existence of every other being (Gracyk, 2004). Such a being is regarded as the God.

The fourth way is the Gradation of Being argument, according to which everything and every being in this world can be sorted into grades. Some may be better while others may be worse (Gracyk, 2004). The highest degree of grades can be predicted only if there exists a reference point. Comparing to the reference anything less than that maximum grade is graded less. In this world, people refer to the most perfect and symbol of goodness as God.

The last and the fifth way is Design argument, which argues that it is not by chance that every natural being fights towards a goal. Every natural being does not have the knowledge to decide the goals and targets for itself. They are like an arrow that is directed towards the target by the archer, but if left on its own the arrow does not have any target and does not even move in its direction (Gracyk, 2004). Therefore, there exists a body which directs all these natural beings towards their targets. This natural body is regarded as God.

Deductive Argument

The ontological arguments are based mainly on the a priori reasoning and not on empirical evidences. There are certain claims that exist in this world, whose existence never requires even a second thought because their reality is an established fact. For instance saying a triangle with four sides, without even thinking one can declare the claim to be false. Similarly, existence of God is not even a question that requires justification for verification. The concept that God does not exist is too absurd to be accepted by human minds. The foundation of these deductive arguments is the following premises:

The only greatest conceivable being is the God

To exist is greater than to not exist

From the first two premises it is logical to derive that God exists.

Conscience Argument

An individual's conscience has greater authority over the person and it defines the obligations (Kreeft, 1994). The conscience is not affected by anything less than the individual that exists in nature or anything equal to him. Because in either case the individual would not want to be directed by the conscience, that is influenced by sources less than or equal to the individual. Therefore, their need to exist a superior being which when directs the conscience, the individual considers it as a source of moral obligation.

The strongest argument of all is that in which individuals bear witness to the existence of God that is the individuals being the witness of miracles, Holy Book, Jesus and the Angels. The subjective arguments or arguments through experience are the result of human reasoning and Gods superiority and most importantly His existence is visible clearly in the things He has created. Empirical argument cannot be regarded as the strongest because if the premises cannot be tested the argument shall be refuted. Whereas, the ontological argument may be proven false if the facts are criticized which have been established to be true?

Foundation of Universe

Religious cosmology explains the origin, history and the evolutionary process of the universe on the basis of religious mythology. The world is dealt as totality of all the phenomena, space and time (Cosmology, n.d.). Creationism is the myths of creation that says that the life, the planet Earth and the entire universe is created by some supernatural being. Creationists do not believe in the scientific theories of evolution as these cannot account for the complexity of life and the history of the earth. According to Emanations the universe is derived from the First Reality which is a symbol of perfection, God. As the universe is created it has descending perfection and at each step the emanating beings are less pure, less divine and less perfect. Pantheism is a belief that everything in the universe is created by God and that this universe is the God itself.

Moral Values and God

With the existence of God the moral values and accountability is secured whereas if God did not exist morality would just be a concept created by the people and would be a subjective matter where everybody would have their own explanation for the right and for the wrong. The actions of people are dependent on their personal values and have no standard with which they can compare themselves. In the absence of God there exists no objectivity in value system and everybody is permitted to do everything that they feel is right. The fear that everyone is being observed by God would keep the actions well within ethical and moral bounds.

God vs Evil Forces

There is a major problem in the question of the existence of God as well as the presence of the evil forces. If God is almighty, loving and omnipresent how could there be suffering and evil forces in this world? With all the power God has, He could eliminate each and every evil making the world a peaceful and a beautiful place to live for the people. This argument raises the question that whether God exists in reality or not? The God and the evil can, however, be reconciled; God with all his goodness has the potential to bring out the good in evil as well, but when He does not use his power to bring out the good from evil He definitely has a better plan in store for his people (Hofer, 2011). With the suffering in the world, God has inculcated in us the fear which stops us from harming ourselves. The fear of pain helps us in not damaging ourselves and others as well, because we understand the suffering that shall be followed by our actions. Also with all the evil in the world, God has made us dependent on Him such that in any adverse circumstances we would turn to him for help and completely rely on him.

Science vs Religion

The major conflict between science and religion arises from the difference of perspectives on a certain problem with religious claims railing against the claims made by science (Sickler, 2009). Integrating both of these in resolving a problem can lead to more confusions and unresolved issues. A scientist, Tyson, holds the view that has Newton not accepted the religious perspective in solving the scientific dilemmas; he would have discovered more and had been more successful. Science works on the principle of empirically testing the data that is collected in this world which can be observed and then after being tested generalizing it where as religion gives explanations for phenomenon which are immaterial and are failed to be explained by human senses and are in accordance with the prescribed behavior, the rituals and the moral values. Religion follows the laws of nature that's the nature that is governed by the supernatural forces whereas science does not. As claimed by Sickler (2009) relationship between Science and Religion is a hostile one. The scientific claims consider the religious claims to be wrong and vice versa. The theory of evolution by Charles Darwin, shows a conflict between the two as according to religious claim like shall produce only like which however was refuted by Darwin in his theory by empirical research.

Omniscience vs Free Will

Harper (2011) claims that omniscience is that God knows well in advance about what one's course of action is going to be, therefore, anything after this is just an illusion. The free will of an individual to make choices for himself is partly the result of omniscient consciousness. However, free will and omniscience can be reconciled as the argument is based on the assumption that God influences the decisions which are not true. God has all the knowledge of the outcome related to a specific decision but He does not influence the individual to make the choice at any point. Just because God can see what option is going to be chosen does not mean that one does not have the free will to choose the other option. It is completely up to the individual to decide the best option for himself.

Rational Argument for Atheism

The rational argument for atheism is the problem of the existence of evil. When the evil exists in the world and the suffering is beyond imaginations, the God's goodness is not playing its role so the existence of God becomes doubtful (Atheism, 2007). This argument however, has been explained already. Another argument is that the creator of this complex world must also be a complex creation which must also have a creator hence ad infinitum. Also, atheists claim that the characteristics associated with God such as omnipresent, omnipotent and omnibenevolence are not logically consistent and hence question the existence of God.