Essay Sample on Thomas Aquinas Argument for Causation

Introduction

The existence of God is an aspect that human beings are still trying to figure out and for so many years, both early and modern philosophers made significant contributions towards providing logical arguments about the existence of God. It is the nature of human beings to question things and continuously look for answers. Throughout the history of human beings survival on planet earth, scientists, philosophers, economics and theologists have continued to shape beliefs and opinions held by the majority of the human species by providing answers to various life events and happenings (Sober, 7). Most of the philosophical works were designed to answer specific life questions and how they came to happen or what makes certain things or events to happen the way they do. It is worth noting that, as much as most of the philosophers agree on a specific school of thoughts, the variations and differences in schools of thoughts paves the way for different debate and discussion about the credibility, reliability, and assumptions made by the philosophers who first introduced the argument. As mentioned earlier, it is the nature of human beings to question things, Thomas Aquinas endeavor to provide answers led him to develop five logical arguments that prove the existence of God. St Thomas Aquinas was a Catholic theologian and philosopher; his work will be the subject of discussion in this paper. St Thomas Aquinas arguments regarding the existence of God are logically valid, and in reality, the cases answer most of the human being questions. However, the arguments overall lead to multiple of following questions which critics and opponents of raise as an unsatisfactory conclusion to the question God existence.

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Thomas Aquinas school of thought is inclined towards justifying the existence of God, and he argues that God exists is not self-evident to human beings, but through God's action, we can prove the existence of God. Thomas Aquinas clarifies that we must not demonstrate God existence, we have to determine the effects of God existence (Stump, 62). In reality, most of the human species are believers of God because they can be able to relate and proof God existence through action associated effects. God is known to a human being through his efforts that are all known to us, and when certain things happen, most of the people affiliate God with the effects and hence signifying the existence of God. In his argument, Aquinas avoided all cases that he perceived to be insufficient or unsuited and therefore making cosmological arguments. His arguments are deeply rooted in the trigger of the main events and not what led to the events happening in sequence. He accepted the biblical version of creation as the truth of faith and not just a reason.

It is the nature of some things to keep changing in the world regardless of whether controlled by humans or not. There are those things that never change, they have continuously remained the same throughout the years, and it is only the actions of human beings that triggered a change to happen. Aquinas in his argument described this as the argument of the unmoved mover. Variation is caused by the action of something else and therefore, for the transition to keep happening, there must be something that controls and causes the change without itself changing (Cohoe, 840). This explains why human beings accept things they cannot change as God actions and hence proving the existence of God. Climate change has been caused to by actions of human beings. For years, it has been known that it is only God who had the power to create a climate to change or interfere with the weather. This is because God is the creator of universe and weather and climate are part of the world. The Bible speaks of various instances where God commanded climate and nature and hence demonstrating his/her power over life.

In reality, people pray to God to give them rain and the shared belief is that, rain is a blessing from God. This shows people ultimate faith and trust in God as the unmoved mover (Wawrykow, 25). Therefore, it is only logical that human beings have no power to interfere with climate and weather patterns. The issue of climate change and how it is caused by human beings have created a gap for criticizing Aquinas logical arguments proving God exists. God is the creator of the universe, and he created human beings as supreme beings and made him responsible for the entire world. The responsibility of taking care and charge of the world accords humans with certain powers that allow climate and weather patterns manipulation and hence causing the climate to change. Aquinas logical argument of the unmoved mover remains valid because, human beings are God creations and God remains the unmoved mover through the fact that, God uses human beings to control the universe.

The need to solve a problem has led to most of the significant innovations that have shaped the events of the modern world. It is normal for human beings to have a perception of things said to be possible and others termed as impossible. This is because most of the humans understand they have limitations and not everything can be done and hence developing and maintaining faith in God as the Supreme Being and with him all things are possible. Aquinas argument from contingency states that, human beings view stuff as perishable, meaning they will stop existing and hence the need to keep creating new jobs. The life itself of a human being is perishable, and that is why at some point, people die, and that becomes the end of their lives Andrews, Max, 7). In the modern world, technology has taken over, the things that were referred to as impossible are now becoming possible.

Many years back, it was impossible for people to make heart transplants or any other organ transplant, but in the modern world, the once impossible things are now possible. This aspect triggers opponents and critics to pose questions such as the role of God in human inventions and problem-solving skills that had emerged but before, it was impossible, and it required God intervention. Aquinas logical argument describes God called as the only thing that is not perishable and therefore, the source of the all other things that are possible and that keep occurring. Technology is purely a product of human innovation and is increasingly making things that were termed as impossible to be reasonable and thus questioning the role and existence of God. Human beings whenever they face a problem or a challenge beyond their capability, most of them pray to God for interventions. It is a shared belief that, when we pray, God listens and he acts when his timing is right making impossible things possible. Ultimately, we can conclude that technology is a product of human innovations, but it is through God that, impossible things get to happen just because God listens to human beings prayers.

Works Cited

Andrews, Max Lewis Edward. "Scientia and Radical Contingency in Thomas Aquinas." Philosophia 43.1 (2015): 1-12.

Cohoe, Caleb. "There must be a first: Why Thomas Aquinas rejects infinite, essentially ordered, causal series." British Journal for the History of Philosophy 21.5 (2013): 838-856.

Sober, Elliott. "Core questions in philosophy: A text with readings." (2001).

Stump, Eleonore. Aquinas. Routledge, 2008.

Wawrykow, Joseph P. God's Grace and Human Action: Merit'in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas. University of Notre Dame Press, 2016.