The Five Ways

How can we justify the existence of God? Aristotle proposed an argument of an eternal universe and a temporary universe. He questions if the universe is one that has always been or one that is temporarily here for a moment in time. Many ponder the question and often go back and forth between answers, but nevertheless, many can agree that either way, the universe must have a cause or an overall creator and this is what St. Thomas Aquinas argues in, "The Five Ways." The five reasons are as follows:

“The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. It is certain and evident to our senses that some things are in motion.” Motion is caused by a movement of an object or person, but who does the initial movement? This is the question that must be answered. If there is motion, who is the mover? Who has created this cause and effect relationship? This leads us to the second reason of evidence: “The second way is from the formality of efficient causation.” Who started the first cause and effect relationship in the universe? For this to be present today, there must be an ultimate power that started the first cause and this causer is who we call God.

The third cause is “taken from possibility and necessity and runs thus.” For something to exists, there must have also been a time for this thing to not exists, but this relationship cannot be ongoing and the world be continually making things out of necessity for other things. There is a greater force that controls these relationships and make it possible and this force is God. “The fourth way is take from the graduation to be found in things.” Things are comparable to other things as in some things are better than others, greater than others, worse than others, but for all of these comparisons to be possible there is the ultimate example that others can be based off and this is God. The fifth way is that “natural bodies act for some purpose, which in fact is evident from their acting…so as to obtain the best result.” Us natural beings strive to fulfill a purpose in our lives. This ultimate purpose is caused by God. We are tempted to strive towards perfections as he is perfect.

All of these five reasons have the same relationship in which that because there is everything that there is in the world today, there must have been the first initial being that created it. Even if the world is eternal or temporary, a higher being must be the creator and off of the creator, everything else is based on. The reason for God is because God is the one who gives us a reason. He is the one that started everything and initiated everything. Nothing else could justify the existence of some and the nonexistence of others and be plausible. What else or who else could create a complex system of relationships like this? This higher and greater creator is God and he is the cause of all things.