Gian Nicolo D.R.

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FIVE WAYS OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
REFLECTION PAPER
I find it amusing how St. Thomas Aquinas used philosophy as the foundation of his
statements. Knowing that his work was mostly patterned on the famous philosopher Aristotle.
Amusing because in the eyes of many, well at least thats what I think, philosophers are mostly
non-believers but, St. Thomas Aquinas proved that through using philosophy to further explain
theology and/or vice versa is very efficient. His five (5) ways was extremely clear and was not
confusing to me. Each of the five was strongly supported with well thought out reasoning, which
is very hard to argue with. Many of the arguments of which I have thought of, was answered
with supporting statements that were truly convincing.
Ultimately, I agree with the proofs presented by St. Thomas. Knowing these proofs that
God exists, how will it now affect me as an individual? These evidences helped me not only,
fortify my appreciation of Gods work and God himself but also, strengthen my faith. Why?
Because with each proof that St. Thomas laid out comes proof of Gods being and with it comes
proof of his love and care for us. And with these proofs, God has become truer to me.
For example, the Proof from Motion and Proof from Necessary vs. Possible being, it
says, that nothing can move without an external force acted upon it and that nothing in our world
is necessary, except one; respectively. Now, how does this prove Gods existence? It connotes
that He is the external force that acts upon us all, that without God, nothing in our world will
progress or worse, the world as we know it, may not even exist at all. And in relation with the
other proof, it implies that the likes of us humans and everything else is unnecessary, with the
exception of one necessary being, God.
Better question, how does this prove his love for us? First, I would like you to fathom the
fact that a Sovereign being, God, the only necessary being known to man, a being that needs no
external force acted upon him to move, would create a world so beautiful and enticing for us to
live in. A place he created for us humans to find happiness, to find love, to find peace and
harmony, to find unity among each other and most important, to find God. Come to think of it,
there is no logical reason for God to create all of this, no reason for him to create us at all, he
could have just let everything be without his hand in play, since he is the Supreme Being and we
are mere unnecessary beings only, no logical reason in exception of one, love.

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It is Gods love that urged him towards creating us and the world we live in, and its what
continues to push him in guiding us to the righteous path of life. This is what St. Thomas made
me realize, this is what he made me appreciate Gods unconditional love. The mere fact that the
Greatest Being we know of cares and loves us, places undefinable and undeniable happiness
upon my heart. With this in mind, St. Thomas Aquinas has further fortified my faith and made
God ever so true to my eye.
But despite what St. Thomas has said with concrete foundations, some still question its
viability, especially in our day and age, the age of science and technology. Where everyone wants
a scientific explanation for everything. As much as I know, we cannot prove Gods existence
scientifically in a concrete way because, for one we cant see God physically and we cant
experiment on God. We cannot simply test the clouds to check for Gods blood samples. That
would be absurd. But St. Thomas then said that Gods essence is his existence, the idea and
essence of God is something that we can prove.
We may not be able to find scientific proofs of Gods existence but, what we can see are
Gods truly amazing and amusing creations. With its complexity, we can assume that all of this
cannot just happen by chance, a greater being must have designed everything, and someone with
a great intellectual mind must have made all of this possible, God. It is still relevant for all the
proofs are still as concrete and true as they were before. And it will remain relevant and viable as
long as we have faith in it. This faith, is what continues to drive our belief that God is somewhere
out there providing us guidance in our day to day lives.
In conclusion, St. Thomas, with his still relevant and viable reasons to prove Gods
existence, helped me appreciate God himself along with his creations of which I will apply and
relate to my everyday life by preaching his work, defending God to those who deny his existence
and to pay back Gods love through loving him and submitting myself to him as sign of my faith.
St. Thomas Aquinas has not only broaden out my understanding of Gods existence but also
strengthened my faith, for now I am sure that God is here and will stay by my side for as long as
I have faith in Him.
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