Essay - Aquinas and His 'Five Ways,' an Expression of Assumed Faith...

Aquinas and His "Five Ways," An Expression of Assumed Faith

Introduction

The ***** Ways of the existence of God, penned by ***** famed Thomas Aquinas are reported to be some ***** the most practical and real philosophical arguments of ***** existence of God. Though they are with much merit the *****ity of each both ends and begins with simple faith. Once again the reader or philosopher is left to interpret the logic of Aquinas statements all ending with an assumption of *****, faith therefore becoming the very structure and skeleton of his proofs.

***** ***** works ***** of coarse well thought they were created in a time when the propriety to question the ultim*****te truths was unheard of. The faith of ***** and of the whole era in which he wrote is assumed through the dialogue of h***** proofs, in many ways nullify*****g each individual proof as just another representation of faith. This work will briefly explain and define ***** proof ***** then will attempt to demonstrate the point of faith within each of the five ways and the ***** associated with it.

***** the entire set of proofs, Aquinas demonstrates the use of reason ***** scientific thought. He spends many sentences formulating, within his own mind and for ***** reader the explanations ***** ***** previous assertion. With or without these explanations, it is clear that h***** speaking ***** an audience that both assumes and believes ***** God exists. Even today: "Many human beings have reasons for such a belief that are informal versions of one of the ***** ways; *****y suppose, for example, that because there is order in the universe there must be a pr*****ciple of order."

***** 573)

The 'First W*****y"

In the "First Way" Aquinas relates the ex*****tence ***** God to the process of change. Aquinas states that ***** this world ***** people admit ***** things exist which are in the process if change and that ***** change is *****itiated by a force other th*****n itself. ***** then goes on to say that if this is the case, and it obviously is that there must have been an in*****ial force that changed *****thing into something else ***** the thing cannot be what it ***** and ***** it has ***** potential to be simultaneously.

Closing the work Aquinas gives the property ***** this initial being or ***** of change to *****, as the ***** ***** be infinite in either directi*****, it must have a fin*****e first and last. "So we have to come to some first initiator of change ***** is not in a process of ***** initiated by *****thing *****, ***** everyone understands that ***** ***** God."

Martin 134)

Clearly, Aquinas outlines his context of history, charging "*****" with a belief in God, and *****fore a bl*****d ********** tenet of reality, an unchangeable fact ***** l*****e. Refutation of this argument is fairly simple ***** clearly accepted ***** millions ***** people and ***** is that the very nature of faith is blind, faith cannot be affirmed by