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BERNAL, CHLOE V. DR. MAXIMO DE CHAVEZ ILAG

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TERM PAPER FOR QUINQUE VIAE (FIVE PROOFS OF
GODS’ EXISTENCE)
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Abstract
Quinque Viae (Latin) also known as the “five ways” is a set of 5 logical arguments
summarized by St. Thomas Aquinas in his book Summa Theologica during the 13 th
century. Humans back then never had a concrete understanding of God. These 5
arguments aim to give logical reasons in order to prove that God exists. The lack of
evidence towards God rendered St. Thomas to initiate a way that would rather
demonstrate His presence in a manner that many of us could easily comprehend.
However, there is also a possibility that this theory may have loopholes. This paper
aims to penetrate the integrity of the 5 proofs in order to prove or disprove its reliability.
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INTRODUCTION
Life on Earth is believed to have existed for nearly 4 billion years, yet it was only until
around 1.8-1.3 million years ago when the first signs of humans showed up and evolved
into what we are today. Nevertheless, humans rapidly progressed in that span of time.
We began to discover and invent things that have deepened our knowledge regarding
our world and helped us function cohesively than ever before.
Our generation has the privilege of information as we benefit from the countless trial
and errors that have happened in the past in exchange for the comfort that we have.
Even though it seems that humans have already achieved a lot of things, our
understanding of life and its’ foundations remain vague and there are still more left to
discover in our world.
This term paper aims to explain the meaning and significance of the 5 proofs of God's
existence. It also aims to examine the strengths and weaknesses of each argument in
order to prove or disprove the theory.

BACKGROUND
Quinque Viae (Latin) also known as the “five ways” is a set of 5 logical arguments
summarized by St. Thomas Aquinas in his book Summa Theologica during the 13 th
century. He recognized back then that humans had a hard time grasping the concept of
God, more so of discovering concrete evidence that would explain His being due to our
limitations as finite beings. Humans could only have assumptions and it remains unclear
as to whether he is composed of a body or structure like us, whether He thinks or feels
like us, or whether He was capable of creating an entire world. Creating is a vital point

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in describing Him as it would implicate the idea of generating something from nothing.
Currently, there is a lack of strong evidence that would prove His existence as He is not
self-evident to us. St. Thomas then created a way that would demonstrate God rather
than explain His being to compensate for the fact that there is nothing tangible or
concrete about Him.

BASIS OF THE THEORY -- Infinite regress

This theory seems to work on the basis of providing a final answer that would
determine the root cause for the origin of our existence. Our world is interconnected
such that if we try to examine the origin of a certain thing, it would eventually branch out
and form into an infinite regress or an endless set of questions until it comes to an
uncertain point. Such questions including “Where did humans come from” would
eventually branch out into several follow-up questions including where did animals
come from, where did cells come from, where elements came from, where atoms came
from, where the Earth came from, how was the Earth made, and so on and so forth. As
these questions continue, we begin to run out of answers. Everything that exists in our
world must have been done by something much more powerful than us. In order to lead
us to the answer, the Quinque Viae provides 5 proofs in order to provide a reason as to
why a being like God should exist.

5 PROOFS OF GODS EXISTENCE

1. The argument from "first mover";
GOD IS THE PRIME MOVER. This argument talks about the conversion of potentiality
to actuality. Just like how a ball would not move unless it is moved by an external force.
All things in this world have their own potentials that are just waiting to be “moved” or
brought into existence by something or someone that already exists. But from all the
things that have brought this existence, there must be a prime mover or the one who
initiates the motion that cannot be changed by something else; an unmoved mover.
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The first argument suggests that nothing is infinite in this world and there must be
something or someone who can put an end to the chain. A person who causes change
without changing, and is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless,
and powerful than us finite human beings. Something cannot begin from nothing unless
it is someone who is capable of creating.
2. The argument from causation;
PRINCIPAL CAUSE. Everything in this world is caused by something. An object falls on
Earth due to gravity, the Earth becomes warm due to sunlight, heat is trapped onto our
system due to Carbon dioxide, a child is born due to his or her parents, and so on and
so forth. Clearly these things did not happen due to a single cause following a
sequence, but they happened. Something cannot cause itself to exist as it would imply

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that it exists prior to itself, therefore there must be someone who is the uncaused cause
since
3. The argument from contingency;
GOD HAS ALWAYS EXISTED. There is nothing permanent in this world and all of the
things will eventually come to an end. Several humans and animals die every day and
this pattern has been observed even in the earliest of days considering that none of the
first humans managed to survive to this day. Everyone on this Earth is contingent
beings, meaning that our existence is not necessary due to the fact that the world
continues to move on even after our death. However, if everything comes to an end,
then there will come a time when nothing would exist therefore there must be a
necessary being. A being that would account for the eternal generation of events.
4. The argument from degree/standard of perfection;
DEGREES OF PERFECTION. There is a gradation of goodness, truth, and etc. in our
world. For example, the difference between a straight line and a crooked line, or the
difference between dark green and a lighter green. All of these comparisons would
certainly have a reference on where it could base its decision. Therefore, there should
be a standard, like all goodness that us being possess in this world must come from
someone who possesses all of the goodness.
5. The argument from design
GOD IS THE INTELLIGENT DESIGNER. Our world seems so intricate yet every single
entity seems to have the capability to work seamlessly with each other. Take for
example the inner workings of the human body. If we observe our inner system, we
would notice that everything works on its own. This kind of system is too good for us to
assume that it was just because of a simple evolution. Everything about this world
seems perfectly planned out that they work perfectly according to their purpose. It is
balanced and it moves accordingly. Therefore, there must be an intelligent designer
who is capable of planning all of these.

GAPS IN THE THEORY

GOD OF THE GAPS. One of the main problems in this theory is about the causality and
prime mover. What is the basis of St. Thomas in assuming that there is no infinity in this
universe? In my opinion, it is generally impossible for us to determine whether there is
infinity or not as it is already way beyond our capabilities. Also, if God managed to exist
without needing any prior cause then this would defeat the purpose of the theory as it
may implicate that that it is possible for something to exist without a prior cause. This
would lead to a question of: “What if life/matter/material/space naturally existed on itself
without a prior cause?” it happened that it evolved in itself through the years?
What if a prior cause which entailed having a supreme being was simply unnecessary
and the belief of having a God was a compensation for the questions that we never had
a concrete answer for? It is also hard to ignore the fact that this theory was created in a

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time where people were vulnerable (13 th century). It was a time when it is safe to
assume that people still believed and engaged in a lot of superstitions, paganism, and
worship of several gods or goddesses in an attempt to provide a sort of relief and
sanctuary to some questions in life that they weren’t able to explain. Where did the idea
of God come from?
If this idea came from our finite minds, then it would mean that there is a possibility that
it could not be trusted. These ideas were only demonstrated from our previous
experiences as we lived in this world. This means that our ideas could only come from
what is already present, what we have seen, felt, heard, or touched. It is hard to create
an assumption about God as we are impossible of creating something from nothing, an
idea from nothing, meaning that even this demonstration has only been exercised by
our imagination. God is understood to have never been self-evident meaning that even
if 4 billion years have already passed, there are little to no signs of Him showing up. In
the end, we could only assume that there is truly a supreme being capable of creating
everything as it is impossible to demonstrate His power. We have never seen a
supreme being before. Also, if God is said to be a perfect being who possesses all of
the good, then why would evilness exist in His creations considering that people on
Earth commit sins.

CONCLUSION
In the end, the 5 proofs remain as a theory. Even though there are certain loopholes,
there is no definite answer that could suggest that there is no God, and no one can
prevent a man from demonstrating the existence of God as He can still be
demonstrated from His effects. This can be seen in the last argument of design. Our
world is simply too intricate, systematic, and interconnected in order for us to assume
that everything in this world happened through evolution. Even artificial intelligence who
is capable of learning on itself needed to have an intelligent designer.

RECOMMENDATION
 To find a strong counter-argument for the “Proof from Design”.
 Consider faith. Even St. Thomas Aquinas knew that God’s existence is
impossible to be grasped
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References:
Floyd, Shawn. "Aquinas: Philosophical Theology 2.b." Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. ISSN 2161-0002
Reichenbach, Bruce (2012). "Cosmological Argument". The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (Fall 2006 Edition, Edward N. Zalta (ed.) ed.).
Summa Theologica, I, q. 2. Retrieved from:
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1002.htm#article3

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