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The question of the existence of God is one of the fundamental questions of the mankind. Different people in different ages wanted to get the answer to this question and they spent years searching for different arguments to support their positions. Thomas Aquinas gave his proofs of the existence of God.
Saint Thomas Aquinas is Catholic Priest who is famous for his philosophical and theological works. The school of Thomistic theology is based on his theological views. Thomas Aquinas is considered to be one of the most influential theologists of the past. His works Summa Theological and the Summa Contra Gentiles present his basic views. In Summa Theological Thomas presents five proofs of the existence of God.
His five arguments have different names under the basic features which characterize them. The first argument is argument from motion. All things around us move. All things have potential for actions but they start moving when this potential turn to actual motion. As states Thomas, only actual motion can turn potential motion to actual one. Things can not have potential and actual potentiality at the same time. All things either contain potential or actual potentiality. This means that any thing can not start moving by itself. Each thing that moves was put to action by some other thing. Than Thomas looks for the first mover who gave motion to the first thing in the world and he comes to the conclusion that only God can be the first mover. This becomes the first proof of the existence of God.
The Second Proof got the name the proof which derives from Efficient Causes. The entire world is created through efficient causes. There is no thing which exists prior to itself. This way nothing becomes the efficient cause of itself. If there is no efficient cause, there is no thing which becomes the result of this cause. The succession of events or things can not exist without the primary efficient cause. Thomas believes that only God can be the first efficient cause which gave start to all other things which exist now.
The Third Proof of the existence of God is the argument from Possibility and Necessity. All things in this world exist and stop existing. This means that these things are contingent beings. All things and objects fall into this category. They all once start their existence and than stop it. Each contingent being has a time when it stops existence and these things may not exist always. This means that there could be a time when no things existed. In this case it is necessary to have thing which may bring into existence the contingent things. If this did not happen in the past we would not have things and world around us. If all beings are contingent ones there are no possibility to put all things in the world to existence. This means that not every being in this world is a contingent being. There must be a being which did not receive its existence from any other being but rather became the cause of existence of other beings. This being must be God according to Thomas Aquinas.
The fourth proof is named Argument from Gradation of Being. Here Aquinas speaks about gradation of all things. All things may be attributed to certain category and they can be measure inside of this category. This means that all hot objects can be categorized according to their temperature. In each category there must be a maximum degree which makes the most intensive characteristic of the group. Such qualities as goodness and justice, which are presented in men, must get somewhere their maximum characteristics. Goodness and justice, when presented in maximum degree, may be characteristics of God only because God is the source of maximum goodness and justice.
The fifth proof of the existence of God is Argument from Design. According to Aquinas natural order assumes that there must be a higher plan of creation. These must exist a universal order in the universe, which is reproduced in nature. The universe can not exist without this order because it can not be governed by chance. This universal order becomes the proof of the existence of supernatural and divine intelligence in the Universe and this must be God.
Five proofs presented by Thomas Aquinas are logical attempts to prove the existence of God. Thomas gives convincing and rational explanations of the Divine Power which runs our universe. Moreover, arguments of St. Thomas give people information about God and explain his main characteristics. God is infinite and runs everything in the universe. God is a primary thing which always existed and will never end. All things in the universe have their beginning and their end but God does not. He transcendents this world and he is the primary cause of all things in this world. God is also the source of divine justice and goodness, which are presented in people in different degrees.

Works Cited

Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources, Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., 1907.

Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas