There is a great myth regarding faith, in that it is supposed to be something that is accepted blindly. That’s not necessarily true, and one of history’s greatest theologians devoted his life to reaching faith through reason.
St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century Italian Dominican friar and one of Catholicism’s most profound philosophers and scholasticists. He’s known as the Father of Natural Theology, which sought to provide arguments for the existence of God using reason. For nonbelievers who are curious and continue to seek answers to theological questions, Aquinas is someone whose works are worth a read.
“There are as many miracles in his life as articles in his Summa.”
Of these, the “Summa Theologica” is his best-known work and walks readers through a series of five proofs.
The first is known as “Proof from Motion.” It basically states that anything that moves must have been set in motion by some other force. That force, in turn, must have been set in motion by a previous force. Follow that all the way back to the beginning of the Universe, since nothing can move itself, and you have what Aquinas called The First Mover — aka God.
The second proof, or “Proof of Causality,” is similar. There is no possible way a thing can be a cause of itself. That is, A causes B which causes C and so on. What caused A? Somewhere there must have been a “first efficient cause,” something that began the first chain of cause-and-effect — and that thing is called God.
The third proof is a bit confusing, but states that anything we observe is not necessary to exist — but if nothing were necessary to exist, nothing would exist. Therefore, something must be necessary, and that thing is God. This is known as the “Proof of Contingency.”
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The fourth proof is the “Proof from Grades to Perfection.” We compare things to themselves. They can be hotter, colder, and so on. That implies that there is some maximum to everything, something that is truest, noblest, hottest, coldest, etc. This also applies to “complete being.” The maximum of any given thing is that which causes that very thing. The hottest fire. The greatest truth. The greatest being is the cause of being, known as God.
Finally, we have “Proof from Finality.” Everything that exists has some kind of reason for existence. For that to occur, something must have established what that reason is, and that is known as God.
Indeed, the church praised Aquinas because he permitted them to speak to atheists on terms that atheists could understand and relate to, especially because much of Aquinas’ work drew from Aristotle. Curiously, one French faction of the Catholic Church issued several condemnations of the works of some scholars, including Aristotle, during Aquinas’ life. Although it was an outlier, for almost seventy years, anything pertaining to Aristotle was considered heresy. Fortunately, these condemnations were later annulled to a great degree.
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Aquinas was canonized about fifty years after he died, in 1323. He is one of a few saints who were canonized without the attendant miracles performed by him or in his name. The devil’s advocate, after pointing this out, was told by one of the cardinals that “there are as many miracles in his life as articles in his Summa.”
While relying exclusively on Aquinas to nudge nonbelievers is probably not wise, it can certainly serve as a starting point for those who are on a search for understanding. When coupled with other works, it can open up a discussion in which God will most certainly be present.
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