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The Church teaches that the existence of God can be ascertained and proven by human reason.

 

The following passage is excerpted from St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica (Prima Pars, Quaestio II, Art. III) [my explanations are in red]:

 

“I answer that the existence of God can be proved in five ways.

The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion.  [I will begin expounding on the second way, that it may be seen more clearly.] It is certain, and evident to our senses, that in the world some things are in motion. Now whatever is in motion is put in motion by another, for nothing can be in motion except it is in potentiality to that towards which it is in motion; whereas a thing moves inasmuch as it is in act. [Imagine a rolling ball.  The ball is rolling in response to the stimulus of force.  The actual act of rolling may be called an effect (e.g., of the ball’s movement), and it follows that the force which triggered the movement of the ball may be called the efficient cause.   The cause precedes (comes before) the effect and is directly responsible for it.] For motion is nothing else than the reduction of something from potentiality to actuality. But nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actuality, except by something in a state of actuality…”

“…Now it is not possible that the same thing should be at once in actuality and potentiality in the same respect, but only in different respects. For what is actually hot cannot simultaneously be potentially hot; but it is simultaneously potentially cold. It is therefore impossible that in the same respect and in the same way a thing should be both mover [cause] and moved [effect], i.e. that it should move itself. Therefore, whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another. If that by which it is put in motion be itself put in motion [causes having their own causes which, respectively, have preceding causes, etc.], then this also must needs be put in motion by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover [i.e., the Prime Cause], and, consequently, no other mover; seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch as they are put in motion by the first mover; as the staff moves only because it is put in motion by the hand. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.”  [We must understand that the very building blocks of life lack all intelligence whatsoever.   However, we will not yet go into an argument by design, but we will continue with our causality proof.  All the efficient causes, and likewise the effects, not only regarding motion, but all created matter, exist within a closed system we call the Universe.  As modern cosmology would have it, the Universe as we know it may have come into existence immediately after the Big Bang, where an infinitesimal singularity expanded exponentially into what became our Universe.  Now, the Big Bang would have begun with a point of “infinitesimal magnitude,” meaning a point that is infinitely small.  One may understand this to be as close to zero as possible, yet not zero; but, in actuality, it is nothing other than nothing.  For a point that is infinitely small is no point at all, since it converges to zero.  What is the point I speak of?  The singularity, or the infinitesimal point, is space-time, that is, space and time together in the four dimensions in which we live.  Outside of this infinitesimal singularity, this nothingness, would have been just that – nothing (because there is no substance or existence beyond the system of our Universe, not even space or time).  Therefore, the Universe, including space and time, came from nothing.  The Big Bang, as we have demonstrated in the above passage, could not and did not “bang” itself into motion, but required an efficient cause.  Something coming from nothing requires another something outside of the limits of the system to cause it.  Thus, for the Universe to come into being, it would have to have been created by God.  Do not ask who created God, because God is uncaused, the Prime Cause.  If he had a cause, he would not be God, and there would need to be an infinite regression of causes.]

“The second way is from the nature of the efficient cause. In the world of sense we find there is an order of efficient causes. There is no case known (neither is it, indeed, possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself [nothing can bring itself into being; thus, God is not His own cause, or causa Sui – rather, He is Uncaused]; for so it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now in efficient causes it is not possible to go on to infinity, because in all efficient causes following in order, the first is the cause of the intermediate cause, and the intermediate is the cause of the ultimate cause, whether the intermediate cause be several, or only one. Now to take away the cause is to take away the effect. Therefore, if there be no first cause among efficient causes, there will be no ultimate, nor any intermediate cause. But if in efficient causes it is possible to go on to infinity, there will be no first efficient cause, neither will there be an ultimate effect, nor any intermediate efficient causes; all of which is plainly false. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.”

The third way is taken from possibility and necessity, and runs thus. We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, since they are found to be generated, and to corrupt, and consequently, they are possible to be and not to be. But it is impossible for these always to exist, for that which is possible not to be at some time is not. Therefore, if everything is possible not to be, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence. Now if this were true, even now there would be nothing in existence, because that which does not exist only begins to exist by something already existing [those who have read the argument from causality will understand this clearly]. Therefore, if at one time nothing was in existence [as it would have been “prior” to the Big Bang, before which there would neither have been space nor time], it would have been impossible for anything to have begun to exist; and thus even now nothing would be in existence – which is absurd [on this point I heartily agree with the Angelic Doctor, and, for the sake of sanity, I sure hope you do, too]. Therefore, not all beings are merely possible, but there must exist something the existence of which is necessary. But every necessary thing either has its necessity caused by another, or not [this is very interesting]. Now it is impossible to go on to infinity in necessary things which have their necessity caused by another [and no self-referential loops, as has been suggested to me before], as has been already proved in regard to efficient causes. Therefore we cannot but postulate the existence of some being having of itself its own necessity, and not receiving it from another, but rather causing in others their necessity. This all men speak of as God.”

“The fourth way is taken from the gradation to be found in things. Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble and the like. But "more" and "less" are predicated of different things, according as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being, as it is written in Metaph. ii. Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus…”

“…Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.” [God may be defined as “Him of Whom nothing greater can be thought,” where our very thinking of Him implies His existence, since we are but the “effects,” and the cause is always greater than the effect.]

Points to Consider

·         That all men and all cultures seek God and the truth through reason (i.e., “religion”).

·         That, if one believes in God, but He does not exist, he lives a good life and loses nothing; but, if one disbelieves in God, but He does exist, he loses everything. Therefore, the most probable and the most secure bet is to choose God. 

·         That there are intangible quantities (the set of real numbers, p, e, etc).

·         That in the laws of Physics, and in abstract mathematics (which we did not invent, but simply discovered), the work of an infinite Intelligence is evident.

·         That all things could not have come into existence but by God’s Divine Intervention.

·         That the world around us is beautifully complex, and created by an Intelligence.

·         That a miracle may be defined as a rare, temporary alteration in the laws of nature ab extra for a purpose of due importance, and that such miracles have occurred and continue to occur.  God has revealed His Truth to man through Divine Revelation.

·         That life has no meaning except in the context of God’s existence.

·         That God has established a Natural Law upon which all men tend to agree, regardless of culture or locality.  There is an objective moral Truth.  To say “How can God exist with all this suffering in the world?” implies that you recognize an objective set of morals, just as you must first know a straight line to spot a crooked one.

·         That is it engrained in the nature of man to worship his Creator, and that “all men kneel to something,” even if it is disordered (ego, money, power, etc).

·         That men defy their own selfish natures, and far from using religion as a crutch, follow it to serve others and sacrifice their very lives.

Please pray to God before the Blessed Sacrament and ask Him to show you the Truth.

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