FREE ESSAY ON DARWIN AQUINAS GOD

DARWIN AQUINAS GOD

The existence of God has been questioned since the beginning of time. Religions thrived on
answering the unanswerable questions of the universe and people were able to find solace
in the answers. As science has expanded and been able to answer these questions with
natural, as opposed to supernatural answers, many people stopped looking to God and
religion for the causes of things and started looking towards science. God was dead,
according to many scientists and people of all professions. Many philosophers, however,
have different conclusions. In the article, "Science Finds God" (Newsweek 1998) it was
recognized that although theologians and scientists differ sharply in their views and do
not see any type of middle ground between the two fields, others feel that religion and
science do not contradict each other, but compliment each other. Science discovers more
of God's creations and the intricacy of which the world was created and God provides the
explanation of the complexity and wonder of the natural world. He fills in where science
leaves off. With Darwin's idea of evolution came the greatest controversy between science
and religion. Darwin denied the creationist ideas of Christians and caused, an uproar in
the Christian community. Some drastically decided to deny all science. To deny science,
however, would be to deny the natural world. Others searched for ways to confirm and hold
on to their faith. One way that people found to confirm their belief in a God was
philosophy. St. Thomas Aquinas used the science of philosophy to prove God's existence.
He showed five ways in which the existence of God must be absolutely concluded. His first
proof dealt with the mover and the unmoved mover. From just one observation of movement
it can be concluded that movement is. Whatever is moved must be moved by another, because
nothing can have potential and actual energy at the same time. To actually move a thing
must be moved by another thing that is actually in motion. Therefore that thing must have
been moved by another. However this cannot go on infinitely. There must be something that
is the first unmoved mover that causes all movement. This being, in a state of pure
actuality, is what people call God. An example of this is a stone is moved by a stick.
The stick is moved by a hand. The stick moved from a state of potential movement to
actual movement by the hand. In order to move the stick the hand must move from potential
to actual by something else. What moves the hand must be also be moved by another because
nothing can be moving both potentially and actually at the same time. Whatever was the
original cause of all movement must be pure actual movement. This being is the unmoved
first mover, God. Aquinas's fifth proof relates more directly to "Science Finds God."
This article states that the complexity of the natural world is more evidence that God
must exist. Thomas says that there is some pure act of intelligence that causes all other
acts of intelligence. As an archer shoots an arrow towards its target, God aims
everything to its ultimate end. Everything is ordered towards an end and that end is
determined by a being we call God. Using empirical sciences, it is evident that
everything has its purpose and functions for the good of something else. This purpose is
determined by God. Another philosopher whose teachings seem to correspond directly with
the article is Paley. He presents this situation. If a man finds a stone and wonders how
it got there, it would not be that unreasonable to conclude that it had been there
forever. However, if a man stumbles upon a watch in a field, he could not reasonably
reach the same conclusion. "Because a watch performs such a specific function and has a
clear purpose, which is grasped by the human mind, Paley concludes that 'the
inference...is inevitable; that the watch must have a maker.'" (Stumpf 381) Every part of
the watch is designed towards the specific function of telling time. It would seem absurd
to think that all of the pieces in the watch just happened to come together in that way
to work towards the function of telling time. The analogy is extended towards other
things in nature. By observing an atom, we see how every part of it is absolutely
necessary and performs a specified task. So, using Paley's idea, there must be an atom
maker. The more nature is observed, the more seemingly miraculous things can be found.
According to some religious believers, these are only more evidence that there must be an
ultimate creator, someone who designed every last piece of the universe. This is why some
religions, particularly Islam and Judaism (article) believe that studying nature is a
form of worshiping God. Though science and religion seem to have been on two completely
opposite sides of the spectrum that answers the question of why things are how they are
in the universe, there are some people who now believe that science is not denying, but
supporting the existence of God. Not only philosophical science, such as St. Thomas's
proofs of Gods existence and other teachings on the existence of God, but even empirical
science. The more scientists discover, the more many of them are realizing that the
reason for things goes deeper than what science can explain. For those who already
believe in a God, science may even strengthen their belief, not weaken it. Even things
that seem like they might have been proven by science, that may completely deny biblical
teachings, may still have their origins in a God. Even if Darwin's theory of evolution is
true, perhaps this only gives insight into God's nature. Perhaps He is humble enough to
create and allow His creations to continue as they will. Perhaps He created natural
selection. The scientific theories that have been developed and have been said to kill
God do not necessarily lead to the conclusion that no God exists.