He Loved Me First ✓

He Loved Me First (10)

Chapter 10

A few days later, Felicity handed me a small stack of papers. “I want you to read these and get back to me on them,” she said.

I looked closely at them. I stared at the title long and hard: Saint Thomas Aquinas' Five Proofs of the Existence of God. I didn't know what to say. Lucky for me, she didn't make me say anything at all. I tucked them in my bag and continued on with my day. Late that night, I pulled the papers back out. My curiosity had gotten the better of me.

The First Way: Argument from Motion. Our senses prove that some things are in motion. Things move when potential motion becomes actual motion. Only an actual motion can convert a potential motion into an actual motion. Nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in the same respect (i.e., if both actual and potential, it is actual in one respect and potential in the other). Therefore nothing can move itself. Therefore each thing in motion is moved by something else. The sequence of motion cannot extend ad infinitum. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

The Second Way: Argument from Efficient Causes. We perceive a series of efficient causes of things in the world. Nothing exists prior to itself. Therefore nothing is the efficient cause of itself. If a previous efficient cause does not exist, nothing in the series exists. The series of efficient causes cannot extend ad infinitum into the past, for then there would be no things existing now. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.

The Third Way: Argument from Possibility and Necessity. We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, that come into being and go out of being i.e., contingent beings. Assume that every being is a contingent being. For each contingent being, there is a time it does not exist. Therefore it is impossible for these always to exist. Therefore there could have been a time when no things existed. Therefore at that time there would have been nothing to bring the currently existing contingent beings into existence. Therefore nothing would be in existence now. We have reached an absurd result from assuming that every being is a contingent being. Therefore not every being is a contingent being. Therefore some being exists of its own necessity, and does not receive its existence from another being, but rather causes them. This all men speak of as God.

The Fourth Way: Argument from Gradation of Being. There is a gradation to be found in things: some are better or worse than others. Predications of degree require reference to the “uttermost” case (e.g., a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest). 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.

The Fifth Way: Argument from Design. We see that natural bodies work toward some goal, and do not do so by chance. Most natural things lack knowledge. But as an arrow reaches its target because it is directed by an archer, what lacks intelligence achieves goals by being directed by something intelligence. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.1

I reexamined them closer. I saw a lot of flaws in them. When Felicity next asked me about them, I brought up my points. “There are many problems here,” I said. “With the first way, so what if the Big Bang needed a start? That doesn't mean it was God. And what caused the motion that created God? Apply the second way to God and you'll see the flaw. Same with the third way. The fourth way isn't relevant, because there doesn't have to be a supreme good Being. And the fifth way isn't a valid argument either, because it doesn't have to be that way.”2

“Okay, whoa. Let's back up a bit. God is God. He was always there and will always be. He doesn't need a motion to create Him. God is the first cause. He created all things. As for your fourth argument, why is there good in the world if there isn't an all good Being. Saint Augustine said that our souls are restless until they rest in God. You're quite restless, Oliver. Don't try to deny it. Our hearts all have a gap just big enough for God. If He doesn't fill it, we're not complete,” she said.

I didn't have anything more to say to her about the matter. She took it as a sign that she'd won this one. Maybe she had. I wasn't sure.

A week later, a letter came from my sister. It read:

Oliver,

I'm glad that you're happy. I'm guessing

you haven't talked to Mom and Dad lately

though. Is that right? They're worried about you.

I'd have to say I am too. But Felicity sounds

as if she's really helping you out. She's a devout

Catholic, I'm assuming? That surprises me. Anyway,

since it's almost Advent, I won't be able to write for

a while (no letters are sent during Advent and Lent,

remember?). Take care of yourself. And be not afraid.

Love you,

Sister Alice

I wrote out my reply and mailed it back as soon as I could. It read:

Sister Alice,

That still sounds weird to me. I don't

think I'll ever get used to calling you that.

No, I haven't talked to Mom and Dad, but I

have heard from Father Pius that they're

worried (Felicity dragged me down to talk

to him). I say don't be worried. I'm just fine.

Yes, it does seem that Felicity is helping me.

Though, with what I'm not quite sure. She's

definitely a devout Catholic. She longs to be

martyred! Imagine that! Get back to me as

soon as you can, then. I'll try to be patient.

Love,

Ollie

I decided to sign off with the name she usually calls me. She hardly ever called me Oliver, but I guessed she called me that in her letters just to be a bit more formal. There really wasn't a need for that, in my opinion.

1 Argument Analysis of the Five Ways, Theodore Gracyk

2 a 15 year old ex-Catholic atheist