WisdomForge

Faith & Reason · Sitting 4

Proved in Five Ways

Aquinas says the existence of God can be proved in five ways. Hume, Kant, and later readers do not accept that claim.

  • 40 min
  • Practice · Reflect
  • 15–18

Parent briefing · 5 minutes, before they sit

Teach one claim. Read the short reading aloud. Keep both objections, in the one sentence each that states the point. Do not teach that he was not offering proofs. The line, "Do not teach the Five Ways as 'five proofs for God.' That is a caricature," does not stay. Hume and Kant are named only as the sources cite them. Later readers stay unnamed, with no citation. The parent holds the question after the two objections: does this family accept the claim? There is no model prompt. Parent note, not for reading aloud: the Latin of the same sentence is "Respondeo dicendum quod Deum esse quinque viis probari potest." Objection 1: if God is infinite goodness, there would be no evil, but there is evil. Objection 2: nature and human reason or will already account for things, so God's existence is superfluous. On the contrary, the article cites "I am Who am" (Exodus 3:14). Hume's Dialogues, spoken by Philo and Cleanthes, do not name this article. Parts 2 and 5 refuse the design inference as a proof. Part 9 says no being's existence is demonstrable a priori. Kant says there are only three speculative modes — physico-theological, cosmological, and ontological — and that none establishes a theology by speculation alone. In his grouping the first three ways are cosmological and the fifth is physico-theological. No named post-Kant text was opened.

Hard edges

  • Do not say the Five Ways are not proofs. The sentence is "The existence of God can be proved in five ways."
  • Do not drop either objection.
  • Do not say Hume or Kant wrote a commentary on this article. Neither text names it.
  • Do not name a post-Kant reader. "Later readers" is not a citation.
  • The parent holds the question. Do not ask a model to prove or disprove the existence of God.

If they say

“He was not really offering proofs.”
That line does not stay. He writes: "The existence of God can be proved in five ways." Hume, Kant, and later readers do not accept the claim. The parent holds whether we do.
“Hume and Kant already answered this article.”
Neither text names this article. What they refuse is the claim that argument proves the existence of God. Philo and Cleanthes are speakers in a dialogue. No later reader is named here, because none was opened.

Objective

The student can say Aquinas's sentence — the existence of God can be proved in five ways — and can name the five ways in his order.

The claim, the five names, the two objections

Aquinas writes: "I answer that, The existence of God can be proved in five ways." The five ways, in his order: "The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion." "The second way is from the nature of the efficient cause." "The third way is taken from possibility and necessity." "The fourth way is taken from the gradation to be found in things." "The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world." One objection points to the evil in the world. The other says nature and human will already account for things. Hume and Kant do not accept the claim.

Big idea

The existence of God can be proved in five ways. That is the claim Aquinas makes. Hume, Kant, and later readers do not accept it.

Try this~10 min total

Read the claim and both objections

10 min
  1. Read aloud: "I answer that, The existence of God can be proved in five ways."
  2. Name the five ways in his order, using only the names on this page.
  3. Read both objections. Do not skip either one.
  4. Stop. The parent asks whether the claim still stands, and the parent holds the answer. Do not ask a model.

Lesson guide

Ask after you try

Off.

  1. None.
  2. Did they say his sentence?
  3. Did they keep both objections?

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Practice · Reflect15–18

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Dinner table

Aquinas says the existence of God can be proved in five ways. After both objections, do we accept the claim?

Sits beside

  • Thinking. Telling a reason someone gives from a proof that settles the matter is a skill used everywhere.

Integrity. The parent holds the question. Do not ask a model to prove or disprove the existence of God.

Next sitting: Two Wings of One Flight