The Argument of Efficient Cause
The Argument of Possibility & Necessity
In today’s world, many people don’t stop to think
about God, except on few occasions. We’re
so preoccupied with school, sports, our friends and family that we don’t
really think about God. What little
time many people have left is usually spent watching television, talking with
friends, on the Internet, or just plain
lounging around. In today’s
world, our senses are constantly being bombarded to the point where we feel
empty when we’re left to think on our own. The
last thing on our mind is usually God. But
when problems arise, like illness, or loosing someone we love, or we go through
difficult times, God usually comes to mind as the cause of these things. Maybe we don’t blame him directly for our problems but we
do hold him accountable.
It’s
funny how in today’s world God is usually associated with disaster and misery,
but seldom accredited for good things like the delicate beauty of a flower or
the majesty of a colorful sunset. 
If
someone we love is diagnosed with cancer we immediately question God: “How
could you allow this to happen?” or when we hear on the news that a small
child was abused we hold God accountable: “God is supposed to be just and
loving, and is supposed to protect the innocent.”
But when someone overcomes their cancer we praise modern medicine and
when the criminal is caught and brought to justice we praise the police. Why
do we blame God for the bad things but not praise him for the good?
A reason for this might be that we
have formulated in our minds an image of what we think God is and this image is
very much influenced by what we see and hear from movies, television, scientific
theory, and other sources. When God
doesn’t measure up to our image we begin to doubt his very existence.
Instead of making an effort to try and understand who God is and
formulate a more correct image of him we simply put him aside as we would an old
book or worn out pair of shoes. For reasons like this we need to
answer the question “Does God Exist?”
It
is possible to prove that God exists. St.
Thomas Aquinas, a great theologian and Doctor of the Church, writes in the Suma
Theologica
that there are five different ways to prove the existence of God: motion,
efficient cause, possibility and necessity, gradation, and governance.
Our world is in constant motion.
Everything around us is constantly moving and changing.
Even things that appear to be motionless are in fact in motion.
Through science and technology we know that the earth revolves around the
sun while at the same time revolving on its axis.
The sun also revolves on its axis, and our entire solar system revolves
within our galaxy, which revolves on its axis, and so on.
According to St. Thomas, everything that is in motion was put in motion
by something else[i].
To make things simple imagine a ball on the ground.
The ball has the potential to move but it cannot move on its own.
Something or someone must put it in motion. If we kick the ball, the ball no longer has the potential for
motion but is now in
motion. The same
applies to everything else – something or someone must first put it in motion.
We can continue into infinity with examples of something putting
something else in motion, but there must be a first cause of all the motion.
This first cause of motion (or first mover) could not have been put in
motion by anything else. This first
mover we call God.
The Argument of Efficient
Cause
There exists an order to every
efficient cause. This is also known
as cause and effect. This argument
is very similar to the argument of motion discussed above.
What is being argued is this: to have an effect there must be something
that causes it[ii].
A good example of cause and effect is the riddle of the chicken and the
egg. Which came first?
One has to be the cause of the other.
If the chicken came first, then the egg is the effect and if the chicken
is the effect, then the egg is the cause. Even
if we could figure this out, we’re still left with the question: what
is the first cause of either one of these? It is
not possible for something to be the efficient cause of itself.
This is the same as saying that a baby created itself.
For this to be true, the baby would have to exist even before it existed
and this is impossible. If there is
no cause, there cannot be any effect. There
has to be a cause that is efficient within itself, something that needs nothing
to exist and which is the cause of everything else.
This first cause we call God.
The
Argument of Possibility and Necessity
There are some things that are
possible and some things that are not possible.
It’s possible for a bird to fly provided that it can get sufficient
lift by use of its wings and air pressure.
If there is no air pressure or if its feathers are clipped, it becomes
impossible for a bird to fly. This is a very simple example of possibility and necessity
– there are things that are necessary in order for something to be possible.
A tree can bear fruit if the necessary conditions are present, but if the
tree never existed then it is impossible for it to give fruit.
In order for the fruit to exist, the tree has to exist, and something had
to have existed before the tree, maybe a seed, and something before that, and so
on.
Everything that exists is possible
only because something existed prior to it[iii].
It’s impossible to get something from nothing so we would be correct in
saying that something has to have always existed.
If at one time nothing existed, it would have been impossible for
anything to begin to exist. If this
were true then nothing would exist now. There
has to have been something existing that did not need anything to exist but
instead causes the existence of everything else.
This self-efficient existence we call God.
Gradation is the act or process of
classification. In school our work
and effort is subject to gradation, usually on a scale of “A” to “F”.
A Grade of “A” is the best; “B” is less than “A” but better
than “C” and so on. This
gradation is true of everything; some things are more or less good, some things
are more true than others, etc. But
for gradation to be true, there must be something to grade against.
For example, we can only say that something is cold or colder only if we
compare it to the coldest; or that a grade of “B” is better than “C” but
only if we have “A” to compare it to. With
this same way of thinking, we can say along with St. Thomas that there is
something that is truest, something that is noblest, something that is best, and
something that is the uttermost being[iv].
This uttermost being is the cause of every other being, goodness, and
perfection. This uttermost being we
call God.
In nature, everything has a
tendency toward its end. In other words, everything has its moment in time when it
finishes – everything has its purpose, outcome or result.
The end of male and female beings is procreation.
The end of feeling hungry is so the body can receive nourishment.
All things, whether they have intelligence or not, have a purpose or end.
We can see in nature that even those things that lack intelligence
achieve their end or purpose and this does not just happen by chance.
Some being with knowledge and intelligence must guide it to its end just
as a driver guides his car[v].
This being we call God.
Based on the arguments that St.
Thomas presents us, God does exist. God
is the uttermost being who possesses all understanding, knowledge, truth, and
justice. He is the cause of
everything, sets it all in motion, and guides it to its final end.
Even those who deny the existence of God must first recognize his
existence before they can deny him. We
cannot deny what we don’t know. If
we don’t know that something exists, how can we deny it?
This is the same as saying that North and South American did not exist
until the explorer Columbus reached its shores.
Just as no one can make such a ridiculous statement, neither can anyone
say that God does not exist simply because they cannot physically see him or
understand him.
Science has brought new insight
into many unanswered questions that man has asked since the dawn of
civilization. Great discoveries
have been made and things once thought of as impossible have now become
commonplace within our modern world. The
advances of science and technology for some people, however, have begun to take
the place of God to the point where many feel that God is no longer necessary or
that he never really existed at all. Although
many things that at one time were unexplainable can now be explained through the
knowledge we’ve gained as a civilization, there are still many unanswered
questions as to our beginning and our ultimate end.
To these questions, science may never have an answer because they belong
only to God.
It’s important to mention that neither science nor God contradict each other. In fact, the more science discovers and evolves, there more scientist become aware of how little knowledge they truly possess. And, despite the popular thought that science can even create life[vi], the truth is it can only arrange for the necessary conditions to be present so that life may be created. The first cause and movement can never be recreated in a laboratory. And though scientific theory has given us several explanations as to the “beginning” of our universe, we must remember that these are only just theories and that no matter how great they may be, there is still no explanation for the first cause of everything, and whom we call God.
In the previous chapter, we proved
that God exists. But proving that God does in fact exist is not enough to
satisfy our curiosity as rational beings. There
are many questions still left unanswered. Our
minds fill with ideas and images of what God is like.
Throughout history, different cultures have produced wonderful works of
art depicting God in a variety of ways. Michelangelo
Buonorroti (1475-1564) a famous Italian sculptor and painter and known
especially for his work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican,
painted an image of God as a powerful mature man with gray hair and beard.
But is this an accurate depiction of who God is?
In Sacred Scripture (the writings
that make up the Bible), the writers describe God as a three
Attributing to God qualities
normally reserved to things of this world is called anthropomorphism
and enables us to describe the spiritual and divine dimension of who God is.
When we speak of God having depth, we signify his power of knowing all
things including what is hidden from our own knowledge.
When he is referred to as having height, we signify his transcendence; by
length, we imply his eternal existence; and by width his love for all things.
St. Dionysius explains the
attributes of God in the following manner: “by the depth of God is meant the incomprehensibility
of his essence; by length, the procession of his all-pervading power; by width,
his overspreading all things, inasmuch as all things lie under his
protection.” (De Divinis Nominibus ix)
We wrongly assume that God has
human form much like ours. This
misconception begins to take root since the story of creation in the Book of
Genesis (the first book found in the Bible).
In the Book of Genesis we read:
Then
God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon
the earth.” So
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
female he created them.
And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and
over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the
earth.”
(Gn 1:26-28)
But what the writer is really
saying is that Man is made in the image of God with regards to his reason and
intelligence. Even though Man is
one of God’s creations he excels every other creature because of his
intelligence and ability to reason. These two attributes of Man (intelligence and reason) are not
corporeal (material) so in reality we do not resemble God’s image because of
our appearance. When in Scripture
we find corporeal attributes in God, it is to form a parallel between the works
of God and our own actions. It’s
a type of association. For example,
when it is said that the eyes of God see, the Scripture is actually trying to
explain how God has the power to see intellectually, not sensibly.
The same is true when Scripture speaks of God sitting, which signifies an
unchanging God who has dominion over everything (like the image of a King
sitting on his throne). Standing signifies God’s power to overcome anything that
opposes him. This type of writing
is what we call metaphor, imagery, or figurative.
So when we say that God comes near us or withdraws from us we’re using
a metaphor to signify how we spiritually move closer or away from him.
So does this mean that we are wrong
in depicting God as a being with form, and with a body similar to ours?
Absolutely not. Creating an
image of God, no matter how imperfect this may be, allows us to establish a
personal relationship with him. It
becomes very difficult to relate to something that is abstract. Imagine never having met your grandparents and never having
seen their picture. Even if someone
could describe them to you, it would be very difficult for you to understand who
they really were, except for knowing that they were your grandparents.
The same is true for God. Although
no one has seen him, human attributes are given to him for us to understand and
recognize him. The many paintings
of God throughout history is an attempt by the artist to interpret who God is,
according to what we know to be true of him.
If we listen to someone speak about a person or when we ourselves speak of someone we either like or dislike, we create with our words, expressions and our tone of voice an image of the person we are trying to describe. Whoever is listening to us begins to see in their mind an image of the person we are describing. Whenever the listener hears the name of the person we described, the mental image that was created immediately comes to mind. Our attitude towards that person will depend greatly on the image we have made. The same is true for all the images of God that we see in books, movies, magazines, paintings, etc. The artists and writers have all tried to create an image of God that will tell of his attributes like Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son, which depicts a fatherly figure tenderly caressing his son who has returned in repentance. This painting portrays God as a father who loves his children regardless of what they have done and welcomes them back with tenderness and forgiveness. Although God may not look at all like Rembrandt’s painting, it is still a truthful depiction of God because it shows his love, tenderness and mercy, which are all attributes of God. Even though images such as these can never fully portray God as he is, they do offer us some insight.
In St. Paul’s first letter to
Timothy, he reminds us “everything created by God is good” (1 Tm 4,4).
St. Paul is merely recalling the story of creation found in the book of
Genesis where God saw that what he had created was good (Gn 1:1-31).
If God then created everything and saw that it was good, how is it
possible that there be evil in the world? I’m
sure we have often asked ourselves this question.
But, if God created everything, and if evil exists in the world, it would
stand to reason that he created evil as well. Then God could be both good and evil. Because the human mind has a tendency to think in this
manner, it’s important that we discuss this issue in more detail.
Evil is the absence of good[i].
Evil in itself has no formal cause; instead it is something that happens
accidentally. Fire in itself is
good, and its ultimate end is to become hotter and to continue burning.
However, should the fire continue to increase and seek its perfection,
which is to become as hot as possible, it would deprive its surrounding area of
oxygen which is an evil. The
fire’s purpose is to seek its perfection – to grow hotter, yet by accident it deprives
us of oxygen. Let us look at another example:
On March 24, 1989 the captain of the Exxon Valdez (an oil tanker carrying 11 million gallons of oil), ran the tanker aground in Prince William Sound in Alaska. The accident caused such great damage to the hull of the ship that millions of gallons of crude oil spilled into the waters off Alaska and eventually made its way to shore. This caused one of the greatest ecological disasters in history. Without a doubt, this was evil. However, the evil was the result of good being deprived. The captain who had no intention of causing such evil but did so indirectly by failing to do what was necessary to insure the safety of the ship, its crew and the surrounding environment.
So
then, if evil is caused by the lack of a particular virtue (a particular good),
what is the reason for the lack of good? The
Bible says that everything God created was good, so how can there be a lack of
good?
God indeed created everything and
saw that it was good. And, God’s love for his creation is so great that when he
created man, he gave him the ability to freely choose for himself.
God did not limit man’s ability to choose, so man even has the ability
to choose whether to love God or not and consequently to choose to do good or
not. Now God created man with both
a physical body that we can see, and a soul that we cannot see.
The soul seeks to unite itself to God while the body seeks temporal
things (worldly things such as food, pleasure, etc.).
Because we can more readily recognize our temporal needs, we go to great
lengths to satisfy these needs and many times at the expense of our soul.
And, this is how we can fail to do good and end with a result that can be
called evil.
An example of this would be a person who is living in poverty and sees wealth as the only solution to a better life. This person’s good desire to improve their way of life and thereby ending their suffering can lead them to seek more education to attain a higher paying job, more hours of work, or to the fastest and easiest solution of crime. This last solution may very well be the quickest and easiest way out of poverty, however by choosing crime evil is committed. But let’s analyze this further. The person who chooses crime as a solution is seeking to satisfy a temporal need or pleasure (food, shelter or clothing, etc.). These things in themselves are good and by satisfying these temporal needs, we in fact are doing good. However, when we seek to acquire these things no matter what the cost to others, our desire to do good for ourselves becomes an act of evil. This happens because we can become slaves (be subject to) the things in which we place our ultimate values (St. Augustine, On Free Choices of the Will, III 5). If our ultimate goal is to become wealthy, then theft becomes only a means by which we achieve the ultimate end. In the same way, if we seek sexual satisfaction as an ultimate end and we become subject to achieving this pleasure, then abuse and rape become just a means to achieve the pleasure. When we become subject or slave to the things in which we place our ultimate values, our judgment becomes distorted resulting in evil.
Some people will say that God is
not in all things because God is greater than everything and will not lower
himself to the level of his creation. Others
say that God cannot be everywhere because God is not bound by a physical body,
and, still others say that if God is in one place, he’s there in his entirety
because God has no parts and cannot be divided.
So then, what relationship does God have with his creation?
Does he take care of his creation or does he only look at it from a
distance? In other words, is God
present in all things? We will
address this question in this chapter and offer some answers.
In the first chapter we looked at St. Thomas
Aquinas’ argument of motion, which posits that everything that is in motion
was put in motion by something else. We
learned through this argument that God is the first mover of everything.
The example was given of a ball, which has the potential to move but
cannot move on its own, but rather must be moved by something else like a kick
or a throw. If the ball is not
moved by something else it remains still. In
the same way, all of creation remains without life unless God, its creator,
gives it life constantly. Whatever
is moved and the mover must be joined together.
God is therefore joined to creation always – at the time of creation
and as long as creation continues to exist.
If God were to remove himself from creation (all that exists) everything
would cease to exist.
Because God joins himself to what he creates, he is in all things and thus everywhere. By joining himself to creation he gives everything its being, power and motion. Now, because God is incorporeal (not limited by a physical body or substance) he can be everywhere and fill everything without disturbing or excluding the things he fills. Take for example a pencil lying on a desk. It would be impossible for another pencil to be in the exact same place because pencils are physical substances that take up space. One pencil would have to be removed before another can fill the same space. With God, however, it is not so. God is in all things without disturbing what that thing is, and God is whole in all things.
[i] Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Treatise on God, Question 49 The Cause of Evil, Article 1
[ii] See previous note.
[iii] See previous not No.1
[iv] See previous not No.1
[v] See previous not No.1
[vi] Science has attributed to itself the power of creating life through the process of in-vitro fertilization since the 1970’s. More recently, a great debate has begun on the subject of cloning life. These things, once reserved to God have become commonplace within our modern society.
