Aquinas and the Five Ways
Thomas Aquinas’s is well-known for his five ways to know the existence of God. Behind these five ways is a metaphysic by which we can know reality as well as its Creator. Down through the centuries, moderns have tried to attack this Thomistic citadel, and some modern philosophers were so bold to claim they succeeded. And yet, Thomas’s five ways remain standing, enduring to the present day as sturdy proofs. While these five ways are not by any means the whole of Thomas’s philosophy, they do demonstrate why his First Principles have proved to be perennial pillars of natural theology to this day. In this issue of Credo, professors and pastors alike share why they find the five ways so compelling. More than that, they reflect on why the philosophy and theology of Aquinas deserves retrieving, especially on this side of modernism and postmodernism.
