Revisiting Aquinas's Argument from Perfection

Tangle has a point in that you appear a bit sophomoric with your diatribe against atheism, but according to Catholic Author Mark Brumley who wrote Aquinas Proves Atheists Are Closer to God Than They Thinkhe mentions Aquinas understanding of a God Who exists as a Being Outside Of All Others.

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It may seem obvious to say that a Christian or even a generic theist is someone who says, God exists, and an atheist is someone who says, God does not exist. However, the traditional Christian (even the mere theist) wants to say more things about God, things that affect the use of the word exist as applied to God. Here is where Thomas comes in. When he says, God exists, he doesn’t mean by exist exactly the same thing that he means when he says, Rome exists or Jupiter exists or even, I exist.

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There are, says Thomas, things that receive their existence, that are dependent for their existence. I exist because my parents existed; I received my existence from them. That mountain exists because the earth exists and certain geological principles exist that go into the formation of mountains. And so on.

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Not everything, argues Thomas, can be a receiver of existence. Something (or Someone) must exist in its (his) own right, and not because of something else. Otherwise, there would be no existence to be passed on by the all various receivers of existence we encounter in the world around us. That something which (or Someone who) exists in its (his) own right and not as dependent on another is God. He, says Thomas, simply is, with the fullness of all that the word is can contain. This is why God is called the Supreme Being. Lesser beings are dependent for their existence on others. Not so God.

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It is an interesting expansion of a philosophical discussion. The problem that I see that many of us have is the accusation that we "make God up" in our minds....but this discussion sheds new light on that claim.

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If that is what you mean by God, argues Davies, then Thomas would agree that such a God does not exist. God, Davies quotes Thomas as saying, is to be thought of as existing outside the realm of existents, as a cause from which pours forth everything that exists in all its variant forms. In other words, there is no such being as the God who is thought to exist as just one more thing along side a can of beans or the planet Jupiter.

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I try and be somewhat diplomatic around here, but i get offended when self proclaimed believers think like atheists. I have no problem with atheists. For the most part they are intelligent contributors to society and cause far less problems than many of the nutters.