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RE:QUEST

A space for resources to help RE teachers and their students explore the Christian faith

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Thomas Aquinas' The Five Ways

The cosmological argument expanded

body of water beside treesSaint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was a medieval Christian theologian from Italy. Deploying syllogism, he proposed a set of philosophical arguments that he claimed offered evidence for God’s existence. These are known as cosmological arguments.

The cosmological arguments (also known as ‘The Five Ways’) are based on the order of the cosmos, and the natural laws and logic therein. A summary of these five arguments was published in Aquinas’ ‘Summa Theologiae’ in 1485.

'The Five Ways' arguments are offered as evidence that God exists, particularly with reference to the creation of the world.

Below is a summary of each of the five arguments:

  • The First Way: God, the First Mover
  • The Second Way: God, the First Cause
  • The Third Way: God, the Necessary Being
  • The Fourth Way: God, the Absolute Being
  • The Fifth Way: God, the Grand Designer

To learn more, download the resource below:

Download the full Five Ways PDF