... must have necessary existence to cause the contingent universe • God has necessary existence • therefore God is first cause of the contingent universe's existence First Way: The Argument from Motion St. Thomas Aquinas, studying the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, concluded from common observation that an object that is in motion (e.g. the planets, a rolling stone) is put in motion by some other object or force. From this, Aquinas believes that ultimately there must have been an UNMOVED MOVER (GOD) who first put things in motion. Follow the argument this way: 1) Nothing can move itself. 2) If every object in motion had a mover, then the first object in motion needed a mover. 3) This first mover is the Unmoved Mover, called God. Second Way: Causation of Existence This Way deals with the issue of existence. Aquinas concluded that common sense observation tells us that no object creates itself. In other ...

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