Examples Of Aquinas Fifth Way

Aquinas’ Fifth Way
Aquinas’ fifth way deals with things that lack cognition, and the ends these things function for. Thomas states: “For we some things that lack cognition, viz. natural bodies [i.e. the elemental bodies], function for an end. This is evident from the fact that they always or very frequently function in the same way and end up resulting in what is best” (Aquinas 105). Aquinas goes on to make two claims: the first discusses God and his insurance that good things can and will come from evil circumstances. The second claim deals with God and nature: God created nature and thus all naturally occurring things can be traced back to God as the first cause. The conclusion is, generally stated as follows: everything that happens naturally
happens by God’s hand because God created nature. In reading this, there are several real-life examples of Aquinas’ arguments coming true that struck me. In this exegetical paper, I will dive into Aquinas’ introduction and two main claims in-depth using a variety of examples to describe how it is convicting.
In his introduction, Aquinas says that some things lack cognition, and that these things frequently function in the same way and end up resulting in what is best (Aquinas 105).
He goes on to say that:
“Those things which lack cognition do not tend towards an end unless they are directed by something with knowledge and intelligence, just as the arrow is directed by the archer. Therefore, there is some intelligent being who directs all natural things to an end, and this being we say is God” (Aquinas 105).
One example of bad things resulting in what is best is when a married couple is unable to conceive children and, despite the heartbreak this infertility might cause them at first, they can choose to adopt a child from anywhere in the world and make that child’s life better. A specific example of this is found in the reality show The Little People on TLC, where the stars adopt abandoned children from overseas and raise them in the best home they can provide. As Aquinas says “Since he is the highest good, God would never permit anything bad in the works if He were not omnipotent and good to the point of making even out of evil something good” (Aquinas 105). The ‘evil’ in this case is infertility. The infertile couple that wants a child but cannot have one feels that they have been neglected, but through God’s grace, they can be gifted something ‘good,’ a la the option of adoption. This process is often helped along by prayer, if the infertile couple is religious. Through their prayers, they can be led to the right child for
adoption. Aquinas’ first claim is the following: “It belongs then to the infinite goodness of God that He allows evil to exist and from it brings forth good” (Aquinas 105). One example of good coming from evil is the fall of humankind, found in Genesis. This example is summarized perfectly by Robert Driskell on the website What Christians Want to Know:
“God had created a perfect universe. He had placed a perfect couple into a perfect world and had given them a perfect life. He also gave them the power to choose. Because this perfect couple (with the ability to choose) chose to believe the words of Satan instead of the promises of God, sin entered this perfect world and contaminated it with imperfection and sin. If this were the end of the story, it would be a sad story indeed. However, our gracious Creator immediately put into action His plan to redeem His wayward children (Genesis 3:15). Beginning with this story, we see that there is always a way that good can come from evil, if we put our lives in God’s hands and trust in Him” (Driskell).
The good that came out of the evil of the original sin was knowledge of good and evil and free will. Before Adam and Eve took of the fruit, they didn’t even know they were naked! They had no idea of the indecency their lack of clothing gave them, but once they had been tempted to take the fruit by the serpent and did so, they were no longer perfect in ignorance, but instead more knowledgeable about what is right and wrong. His [God’s] plan was to send his one and only son Jesus to die for our sins so that we would not have to suffer for our grievances against God. Not only was he crucified publicly, but he was entombed and three days later, rose again. All of this was done out of God’s love for humanity and his desire to save us from the original sin. In the conclusion of his article, Driskell states that: “Only He [God] can guarantee to turn something bad (evil) into something good” (Driskell). This means that it is through God that we were saved by Jesus, and it is through him that anything good can come from something evil.
In Aquinas’ second claim, Sir Thomas advocates for God as the primal cause of everything. Aquinas’ second claim is the following:
“To the second [2], it should be said that, since a nature functions for a determinate end under the direction of some higher agent, it is necessary that the things which come to be by nature are also traced back to God as to a first cause. Likewise, also the things that come to be by purpose have to be traced back to some higher cause which is not human reason or will, for the latter are changeable and subject to failure, and everything subject to motion and capable of failure must be traced back to some first principle that is immobile and necessary through itself, as was shown” (Aquinas 105).
An example of something coming to be by purpose from a higher power would be religious conversions. The Christian doctrine teaches that we, as humans cannot convert people to Christianity by our own power, but instead we have to plant the seed and let God work his way into their lives. This can be done in a variety of ways, whether through dreams, through hardship or through another method is up to God, but no matter what, the conversion is up to God and the person being converted, not the seed planter. This conversion between man and God would be one of the natural things Aquinas speaks of in his second claim. Conversions usually take time and deep conviction, and it is not up to the seed planter to rush it along, but instead let it occur naturally as it is willed by God.
Aquinas’ fifth way deals primarily with good coming from evil and with God being the primal cause. Examples of good coming from evil include adoptions of underprivileged or abandoned children by infertile couples and the aftermath of Original Sin, in God’s sending of Jesus Christ to die for our sins and rise again three days later. The primary example of God as the primal cause is conversion, in that God and the person being converted are the ones that make the conversion, and it is our job as the already saved to plant seeds and let them decide what to do with it, also letting God work in that person’s heart and naturally convict him to change his ways.