There are many problems with the arguments proposed by Thomas Aquinas arguments for the existence of God including the problem that they may be circular. Let's explore the problems.
For example:
A.The Argument from Efficient Cause: 1.There is an efficient cause for everything; nothing can be the efficient cause of itself.
2.It is not possible to regress to infinity in efficient causes.
3.To take away the cause is to take away the effect.
4.If there be no first cause then there will be no others.
5.Therefore, a First Cause exists (and this is God).
I like Bertrand Russell response:
“If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument. It is exactly of the same nature as the Hindu's view, that the world rested upon an elephant and the elephant rested upon a tortoise; and when they said, ‘How about the tortoise?’ the Indian said, ’Suppose we change the subject.’ Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian, and Other Essays (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957), 6-7.
I like the answer Tortoises (Gods) all the way down.
The problem with this argument is that you must assume at the beginning of the argument that God exists as a 'special case exception' as not needing a cause.
There are more problems with this argument, which I will add in further posts.
For example:
A.The Argument from Efficient Cause: 1.There is an efficient cause for everything; nothing can be the efficient cause of itself.
2.It is not possible to regress to infinity in efficient causes.
3.To take away the cause is to take away the effect.
4.If there be no first cause then there will be no others.
5.Therefore, a First Cause exists (and this is God).
I like Bertrand Russell response:
“If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument. It is exactly of the same nature as the Hindu's view, that the world rested upon an elephant and the elephant rested upon a tortoise; and when they said, ‘How about the tortoise?’ the Indian said, ’Suppose we change the subject.’ Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian, and Other Essays (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957), 6-7.
I like the answer Tortoises (Gods) all the way down.
The problem with this argument is that you must assume at the beginning of the argument that God exists as a 'special case exception' as not needing a cause.
There are more problems with this argument, which I will add in further posts.
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