Saint Thomas Aquinas - Causation Argument

• causation argument - created by st thomas aquinas - theologian - 13th century.
• theologian - people who study the existance of God
• st thomas aquinas - "ex nihilo, nihilo fit" -> "from nothing, comes nothing". the world exists therefore the world has an origin - a cause.
• something causes everything, everything has a cause
• the only thing outside the universe powerful enough to cause is God, therefore God must exist
• Every cause must be outside of what it causes
• God doesn't need a cause because he is not within the universe (transcendent). God is known as the first cause
• everything that exists, exists. everything that exists has an origin. there is nothing that exists that has nothing that has happened before it
• "whatever causes the universe must exist outside of it"
• causation argument = cosmological argument
• COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (causation):

  • the uncaused cause (first cause) caused the origin, probably through the Big Bang
  • how humans came to be: we evolved from simple organisms that developed over time
  • purpose of humans = unknown purpose. but the uncaused cause may have had an overall plan for us