Ryan Maguire February 28, 2012 N Block Quest for God Evidence of God in the Gradation of Things In his

s work Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas debates many questions surrounding God and his existence. In the third article of the work, Aquinas presents five ways through which one can prove the existence of God. Aquinas argues as his fourth point that one can know God exists simply by looking at the gradation of earthly things. Aquinas begins his argument by pointing out that beings can be compared to one another as more or less good, noble, pure, etc. He explains that one is only able to derive the terms more and less by comparing things to a superlative. To simplify this idea, Aquinas uses the example of hot. In determining whether object A is more or less hot than object B, there must be a hottest object as a reference point for the two; whichever object more closely resembles the hottest object is the hotter of the two. Consequently, because one is able to compare the truth or goodness of two beings, it stands that there must be some being that is the most true and the best. Aquinas also argues that the superlative or maximum of any category is the source from which all lesser objects of the same category come from. Relating back to the hot example, if fire is the maximum of heat, then all hot things must come from fire. The same idea holds true for the goodness and perfections of beings: there must be one superlatively good and perfect being from which all other lesser beings derive their perfection. Aquinas asserts that this ultimate being is God.

In summation, Aquinas argues that every object is evaluated in comparison to a superlative object and that superlative objects are responsible for giving lesser objects their characteristics. He then applies this idea to the goodness, truth, and perfection of beings. If one can compare how good or true two beings are in relation to one another, then there must certainly be a superlatively good and true being. In addition, because beings have goodness and truth, they must have received those traits from the superlatively good and true being. This supremely good and true being that undoubtedly exists is known as God. In this manner, St. Thomas Aquinass examination of the gradation of objects proves the existence of the supremely good and true being called God.