RE: Atheists, what are the most convincing theist arguments you heard of?
March 14, 2017 at 7:33 pm
(This post was last modified: March 14, 2017 at 7:35 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
(March 14, 2017 at 4:46 pm)Nonpareil Wrote: And the First Way of Thomas Aquinas:
- It is certain, and evident to our senses, that some things are in motion.
- Now whatever is moved is moved by another.
- If that by which it is moved be itself moved, then this also must needs to be moved by another, and that by another again.
- But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover, and, consequently, no other mover, seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch as they are moved by the first mover: as the staff moves only because it is moved by the hand.
- Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, moved by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.
Both ultimately fail because their basic premise is bare assertion. The need for a cause can only be established to hold within the universe itself; asserting that there is a need for a cause for the universe itself is an unsupported assertion...
No premise in the 1W refers to the universe, does it? You're reading into the demonstration something that isn't there.
