Explaining Origins

Charles Darwin, the Father of Evolution

Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution changed the way man viewed the world and himself. It was a scientific hypothesis that reduced man to a mere animal equivalent to apes. It was also a theory which also tried to prove how the world came to exist bereft of a Creator-God. And of all the theories which is Darwinian in character and is the most accepted theory at present is the Big Bang Theory. Scientists have presented this theory as if it were already a fact. This is clearly evident in Discovery Channel programs and even in our science textbooks. The problem here is that the Big Bang Theory is just that—a theory. Why would scientists be so worked up on it? It’s simple. They just want to prove that God does not exist and that He is not the author of this world and that everything around us was just a product of mere chance.

I became acquainted with St. Thomas’ Five Ways in our Christian Living class during my high school days. Recently, already being a seminarian, I have come to appreciate it more. What Big Bang theorists uphold can easily be used against them using the Five Ways to prove God’s existence. Applying the First and Second Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas one can see that the Big Bang itself needed a Cause in order for it to exist and a Mover that would allow it to “blow up”. The Big Bang could not have “blown up” on its own. It surely needed a Spark that would ignite it. From this, one could proceed to the Third Way or the Argument from Possibility and Necessity. What was there before there was the Big Bang? Surely, the Big Bang did not just come into being by itself. If there was nothing, then how could something come out of nothing? There must surely be a being that was not contigent, that was absolutely necessary in order that other things would come into being. Therefore, there must be a being that exists of its own necessity, and does not receive its existence from another being, but rather causes them. This would be God.

Then one could proceed to the Fourth Way or the Argument of Gradation of Being that there is a gradation to be found in things: some are better or worse than others. We all thought at first that the our sun was the largest star only to learn later on that it is just only a middle-size star. There are larger stars and smaller stars than our sun. So far, we have discovered that our sun is the only star that supports life on a planet. But then there may be other stars which might be better than the sun in supporting life. Through this, we arrive at the notion of a “perfect life supporting” star. From this and other more similar examples, we arrive at the notion of perfection. There must be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection and this would be God. Then, with the Fifth Way or the Argument from Design, one could emphasize how even out of the “chaos” of the Big Bang, everything came into order and what we have now is the universe and our own solar system. Surely, all the particles that came out of the Big Bang could not have just come together to form planets and stars and galaxies by mere chance? Surely, there must be something, or someone who could have put all of these into the exact order and design. This intelligent being should exist by whom all natural things are directed to their end; this would be God.

Even though St. Thomas has been accused of reaching a priori propositions from a posteriori ones, his Five Ways still offer a significant way of thought for our present age. His philosophy is not so ethereal unlike that of St. Anselm. With the use of simple words, one could teach his philosophy to common people.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church

It is no wonder that St. Thomas has been called one of the greatest philosophers of the medieval age. His clear distinction between philosophy and theology has cleared the hazy clouds which once cluttered between faith and reason. This is why his philosophy is indispensable in seminary formation. It is a perennial kind of thought that surpasses time and space. It finds itself totally relevant now as it was in medieval times.