Background

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
-St. Thomas Aquinas 


St. Thomas Aquinas was a Catholic monk living from 1225 to 1274. Much of his work was heavily influenced by the philosopher Aristotle who created the concept of the Unmoved Mover. This describes the first cause that sets the universe into motion which people tend to associate with God. Relying on sense data, Aristotle described a conflict between potentiality versus actuality. The later, actuality, involves perfection, realization, determining, and a fullness of being. To sum it up, God is actuality. On the other hand, potentiality can be defined as the opposite: imperfection, incompleteness, perfectibility, and a determinable principle. All other beings are composed of actuality and potentiality. Aristotle proclaimed God as uncreated and independent of the world. He is perfect and does not suffer from the same principles and rules of physics and the world as other beings do. Because Aristotle relied on sense data, he employed inductive reasoning in his arguments toward the existence of God and saw a conclusion probable, but not necessary.