WOF 097: Did Thomas Aquinas Really Prove God? (Part 2 of 2)
The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture
Brandon Vogt
4.9 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 16 October 2017
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is the second part of a series responding to a viral YouTube video titled "Aquinas and the Cosmological Arguments" (750,000+ views), which claims that Thomas Aquinas' arguments for God have been decisively refuted. But have they? Bishop Barron responds to the video and shows that when properly understood, Thomas' arguments are as strong today as ever before. A listener asks how the word "Gospel" would have been understood in the first century.
SPECIAL: Pre-order the hardcover book today for just $19.95 (26% off) and free shipping. You'll also receive three bonus eBooks from Bishop Barron! Just click here to order.
Topics Discussed
- 0:05 - Introduction, background on Crash Course video
- 1:40 - Are Aquinas' first four arguments for God unimpressive because they don't lead to a personal God?
- 8:15 - Does Aquinas' argument for God allow for polytheism?
- 12:2o - Does Aquinas' argument for God allow God to be an egg, a turtle, or a big block of stone?
- 14:35 - Are there major flaws that make Aquinas' argument invalid?
- 16:45 - Is Aquinas' argument self-defeating, because God would require a cause?
- 21:05 - Do you have to believe Aquinas' arguments in order to believe in God?
- 26:30 - Question from listener: Was the word "Gospel" used often in Jesus' time?
Bonus Resources
- Books
- Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master by Bishop Barron
- Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide by Edward Feser
- Five Proofs of the Existence of God by Edward Feser
- The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism by Edward Feser
- Aquinas: An Introduction to the Life and Work of the Great Medieval Thinker by F. C. Copleston
- To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming Christ in a Secular Age by Bishop Barron
Find bonus links and resources for this episode at http://WordOnFireShow.com and be sure to submit your questions at http://AskBishopBarron.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the Word on Fire show. We're so glad to be here with you. I'm Brandon |
| 0:09.2 | Vat, the host and the content director at Word on Fire. And with us is Bishop Robert |
| 0:13.8 | Behran. Bishop Behran, welcome. Hey Brandon, always good to be with you. Always good to |
| 0:17.9 | be with you. Now today we continue the two-part series we started last week on Thomas Aquinas |
| 0:24.2 | and the arguments for God. These two episodes are in response to a viral YouTube video that's |
| 0:30.6 | already achieved over 750,000 views. That video is titled Aquinas and the Cosmological |
| 0:36.6 | Arguments. It's part of the Crash Course series on YouTube. Crash Course is one of the |
| 0:41.6 | most popular channels on YouTube. They have six and a half million subscribers. So these |
| 0:45.9 | videos have been getting around, especially to young people who they very clearly were |
| 0:50.6 | designed to appeal to. We covered the first half of that video in the last episode. So in |
| 0:55.8 | this episode, we're going to pick up right where we left off. Now in the video, the host |
| 1:00.5 | Hank Green covers four of Thomas Aquinas' five arguments for God. And then he moves into |
| 1:07.0 | some of the criticisms of those arguments. In the last episode, we showed how he probably |
| 1:12.4 | misrepresented either intentionally or not, maybe just misunderstood, at least the first |
| 1:17.8 | two arguments from Aquinas. Instead of going through his presentation of arguments three |
| 1:23.8 | and four, which suffer from some of the same misunderstandings, we thought that we'd |
| 1:28.4 | move right into the criticisms that he offers of these arguments. So here's a clip from |
| 1:34.1 | the YouTube video where Hank Green launches into some of his criticisms of these arguments. |
| 1:39.0 | Okay, we've considered Aquinas' four cosmological arguments, but remember, that's only step |
| 1:44.0 | one. The next and equally important step in philosophy is critical evaluations. So what |
| 1:49.1 | do we make of them? As philosophers, if you think an argument is flawed, it's your job |
| 1:52.5 | to try and figure out why. And by large philosophers, theists and atheists alike have been relatively |
... |
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