by Orestes J. Gonzalez

Created on: October 06, 2008   Last Updated: February 03, 2012

The question 'Does God exist?' seems to have been present in every culture and philosopher.

There is one philosopher however who can be singled out as the thinker whose remarks on the existence of God have been quoted the most: Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274.)

Even contemporary crawler-based search engines corroborate this fact.

Therefore, any serious attempt at answering the question 'Does God exist?' would be incomplete if it failed to mention Aquinas' treatment of this issue.

In this article, I provide an answer to the question 'Does God exist?' by examining the most distinctive characteristic of Aquinas' contribution to the subject.

It is generally accepted that Aquinas' Five Ways of proving the existence of God have their ultimate source in Aristotle. Aquinas is not the originator of the arguments.

But did Aquinas say anything novel concerning the existence of God? The answer is a definite yes.

Aquinas offers another argument in his philosophical and theological writings to answer the question 'Does God exist?' It is the argument based on the notion of the 'actus essendi.'

The discovery of the notion of 'actus essendi' equipped Aquinas with the metaphysical principle he needed to formulate an original and incisive argument for the existence of God. The 'Actus Essendi Way' developed by Aquinas sets him apart from all other philosophers, including Aristotle.

As Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) remarked, [1] the transcendental value of the 'actus essendi' 'paves the most direct way to rise to the knowledge of subsisting Being and pure Act, namely to God.'

Here is a brief explanation of the term.

The expression 'actus essendi' is a technical term used by Aquinas in its restricted meaning. 'Actus essendi' is the metaphysical principle that goes 'side by side' with the metaphysical principle 'essence' in a subsistent extramental thing.

Three points of reference are indicated here. One, the real finite thing itself existing in the external world; another, the 'essence' which makes the thing to be what it is; and yet another, the 'actus essendi' which places both the thing with its 'essence' in actual existence.

In the real world 'essence' and 'actus essendi' are inseparable metaphysical principles. The metaphysical principle of 'actus essendi' always appears instantiated in an 'essence.' And the 'essence' of the thing is what put limits to the thing's participation in 'actus essendi.'

Now, returning to the question 'Does God exist?' the argument for the ascent

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