The Causal Proof
Tue, 01/22/2008 - 16:27 — admin
MICHAEL: I'm familiar with it as St. Thomas has stated it in his second proof, and it goes something like this: In the universe we see that for every effect there is a cause. If we examine the cause of one effect, however, we find that it in turn is also caused. In this way, a cause can be seen to be an effect of another cause, so what we end up with is a causal chain which ultimately must lead back to the original cause. Aquinas asserts that this original cause is God.
I think another of Aquinas's proofs, which he calls the argument of motion, is also quite similar.
He states that something which isn't in motion can only be brought into motion by something that is already moving. He traces the chain of moved and movers back to an original primordial mover, which he also asserts to be God.14 Since what he is saying in this argument for motion is that there must be an original cause of motion, I feel that it is pretty much identical with the causal argument, although stressed slightly differently.15
TEACHER: Yes, I would allow that. It is a clarification, we might say, of the fact that the original cause is not inert.
MICHAEL: In both instances, he arrives at the original cause, the beginning of the chain, by declaring that an infinite chain is impossible. This is because something can become a mover or a cause only when it is caused by another thing. Without a principle cause, there could be no secondary or intermediate causes, and therefore no effects. Since it is plainly obvious to our senses that there are intermediate causes and effects, we must conclude that there is an original cause.
TEACHER: This is a respectable argument, although it no doubt has some weak points. You will find similar arguments in the Vedic literature. For example, in the Brahma-samhita it is stated:
Ishvara parama Krishna, sat-chit-ananda vigraha anadir adir Govindam, sarvakarana karanam.16
This means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is the cause of all causes and the origin of all origins. Also, in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated, in the ninth chapter, that the Supreme Person is ultimately behind all moving and non-moving things.17
KARMAThe Causal Proof
According to yoga, every action, good or bad, produces some karmic reaction. Actions that are “bad” create bad karmic reactions. A person who engages in heinous criminal actions or who lives simply like an animal, exploiting others, will have to eat the bitter fruit of such actions in the future.
Science of Identity Foundation – Chris Butler Speaks
MICHAEL: I'm familiar with it as St. Thomas has stated it in his second proof, and it goes something like this: In the universe we see that for every effect there is a cause. If we examine the cause of one effect, however, we find that it in turn is also caused. In this way, a cause can be seen to be an effect of another cause, so what we end up with is a causal chain which ultimately must lead back to the original cause. Aquinas asserts that this original cause is God.
I think another of Aquinas's proofs, which he calls the argument of motion, is also quite similar.
He states that something which isn't in motion can only be brought into motion by something that is already moving. He traces the chain of moved and movers back to an original primordial mover, which he also asserts to be God.14 Since what he is saying in this argument for motion is that there must be an original cause of motion, I feel that it is pretty much identical with the causal argument, although stressed slightly differently.15
TEACHER: Yes, I would allow that. It is a clarification, we might say, of the fact that the original cause is not inert.
MICHAEL: In both instances, he arrives at the original cause, the beginning of the chain, by declaring that an infinite chain is impossible. This is because something can become a mover or a cause only when it is caused by another thing. Without a principle cause, there could be no secondary or intermediate causes, and therefore no effects. Since it is plainly obvious to our senses that there are intermediate causes and effects, we must conclude that there is an original cause.
TEACHER: This is a respectable argument, although it no doubt has some weak points. You will find similar arguments in the Vedic literature. For example, in the Brahma-samhita it is stated:
Ishvara parama Krishna, sat-chit-ananda vigraha anadir adir Govindam, sarvakarana karanam.16
This means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is the cause of all causes and the origin of all origins. Also, in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated, in the ninth chapter, that the Supreme Person is ultimately behind all moving and non-moving things.17