Matt FRADD and Robert DELFINO, Does God Exist? A Socratic Dialogue on the Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas. St. Louis, Missouri: EnRoute Books & Media, 2018. Pp.134. $26.00 hc. ISBN 978-0-999670-7-1. Reviewed by Claude T. KINCAID, Lourdes University, Sylvania, OH 43560.

Matt Fradd and Robert Delfino’s objective for this book isto for the existence of God in a format that can be easily understood. While this book reviews established principles and does not present anything new regarding the existence of God, it does bring some clarity to Thomas Aquinas’ five ways.

The first three chapters are fundamental. They introduce the Atheist and the Christian that have a dialogue for the rest of the book, discuss the problem of evil, and argues that science is not the only way to truth. Then the following six chapters discuss Thomas Aquinas’ five ways in detail. The final two chapters present terms, concepts, and synopses of the Five Ways.
The First Wayis the argument from motion. We sense that all things around us are in motion, but because nothing can move itself, each thing in motion must be moved by something else; therefore, there must be a first mover that is not itself moved by another but can move other things, God.

The Second Way is the argument from efficient causality. We perceive efficient causes in things around us in the world, but nothing in the world around us is an efficient cause by itself, therefore, there must be a first efficient cause that is not caused by anything else, God.
The Third Way is the argument from possibility and necessity. We find in nature things that are possible to be, that have contingent being.  But not everything can be a contingent being for otherwise nothing would exist. Therefore, some being must be necessary, God.

The Fourth Way is the argument from gradation of being. We find around us better and worse things. But nothing can be better except by some absolute best by which it is measured, God.

The Fifth Way is the argument from finality/design. We observe things lacking knowledge that work for a goal or best results. They do not attain this goal by chance but by purpose. Those things lacking knowledge do not move towards a goal or best results unless guided by someone or something which does possess knowledge. Therefore, there must exist something that possesses knowledge that directs all natural things to their goal or best results- God.
Aquinas needs to establish the existence of God as a foundation for theology, and so his Summa Theologica without the existence of God would have no foundation.

Fradd and Delfino’s objective is to present the Five Ways in a format that can be easily understood.  Throughout the book references are made to various sections of Aquinas’ Summa and thus the approach is integrative of the whole of Aquinas’s thought. Because the dialogue format is challenging to read and banter between the two interlocutors that is not related to the existence of God can be distracting, it might be best for the new student to start with the terms and synopses in chapters ten and eleven before reading the rest of the book. At the beginning of chapter nine, the fifth way was modified which started a dialogue to determine if the modification made the fifth way clearer. The Atheist relies on Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion throughout the book to challenge the Christian’s positions.

As one’s first introduction to the Five Ways, this book is a challenge to read. However, if you are already relatively familiar with Five Ways, then this can be a helpful review. It does introduce helpful and sometimes insightful ways to understand Aquinas’s classic arguments.