On Creationism

Thomas Aquinas proposed five arguments for God in the thirteenth century, and modern Christians still hold them up as good. He did not claim they are proofs, though they are often called that (eg here ). Indeed, they could be seen as arguments for the nature of God. We know God exists, but what can we say about him? They are somewhat obscure, perhaps reflecting medieval philosophy, and people do argue about exactly what they are. I have to qualify this post by saying that this is my understanding of them. I resever the right to update this page if I learn otherwise. Argument from motion The first is the argument from motion, by which Aquinas means change.  All change happens for a reason,  and that reason is itself a change.  Therefore there is either an ultimate "unmoved mover" or an infinite regress of changes. One problem is that not all change has a reason. Things do happen spontaneously; we know this from quantum mechanics, Atoms of radioactive elements do just decay...

Nero became emperor of the Roman empire in AD 54, aged 16, due to the machinations of his mother, who had married the previous emperor, Claudius, and then likely poisoned Claudius, hoping to rule the empire through Nero. Although Nero spent money freely during his first years of reign, some think this may have been a good thing, proving employment at a time when it was needed. However, as time passed he became increasingly erratic, more interested in the arts than in ruling. He eventually murdered his mother and other family members. In AD 64 a grteat fire swept through Rome, and many blamed Nero, as he used the opportunity to build more palaces on the now empty land. Nero used the Christians as a scape goat, and so begun the first persecution of Christians by Rome. After 14 years of rule, the senate declared him a public enemy, and Servius Sulpicius Galba led an army against Nero. Nero fled Rome, to a nearby villa where, after some vacillating, he killed himself. However, a legend aro...