The Problem of the Lack of Exemplar Cause of the Natures of Contingent Substances Consequent to Atheism.

Contingent substances have a real distinction between essence and being. For the contingent substance only has a nature and has being. The contingent substance’s nature is a nature enacted to be by the act to be, and not enacted to be from the nature alone. For nature alone is only that which can be, and not that nature which does be. For example, a nature of tree as tree-ness is not from itself as a nature of tree-ness, the act to be of the tree. For the tree firstly can be a tree, is then from the nature of tree-ness only in potency to be a tree. Then the potency to be a tree, does be a tree by the nature of tree-ness efficiently caused by the act to be to be enacted as a concrete tree.

Yet so, if the nature of a contingent substance is not from itself in act, to be, then the nature of a contingent substance is only in potency as a nature. But the potency of a nature is itself primary matter as the first potency, which contains all potential natures. Primary matter is then the first material cause of a nature of a contingent substance. But the first material cause of a nature is contrary to the first formal cause of a nature. The first formal cause of a contingent nature is not primary matter, nor the being of an actually existing nature, but is the first act which contains the perfections of all possible natures in one act.

For form is an act, and the first form is the first act. Then the first act is that act which is the first act of all forms. But the first act of all forms is that first act which is itself a simple act which has all the perfections of all natures, yet is itself a simple act. For the first act that is prior to all is the simplest act. And the simplest act is God. For God is pure act. Therefore, the formal cause of all natures is the divine essence as the exemplar, first form of all creatures.

The tree-ness of the tree is then a form derived from God as the exemplar of the form of tree. God is tree-ness according to power and eminence, but is the perfections of tree-ness simply according to the divine nature. Yet atheism denies the existence of God, and therefore must deny God as the exemplar of the natures of all creatures. Consequently, atheism has no first form from which any creature’s natures can be derived. Therefore, atheism has only a material cause in primary matter for the natures of creatures, but has no first formal cause of creature’s natures.

But for the first formal cause of creature’s natures not to exist removes one of the four causes required to act together to cause a composed substance. For the formal, material, final and efficient causes must act together to cause a contingent substance. As there are insufficient causes to cause the contingent substance, atheism cannot account for the actuality of natures efficiently caused from the potentiality of natures in primary matter. Due to the lack of causation, there is a breach in sufficient reason to account for the natures of contingent substances. Therefore, atheism cannot account for the existence of any nature of any contingent substance.

Conclusion - Due to the lack of explanatory power of atheism, atheism is itself an unreasonable conclusion and must be abandoned.