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Aquinas’ fifth way does prove the existence of God by showing how he directs all natural things to their end. The fifth way explains how we observe that natural bodies act toward ends. Anything that acts toward an end either acts out of knowledge, or under the direction of something with knowledge, “as the arrow is directed by the archer”. But many natural beings lack knowledge. “Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural …

…fifth way proves the existence of God is a decisive one. Whether it be the analogy of the oak tree or the watchmaker it is evident that there must have been a designer of all things in the universe. For Aquinas logically believed that inanimate objects, such as planets, could never have organized themselves, obviously lacking the intelligence to do so. They were ordered by a being with intelligence who could; which would be God.