The final cause of the universe is to bring about intelligent observers. John Barrow, a professor at the University of Cambridge, writes, “Many of its most striking features – its vast size and huge age, the loneliness and darkness of space – are all necessary conditions for there to be intelligent observers like ourselves” (Page 113).
The final cause is harmony. “Harmony” is defined “the arrangement of parts in a pleasing relation to each other” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1966, p. 1035). Parker writes, “The principle of harmony, so important to the great Pythagoras, had been upheld” (30).
The final cause of a college program is confusing for some students, because students are sometimes “caught between their intuitive knowledge that college is no place for them and everyone else’s opinion that college is the only right place for them” (92). If an ethical young person wishes to remain happy by avoiding debt
Deduction
The final cause is to be purified. Barron writes, “The new Israel of the Church has been handed over to its enemies, precisely for the sake of purification” (29). “Purification” as the “act or operation of removing impure, noxious or foreign matter” (Webster’s Third International Dictionary, 1966, p. 1845).
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was an excellent mariner. But was he one of the best? According to Samuel E. Morison, Columbus was “one of the greatest mariners, if not the greatest, of all time” (vi). The “Discoverer” (9) and “Admiral” (27) made four voyages to America, “each of which was sufficient to place him in the first rank of the world’s navigators” (70).
The final cause of preferring personal freedom over Church doctrine is the desire for independence. Carey writes, “The Leadership Conference of Women Religious emerged as a new entity asserting independence from Rome and openly challenging the Church in many areas” (p. 88).