Way Truth Life Apologetics

   This is the first in a series of posts which will dive into some of the strongest arguments for the existence of God. The arguments presented are logically and reasonably sound and have withstood many attacks by atheists and skeptics. Those who hear the arguments yet still choose to believe God does not exist often do so from a volitional (emotive) position; they don’t want God to exist because then there is Someone to whom they would be accountable.

   Today we will explore the Cosmological / Kalam Cosmological Argument. One of the main proponents of the Kalam Cosmological Argument is Dr. William Lane Craig. Dr. Craig formulates the Kalam this way:

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.[1]

This is a simple, logical argument and with the standard cosmological model (Big Bang), it is extremely difficult to refute premise 2. Premise 1 relies on the law of causality from logic. When the premises are taken together, the conclusion reasonably follows.

   Drs Frank Turek and Normal Geisler present a philosophical angle to the Cosmological Argument. They state, “there’s a philosophical line of evidence for the beginning of the universe. This line of evidence is so rationally inescapable that some consider it the strongest argument of all…and it goes like this:

1.   An infinite number of days has no end.

2.   But today is the end day of history (history being a collection of all days).

3.   Therefore, there were not an infinite number of days before today (i.e., time had a beginning).^[2]

Simply put, there cannot be an infinite past. If time is eternal, and there is an infinite number of days in the past, you can never arrive at today, the present. Since we live and exist in the current time, time had a beginning, and the universe cannot be eternal. This is a fact of reality and cannot be reasonably disputed.

   The Cosmological argument asserts that the universe had a beginning. That prior to whatever “creation” event one holds to, there was no time, matter, or space before the universe came into existence. It’s difficult to imagine a “before” time; time did not exist, it is a condition of the universe itself. With this foundation established, we are confronted with two (and only two) possibilities. Either something / someone caused the universe to come into existence OR nothing caused the universe to come into existence.

   Atheists and skeptics argue for the 2^nd option and have yet to posit a reasonable answer. Some will argue that our universe is part of a multiverse. That is possible, however it is not testable as we cannot examine any part of these other universes. Additionally, this idea presents another question, “who or what created the multiverse?” The multiverse notion is an “answer” that has created another question.

   The Christian response to the question is found in the very first line of Scripture.

• בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃^[3]

(Beresheet bara Elohim et hashamyim ve-et haeretz)

• In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen 1:1

As Greg Koukl puts it, “a Big Bang requires a Big Banger.” This is not a God of the gaps argument (arguing from something we don’t know), it’s an argument from what we do know. We know that something does not come from nothing, that the universe or anything within the universe cannot be the cause of itself. Some aspect of the universe would have to exist to create itself and the universe—this is nonsense. We know that time, matter, and space cannot cause time, matter, and space.

   So whatever created the universe must be timeless (eternal—because it created time), spaceless (because it created space), and immaterial (because it created all matter). Additionally, this cause must be:

• intelligent (to establish the laws and forces necessary for the universe to exist and continue to exist),
• powerful (to be able to create the universe out of nothing
• creative (to want to create the universe)
• personal (because we humans are relational creatures, a characteristic which we received from this Creator)
• uncaused (the cause of the universe cannot itself be a caused entity)

What we are able to reason to as this First Cause is a timeless, spaceless, immaterial, uncaused, intelligent, powerful, creative, personal Creator. These descriptors line up with the God (Yahweh) we find in the Bible. The laws of logic, physics, chemistry, math, etc. are not material; they cannot be a byproduct of the universe. They are rooted in a Mind, the very Mind which established them and employs them to govern the origin and sustained existence of the created universe.

   Given these two options (everything came from something / someone versus everything came from nothing) which makes more sense to you? Atheists may try to redefine “nothing” to mean a quantum vacuum or a multiverse generator, HOWEVER those concepts are “something,” Nothing literally means NO-THING. Aristotle defined nothing as that which rocks dream about. I invite you to dig a bit deeper into this argument and see if it holds up. If it does (and I believe it will), perhaps you’ll look deeper into this God as He is described in the pages of the Bible.

~In Christ!

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[1] Craig, WL. (2008). Reasonable Faith, Third Edition (p. 111). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

^[2] Geisler, N. L., & Turek, F. (2004). I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist (pp. 90–91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

^[3] Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: with Werkgroep Informatica, Vrije Universiteit Morphology; Bible. O.T. Hebrew. Werkgroep Informatica, Vrije Universiteit. (2006). (Ge 1:1). Logos Bible Software.