The Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God
I think most of us will know Kramer from Seinfeld…one of the most memorable characters ever on television… ‘Cosmo’ Kramer. Every time I see him I think ‘cosmology‘. (I guess that proves once and for all what a geek I am.)
Seinfeld was supposed to be a show ‘about nothing’. Anyone who’s watched one of the 180 episodes has to agree that though they may have been about nothing important, they were still about something: close-talkers, soup Nazis, double-dippers, re-gifters, and 176 other similar ‘somethings‘. Putting together a TV show about nothing is impossible…a sort of contradiction in terms.
Just as I think Seinfeld is actually ‘about something‘. I also believe the universe must have been created ‘by something‘. Some people believe that the universe just ‘popped’ into being, uncaused, from ‘nothing’…I’m definitely not one of them.
The universe either existed eternally or something caused its existence. There is no other alternative.
The cosmological argument goes like this:
1) Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
2) The universe began to exist.
3) Therefore, the universe has a cause.
If you do not believe premise 1, then I can’t really say much that will interest you. My arguments are based on logic and rationality and something ‘popping’ into being out of absolutely nothing without a cause behind it doesn’t make sense to me.
If the universe appearing uncaused is possible, then there’s nothing to say that it isn’t possible for an elephant to ‘pop’ into being before your eyes in your front yard, for example. If the universe can pop into being, then the elephant scenario shouldn’t surprise you. I hope you have a large pooper-scooper.
Premise 2 is where most of the arguments against a cause for the universe stem from.
Did the universe really have a beginning?
In my last post, we discussed some of the logical/philosophical issues that show the universe must have had a beginning.
There is also overwhelming evidence from science, that the universe had a beginning. Whether or not you like the term ‘Big Bang’ or agree on how it happened, there was some kind of beginning. The expansion of the universe, ackground radiation/red shift, the second law of thermodynamics…all confirm a universe that has a beginning. There are many debates on how and when, but most serious scientists agree, that the universe ‘began’.
There have been many cosmological models come in and out of fashion to try to get around a beginning point of the universe. These include the steady state model, oscillating models with continuous expansion and contraction, quantum models, string theory, amongst others, but these have been refuted by the scientific community.
Dr. William Craig discusses these in detail in his article “The Ultimate Question of Origins: God and the Beginning of the Universe.”
For those of you who are smarter than I am, three scientists, Borde, Guth and Velenkin have developed a theory (with calculations) that prove the necessity of the beginning of the universe. Their work has so far been able to refute all theories that deny a beginning for the universe.
A beginning point of the universe does nothing to prove that the ‘Christian God’ exists. It does, however, indicate that something had to already exist before the universe, time, and space were created.
What that something is would be the important question…
If it is a personal being, and there are good reasons to believe it is (we’ll talk about that next time), I want to know all I can about that being. It could have huge implications for the meaning and purpose of my life.
I hope this post at least made you think a bit…please take a minute to leave a comment, and if you haven’t signed up for notifications of new material…why not do it now and get your report re: evidence for the resurrection. Just fill out the form at the top right.
Make it a great day and we’ll talk again soon!
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