The sections of this chapter before this section:
3.1 General and Special Relativity3.2 Three Cosmologies
3.3 An Inflationary Cosmology
3.4 Ex Nihilo Creation
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3.5.1 Ancient and Medieval Versions
In the chapter so far, we have noted that both secular cosmology and Christian theology suggest that the universe had a beginning. We have also seen how many naturalistic scientists of the twentieth century resisted the idea of a "Big Bang" because of traditional arguments for God as Creator. In this section, we turn to the long-standing Christian tradition known as the cosmological argument, which maintains that belief in a Creator is a deeply reasonable conclusion based on the universe having a beginning.
Perhaps the first articulation of the cosmological argument did not even come from a Christian or Jew but from the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the late 300s BCE. Aristotle noted that things in motion have been moved by something else. He thus imagined things being moved now being moved by something before them. But he didn't think this sequence of one thing pushing another could go back infinitely, so he suggested there must have been a "Prime Mover." This first mover moved everything else but was unmoved itself. [1] However, he did not see this mover as a person.
In the 1200s, Thomas Aquinas would take this line of thought and Christianize it. [2] God, he argued, was this first mover. He had several other arguments for the existence of God. Probably the one of most interest to us is his argument from "efficient causes." As we observe the world around us, everything that happens has a cause. And those events had a cause. But this sequence cannot go back infinitely, he supposed. Therefore, there must have been a first Cause, which is God.
He had three more. One was an argument from contingency. Everything around us is not necessary. The Earth is not necessary. The Milky Way galaxy is not necessary. However, if everything were contingent, at some point nothing would exist. But then nothing could exist now. Surely there must be at least one Necessary entity to ground existence. And this, he argued, is God. He had two other arguments about degrees of perfection and the order of nature.
These kinds of arguments are variations on what is called the cosmological argument or the argument from cause. You might liken it to the line of the song from the Sound of Music -- "Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could." And, therefore, there must be a God, a Creator.
The chief objection to such arguments is the question of why the progression cannot go back forever. In the 1700s, David Hume (1711-76) made such an objection. Just because it does not match our common sense, he argued, does not disprove that it could be so. [3]
3.5.2 Contemporary Versions
We have already seen in this chapter that the Big Bang theory answers this question of infinite regression. This is some of the reason that so many scientists of the twentieth century resisted it. As Georges Lemaître rightly observed, the idea of a beginning in cosmology directly supports the cosmological argument.
We might note some of the modern efforts to address the question of infinite regression from a philosophical and even mathematical perspective. The key figure here is William Lane Craig, who revived a medieval Islamic argument for the existence of God called the Kalaam argument. [4] A simple version of his argument goes like this:
Textbox: 1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.
Sometimes you will hear a popular response of, "Then where did God come from?" However, God does not fit within this logic because he does not have a cause. The first premise is that "whatever begins to exist has a cause." But God is not in this category.
Here is another way to put it. The argument is an argument about this universe. Everything that happens in this universe has a cause. And the universe itself as a whole would seem to need a Cause. However, God is not this universe. God is prior to and distinct from this universe. He is therefore outside this argument. We do not know if he needs a cause from this argument. Therefore, this attempt at rebuttal confuses God with the creation and is a non sequitur -- something that does not follow from the logic.
Craig has also argued that an actual infinite does not exist in this universe. This is an intriguing concept that is attractive in many ways. Craig himself has argued for this idea by invoking the absurdity of a parable known as "Hilbert's Hotel." In this parable, there is a hotel with infinite rooms that are full. But when a new guest arrives, the clerk can simply move the person in room 1 to room 2 -- along with all other subsequent rooms -- and there is now a vacancy. In fact, by moving all the people in odd rooms to even rooms, there is now an infinite vacancy. Craig suggests that, while this seems mathematically possible, it makes little sense in the real universe.
Whatever one thinks of Craig's argument, the universe does not seem to be infinite, and the current thinking is that it had a beginning. In chapter 5, we will explore the quantum realm and realize that infinite does not exist on the quantum level either. The world cannot be divided infinitely small in space either. So it would seem that Craig is correct. While infinite may exist in mathematics, it does not seem to be a real entity in the physical universe.
3.5.3 The Attributes of God
It seems fitting to end this discussion of the cosmological argument with some possible inferences we can draw about the nature of a Creator based on cause. From a standpoint of faith, let us move beyond a mere scientific argument to one that includes faith that God created the universe out of nothing. The issue of creation would seem to be one in which science and faith are potentially in continuity. Science does not tell us what triggered the creation. Scripture may or may not specify the how of creation. The two might easily be in continuity with each other, overlapping but distinct in the questions they address.
Accordingly, let us assume by faith that the universe was created by God out of nothing. Let us assume by faith that God created not only the matter of the universe but space itself. Let us assume that God designed it thoroughly, determining what the laws of the universe would be. This is a quite different situation from a cook coming up with a new recipe using existing ingredients. The cook did not invent the ingredients or their chemical makeup. The cook did not invent the laws of chemistry that govern how those molecules will interact with each other.
No, creation ex nihilo is not something that we have any experience with. God creates the very rules and laws of this universe. Perhaps God creates the logic of this universe. What God might create in some other universe might be completely incomprehensible to us because we have no point of reference to understand it. We are exploring the concept of true and thoroughgoing creation out of nothing.
What might this imply about God? First, if God truly creates the universe out of nothing, then he must surely have as much power as he creates or more. That is to say, he must surely be omnipotent or all-powerful in relation to the creation. You cannot lift 200 pounds if you are not 200 pounds strong. By inference, therefore, God must be at least "universe-strong."
Some pose non-sensical questions like, "Can God create a rock so big that he cannot move it?" This is a game with words, the fallacy of equivocation where the same word is used with different meanings. God can lift any rock he creates because he is all-powerful. Because he is all-powerful, it is not possible that he would create a rock he could not lift. The wording makes it sound like this means he is less powerful, but that is a mere trick of wording. God can lift any rock.
A second implication is that God must surely have exhaustive knowledge of the universe he has created. Again, he is not like a cook in the kitchen. He is designing everything. God must therefore be omniscient in relation to the workings of the universe -- every possible aspect of the creation. If everything in the universe is determined, he must also know every actual dimension of the universe as well. In chapter 6, we will argue that God can know every actual aspect of the universe without determining it as well.
It can take some processing for us to begin to fathom the depths of such omniscience. Presumably, God knows all our possible experiences -- he created their possibility. God learns nothing. Emotions in God must then surely be personifications -- images to help us understand God that are not literally applicable to him. For example, anger implies reaction, but if God knows everything, then he does not react in the same way that we react as humans.
As creator of everything, God must also be the creator of the possibility of evil. We will discuss in chapter 5 the theological benefits of seeing God as permitting evil to happen rather than him being the direct cause. Nevertheless, omniscience would seem to imply that God thoroughly knows what evil is because he created its possibility.
On some of these matters, we may find out in the kingdom of God that our feeble reasonings missed the mark. After all, we are discussing the infinite and that which is beyond our comprehension. Our finite and fallen state suggests that we should approach all these questions with great humility, for we are but dust.
[1] Aristotle talks about the Prime Mover in several places, Metaphysics 1071b12–22, 1072a19–30, 1074b33–1075a11 and Physics, VIII.5–6.
[2[ Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I.2.3.
[3] Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.
[4] William Lane Craig, The Kalam Cosmological Argument (Macmillan , 1979).
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