The Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God (Level 1 discussion)

Before reading below, I recommend you read my post - What is the Faith Pyramid?

The Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God:

1.  Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

2.  The universe began to exist.

3.  Therefore, the universe has a cause.

Before getting into the details of the argument, it should be noted that this argument is sound, in that, if the premises (#1 & #2) are true, then the conclusion (#3) must be true.

1.  Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

-This point is instinctively known. We have never experienced or heard of anything that came into existence without a cause, which is why this premise is usually not even challenged. Let me illustrate: Let's say I locked you in a room with no way out after giving you a pill that made you live forever. While in this room, you hear a banging sound outside the room...10 years later, you hear it again. Then you only hear it two or three times a century from then on. At no point (even after being in that room for a million years) would it be rational or smart to hear the sound and conclude that nothing had caused it. Logically, you know it was caused...every single time! Likewise, anything and everything that begins to exist has a cause.

2.  The universe began to exist.

-There are both philosophical and scientific reasons to accept this premise. Philosophically speaking, the universe had to come into existence, because it is not possible for there to have been an "actual infinite" past in time (meaning a past that goes on and on backwards). Otherwise, an infinite number of steps must have already been crossed to arrive to the present. This is not possible. Scientifically speaking, there is good evidence that the universe did come into existence at the "Big Bang." Scientists have confirmed that the universe is expanding and began at a first moment or "singularity." An additional scientific reason for there being a finite past (a past that has a beginning) to the universe is the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which teaches that the amount of usable energy is running out and eventually there will be no usable energy left. This implies that there has always been a finite amount of usable energy, which means that the universe had to have begun a finite time ago.

3.  Therefore, the universe has a cause.

-Once again, if premises 1 & 2 are true, then the conclusion must be true. Something (or Someone) "Big" indeed caused a "Bang"! This First Cause of all things is God, who must transcend time because time was created in the Big Bang, He must transcend space because space (or "material") was created in the Big Bang (this is consistent with God being Spirit), and He must be enormously powerful to cause such an effect. The Cosmological Argument is a sound and rational argument for the existence of God.

Finally, notice how these attributes of God - that He is timeless (or eternal), spaceless (or Spirit), and enormously powerful - are known without even having to open your Bible! This is called general revelation, or the way in which God has revealed Himself through nature and reason..."For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that they are without excuse." - Romans 1:20