The Kalam Cosmological Argument (1) Everything that has a beginning of its existence has a cause of its existence. But you would never arrive at an infinitieth division. Things don't just pop into existence. Because the volume of space is increasing so rapidly, the universe actually becomes farther and farther from an equilibrium state in which matter and energy are evenly distributed. But on theories (such as Stephen Hawkings no boundary proposal) that do not have a point-like beginning, the past is still finite, not infinite. Why did the universe come into being only 14 billion years ago? For an accessible video, see see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXCQelhKJ7A (accessed February 23, 2014), where Vilenkin concludes, there are no models at this time that provide a satisfactory model for a universe without a beginning.. What is the Teleological argument for the existence of God? But now turn the story around: suppose Jupiter and Saturn have been orbiting the sun from eternity past. Rather an observer in any galaxy will look out and see the other galaxies moving away from him. And yet, before they arrived, all the rooms were already full! This book assesses some of the main forms of the Kalam cosmological argument. Which will have completed the most orbits? Whew! All throughout history men have assumed that the universe as a whole was unchanging. The universe has a cause. Graham Oppy, J. L. Mackie and Wes Morriston have objected to the intuitiveness of the first premise. All this accomplishes is showing how to set up a certain universe of discourse for talking consistently about actual infinites. Modern set theory shows that if you adopt certain axioms and rules, then you can talk about actually infinite collections in a consistent way, without contradicting yourself. Ghazali recognized that a potentially infinite number of things could exist, but he denied that an actually infinite number of things could exist. The argument generally goes something like this: This argument presupposes presentism or the A Theory of time. It is named after the kalam (medieval Islamic scholasticism) from which its key ideas originated. The series of past events is like a sequence of dominoes falling one after another until the last domino, today, is reached. Ghazali maintained that the answer to this problem is that the First Cause must be a personal being endowed with freedom of the will. God may be responsible for introducing order into the cosmos, but He did not create the universe itself. It must transcend space and time, since it created space and time. Notice that theres simply nothing prior to the initial boundary of space-time. However, while a number of philosophers have offered powerful criticisms of William Lane Craig's defense of the premise, J.P. Moreland has also offered a number of unique arguments in support of it, and to date, little attention has been paid to these in the . According to this argument, the universe has a time when it began that needs to be explained. 1) If something begins to exist, it must have a cause. Their answer includes the history of the argument and a concise elucidation. What properties must this cause of the universe possess? The Attitude of an Apologist. }.) Its probably accelerating and may have had a brief moment of super-rapid expansion in the past. To finish the series at a certain point, and to elevate one member of the series to the dignity of an un-caused first cause, is to set at naught the very law of causation on which the whole argument proceeds., According to the atheist philosopherQuentin Smith, a count of the articles in the philosophy journals shows that more articles have been published about Craigs defense of the Kalam argument than have been published about any other philosophers contemporary formulation of an argument for Gods existence.. The Kalm Cosmological Argument is a 1979 book by the philosopher William Lane Craig, in which the author offers a contemporary defense of the Kalm cosmological argument and argues for the existence of God, with an emphasis on the alleged metaphysical impossibility of an infinite regress of past events. He argues that if the first two premises are true, then premise three . Philosopher Yuri Balashov has criticised Craigs attempt to reconcile the A-theory with special relativity by relying on a neoLorentzian interpretation of Special Relativity. Whatever begins to exist has a cause; 2. Mike Winger is a Christian apologist and the host of the Bible Thinker YouTube channel. In the subsequentBlackwell Companion to Natural Theology, published in 2009, Craig discusses the properties of the cause of the universe, explaining how they follow byentailmentfrom the initial syllogism of the Kalam cosmological argument: Craig concludes that the cause of the existence of the universe is an uncaused, personal Creator whosansthe universe is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless and enormously powerful; remarking upon the theological implications of this union of properties. A key premise of the kalam cosmological argument is that the universe began to exist. Distinguishing the Order of Being and the Order of Knowing, 6606|6085|6086|6090|6091|6092|6605|6096|6103|6109|6114|6118|6121|6124|6095|6128|6129|6130|, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXCQelhKJ7A. All Rights Reserved. Formal Equivalence vs. Since the series of past events has been formed by adding one event after another, it cant be actually infinite. As I said, infinite set theory is a highly developed and well-understood branch of modern mathematics. In fact, Boltzmanns hypothesis, if consistently carried out, would lead to a strange sort of illusionism: in all probability we really do inhabit a smaller world, and the stars and the planets we observe are just illusions, mere images on the heavens. We can summarize this argument as follows: 1. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism (2007) reports, A count of the articles in the philosophy journals shows that more articles have been published about . How you answer that question affects how you live your life. Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its beginning. Now the cause of the universe is permanently there, since it is timeless. Thus, this alleged exception to (1) is not an exception to (1'). There are a few different ways to interpret the Kalam Cosmological Argument, but all interpretations agree that an . Wilson Observatory, made a startling discovery which verified Friedman and LeMatres theory. Whatever begins to exist, has a cause of its existence (i.e. Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. The temporal series of events is a collection formed by successive addition. But he argued that if an actually infinite number of things could exist, then various absurdities would result. The first of those premises - whatever begins to exist has a cause - seems to be almost indisputable. But in 2013, the cosmologist Aron Wall of the University of California was able to formulate a new singularity theorem which seems to close the door on that possibility. If time is tenseless, then the universe never really comes into being, and, therefore, the quest for a cause of its coming into being is misconceived.. Of course, they will never actually arrive at this limit. But it does absolutely nothing to show that such mathematical entities really exist or that an actually infinite number of things can really exist. The notion that a house popped into existence out of nothing is no more . Creation Story Definition: The Biblical Creation Narrative Explained, What is Reformation Day? An infinite temporal regress of events is an actual infinite. You cant get any closer than that! But the kalam is meant to be just one part of a cumulative case for the existence of God. A.Vilenkin, cited in Why physicists can't avoid a creation event, by Lisa Grossman, New Scientist (January 11, 2012). "Kalam" is the Arabic word for medieval theology. Nor can anything constrain nothingness, for there isnt anything to be constrained! The vertical dimension represents time. Is the teleological argument inductive or deductive? Therefore, the cause must possess all information in the universe and is thus all-knowing. that there's a mind-independent 'now'), but if they don't, the Kalam becomes a rather hard sell. The science of cosmogeny is based on the assumption that there are causal conditions for the origin of the universe. Introduction In his defense of the kalam cosmological argument, William Lane Craig defends the theory of time commonly referred to as the A-theory.1 According to the A-theory, time exists approximately the way we experience it, with future moments constantly coming The Moral Argument. An alternative way to argue against the past eternity of the universe is through the impossibility of traversing (counting/crossing/completing) infinity. This seems crazy. According toMichael Martin, the cosmological arguments presented by Craig, Bruce Reichenbach, andRichard Swinburne are among the most sophisticated and well argued in contemporary theological philosophy. So we have a second good argument for premise 2, that the universe began to exist. 'An innovative examination and defence of the cosmological and teleological arguments - accessible to the non-expert but pushing the debate into new territory with great originality and verve.' - T. J. Mawson , Oxford University, UK 'Andrew Loke's boo Cognostic. Stratton. Ghazali formulates his argument very simply: Every being which begins has a cause for its beginning; now the world is a being which begins; therefore, it possesses a cause for its beginning.[1]. Therefore, an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, whosansthe universe is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless and infinitely powerful. Recent discoveries indicate that the cosmic expansion is actually speeding up. But the acceleration of the universes expansion only hastens its demise. Either way, the universe began to exist. And there are other forms of the Cosmological argument that overcome some of the Kalam's weaknesses - see The Cosmological argument. He writes: According to the hypothesis under consideration, it has been established that all the beings in the world have a cause. William Lane Craig (perhaps, the most well known proponent of the Kalam Cosmological Argument) gives a presentation on the philosophical (the impossibility o. This was also Albert Einsteins assumption when he first began to apply his new theory of gravity, called the General Theory of Relativity, to the universe in 1917. Contents Form of the argument. Second, Craig argues that whatever begins to exist has a cause that caused it to begin to exist. Therefore: (3) The universe has a cause of its existence. As you trace the expansion of the universe back in time, everything gets closer and closer together. The Kalam argument has become very popular in recent decades, actually after some neglect. The Kalam is a long way from "proving" that God exists, but when combined with other theistic arguments and evidence, I believe it adds to the probability that God does exist. The two discuss the kalam cosmological argument, answer objections, and at the end, take questions from viewers. Ghazalis reasoning involves three simple steps: 1. Philosopher Quentin Smith has cited the example ofvirtual particles, which appear and disappear from observation, apparently at random, to assert the tenability of uncaused natural phenomena. At its most basic, the ideas are simple: Everything that begins to exist has a cause. Craig presents the argument deductively, as the following syllogism: Whatever begins to exist has a cause. The Kalam Cosmological Argument as oft stated by theists, most notably William Lane Craig, is as follows. After thoroughly studying the teachings of these philosophers, Ghazali wrote a withering critique of their views entitled The Incoherence of the Philosophers. The universe began to exist. In this style of argument, a conclusion necessarily and inescapably follows from the premises - provided, of course, that those premises are in fact true. 1'. The Kalam Cosmological Argument: A Rebuttal (1997) (Off Site) by Andrew Lias. For example, a fluctuation that formed a world no bigger than our solar system would be enough for us to be alive and would be incomprehensibly more likely to occur than a fluctuation that formed the whole universe we see! Craig cannot validly conclude that a single agent is the creator. It gives the reader an insight into some of the main areas of controversy (for example . Today this argument, largely forgotten since the time of Kant, is once again back at center stage. Lets look at each step of this argument. People generally assume a tensed theory of time (i.e. Craig formulates the Kalam as follows: P1. Craig states the Kalam cosmological argument as a brief syllogism, most commonly rendered as follows:[3] 1. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! Here's the kalam/cosmological argument as rendered deductively by Craig (see included links for details): 1. whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence. If the universe began to exist, then the universe has a cause of its beginning. That implies that the number of past events cannot be actually infinite. They use examples to help readers grasp concepts like the impossibility of an actual infinity (which targets the second premise in the argument) and horizontal causality. In 2012 Vilenkin showed that models which do not meet this one condition still fail for other reasons to avert the beginning of the universe. 1) Everything that begins to exist has a cause: "White Swan Fallacy". Pruss and Koons show how to re-formulate the paradox so that the Grim Reapers are spread out over infinite time rather than over a single hour, for example, by having each Grim Reaper swing his scythe on January 1 of each past year if you have managed to live that long. Philosopher of science David Albert has criticised the use of the term nothing in describing the quantum vacuum. 4. it's rational to believe that said cause is God. Hilberts Hotel is absurd. Popularized by William Lane Craig, it addresses the question of the universe's beginning, and its logical cause. The most commonly used form is "horizontal," also known as the kalam cosmological argument. But then at no point in the past can we find the man finishing his countdown, which contradicts the hypothesis that he has been counting from eternity. hub focused on God and the Bible. The Cosmological Argument attempts to prove that God exists by showing that there cannot be an infinite number of regressions of causes to things all things that exist. The universe began to exist. He moves the person who was staying in room #1 into room #2, the person who was staying in room #2 into room #4, the person who was staying in room #3 into room #6, each time moving the person into the room number twice his own. Another criticism comes from Thomist philosopherDr. Edward Feserwho claims that past and future events are potential rather than actual, meaning that an infinite past could exist in a similar way to how an infinite number of potential halfway points exist between any two given points (as was discussed in one ofZenos paradoxes). The Kalam Cosmological Argument provides nothing to substantiate the claim that there is a creator. If the past were infinitely long, an infinite amount of time would have had to pass before today. Lords Library contributor Vickie Melograno compiled this short list of web resources to consider when you need the Kalam Cosmological Argument explained. Therefore, an infinite temporal regress of events cannot exist. Such a situation seems clearly conceivablegiven the possibility of an actually infinite number of thingsbut leads to an impossibility: you cannot survive past midnight, and yet you cannot be killed by any Grim Reaper at any time. Note 1: In 1929 the American astronomer Edwin Hubble, through tireless observations at Mt. Liberal Theology vs. Liberation Theology; Whats the Difference? Grim Reaper 3 will strike you dead at 12:15 a.m., and so on. #4. Therefore, 3) The universe had a cause. Craig maintains that the Kalam cosmological argument involves a commitment to theA-theory of time, also known as the tensed theory of time orpresentism, as opposed to its alternative, theB-theory of time, also known as the tenseless theory of time or eternalism. Ghazali argued that if the universe never began to exist, then there has been an infinite number of past events prior to today. You are alive at midnight. Its historic proponents includeAl-Kindi,Al-Ghazali, andSt. Bonaventure. It shows that the number of past events must be finite. In this fascinating book, he argues that the idea of a beginningless universe is absurd. ., -3, -2, -1, 0. The 9 Best Christology Books to Consider Reading in 2022. Children accept answers like the stork or the cabbage patch. Adults look for a deeper explanation of not only how we got here but how everything else did, too. The second is that a temporal series cannot be an actual infinite, assuming than an actual infinite can exist in the real world, because: a) a temporal series is a collection formed by successive addition; and b) a collection formed by successive addition cannot be an actual infinite. Copyright 2002-2022 Got Questions Ministries. Part I provides a brief history of the Kalm cosmological argument as stated by the Kalm tradition, with special attention to al-Kindi, Saadia and al-Ghzli. This fact must be clearly appreciated. Martin also claims that Craig has not justified his claim of creation ex nihilo, pointing out that the universe may have been created from pre-existing material in a timeless or eternal state. An infinite temporal regress of events is an actual infinite. 2, that the cosmic expansion is actually speeding up main forms of the Bible and Prove that God is an actual infinite Big Bang answer is that the number of things can be My favorites again: 1 deductively, as the Big Bang theory problems in inferring factual possibility conceivability Of Religion the Kalam Cosmological argument kalam cosmological argument Essay - Essay Examples < /a > the most simple of Really be Debunked room already has a cause of Cosmological arguments that go back in time can not.! 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