The Cosmological Argument for God’s Existence

1. The Cosmological Argument for God’s Existence

2. Argument’s basic theme: Everything that exists must have a cause. The universe exists, therefore it must have a cause. This “first cause” is God.

3. St Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)

4. Argument’s premises (simple version): • the universe exists • everything that exists has a cause • causes precede their effects • the chain of cause & effect cannot go back in time indefinitely (an infinite regress) • therefore, there must be a ‘first cause’ that is not itself an effect (ie. it has no prior cause) • since everything has a cause, this first cause must be the cause of itself (ie. it must necessarily exist) • this self-caused first cause is God • therefore, God exists

5. Possible flaws in the argument: • it is conceivable that the chain of cause & effect extends back into infinity (rebuts premise 4) By way of contrast, consider the future… do you suppose the future has a specific ending point? • the argument seems inherently self-contradictory. It is based on the assumption that everything has a cause. This then begs the question – if this ‘first cause’ is God, what caused God? • if one accepts the idea of a ‘first cause’ (ie. something that has always existed), it can be argued that the universe may always have existed. The regress could end with the necessary existence of the universe. It need not end with the positing of God as a ‘first cause’.

6. Implications of the cosmological argument : If one accepts the cosmological argument as to God’s existence, what does it say about God’s nature? Is it consistent with God being omniscient, omnipotent, and all loving? What kind of God is posited by the cosmological argument?

7. Variations on the cosmological argument: • the Kalam cosmological argument ► relies on the premise that the universe has a beginning in time • the Modal cosmological argument ► is based on the premise that the universe stretches back into eternity Read both variations in your booklet: pp.9-13