by jimwalton » Sat Jun 17, 2023 1:09 pm
Something has to have always existed, because things do not and cannot self-generate out of nothing (non-existence). Somewhere there has to be a first cause, whether a thing (energy) or a person (God). As far as we know and have evidence (and logic) for, everything that begins to exist has a cause outside of itself. So, both logically and scientifically, something (or someone) has to be eternal.
You can never have an infinite chain of causes—it regresses. Everything that happens is caused by something else, which was caused by something else, etc. However, there must have been a First Cause, or nothing at all would be happening. Think of it this way: Suppose you go to the grocery store and, approaching the deli counter, you plan to take a ticket for your proper turn. But on the ticket-dispenser you see a sign that says, “Before taking this ticket, you must take a ticket from the machine on the right.” You reach for that machine, but it also has a similar sign on it. The third machine has the same sign. And the fourth. This could go on forever unless you finally get to a machine somewhere in the line that allows you to take a ticket. Unless there is a beginning, there can be no present.
But also, as far as we know, impersonal causes must have first causes. Only personal causes are capable of being first causes. Kinetic energy is energy in motion; potential energy is energy stored. The only way something begins in motion is if there is a personal first cause. Someone had to start the first ball rolling, so to speak. Whenever we see a chain of causes, we can always ask, "Who started this?" This would lead one to the conclusion that the first cause is personal. And since this theoretical first cause is outside of the natural world, it must be immaterial. And if the first cause existed before time, it must somehow be outside of time. To bring space, time, and matter into existence requires a supreme display of power, and therefore it must somehow be powerful. Logically we are left with a first cause that is eternal, powerful, immaterial, and personal.
There are two kinds of things that might fit this description: either abstract objects, or else an intelligent mind. But abstract objects have no causal power. The number 7, for instance, or the idea of a unicorn can’t cause anything. Therefore it follows that the explanation for the universe is an eternal, immaterial, powerful, personal, transcendent intelligence. God fits the description, and He always existed. No one or nothing created Him.
Something has to have always existed, because things do not and cannot self-generate out of nothing (non-existence). Somewhere there has to be a first cause, whether a thing (energy) or a person (God). As far as we know and have evidence (and logic) for, everything that begins to exist has a cause outside of itself. So, both logically and scientifically, something (or someone) has to be eternal.
You can never have an infinite chain of causes—it regresses. Everything that happens is caused by something else, which was caused by something else, etc. However, there must have been a First Cause, or nothing at all would be happening. Think of it this way: Suppose you go to the grocery store and, approaching the deli counter, you plan to take a ticket for your proper turn. But on the ticket-dispenser you see a sign that says, “Before taking this ticket, you must take a ticket from the machine on the right.” You reach for that machine, but it also has a similar sign on it. The third machine has the same sign. And the fourth. This could go on forever unless you finally get to a machine somewhere in the line that allows you to take a ticket. Unless there is a beginning, there can be no present.
But also, as far as we know, impersonal causes must have first causes. Only personal causes are capable of being first causes. Kinetic energy is energy in motion; potential energy is energy stored. The only way something begins in motion is if there is a personal first cause. Someone had to start the first ball rolling, so to speak. Whenever we see a chain of causes, we can always ask, "Who started this?" This would lead one to the conclusion that the first cause is personal. And since this theoretical first cause is outside of the natural world, it must be immaterial. And if the first cause existed before time, it must somehow be outside of time. To bring space, time, and matter into existence requires a supreme display of power, and therefore it must somehow be powerful. Logically we are left with a first cause that is eternal, powerful, immaterial, and personal.
There are two kinds of things that might fit this description: either abstract objects, or else an intelligent mind. But abstract objects have no causal power. The number 7, for instance, or the idea of a unicorn can’t cause anything. Therefore it follows that the explanation for the universe is an eternal, immaterial, powerful, personal, transcendent intelligence. God fits the description, and He always existed. No one or nothing created Him.