I. GOD EXISTS
1) KALAM COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (KCA)
P1: Everything that begins to exist necessarily has a cause.
P2: The universe began to exist.
C: The universe necessarily has a cause.
P1:
Nothing comes into existence from nothing without a cause. It is completely unreasonable & nonsense to claim otherwise.
P2:
1. It is well-known that the Big Bang Theory suggests that the universe has a beginning.
2. The laws of thermodynamics suggest that the universe has a beginning.
According to laws of thermodynamics, heat always transfers from hotter regions towards cooler regions until all regions have the same temperature. Since there are regions that are cooler than other regions, like stars & galaxies, then the universe didn’t exist for sufficient time for all regions to have the same temperature. Therefore, the universe is not eternal, i.e., it has a beginning.[1]
Wow well said,
C:
Since P1 & P2 are true, then it necessary follows that the universe has a cause.
2) FINE TUNING & DESIGN ARGUMENT
P1: Precise compatibilities between two things imply a common design.
P2: A design requires a common intelligent designer.
P3: Millions of things/events in the universe are precisely compatible with each other (directly or indirectly).
C: There necessarily exists a common intelligent designer
(follows from 1, 2, & 3).
P1:
E.g., precise compatibility of each part of a mechanical watch imply that they are designed as such. It is impossible that those parts were arbitrarily & coincidentally made due to insignificant probability of such an event. Even if each part was DESIGNED by a different individual that was unaware of what others were doing, it would still be impossible that those parts were compatible with each other to make a working watch. Therefore, precise compatibility of different things with each other imply a common design.
P2:
Nothing designed, e.g., parts of a mechanical watch, can be without a common intelligent designer. By causality principle nothing can be without a cause. & nothing that has precise compatibilities with some other things (i.e., designed) can be the result of blind coincidences, chances or chaos. Is it at all possible that tens, hundreds, or even millions of precise compatibilities were the result of blind coincidences, chances or chaos? How?
P3:
Everything in the universe, including the laws & constants, esp. cosmological constant, are finely tuned & are very compatible with each other to make the current universe & life possible to exist. If they were slightly different, then it wouldn’t be possible for the current universe & life to exist. Everything being so compatible with each other from among billions of other possibilities each with comparable probabilities imply that they are not the result of coincidences or chances.
For example, imagine only some events after sun’s formation:
-formation of Earth,
-Earth having a particular magnetic field,
-Earth’s distance from the sun,
-its mass & orbit & orbital speed,
-Earth’s rotational speed & inclination of its rotational axis,
-formation of the moon,
-formation of atmosphere,
-etc.
All of these could be completely differently. But if ANY of them was slightly different, then there wouldn’t be these many life-forms on Earth.
Even the living things are precisely compatible & dependent on each other (directly or indirectly). For example, the existence of almost all living things has precise dependencies on atmospheric properties. The current atmospheric properties have precise dependencies on phytoplanktons’ characteristics, abundance etc.[2][3] So, almost all living things’ existence indirectly depends on phytoplanktons…
Is it possible that all of these precise compatibility of these events & beings were the results of blind coincidences, chances & chaos? One has to “turn-off” his/her mind & logic to be able to accept such a claim.
Billions of such things/events are already examined & precise compatibility are observed such as those mentioned above.
C:
Since
P1,
P2 &
P3 are shown to be true then, by deduction, it follows that there necessarily exists a common intelligent designer. We call this common intelligent designer as God.
II. GOD (from KCA & DESIGN above) IS;
1) UNCAUSED
Think about beginning (to exist) of the universe. There necessarily exists a cause (
C1) for its beginning. There necessarily exists another cause (
C2) for
C1. … There necessarily exists another cause (
Ci) for
C(i-1). There are only two options (it is either
(a) finite or
(b) infinite) for this chain of causes:
a) This chain stops in
Ci if and only if (iff)
Ci doesn’t need another cause to exist, i.e., iff
Ci is uncaused.
b) Otherwise this chain goes to (actual) infinity.
i)
In
P2 of
KCA argument (
I.1.P2) above we showed that the universe has a beginning, i.e., has an initial cause. In other words, the chain of causes of universe stops at a point (somewhere around Big Bang). Since this is the case, then there exists an uncaused cause (doesn't require any cause for its own existence) for the universe.
ii)
If we show that option
(b) is impossible, then option
(a) is necessarily true.
Let's assume that option
(b) is the case. This means that there is a chain of total of infinite causes (
Inf.(T)) before our universe begins, i.e., it goes "back" forever & never reaches a beginning point.
Since
infinity = infinity/2 + infinity/2 &
infinity/2 = infinity, then imagine
a point that separates the chain of causes of our universe into two parts where there are infinite number of causes between this point & our universe (
Inf. (1)) & the rest of infinite number of causes before this point (
Inf.(2)). So, we have
Inf. (T) = Inf. (1) + Inf. (2).
There are still infinitely many causes prior to this point & infinitely many causes after this point until the beginning of our universe.
Since such a point must exist if the chain of causes of universe was infinite, then from this point on our universe waited for infinitely many causes (
Inf. (1)) to happen before it began to exist.
What does "waiting for infinitely many causes to happen" mean? It means, the universe waits forever, i.e., hasn't come into existence yet, according to this point.
If the chain of causes was infinite, then such a point existed. And according to such a point, our universe hasn't come into existence. Since our universe has come into existence, then such a point doesn't exist. Hence, the chain of causes of universe is
not infinite.
This (i.e., option
b above) is a clear contradiction to reality... since our universe DOES exist.
Therefore, option
b is not the case!!!
=> Since option
b is impossible, then option
a must be true.
Since option
a is true, then there necessarily exists a cause
Ci which has no beginning / is uncaused.
1. Since the universe has a beginning, then it necessarily has a cause.
2. If the cause of our universe began to exist, then it necessarily has another cause. Similarly, that cause has another cause etc..
3. Since the chain of causes in (2) cannot go to infinity, as shown above, then there is necessarily a beginning of those causes, i.e., there necessarily exists an initial cause
(Ci) which hasn't began to exist, i.e., doesn't have a beginning, i.e., always existed, i.e., is eternal, i.e., is uncaused
(i.e., Ci in option a).
We call/name/define this uncaused initial cause as God. If one asks what caused God to exist, then the answer is that He is necessarily UNCAUSED, as demonstrated above.
Further clarification
Imagine a moving train with 80 wagons.
- Since 80th wagon is moving, then what is pulling it (pulling is the type of cause in this case)?
- 79th wagon!
- What about 79th wagon?
- 78th wagon!
…
- What about 1st wagon?
- Locomotive!
- What is pulling the locomotive?
- What?! The locomotive doesn’t need to be pulled by something else in order to move. It is able to move without being pulled (unlike other wagons it has an engine).
If there are moving wagons (i.e., a train), then there necessarily exists something that, unlike other wagons, doesn’t need ANYTHING ELSE to pull it & it has the ability to move itself & all other wagons, i.e., locomotive. It is so, because infinite number of moving wagons, each of which requires something else to pull it, is physically impossible & logically absurd.
Similarly, for an existing universe (including all causes until the initial cause), where everything in it has a beginning, there necessarily exists an uncaused initial cause that has the ability to create something from nothing. We call this uncaused initial cause as the Creator of the universe or the God.
2) THE CREATOR
Since He is the cause of the universe’s coming into existence, then He is the Creator of the universe, by definition.[4]
3) THE RULER
There are laws in the universe (laws of nature/physics) that everything obeys them, i.e., they are ruling the universe. These laws are created within the universe & are a part of it. Since they are a part of the universe, then they must be created by the same cause we deduced from Design & KCA. Then, we conclude that this cause is constantly ruling the universe through these laws of the universe.
Therefore, consequently, God is the Ruler of the universe.
REFERENCES
[1]
Heat death of the universe - Wikipedia
[2]
Phytoplankton
[3]
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Phytoplankton
[4]
the definition of create
SOURCE:
From my DDO Debates
Debate: Does God Exist | Debate.org
