Along with much of classical Greek philosophy, the concept was adopted into medieval Islamic tradition, where it received its fullest articulation at the hands of Muslim scholars, most directly by Islamic theologians of theSunnitradition. However, what occurs in this situation is the conversion of one type of matter into another, with the total amount of energy being preserved in the process. One of my favorite arguments for God's existence is called the Kalam Cosmological Argument (KCA). The argument generally follows this rationale: Religious Pluralism and Divine Hiddenness. The first-cause argument begins with the fact that there is change in the world, and a change is always the effect of some cause or causes. What distinguishes the modal cosmological argument from the kalam cosmological argument is that it is consistent with the idea that the universe has an infinite past. So space-time can be represented geometrically as a cone. In our day, the kalam cosmological argument has been championed by renowned Christian apologist Dr. William Lane Craig. On the contrary, for all he shows, there may have been trillions of personal agents involved in the creation.. But that seems absurd, for the longer they orbit, the greater the disparity grows. In Progress . All this accomplishes is showing how to set up a certain universe of discourse for talking consistently about actual infinites. The Friedman-LeMatre model eventually came to be known as the Big Bang theory. But he argued that if an actually infinite number of things could exist, then various absurdities would result. Atheists and agnostics often point out that the kalam does not prove that God is the cause. Note 1: The original Kalam cosmological argument was developed by Islamic scholars in medieval times based on the Aristotelian "prime mover" idea. 2. But one way to think about it is to envision God existing alone without the universe as changeless and timeless. The Kalam cosmological argument has received criticism from philosophers such asJ. L. Mackie,Graham Oppy,Michael Martin, Quentin Smith, physicistsPaul Davies,Lawrence KraussandVictor Stenger, and authors such asDan Barker. However theologians have a long history of trying to do so and Craig spends a lot his energy trying to provide scientific and mathematical support for the so-called Kalam cosmological argument. If Ghazali is right, then this universe of discourse may be regarded as just a fictional realm, like the world of Sherlock Holmes, or something that exists only in your mind. This argument is over a thousand years old, but instead of tracing the argument's history, 2 I'll simply defend it in this blog post. Since the series of past events has been formed by adding one event after another, it cant be actually infinite. Hilbert was a smart guy, and he knew well how to illustrate the bizarre consequences of the existence of an actually infinite number of things. Craig presents the argument deductively, as the following syllogism: Whatever begins to exist has a cause. It finally sputtered to something of an inconclusive end in the thought of the great eighteenth century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. A proponent of the Cosmological Argument believes that the universe began to exist at a point in the finite past. It would be impossible for the water to begin to freeze just a finite time ago. The Cosmological Argument posits a first cause of the universe. Why did the universe come into being only 14 billion years ago? This was the first argument for God that I encountered and, still today, remains one of my favorites. Craig justifies premise two using both physical arguments with evidence from cosmology and physics, and metaphysical arguments for the impossibility ofactual infinitiesin reality. Dr. Craig: The kalam cosmological argument is an argument that can be simply formulated. The classical statements of the cosmological argument in the works of Plato, of Aquinas, and of Leibniz are generally statements of the modal form of the argument. The Kalam Cosmological Argument 1- Whatever begins to exist has a cause. Listening to the Reasonable Doubts criticism of the dreadful sounding film God's Not Dead, Justin Schieber referred to a point made by Wes Morriston. This book assesses some of the main forms of the Kalam cosmological argument. The Kalam argument is the simplest version of the Cosmological argument in the A level philosophy syllabus. It is a state of equilibrium. The cosmological argument is part of classical natural theology, whose goal is to provide evidence for the claim that God exists, although contemporary treatments of it generally occur outside of considerations of natural theology but have generated a cottage industry of their own. The Kalam cosmological argument has been reintroduced with some rigour into the philosophy of religion through the work of analytic philosopher William Lane Craig. The only assumption that we made was that the expansion rate of the universe never gets below some nonzero value, no matter how small., Victor J. Stengerhas referred to the Aguirre-Gratton modelforeternal inflationas an exemplar by which others disagree with the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem. But if you cant count to infinity, how could you count down from infinity? But the question is whether such a hotel is really possible. The argument was further developed by medieval Islamic thinkers. You are alive at midnight. Scientists called this the heat death of the universe. Lets look at each step of this argument. The universe began to exist. But the kalam is meant to be just one part of a cumulative case for the existence of God. And yet, before they arrived, all the rooms were already full! The standard Big Bang model thus predicts an absolute beginning of the universe. It gets worse! Lets examine both philosophical arguments and scientific evidence in support of premise 2. Once the universe reaches such a state, no significant further change is possible. Alexander Pruss and Robert Koons have recently defended an engaging contemporary version of Ghazalis argument called the Grim Reaper Paradox. Space-time thus has the geometry of a cone. Don't use it by itself! By Jonathan MS Pearce May 7, 2014 64 comments. However, it is only one of many indicators and evidences pointing to the existence of God the Creator as revealed by the Bible. Moreover, that the Causal Principle cannot be extrapolated to the universe from inductive experience. On the topic of virtual particles, he writes: For virtual particles do not literally come into existence spontaneously out of nothing. Modern discourse encompasses the fields of both philosophy and science (quantum physics and cosmology), which Bruce Reichenbach summarises as: whether there needs to be a cause of the first natural existent, whether something like the universe can be finite and yet not have a beginning, and the nature of infinities and their connection with reality. His creating the universe is a free act which is independent of any prior determining conditions. Popularized by William Lane Craig, it addresses the question of the universe's beginning, and its logical cause. Either way, the universe began to exist. Space and time cannot be extended any further back than that. Of course, things in the universe were moving about and changing, but the universe itself was just there, so to speak. Thus, we are brought not merely to a transcendent cause of the universe but to its Personal Creator. Many people have inferred that these developments undermine Ghazalis argument. It goes like this. The discovery of the expansion of the universe in the 1920s modified the sort of heat death predicted on the basis of the Second Law, but it didnt alter the fundamental question. Wall shows that, given the validity of the generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics in quantum gravity, the universe must have begun to exist, unless one postulates a reversal of the arrow of time (time runs backwards!) One of the earliest formulations of the cosmological argument in Islamic tradition comes from Al-Ghazali, who writes: 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.. Get Dr. Craig's newsletter and keep up with RF news and events. Because a small fluctuation from equilibrium is vastly more probable than the huge, sustained fluctuation necessary to create the universe we see, and yet a small fluctuation would be sufficient for our existence. Another illustration: suppose we meet someone who claims to have been counting down from eternity past and is now finishing: . All rights reserved. Between the 9th to 12th centuries, the cosmological argument developed as a concept within Islamic theology. But obviously here we are! Mike Winger is a Christian apologist and the host of the Bible Thinker YouTube channel. muslim thinkers working in the kalam tradition, modified aristotle's argument from his twelfth book of the metaphysics, to argue that time Kalm cosmological argument (Persian: ) or so called argument form temporality (Huduth) is a general term for the theologians' theoretical arguments for the existence of God. i.e., the temporal regress of events is finite. 3. Therefore, an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, whosansthe universe is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless and infinitely powerful. The two discuss the kalam cosmological argument, answer objections, and at the end, take questions from viewers. . God is thus timeless without the universe and in time with the universe. The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument. . Before any number could be counted an infinity of numbers will have to have been counted first. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! There arose within Western philosophy an ongoing debate that lasted for well over a thousand years about whether or not the universe had a beginning. Two philosophical arguments and two scientific confirmations are presented in support of the beginning of the universe. 1) If something begins to exist, it must have a cause. If the PPC is not accepted, given that the cause of the universe must be a personal and free agent, the complexity and precision of the universe implies extreme intelligence. Its probably accelerating and may have had a brief moment of super-rapid expansion in the past. The model is based, as weve seen, on Einsteins General Theory of Relativity. If the first two premises are true, the third must be true. At most, this Kalam argument shows that some personal agent or agents created the universe. What is the argument which has stirred such interest? The universe has a cause. Therefore, it must be immaterial and non-physical. This is true: The last sentence in the syllogism points to a cause but doesnt claim that cause is God. It is actually quite easy to refute the Kalam Cosmological Argument, and here is how it is done: P1. "Kalam" is the Arabic word for medieval theology. An infinite temporal regress of events is an actual infinite. It gives the reader an insight into some of the main areas of controversy (for example . Grim Reaper 1 will strike you dead at 1:00 a.m. if you are still alive at that time. If something can come into being from nothing, then it becomes inexplicable why just anything or everything doesnt come into being from nothing. Christians find the answers in special revelation (the Bible) and general revelation (nature). Because space-time is the arena in which all matter and energy exist, the beginning of space-time is also the beginning of all matter and energy. It is lesser known than the Kalam version. The true relativistic-quantum-field-theoretical equivalent to there not being any physical stuff at all isnt this or that particular arrangement of the fieldswhat it is (obviously, and ineluctably, and on the contrary) is the simpleabsenceof the fields.. In modem set theory the use of actually infinite sets is commonplace. In quantum decay events, the particles do not come into being from nothing. 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. I wondered where it came from. An infinite past, with no beginning! So we have a second good argument for premise 2, that the universe began to exist. Abstract objects, the only other ontological category known to have the properties of being uncaused, spaceless, timeless and immaterial, do not sit in causal relationships, nor can they exercise volitional causal power. Something cannot come from nothing. Their answer includes the history of the argument and a concise elucidation. Grim Reaper 3 will strike you dead at 12:15 a.m., and so on. Created by paigelandryy Terms in this set (15) According to Craig, the kalam cosmological argument establishes that . As the first verse of the Hebrew holy scriptures states: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Cognostic. Whatever begins to exist has a cause; 2. Of the many ongoing debates to answer this question, William Craig examines one of the most controversial proofs for the existence of God; the Kalam cosmological argument. Boltzmann refers to these isolated regions of disequilibrium as worlds. Our universe just happens to be one of these worlds. The Kalam Cosmological Argument is consistent with the biblical account of the beginning of the universe and of the 'First Cause'. Expository Preaching vs. Topical Preaching; Whats the Difference? Rather, each argument captures a single feature of the proposition. The author grapples with both medieval and contemporary interrogations of the argument with reference to Greek, Enlightenment and Medieval philosophers. Well need to introduce sub-atomic physics at that point, and no one is sure how this is to be done. Non-theists are the target audience, but the videos are also useful for theists as a streamlined summary of one reason to believe in a cause for the universe (and to subsequently identify that cause as God). The theory is much more radical than that. 3) Conclusion: Therefore, the Universe has a cause. 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. your faith in Jesus Christ. Does God Exist - Learn More! If there was something on the other side, then it will be a region described by the yet-to-be discovered theory of quantum gravity. ., -3, -2, -1, 0. So today could never be reached. In modern mathematics it is a number, the number of elements in the set {0, 1, 2, 3, . That implies that the number of past events cannot be actually infinite. 1 in arabic scholastic useage, kalam referred to specific theological or apologetical discourse involving proofs for the existence of god, god's justice and mercy, or doctrinal interpretations from the qur'an. As a student once remarked to me, Hilberts Hotel, if it could exist, would have to have a sign posted outside: No Vacancy (Guests Welcome). Can such a hotel exist in reality? The universe began to exist. These observations form the premises of cosmological arguments. Kalam Cosmological Argument. yet stronger version of the kalam cosmological argument for the existence of God. At its most basic, the ideas are simple: Everything that begins to exist has a cause. The Problem of Evil Continued. Craig notes: Hume himself clearly believed in the causal principle. 3. This means that if you believe the premises are true; it is highly . Its the only way to explain how an eternal cause can produce an effect with a beginning like the universe. Its fatal flaw is that if our world is just a chance fluctuation from a state of overall equilibrium, then we ought to be observing a much smaller patch of order. It was popularized in the western world by William Lane Craig in his book, The Kalm Cosmological Argument (1979). (4) If the universe has a cause of its existence then that cause is God. The universe began to exist. Wilson Observatory, made a startling discovery which verified Friedman and LeMatres theory. Let me share one of my favorite illustrations called Hilberts Hotel, the brainchild of the great German mathematician David Hilbert. For this, he cites the example of a parent creating a child who eventually becomes greater than he or she. Liberal Theology vs. Liberation Theology; Whats the Difference? Because of its historic roots in medieval Islamic theology, I christened the argument the kalam cosmological argument (kalam is the Arabic word for medieval theology). It is a simple logical syllogism. But for information to exist in an immaterial way is what is classically defined as intellect (e.g. That prediction has now stood for nearly 100 years, during a period of enormous advances in observational astronomy and creative theoretical work in astrophysics. Ghazali sought to heighten the impossibility of forming an infinite past by giving illustrations of the absurdities that would result if it could be done. But if you deny premise (1'), youve got to think that the whole universe just appeared at some point in the past for no reason whatsoever. 4. it's rational to believe that said cause is God. The mathematical impossibility of forming an actual infinite by successive addition. The Kalam Cosmological Argument is one of the most popular cosmological arguments around today. 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