Kalam

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth. Tonight, I’d like to take a look at the Kalam Cosmological Argument as we continue our look at science and Christianity together. I think some of what I have to say about this argument might be surprising.

The argument as it is traditionally understood goes like this:

All things that begin to exist have a cause.
The universe began to exist.
The universe has a cause.

No one disputes the form of this syllogism. It is entirely valid. That does not mean that it is true, as a syllogism can be valid an still be false, but when we have disputes over Kalam, it is not because of the form. Therefore, one of the propositions must be seen as false in order to deny the conclusion.

Oddly, it’s usually the first one that’s seen as false. It is incredible that this has to be defended. What we have is empirical evidence that every event we have ever seen has had a cause and every time something comes into existence, there’s a cause. Yes. I know about particles coming out of a vacuum, but a vacuum is not nothing. I would also say we are just beginning research here and I am more prepared to say that we don’t know what’s going on entirely before suddenly throwing out a principle we apply in every other area of life.

Another rejoinder given is that some new atheists will say that the theist says that everything that exists has a cause, so who caused God? Those familiar with the cosmological argument already recognize the problem. Christians do not say that everything that exists has a cause. What they say is that everything that begins to exist has a cause.

Now I do believe modern science has established that the universe had a beginning. We can save a theory like the multiverse for another day. For now, I’d like to say that while I affirm Kalam as it stands, that does not mean I like it as it stands. There are some who object to an infinite regress and there is also the question of “If we found out that the universe didn’t have a beginning, would that makes the existence of God less likely?”

Therefore, while I am not against using the Kalam, I’d prefer to use the other version of it. Yes. There is another version of the Kalam argument. William Lane Craig uses the horizontal version. I prefer the vertical version. This is the version that gets at the question of existence itself.

My argument goes this way:

All things with potential to change depend on something else for their existing.
The universe has potential to change.
Therefore, the universe depends on something else for its existing.

Obviously, there will not be doubt that the universe changes in some way. The real premise to defend in this case will be the first one. That is an argument that I will be taking up in tomorrow’s blog to devote the whole of it to that topic.