Lesson 4- Why Did the Universe Begin?

Matt Wood

Apologetics-Defending Your Faith • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Psalm 19:1-5- the created universe is a testimony to the glory of God

Throughout history men have grappled with the idea of an infinite past and the question of whether there was an absolute beginning.

Greek philosophers believed that matter was necessary and uncreated and therefore eternal while Hebrew writers held that the universe was created by God at some point in the distant past.

The Kalam Cosmological Argument

Whatever begins to exist has a cause.

The universe began to exist.

Therefore, the universe has a cause.

This argument is marvelously simple and yet at the same time incredibly effective. If the premises in 1 and 2 are true then the conclusion (3) must also be true.

Notice here that the focus of the argument is different than the one we considered last time in that it emphasizes the fact that the universe has a beginning.

This argument actually arises not only from Christianity but from Judaism and Islam as well because these also hold to the belief that God created the universe.

Now let’s take some time to examine the premises of the argument to determine if they are indeed valid.

Premise 1- Whatever begins to exist has a cause.

There are three primary reasons in support the truth of this premise.

Something cannot come from nothing.

Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:3, Genesis 1:6-7, Genesis 1:9, Genesis 1:14-15- over and over we see in the creation account that God spoke and it was so bringing something into existence from nothing, but the question for the unbeliever is can something come from nothing without God?

Some skeptics suggest that something comes from nothing in laboratory experiments where particles originate as a fluctuation of energy in a vacuum. The problem with this suggestion is that the “vacuum” is not nothing it is a sea of fluctuating energy governed by physical laws and having a physical structure.

Nothing does not just mean empty space, but the absence of anything whatsoever, even space itself. There is absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever that something can come from nothing.

If something can come from nothing, then it becomes inexplicable why anything and everything does not come into being from nothing.

If the universe simply popped into being from nothing then why do other things not simply pop into being in this same fashion?

Even scientific evidence now strongly suggests that the universe is not eternal but came into being at some definite point in the past.

Common experience and scientific evidence confirm the truth of premise 1

Have you ever experienced something simply coming into existence from nothing? Do you know anyone who has experienced something coming into existence from nothing?

More broadly have scientists ever observed or been able to replicate something coming into existence from nothing?

In both instances the answer is obviously no, leading us to the conclusion that premise 1 is far more plausibly true than false in light of the evidence.

Premise 2- The universe began to exist

If one would like to argue against the conclusion that is drawn it would seem to be much more logical to argue with this second premise.

There are two philosophical arguments and two scientific arguments which may be used in the defense of this premise.

First Philosophical Argument- An Actually Infinite Number of Things Cannot Exist

This argument suggests that in order for the universe to exist eternally there must have been an infinite number of past events prior to today, but an infinite number of things cannot actually exist.

To understand this argument we need to consider potential infinity as opposed to actual infinity-Illustration- dividing something in half an infinite number of times- you will never actually reach infinity.

The argument insists that the number of past events cannot actually be infinite, therefore the universe must have began to exist.

Hilbert’s hotel Illustration- Infinite number of rooms, infinite number of guests, no vacancy (guests welcome)- this presents the absurdity of actual infinity.

Second Philosophical Argument- You can’t pass through and infinite number of elements one at a time.

No series that is formed by adding one member after another can be actually infinite. Since the series of past events has been formed by adding one event after another, it can’t be actually infinite.

It is logically impossible to count down from actual infinity.

First Scientific Argument- The Expansion of the Universe

Throughout much of history it was assumed that the universe was basically static and unchanging, but science has since discovered that the universe is expanding.

Illustration- Balloon with buttons glued to its surface then blown up provides an illustration of the expansion of the universe.

The fact that the reversal of this process would extend back to a finite point in time at which the distance between any two points would be zero means that the universe must have come into existence at some definite point in the past.

Second Scientific Argument- The Thermodynamics of the Universe

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that unless energy is being fed into a system, that system will become increasingly disorderly.

If the universe has existed forever, it would have already reached a state of equilibrium ( a state in which all forces are in balance and there is therefore no change), but it has not.

The fact that the universe still exists in a state of disequilibrium where energy is still available and it still has an orderly structure is once again proof that the universe has not been in existence forever.

Conclusion

On the basis of the evidence we can conclude that the universe has not existed eternally but has a definite beginning sometime in the distant past.

Since whatever begins to exist has a cause, it follows that the universe has a cause.

This cause must be a transcendent cause beyond the universe itself. It must transcend space and time. It must be immaterial and nonphysical. It must also be unimaginably powerful to have created all matter and energy. It must be personal to have exercised the will to create.

This again appears to align perfectly with the Biblical narrative that the cause of the universe is GOD!

Job 38:1-7- no one was there at the beginning, so whatever conclusions may be drawn about the beginning of the universe will have to include an element of faith. By faith, we believe the Biblical account of creation, and the evidence we have certainly does not contradict this narrative but actually provides strong support for the truth of the creation account.

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