Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its beginning. (e.g. Every house has a maker)
The Universe began to exist.
Therefore, the Universe has a cause of its beginning which on analysis appears to be a Personal and Supernatural Creator...
The Universe began to exist.
The universe can’t be infinitely old because it’s running down, (stars are burning out, things are decaying, etc). If it was infinitely old it would have already run down. As it’s not infinitelly old it had a beginning. The universe can’t already be infinitely old because it keeps getting older. Most scientists now agree that the universe, and time itself, had a beginning (although
whether it all began with a ‘Big Bang’ is debatable).
The world’s most famous physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking, stated, “Almost everyone now believes that the Universe, and time itself, had a beginning at the Big Bang.” 1 Professor Paul Davies said, “...the Big Bang represents the creation event; the creation not only of all the matter and energy in the universe, but also of space - time itself.” 2 Other views have arisen which try to avoid a beginning of the universe, (e.g. an oscillating ‘perpetual motion’ Universe, Steady State, Vacuum Fluctuation, etc) but they have all failed the test of time.
Physicist Alexander Vilenkin, having examined all the possibilities, states, “All the evidence we have says that the Universe had a beginning.” 3 “With the proof now in place, cosmologists can no longer hide behind the possibility of a past-eternal Universe. There is no escape: they have to face the problem of a cosmic beginning.” 4
The Universe began to exist, therefore the Universe has a cause of its beginning
The Cause of the Universe was a Super-natural Person
That which caused the Universe (all nature) to come into existence must have existed beyond nature; i.e. the Cause was super natural. The Cause of the Universe must be personal because there are either natural or personal causes, and as natural cause cannot be the cause of nature (because they didn’t exist until nature did), the cause must have been a Person. The Cause of everything physical must have been non-physical. Only two things fit this description - information or minds. As information alone does not cause anything to exist the cause must have been a supernatural Mind (‘Spirit’).
Conclusion
A supernatural, uncaused, timeless, spaceless, unimaginably powerful personal Creator of the universe exists, which is a good description of “God.” The identity of the Creator still needs to be determined. (See p 4).
QUESTIONS
Could the Universe have been created by nothing?
From nothing, nothing comes. Absolute nothing has no potential to cause anything. Nothing means “not any thing.” - Prof. Stephen Hawking
Does everything that begins to exist have a cause of its beginning?
Scientific evidence and everyday experience show us that things that begin to exist have a cause. To claim, without any evidence, that everything came from nothing, without a cause, is to deny the principle of cause and effect, upon which science itself is based.
What caused God?
A ‘caused’ god would not be God.
Only things that begin to exist have a cause. The evidence shows that the universe began to exist but God never began to exist, so He doesn’t have a cause. God is, by definition, the necessary, self-existent, uncaused Cause of everything that has begun to exist, including time itself. God transcends time. Time began; the God who began time did not.
As the Universe came into existence it is neither eternal nor Divine as some teach.2 Miracles occur. The creation of all time, space and matter is an event that science cannot and never will be able to explain. It is a miracle.
"A point of creation would be a place where science broke down. One would have to appeal to religion and the hand of God." - Prof Stephen Hawking
1. Prof. Stephen Hawking, The Nature of Space and Time, [1996], p. 20.
2. P. C. W. Davies, "Space-time Singularities in Cosmology," in The
Study of Time III, ed. J. T. Fraser [1978], pp. 78-79.
3. Alexander Vilenkin, Physicist, “Why physicists can’t avoid a creation event” (New Scientist, January 11, 2012).
4. Alexander Vilenkin, Many Worlds In One: The Search for Other
Universes (Hill and Wang 2006), pg. 176.
5. Prof. Stephen Hawking, quoted in New Scientist, Jan. 11, 2012.
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