If the universe had a beginning, something must have caused it.

• The concept that every effect must have a cause is intuitive and accepted by everyone. It is also foundational to science, which conducts experiments and observations to understand causes in the universe. Below are refrences from two apologists who mention the certainty of this point.

  • According to Christian apologist Norman Geisler, the principle of causality, that every effect has a cause, is considered self-evident, meaning it does not need further evidence or explanation.1

  • Renowned Christian apologist William Lane Craig writes, “The first premiss is rooted in the metaphysical principle that ‘something cannot come out of nothing’ and is so intuitively obvious that I think scarcely anyone could sincerely believe it to be false.”2 (emphasis added)

The universe (time, space and matter) had a beginning.

• Stephen Hawking, perhaps the greatest physicist of the 21st century, says, "Almost everyone now believes that the universe, and time itself, had a beginning at the Big Bang.”3 (emphasis added)

• William Lane Craig quotes British Physicist, P.C.W. Davies, who states that matter, energy, space and time had a beginning:

  • “If we extrapolate this prediction to its extreme, we reach a point when all distances in the universe have shrunk to zero…For this reason most cosmologists think of the initial singularity as the beginning of the universe. On this view the Big Bang represents the creation event; the creation not only of all the matter and energy in the universe, but also spacetime itself.”4 (bold added)

• The evidence that the universe had a beginning is very strong:

  • Scientific Evidence: There are multiple lines of evidence, below is one that is particularly strong

    • The universe is running out of usable energy.

      • Based on a scientific law known as the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, energy available for work is decreasing. It is like having a set amount of gas in your car – at some point, you are going to run out. A universe with no external cause (called a ‘closed system’) cannot acquire more usable energy.

      • Christian philosopher and author J.P. Moreland writes, “The second law of thermodynamics is one of the most fundamental, best-established laws in all science…the amount of energy available to do work is decreasing and becoming uniformly distributed.”5

  • Philosohpical Reason: If the universe is eternal, it would be impossible to arrive at today, since an infinite number of days would have to have occurred.

    • An illustration regarding this point might be someone waiting for a train to arrive. If the train has to travel an infinite number of miles to get to the train station, will it ever arrive? Obviously no.

    • Philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig explains that an actual infinite cannot occur, “A collection formed by successive addition cannot be actually infinite…For no matter how many numbers one counts or how many steps one takes, one can always add or take one more before arriving at infinity.”6

Therefore, something must have caused the universe.

• God is the best explanation, since the cause has the following attributes:

  • Timeless – since time began with the universe, the cause of the universe must be timeless (eternal).

  • Spaceless – since space (height, width, depth) was created with the universe, the cause must be spaceless.

  • Immaterial – since matter began to exist with the universe, the cause of the universe must be immaterial.

  • Powerful & intelligent - given how vast and complex the universe is, the cause is clearly very powerful and intelligent.

  • Personal - since something infinite caused something finite, it likely involved a decision to trigger the event, which implies a person or mind with free-will.

    • Christian Philosopher J.P. Moreland explains this point, “The only way for the first event to arise spontaneously from a timeless, changeless, spaceless state of affairs, and at the same time be caused, is this – the event resulted from the free act of a person or agent.”7

• Given these points, it should be clear that the conclusion that God created the universe is NOT a “god-of-the-gaps” argument, where God is inserted as an explanation for the unknown. Rather, God is the best explanation based on what we do know – these attributes clearly point to a Biblical understanding of God.