The Kalam Cosmological Argument
How do you know that God exists? Has someone ever asked you this question? Maybe you have asked this question yourself at one time or is a recurring thought in your mind. What would you say? There are plenty of viable and valid answers to this question, whether they are psychological, philosophical, scientific, or even personal. In apologetics, we want to provide reasonable explanations for our faith based on the information that is given to us.
One of the most powerful arguments that help prove God’s existence is the Kalam Cosmological Argument. The KCA is a type of cosmological (origin and development of the universe) argument that seeks make sense of the universe’s existence through the observance or experience of its properties. The argument is as follows:
Premise 1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
Premise 2: The universe began to exist.
Conclusion: Therefore, the universe has a cause.
Before we get into the argument, it is important to understand that all cosmological arguments issue the same conclusion, that the universe has a cause. What is different about the KCA is that it is necessarily meant to lead us to Theism (the belief in an involved, personal God in actual space and time). Each argument may have the same ending, but there exists differing views as to what the cause is. The Kalam serves to argue that the cause of the universe is an Agent.
To arrive at this reasoning, we have to do three things to explain the KCA:
Establish that the universe had a beginning.
Demonstrate that the beginning of the universe has a cause.
Show that the cause of the beginning of the universe is God.
Step One: Establish that the universe had a beginning.
As we consider the universe’s existence, we acknowledge that the universe actually exists. We can observe the earth, sky, sun, moon, and stars in our immediate, visible context and establish that our world is big, and is probably bigger than just what our limited eyes can see. As we experience the sun’s warmth, the moon’s bright glaze in the night, and the uncountable stars, we can often wonder, “How did these things come to be? Where did they come from? Have they always existed?” Attributed from the world of science and common sense, we know that things do not come into existence on their own. Things start to exist because something before it had the power to start it. The device you are currently using to read this post did not pop into existence on a cool, winter morning. Someone took time to create that device and put it on the market for purchase. That someone possessed the power, ideas, and skills to cause the device to exist. So the begging question that follows the observance of the universe is, “Does the universe have a beginning?”
A vital discovery was made in the early 20th Century when Albert Einstein discovered the continuing expansion of the universe through his Theory of General Relativity. Before Einstein, most scientists held that the universe was infinite and static, having no beginning whatsoever. However, through Einstein’s work in mathematics and astrophysics he was led to conclude that the universe has been expanding over a period of time and, therefore, could be traced back to a single, dense speck of matter that solidifies the notion that the universe had a beginning. This was revealed to be the greatest plunder of Einstein’s life in scientific discovery. He had to contemplate the cause of the universe, because it definitely had a beginning.
Other reasons to believe that the universe had a beginning include the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the assertion that actual infinities do not exist. The Second Law of Thermodynamics establishes that things that come into existence (have a beginning) tend toward disorder. In other words, things “cool off.” Let’s say you bought a brand-new, 2019 Honda Civic and decided that you would like to store it in your garage from that time forward. The car never leaves the garage, and let’s say that 350 years someone finds your 2019 Honda Civic in the garage. What would they find? An awesome, retro, 4-wheel, 4-door sedan vehicle in mint condition? NO! They would find an old, rusty vehicle unable to be used for anything other than to take up space. If the universe is infinite, never having a beginning, then it would have cooled off a long time ago! All usable energy would have been used up, and the universe would cease its expansion. For example, the sun is estimated to have about 5 billion years left of fuel, which would mean that the universe itself has a lot of fuel left. Therefore, it is highly probable that the universe had a beginning.
In the 19th and 20th Centuries, a German mathematician by the name of David Hilbert discovered that actual infinities are limited to being only mathematical concepts. This means that actual infinities cannot exist in real space and time. If they did exist, it would be impossible to transverse them! Have you ever tried to count to infinity backward (…-4, -3, -2, -1)? When you get to the end, turn around and come back to where you started at -1. The problem with this trial is you can never get to the end! Subtracting each number along the regression does not deplete the infinity! Ultimately, you can never get to infinity because then you can never get back to the first event. Therefore, if there is an infinite number of past events, then the current event should not exist. From Hilbert’s discovery, we can confirm that the present universe consists of a series of past events, and if we can regress the events of the universe, then we can know that regression can lead to an actual beginning point.
Step Two: Demonstrate that the beginning of the universe has a cause.
If we know that the universe had a beginning, then it was either caused or uncaused. We also know from the KCA that whatever begins to exist has a cause, and if the universe began to exist, then it has a cause. Again, things do not bring themselves into existence from nothing. Things do not create themselves. In order for something to exist, it needs a prior action to cause it to be actualized in reality, forming an effect and, therefore, producing an event. By the word cause I mean a person or thing that gives rise to an action or condition, and by effect I mean the result of the cause’s action. Together, they devise an event, or a happening. If this is true, then what caused the universe to exist?
Some will claim that the cause of the universe is the Big Bang itself or that the Big Bang did not need a cause, but these statements assume that the Big Bang possesses special properties that science cannot solve. It would be more accurate to say that the Big Bang was an event (a first event at that!) that needed a preceding cause to put it into motion. It was not the cause of the universe. It was the effect. The cause of building on fire is not the fire itself. The fire is the effect of a prior cause. To stay consistent with the cause and effect principles, some will say that the universe came into existence by a random, directionless force. A spontaneous combustion put the universe into motion, but prior to the Big Bang there was no matter, space, time, or energy. A random force implies that these things existed even before the Big Bang. The likelihood of this happening is not only improbable, but it is logically impossible. You cannot build a brick house without any bricks. Therefore, you cannot have a random directionless force causing anything without matter, space, time, or energy. Whatever caused the universe to appear must necessarily be outside of these constructs.
Step Three: The cause of the beginning of the universe is an Agent
We now know that the universe had a beginning, and its beginning was caused. In the final step, we come to another fork in the road: either the beginning of the universe was caused by an event-event causation, or it was an agent-event causation. Event-event causations are events that proceed from a prior event’s cause (i.e. a tumbleweed moving across a highway from a strong wind). Agent-event causations are events that are caused by a person or being with a will/ability to choose (i.e. a car turns on because a person has keys to turn in the ignition). We have already established that the universe could not have been caused by an event because this would require an infinite regression of previous events, and actual infinities do not exist. If an event-event causation is impossible for the beginning of the universe, then it must have been caused by an agent.
What can be known about this agent with our current data? With no space, time, matter, or energy existing before the universe we can conclude that this agent needs to be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, and very powerful. The agent needs to be timeless because they exist prior to the universe, meaning that they have to be eternal. If they are an immaterial and spaceless being it opens up the possibility of the agent being omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time). Not only are these things required, but the agent also needs to be a personal being who is very intelligent and powerful. They have to be capable of making a free choice. Knowing that the universe could not have arrived out of nowhere by random chance, it would be more reasonable to say that someone made a choice to create the universe. The universe is so finely-tuned that the chances of the universe possessing the order that it does is 1 in 999 billion. If the sun were any closer to us the earth would cease to exist, or if the sun were any further from us the earth would freeze over. There had to have been a Designer, and if this Designer made a choice to create, then they have the capability of being relational.
This agent is not a human being like you and I, but they are a person with a free will and are, therefore, able to be personable. Theism claims that this agent is God. Someone may object and ask the question, “What caused God to exist?” Remember, only things that have beginnings need causes. God did not have a beginning. Therefore, He does not need a cause, nor does He have a cause, because He never had a beginning. He is eternal and self-existing.
Ending
What does the Kalam Cosmological Argument accomplish? It concludes that God is the cause of the universe’s beginning. What the KCA does not accomplish is the immediate arrival at Christianity. The Kalam may argue that God exists and is the first cause, but it does not define which god. There are plenty of monotheistic (one god) religions that can use the KCA to argue that their god is the one who caused the universe. Ultimately, the KCA does well to provide groundwork to prove that God exists. From there, each religion has to argue from their own devices and authorities as to why their beliefs about God are true. In other words, their sources (Quran, Book of Mormon, Buddhist/Hindu philosophies, the Bible) have to agree with the data already presented about the universe and its beginning. So what does the Bible say?
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. – Genesis 1:1-2
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. – Psalm 19:1-2
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. – Romans 1:19-20
The Bible seems to be doing pretty well so far.
Additional Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CulBuMCLg0
http://theologyfortherestofus.com/2019/01/26/the-kalam-cosmological-argument/
Simon Viss - High School Minister
About the author:
Simon Viss has been Cornerstone’s High School Minister since 2016 and deals directly with High School Programming, Male Mentorship, and Campus Outreach. With over 7 years of experience in Youth Ministry, Simon is passionate about leading high school students in discipleship and an understanding of the gospel message revealed in Scripture.
He graduated from BIOLA University in 2015 with a BA in Christian Ministries and is currently attending Talbot School of Theology in pursuit of an MA in Theology.
Simon and his lovely wife, Monica, have been married since June 2017 and love to travel, drink coffee, and lead together in youth ministry.