William Lane Craig’s Cosmological Argument
William Lane Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument:
Background:
William Lane Craig was born on 23rd August 1949.
Craig is a 21st Century Evangelical Christian Philosopher.
He was famous for developing a modern, adapted version of a well-
known cosmological argument called the Kalam Argument.
His modern cosmological argument was published in a book called:
‘The Kalam Cosmological Argument’ in 1979.
Overall , Craig’s argument aims to prove that the universe was never
infinite and was created by God.
Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument:
Craig uses several reasons to support a finite universe and theism.
He argues that the present cannot exist in an infinite universe because
the present requires successive additions that have all had a start and end.
Successive additions = Events following on from another event.
However, the present does exist because a consecutive series of past
events did happen with a start and end.
So the universe is finite and therefore it should be limited to a
beginning and end.
If the universe has a beginning, then something else must have caused it
before its existence because it is impossible to exist before your
beginning and nothing can cause itself.
Craig therefore claims that the universe had a first cause, which was God
because he is the only possible omnipotent being to cause it.
Craig then concludes that God is the personal creator of the universe.
Strengths:
Anything that exists always needs to be caused by something else that
existed before.
o For example, ice is caused by water freezing below 0ºc. So it is right
to say that the universe was caused by God.
God is considered as omnipotent and omniscient so it is sensible to say
that he created such as a complex universe and existed beyond its time.
In addition, even other scientific theories such as the Big Bang theory
also support that the universe was finite but it is even better Craig’s
specifically states the cause of that finite universe.
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William Lane Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument:
Background:
William Lane Craig was born on 23rd August 1949.
Craig is a 21st Century Evangelical Christian Philosopher.
He was famous for developing a modern, adapted version of a well-
known cosmological argument called the Kalam Argument.
His modern cosmological argument was published in a book called:
‘The Kalam Cosmological Argument’ in 1979.
Overall , Craig’s argument aims to prove that the universe was never
infinite and was created by God.
Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument:
Craig uses several reasons to support a finite universe and theism.
He argues that the present cannot exist in an infinite universe because
the present requires successive additions that have all had a start and end.
Successive additions = Events following on from another event.
However, the present does exist because a consecutive series of past
events did happen with a start and end.
So the universe is finite and therefore it should be limited to a
beginning and end.
If the universe has a beginning, then something else must have caused it
before its existence because it is impossible to exist before your
beginning and nothing can cause itself.
Craig therefore claims that the universe had a first cause, which was God
because he is the only possible omnipotent being to cause it.
Craig then concludes that God is the personal creator of the universe.
Strengths:
Anything that exists always needs to be caused by something else that
existed before.
o For example, ice is caused by water freezing below 0ºc. So it is right
to say that the universe was caused by God.
God is considered as omnipotent and omniscient so it is sensible to say
that he created such as a complex universe and existed beyond its time.
In addition, even other scientific theories such as the Big Bang theory
also support that the universe was finite but it is even better Craig’s
specifically states the cause of that finite universe.
1
