Now we come to the discussion of our first apologetic argument for the existence of the Creator. It goes by the name of the Cosmological argument. I think the best question that opens up the argument is:
Why is there something rather than nothing?
This question is certainly not a question for the academia only. Is it not obvious after all? We look around and see people, houses, cars, trees, animals, and many other things on the streets. Now we go to the desert, we find that there are not many things around. We can imagine going somewhere and there, we cannot find anything! In fact, why even “I” is here? What is the reason that there is something in this Universe? Why even the Universe itself exists?
We are assuming something here when we ask why something is there instead of nothing. The fact that we ask “why” implies that we believe that there is always a cause to explain the existence of anything. Is it a reasonable assumption? There is a chair. Why? Because someone made it. A baby was born. Why? Because of its parents. I am sitting and is typing on my computer. Why does the computer come to exist? Because a manufacturer made it. As for my own existence, I was born by my mom.
At this point, we may conclude that the question of why there is something rather than nothing is the same question of First Cause. As explained in my favorite book on Apologetics, Cosmological argument is not really the same as the question on First Cause. However, I think it is worthwhile for us to look into the quest of first cause anyway. The argument go along the following lines:
Everything that exists must have a cause. The Universe exists. Therefore, it must have a cause.
What can be the cause of the Universe? That cause, we call it the “First Cause”, must be outside of the Universe. The First Cause must exist on its own independent of the Universe. It has to be powerful enough to be the cause of the vast Universe. Furthermore, the exceedingly long age of the Universe suggests that its cause may well be eternal. This “First Cause” matches the description of the Creator in the bible pretty nicely.
If everything has a cause, then one may ask: What is the cause of God’s existence? Why do we favor God's existence and call it the First Cause? Can the Universe be the First Cause?
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