KCA

If you like philosophy of religion then you have come across the Kalam Cosmological Argument. This is one of my favorite arguments on behalf of the existence of God. The formulation is as follows:

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore the universe has a cause.

In this blog I will give reasons why I think the KCA is sound and a good argument. Now the first premise is rooted in the metaphysical intuition that being cannot come from non being. That something cannot come from nothing. It is also confirmed constantly in our daily lives. And if things could come into being uncaused out of nothing than it is unexplainable why doesn't everything come into being uncaused out of nothing. If such a conclusion is taken seriously that things can come from nothing than that is evidence for clinical derangement.

Now we move on what I call the heart of the argument. I can offer 4 arguments on behalf of the second premise. But for your sake I will offer just one. This is the scientific argument. In recent year the Big bang theory has been proven by numerous evidences such as the background radiation. And Big bang cosmology proposes that the universe is in a constant state of expansion and if you were to extrapolate this back the universe will get progressively denser until we reach a point in which the universe did not exist. And before that there was nothing. But as we have stated that from nothing, nothing comes. Why does the universe exists? So the universe must have a cause that is beyond space and time. This cause must be timeless, inmaterial, powerful and personal. But why a personal cause?

Two reasons can be given. First the only two things we know of that exist in a inmaterial way are abstract objects and minds. But abstract objects don't stand in casual relations. Abstract objects are like numbers or propositions. Can the number three cause anything? Seems not. Abstract object do not stand in casual relations for if the cause were a mechanically set of causes, then the cause could never exist without it's effect. For if the sufficient conditions are given the effect must be given as well. To give a analogy before the universe began the temperature was 32 degrees. Any water present would be frozen right. There would be no beginning point where the water actually began to freeze right? So if a mechanical set of causes caused the universe the universe would be eternal but it isn't.


So as we have seen abstract objects don't work. But what about a mind? A mind is endowed with free will and could bring a effect in time. To give a analogy we have a man sitting down from eternity but he freely chooses to stand up. So the cause must be a unembodied mind. And in the words of Thomas Aquinas. This is what everyone calls God.

Therefore God exists.