The Cosmological Argument
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274AD)
Italian priest, philosopher
Aquinas’ description of ‘God the Creator’
 He alone made the universe
 All life comes from Him
 All life relies on Him for existence (all life is
contingent)
 He relies on no other being for existence (God is
not contingent)
The Argument from the Uncaused Cause
Aquinas argued:
 Everything has a cause
Things don’t just appear
 Every cause has a cause
They must have come about by something else – chain
reaction
 This cannot go back forever
This chain reaction must have started somewhere
 Therefore there must be an uncaused cause that
isn’t caused by something else
The thing that started the chain reaction wasn’t created
by something else
 The uncaused cause is what people understand
by God
The Argument from the Unmoved Mover
Aquinas argued:
 Everything that moves is moved by something
else
Nothing moves by itself
 That mover has been moved by something else
Something has had to move it – think of a chain reaction
 This cannot go back forever or movement
wouldn’t have started at all
Movement has to start somewhere
 Therefore there must be an unmoved mover,
which isn’t itself moved
Something had to start it that hadn’t itself been moved
 This unmoved mover is what people understand
as God
The Argument from Possibility and Necessity
Aquinas argued:
 Individual things come into existence and
eventually cease to exist
Eg humans are born and eventually die, a star is born
and will eventually die
 Therefore at one time none of them existed
 But, something only comes into existence as a
result of something that already exists
Things do not come from nothing
 Therefore, there must be a being who has to
exist – a NECESSARY being – God
Can ‘reason’ alone prove God exists?
(Reason: logical thinking)
NO
 There is no logical scientific evidence to support the existence
of God
 The idea of an infinite God is beyond the understanding of our
finite minds
 It is important to have ‘faith’ to believe in God
YES
 There is evidence to prove God exists eg cause & effect, the
order & purpose of the universe
 It is a logical possibility; everything we know and experience
needs a cause and only God could have been that cause
 It is important that people can be convinced logically that God
exists, eg Cosmological Argument, otherwise faith alone
wouldn’t be enough whenever someone has doubts
What evidence from the natural world could Aquinas have
used to support the Cosmological (First Cause) Argument?
 Empirical evidence (evidence that can be observed and
measures) that the universe exists.
 The universe itself is the most vital piece of evidence
for the existence of God
 If God does not exist the world as we know it cannot be
explained
Glossary
Contingent – relies on something else
Necessary – essential, unique, special
The Leibniz Version
Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716)
German philosopher
 Why does anything exist at all?
 Why do things that do exist have the form or
shape that they do?
God according to Aquinas:
 Uncaused cause
 Unmoved mover
 A necessary being
 Everything is contingent except God
Does the cosmological argument work?
The Big Bang
Many people believe The Big Bang theory is the best
explanation for the existence of the universe. They
believe everything even time itself was created at this
point, taking away the need for a creator i.e. God.
Evidence used to support the Big Bang Theory
The rate at which galaxies can be observed moving
away from each other shows the universe is still
expanding following the initial event around 14 billion
years ago.
This has been shown using analysis of images and data
from the Hubble telescope.
Scientists believe cosmological redshift and the
Doppler Effect are due to the expansion of the
universe.
Bertrand Russell (1872- 1970)
English philosopher
Criticism one: What caused God
Russell said that the cosmological argument contradicts itself; if
everything needs a cause then so does God.
The question ‘What caused God’ is known as the schoolboy
objection
Criticism two: How can we ever know the universe needs a
cause?
Russell also suggested that the universe may not have had a
cause at all; maybe it has always existed.
The only thing we know for sure is the universe exists.
David Hume (1711 - 1776)
Scottish philosopher
Hume also believed that although everything appears to need
a cause we could never know if God created the universe as
no-one was there to witness it
Scientific rejection of the cosmological argument
Niels Bohr (1885 – 1962)
Danish physicist
Bohr, a physicist, tried to show that things can come into
existence without any apparent cause.
How old is earth? A Creationist’s view
Was the world created in 6 days?
Looking as far back in time as possible.
Images from Hubble Telescope
How the elements are made
Has the cosmological argument been defeated?
Those who agree with the cosmological argument believe
there is a difference between physical things (the universe)
and spiritual things (God). Many people are more likely to
believe a spiritual thing has always existed over a physical
thing.
Some people believe the fact that there was a starting
point, the Big Bang, helps the case of the cosmological
argument and that God may have created it.
Frederick Charles Copleston, 1907 - 1994
Jesuit priest and historian of philosophy.
Copleston said that those who accept that things ‘just are’ are
avoiding the issue.
Dr. Peter Vardy (born 1945)
British philosopher,
Vardy says at least by asking the question ‘Why does the
universe exist’ some difficult questions are raised.
Some people think the Schoolboy Objection, what caused
God, is not a good one. They believe God is necessary and
not contingent so the question does not even need to be
asked.
William of Ockham (1288 – c. 1348)
English friar and scholastic philosopher
Ockham put forward a principle known as Ockham’s Razor,
where we should try and answer questions as simply as
possible. Hume and Russell try to answer the question by
asking new questions; ones not easily answered.
Science & Belief
Ken Ham
Creationist; believes god literally created the world in 6 days. Rejects theory
of evolution.
Richard Dawkins
He says God is not different from the tooth fairy.
Dr. Jennifer Wiseman,
Senior Project Scientist on the Hubble Space Telescope and a Christian sees
science ‘as a God-given gift for studying God’s Handiwork.’
Do you agree that the existence of God is the best explanation for
the existence of the universe? Give reasons for your answer.
YES
 It seems logical to believe that the universe has a first cause
rather than none at all
 The universe seems ordered and designed that it is difficult to
deny some kind of creative power
 Belief in the existence of God makes life meaningful for many
rather than the thought of an uncaused, chance process
NO
 Scientific principles can explain the existence of the universe
without the need for God
 Belief in the existence of God is a speculative theory with no
real evidence to back it up
 Belief in the existence of God by way of blind faith may stop
many people from looking further for a better and more
complete explanation for the existence of the universe
Is the Big Bang Theory an effective explanation for the
existence of the universe?
YES
 It provides an alternative to the Cosmological Argument
using scientific evidence
NO
 Some people believe God could have caused the Big Bang
 The Schoolboy Objection could be used here
ie ‘What caused the Big Bang?’
Why might religious people support the
Cosmological (or First Cause) Argument?
 They feel they need an explanation for the
existence of anything inc. the universe, life etc.
 The Cosmological Argument seems to be based
on reason & logic
 If there is a First Cause, ie God, then this gives a
reason, purpose and/or meaning to life.