The cosmological argument, often associated with Thomas Aquinas, argues that an infinite regress of causes is impossible. Therefore, there must be a first cause, or an uncaused cause, which is God. This argument is based on the principle that every effect must have a cause and that the chain cannot go back infinitely but rather have a first cause that is itself uncaused and necessary. More concisely, the cosmological argument states that anything that begins to exist must have a cause. Modern science especially through astronomical observations and theoretical developments in the last century support the view that the universe had a beginning. Since the universe began to exist, it must have had a first cause, which Christians believe is God. From the cosmological argument we learn three attributes of God: He is infinite—existing beyond time, space and matter; He is all-powerful—creating everything out of nothing; and He is personal—choosing to create, something an impersonal force cannot do.
Critics of the cosmological argument often raise the question, “If everything needs a cause, then who caused God?”—but this misrepresents the argument. It commits a category mistake by applying causality to the uncaused (God) and misunderstands the claim: only things that begin to exist require a cause, and God, being eternal and without beginning, does not.
Others challenge the argument with theories like the multiverse or quantum fluctuations, but neither holds up under scrutiny. The multiverse theory remains speculative with no empirical support. Quantum mechanics also doesn’t produce something from nothing—it operates within a framework of physical laws and energy, meaning even “quantum nothing” isn’t truly nothing. Further, the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem shows that the universe cannot have an infinite past, undercutting eternal-universe models, showing that the universe indeed had a beginning.
Ultimately, the cosmological argument for the existence of God remains a powerful explanation for why anything exists at all. The most coherent reason we have something rather than nothing is the opening declaration of the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
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