The Cosmological argument is indeed an argument for a First Cause, but it explains nothing of the Divine Love Story.

 

The Cosmological argument is indeed an argument for a First Cause, but it explains nothing of the Divine Love Story.

 

Plato and Aristotle having a chat
(The image was taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument#/media/File:Sanzio_01_Plato_Aristotle.jpg)

The world of science runs on cause-and-effect discoveries and for that reason the Cosmological argument of Aristotle will always be seen as a proof for the existence of God.  Talking about cause-and-effect scientists while crunching numbers have made a great discovery with a semi atomic particle known as the w boson:

“The CDF scientists said they had determined the W boson’s mass with a precision of 0.01% – twice as precise as previous efforts.

They compared it to measuring the weight of a 350kg (800 pound) gorilla to within 40 grams (1.5 ounces).

They found it was different than the standard model’s prediction by seven standard deviations, which are also called sigma.  Cliff said that if you were flipping a coin, “the chances of getting a five-sigma result by dumb luck is one in three-and-a-half million”.” From the Guardian newspaper (theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/08/extraordinary-w-boson-particle-finding-contradicts-understanding-of-how-universe-works).

 

With the example above this universe is indeed a miracle but sometimes scientists need to learn some humility.  I heard someone once say that “scientists only discover what is already there in nature.”  My own belief is that God created the universe, the earth and all life.  For there to be life everything in the universe has to be in its appropriate place.  God speaks of his heavenly glory to the ordinary man of faith; Abraham for example:

“Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”” Genesis 22:15-18

 

I can imagine Abraham walking along and looking up and seeing the stars and he receives this Divine Metaphor. Nature isn’t just for the scientist, it is also for the common person who realizes how omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent this Trinitarian God of love is.  This is our God. 

This Week I’m going to look at some arguments that the natural minds of human beings pushed the boundaries of our knowing by just thinking (philosophy). There are problems with some of these arguments and they’re not perfect by any means, but they exist in the writings of the ancient Greeks which are still used even to this day.  Herman Bavinck the Master Theologian is going to take us through these. Before I start however, I will give a very brief description of these namely the proofs found within natural theology (outside of revelation):

·        Cosmological argument

·        Teleological argument

·        Ontological argument

·        Moral argument

·        The argument from universal consent

·        Historical theological argument

The Ancient Greeks had many gods, yet it is from the writings of Aristotle that the Cosmological argument came into the modern world.

The Cosmological argument

The argument is based on causation and effect. The Wikipedia gives us:

“William Lane Craig, who was responsible for re-popularizing this argument in Western philosophy, presents it in the following general form:

 

·        Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence.

·        The universe began to exist.

·        Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence. ”

From (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalam_cosmological_argument#CrgKC)

In the West we usually find it in the writings of Aquinas, but did you know that the cosmological argument has been used in Paganism, Islam, Judaism and is even found in Hinduism. 

Here are some references to the cosmological argument:

Hinduism:

Book; The Oxford handbook of Natural theology; natural theology in eastern religions, Chapter 10 ; By Jessica Frazier; Oxford university press

Islam

Book; The Kalam Cosmological Argument; by William Lane Craig

Judaism

internet; plato.stanford.edu/entries/maimonides/#GodViaNeg

(On the internet registries you need to attach the https:// to the front of the address for the link to work)

So far from being a dead argument in our century it is still a valid form of argumentation in many cultures and societies other than our own.  So what does Herman Bavinck say about it?

He starts page 77 of his Reformed Dogmatics by saying:

“Even in the ancient philosophers (Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, Seneca, and Cicero) we already encounter the proofs advanced for the existence of God. From the beauty, harmony, motion, purpose, and design of the world, from reason and innate awareness, from the importance religion for the state and for society, and from the consensus of opinion among the peoples of the earth, these thinkers inferred the existence of a self-conscious rational divine being." Christian theology adopted all these proofs, particular pleasure in treating them. Augustine even added the argument from the existence of universals." It did not disdain the support offered to it by pagan philosophy, and while it rejected the dualism of Gnosticism and Manicheism, it did see nature as a work of God.”

Bavinck has clearly shown us that philosophy cannot claim these ideas for themselves.  These are arguments using pure reason for understanding our link to God the Creator.  For the Christian however they are not enough in themselves to furnish all that we need.  We need God to break into our space and time to explain to us and show us the way and indeed, God has done this through revelation.  However, for this blog let us stick to the arguments and continue our journey looking at the cosmological argument and why it is not enough for our walk with God.

On page 81 Bavinck introduces us to the Cosmological argument;” The cosmological proof occurs in different forms. “From motion it deduces a "primary unmoved mover" (Aristotle). “”

This has been argued for through the centuries and on page 81 Bavinck gives us a raft of examples who used it:

·        Aristotle

·        John of Damascus

·        Boethius, Anselm

·        Thomas Aquinas

·        Richard of St Victor

·        Spinoza

·        Hegel

·        Hartmann

·        Scholten

·        Lotze

So Bavinck says that the cosmological argument in all of its varied forms (from the list above) “it deduces the existence of a cause from the demonstrable existence of an effect” However Bavinck finds flaws that assume certain things:

1.     Proofs proceed from assumptions that are not evident to everyone

2.     It assumes that all objects are contingent, finite, relative and imperfect but that is true for the whole universe.

3.     It assumes that the infinite chain of causes is inconceivable and that the law of causality also applies to the whole universe.

Bavinck then critiques these by saying:

“Positively that everything in the world has a cause” but then we get problems with it.

“It tells us nothing of the character and nature of the cause.”  The big one for me is when Bavinck says that the “infinite, absolute and perfect does not come directly from the cosmological argument”.  Even if we get to this absolute Cause we do not know as he says the nature of this Cause’.  Is it?

·        Transcendent

·        Immanent

·        Personal

·        Impersonal

·        Conscious

·        unconscious

This is a serious problem in the argumentation. Even if we get to an Absolute Cause the list above brings us to logical to a dead end!

Bavincks conclusion shows that:

“Granting the impossibility of an infinite series of causes the cosmological argument at best yields a self-existent, first, and absolute World-cause.” (Page 82)

Reflection on the Cosmological argument

So, for Christian theology this argument isn’t enough.  Christian theology needs the Trinitarian God to break into our space and time to disclose to us His Self-Knowledge.  Logic on its own can only keep us in this finite world and it is only by the effects that we know there is a first cause, but we do not know what that Cause is.  The Trinitarian God is Personal, Intelligent, Active, Pure Love and Revealed Himself to us through his Word and word (Christ and Scripture).

This is for me anyhow that philosophy breaks down; philosophy although useful lacks the personal touch of God in our lives.  We were created in the image of God and yes, we have certain qualities such as being able to think through problems in abstract ways, but this is only one aspect of knowledge.  1 +1=2 is indeed true, but this knowledge misses the ‘I love you’ knowledge that belongs to the very nature of God and of ourselves.

God is not a static being but he is relational and through the work of Christ and with the help of the Holy Spirit we as humans are brought into this Divine Love Story!

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