CAE

Question 1

The Kalām argument

Answer 1

P1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its beginning (a causal principle)
P2: The universe began to exist
C1: Therefore, the universe has a cause of its beginning
C: Therefore: God exists.

Question 2

Leibniz’s argument from the principle of sufficient reason / contingency

Answer 2

P1: All contingent things need a sufficient reason for why they exist
P2: If they exist as they do because of other contingent things, then this would not be a sufficient explanation because the infinite series is still itself contingent.
C1: Therefore, there must, ultimately, be a sufficient reason for the contingent series.
C2: Therefore a necessary being exists - this is God

Question 3

Objection 1: The possibility of an infinite series (vs the Kalām argument)

Answer 3

It may be argued that while different components of the universe may have begun to exist and were hence caused by something, the universe as a whole has always existed so there never was a first event in the universe.

Question 4

Response 1: An infinitely old universe is unlikely - a posteriori support for a finite universe

Answer 4

If the universe were infinitely old:
1)it would have reached maximum entropy
2) it would have run out of usable energy by now according to the second law of thermodynamics

The universe is expanding (red shift)

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is faint microwave radiation filling space - the cooled afterglow of the Big Bang, representing the oldest light in the universe. This confirms the Big Bang theory.

Question 4

Counter-response: Our finite universe could be the latest part of an infinite chain of things existing, none of which are God.

Answer 4

this evidence only shows that this universe is finite, but it does not show that it was caused by God. There is surely still no impossibility in the idea that our finite universe is part of an infinite chain of finite universes.