Yesterday we questioned, “Why does the universe exist?” So, why is there anything now if nothing existed before the cosmic creation event or big bang?
We can say that everything exists because God exists. God chose to create this fine-tuned universe of space, time, matter, and energy. We can summarize this with a simple logical statement known as a syllogism. If the first and second premises are correct, then the conclusion must be true.
Premise 1- Everything that begins to exist must have a cause.
Premise 2- The universe began to exist.
Conclusion- The universe has a cause.
Premise 1 seems to be obvious. If something did not exist and then came into existence, it must have a cause for its existence. For example, suppose you are driving down the street and notice an empty lot. Each time you drive by, there is nothing but grass growing there. You take a different route for a few months, but one day you drive down that same street, and there is a house on the lot. You would not conclude that the house appeared there without a cause.
You would logically conclude that some builders constructed that house for a reason–probably because someone wanted to live there. You could investigate to learn the identity of the occupants. You could even explore building methods to see how the house was constructed. However, you would surely not conclude that the house appeared out of nothing with no cause.
Why does the universe exist? Did it BEGIN to exist? I think that a reasonable person would be willing to accept premise 1. Tomorrow, we will examine premise 2.
— Roland Earnst © 2022