The above video is of philosopher/mathematician John Lennox discussing the schoolboy argument, “who created God?”. This is often a question that many atheists pose when a Christian states that God is the cause for the universe. However, have many Christians really thought about it? It is important to check out our views and rationale for God being a timeless being and knowing how to properly respond to such a question. You might find that it may be a little more difficult than you originally thought.
Using the Kalam Cosmological Argument, we see that:
Not only philosophically is this true, but scientifically as well. A vast majority of scholars in the field of cosmology hold that the universe is not timeless but had a beginning. Therefore, we see that since it began to exist, it therefore must also have a cause. Our universe is contingent upon this cause. Since the universe is contingent upon this cause, this cause must be a timeless, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and a even personal being to create a universe that is so finely tuned that if only one of the hundreds of physical constants goes astray, life on this planet would be impossible for habitation.
Given the above description of the Kalam Cosmological argument, we see that our universe had a cause, which is God. This is where this question, “who made God?” starts to come into play. I recently heard a good analogy on this. If you were to visit Mt. Rushmore, you would acknowledge the fact that the President’s faces did not carve themselves into the side of the cliff. You would realize that sculptors designed the President’s faces and took the time to carve their faces into the cliff. However, would you need an explanation for who created the sculptor in order to answer the question, “how did the President’s faces get carved into the side of this cliff?”. ABSOLUTELY NOT! Therefore the same method applies here; you do not need an explanation for the cause of the universe to explain whether or not the universe was caused.
Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins uses this question as one of his foundational arguments against God in his book, “The God Delusion”. As Dr. Lennox discusses in the video, Dawkins must be under the false assumption that we are talking about created Gods. This is obviously not the case in the matter of the universe. Many other prominent atheist writers are also finding creative ways to get around there being an initial cause. One example would be Daniel Dennett who claims that the universe caused itself (I’m not joking) or Lawrence Krauss who believes the universe came into being from nothing as the title of his newest books suggests, “Universe from Nothing”. Other atheists hold to the universe being eternal to avoid there being an initial cause. However, this is stance that cosmological science has refuted for decades.
No matter how you look at it, there was an initial cause for the universe. Regardless of how you want to justify the cause, whether it is through simply denying it because you can’t explain the cause (Dawkins), declaring that the universe had the power to create itself (Dennett), or whether it randomly came into being from nothing (Krauss), a cause is inevitable for the universe. As for me, I place my faith in God.
