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“Cosmological” comes from from the Greek word “cosmos”, which means “world” or “universe”. The Cosmological Argument is the argument about the beginning of the universe. If the universe had a beginning, then the universe had a cause.

In logical form, the Cosmological argument goes like this:

1. Everything that had a beginning had a cause.
2. The universe had a beginning.
3. Therefore the universe had a cause.

As we discussed previously, for an argument can be true it has to be logically valid, and its premises must be true.

Premise 1- Everything that had a beginning had a cause – is the Law of Causality, which is the fundamental principle of science. Without the Law of Causality, science is impossible.

In fact, Francis Bacon (the father of modern science) stated, “True knowledge is knowledge by causes.” In other words, science is a search for causes. That is what scientists do; they try to discover what causes what.

If there is one thing we have observed about the universe, it is that things do not happen without a cause.

When a man is driving down the street, a car never appears in front of his car out of nowhere, with no driver and no cause. There is always a driver or some other cause behind that car appearing.

Even the great skeptic David Hume could not deny the Law of Causality. He wrote, “I never asserted so absurd a proposition as that something could arise without a cause.”

To deny the Law of Causality is to deny rationality. The very process of rational thinking requires us to put together thoughts that result in conclusions.

So if anyone ever tells you he does not believe the Law of Causality, simply ask that person, “What caused you to come to that conclusion?”

Personal Reflection:

How do we prove the validity behind premise 2?