Hello, Dr. Craig!
I'm reading your book, The Karam Cosmic Argument, and I find it as convincing as ever. But, I don't know how you'd respond to the "multiple reasons" statement? Is there possible that there is more than one valid reason for the formation of the universe?
Sincerely
Doug
United States
William Lane Craig
Dr. Craig's reply:
Doug, I must confess that I have never felt the power of this opposition. This reminds me of the dissenting argument for design: saying that it only proves that there is one designer in the universe, but not necessarily the creator. If people find that there is indeed a designer in the universe, they will be stunned by this understanding, and they will not complain that he is not necessarily the creator of the universe. Similarly, we do not know, according to the Kalam cosmological argument, whether the universe and the individual Creator are unique, but this argument proves to be a trivial concern. The seeker of truth will find here that it is not a flaw in the argument, but an inspiration for further inquiry.
If someone can prove that the cause of the existence of the universe is the Almighty, then I think he can successfully prove the uniqueness of the cause, because there can be no majority of Almighty. As for the cause of the universe having to be the Almighty, I don't know very well. Maybe here's the argument that created crettio ex nihilo from nothing – Dans. Duns Scotus argues that because there is an infinite distance between existence and non-existence, infinite forces are needed to create the universe from nothingness. He could argue that greater power than creation out of nothing could not exist. I was drawn to this statement, but not entirely convinced. So this is an area that needs to be further explored.
The Karam argument is obviously very different from what a bunch of frolicking gods said before they created the world, because it brings us back to an unchanging state, I think, a state of no time. Imagining a group of timeless, formless gods working in harmony to create the world brings forth a doctrine very close to the Trinity? Trinitarianism (or monotheism) has more credibility in its conception of God than polytheism's statement that many independent and eternally existing gods work together and in unison to create the universe.
Having said all this, the proponents of the Karam argument are, in my opinion, a legitimate appeal to Ockham's Razor theory: one should not add unnecessary causes. It is reasonable to present only the causes necessary to interpret the results. In the case of the origin of the universe, only one ultra-worldly individual creator is needed, so it is not necessary to assume more creators.
Furthermore, remember that our case is the accumulation of theism, and the uniqueness of God is raised by other arguments, such as Leibnizian arguments based on chance, morality, and ontology. Moreover, we have good reason to believe that Jesus' radical statement of Nazareth was a decisive revelation for God. Jesus taught monotheism: "Listen, O Israel, that the Lord our God is one. ”
William. village. Craig
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