Rusting Car Bumper

Many theistic arguments about tricky philosophical points boil down to how they use words.

For example:
"Doesn't evertyhting have a cause?"
"Why yes"
"So then what's the cause of the universe?"

This plays on the word "cause".

The universe appears to operate with a "causality" built into it. That doesn't mean that the universe itself has a "cause."

In fact the universe itself isn't a thing. It is the collection of all things.

What counts as a cause is also not as easy as it sounds. Whats the cause of an automobile? The factory? The earth (for without humans on earth there would be no automobiles.) The Ford Motor Company? The discovery of internal combustion? The discorvey of metal making processes? If you eliminate any one of these you could argue that you wouldn't have automobiles.

Heck.. The Greeks knew the concept of causation to be a problem over 2000 years ago.

DC

NOGO

What caused the universe?

When you think about it, if you are an atheist this question is meaningless because you believe that the universe is all there is. If you are a theist this question was answered before you asked. In fact, the question is framed with the answer in mind.

frostymama

Thanks. That gives me some things to think about. I guess for now I shall have to remain content with the "We don't know"/"Why does it have to have a beginning?" answers.

It is really hard for me to wrap my brain around the concept of something always existing for some reason. I never could grasp that when I was a theist either for some reason.

NOGO

The same for a universe which is infinite. You travel in any direction through space and your journey will never end. If the universe had a wall at the end, then the question would automatically be, what is beyond that wall?

How would you see this universe coming to an end?