The Kalam cosmological argument and William Lane Craig

Overview

Three steps of the Kalam cosmological argument, actual infinite and craig's argument that the cause of the universe is personal.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   From which tradition does the Kalam cosmological argument come?

   Model answer

   Kalām is the tradition of Islamic philosophical theology. Medieval thinkers such as al-Ghazālī developed the argument, and William Lane Craig revived it.

2. 2

   State the three steps of the Kalam cosmological argument.

   Model answer

   Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence. The universe began to exist, so the universe has a cause of its existence.

3. 3

   Why does Craig say the first premise is more plausible than its denial?

   Model answer

   Nothing comes from nothing, and objects are never observed springing into being uncaused. Craig treats the principle as confirmed by the whole of experience.

4. 4

   What is an actual infinite?

   Model answer

   An actual infinite is a completed collection whose members are infinitely many and all exist together. Craig contrasts it with a potential infinite, which only ever grows towards infinity.

5. 5

   How does Hilbert's Hotel support Craig's rejection of actual infinities?

   Model answer

   A hotel with infinitely many occupied rooms could still admit new guests without anyone leaving. Craig argues that such absurdities show an actual infinite cannot exist in reality.

6. 6

   Give Craig's second philosophical reason for holding that the universe began.

   Model answer

   A collection formed by adding one member after another can never become actually infinite. The series of past events was formed that way, so the past must be finite.

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