Monday, November 2, 2015

Who Created God?


"If God created the universe, then who/what created God?"

It seems reasonable at first. It seems like there should be an explanation for everything, right? Well, the explanation may not be a contingent state of affairs.

For centuries philosophers thought that there must be a first un-caused cause, the prime mover. Aristotle called this first cause "the un-moved mover". He reasoned that there cannot be an infinite regress of events or causes because there would never be an ultimate resolution to the question.

So what are we to think of the question "Who or What created God?"

The question itself has a presuppositional hurdle to overcome. When some asks "Who created God?", they are implying that God was created. And if God was created then we must seek to find out who or what is responsible. And then you would naturally ask "Who created the god that created the god that created the god..." into infinity.

This has been a question that atheists and skeptics have asked as some sort of knock-down objection that is supposed to stop any theist in their iron-aged tracks. But why should we suppose that God was created?

The Bible is very clear that God is eternal:

Deuteronomy 33:27 - "The eternal God is a dwelling place..."

Job 36:26 - "Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable."

Isaiah 40:28 - "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding in inscrutable."

I understand that those who don't believe in the authority of scripture might not be convinced by some Bible verses, but consider the following...

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz said that the first question of philosophy that should rightly be asked is "Why is there something rather than nothing?" This is a pretty good question.
Everything that exists exists necessarily or contingently. There is no third option. Either something comes into being from some other cause, or that thing exists by a necessity of it's own nature. This would be the case for God. If God exists eternally, then God must be a metaphysical necessity. In other words, it is impossible for God not to exist.

So if God is metaphysically necessary, then God is un-created. God is eternal and cannot not exist. God exists necessarily, therefore eternally and had no beginning. God is the prime mover that Aristotle thought must exist.




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