COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS: Resources for Study

If something has a beginning, it must have a cause. Science has confirmed that the Universe has a beginning. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, the General Theory of Relativity, and astronomical observations showing the universe expanding outward from a single point, and many other scientific evidences prove the universe had a beginning. In other words, science has confirmed that there was a time when the universe didn't exist. The universe, then, must have a cause that brought it into existence....And that cause must be greater than the Universe.....more powerful than all the energy in the Universe, greater than the size of the Universe, intelligent enough to bring into being the immense order of the laws of physics and the stellar and planetary systems, and with the will to cause it.

RESOURCES FOR DIGGING DEEPER:

My Class: "Why Is There Stuff?"
*This is Week 3 in my series "How to Have Confidence in Christ That Changes the World (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)" which I began September 8, 2019.
*MP3 Audio (45 minutes)
*PowerPoint Slideshow: When you click on this link, you will note the option at the top to "Open with Google Slides" or you may open with MS PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress (which is free).
*Class Handout
*I recommend opening the audio and using the PowerPoint Slideshow as you listen and/or the handout.

SUPPLEMENTAL LINKS RELATED TO THE CLASS:
*Cooper, Brad. "Understanding The Nature of a Cumulative Case"
**Cooper, Brad. "The Universal Innate Knowledge of God: Resources for Study." See this article for resources related to the fact that we are born with an intuition for detecting design and recognizing that God is behind that design.
*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"


Other Resources:
INTRODUCTORY
Videos

*Craig, William Lane. "The Kalam Cosmological Argument." A very easy to understand and well-produced video with lots of graphics, produced by the leading expert on this particular argument. This video is embedded at Hashtag Apologetics, where you will also find a transcript. (4 minutes)
*Craig, William Lane. "Leibniz's Argument for the Existence of God." A one minute video.
*Craig, William Lane. "Explaining Hilbert's Hotel." A philosophical argument for why the universe cannot be infinite but must have a beginning. (2 1/2 minutes).
*Wallace, J. Warner Wallace. "Does the Origin of the Universe Point to a Creator God?" (29 minutes)
*Meyer, Stephen C. Part 1 of "The Four Great Discoveries of Modern Science that Prove that God Exists": Dr. Stephen Meyer is interviewed on the John Ankerberg Show (29 minutes).
*Meyer, Stephen C. Part 2 of "The Four Great Discoveries of Modern Science that Prove that God Exists": Dr. Stephen Meyer is interviewed on the John Ankerberg Show (29 minutes).
*Strobel, Lee. The Case for a Creator (60 minutes). Also in 10 parts on YouTube.

Articles (& Book Chapters)
*"ID's Top 6 - The Origin of the Universe" at Evolution News & Science Today
*Durston, Kirk. "Why Past History Cannot Be Infinite: There Must Be a Beginning."
*Hainline, Allen. "New Proofs for God's Existence." 
*Craig, William Lane. On Guard (available in Kindle, Audible, audio CD & paperback). Chapters 3 & 4. Also available on Overdrive.
*Strobel, Lee. The Case for a Creator. Chapter 5 (pages 93-123). Available on OverDrive in ebook and audio. This chapter is an interview with the leading expert on the Cosmological Argument, William Lane Craig. This book and the whole series by Strobel has been extremely popular and I highly recommend them all. Strobel is an award-winning legal journalist from the Chicago Tribune who came to Christ by investigating Christianity's claims for himself. In these books, he interviews a different expert in each chapter.
*Andrews, Edgar. Who Made God?, Chapter 7 (pages 93-106). Dr. Andrews' wit and creative approach make this a thoroughly enjoyable book that is thought-provoking and full of insight. This is my #1 pick for anyone who is interested in science and is relatively new to apologetics.
*Geisler, Norm and Frank Turek. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist, Chapter 3: "In The Beginning There Was a Great Surge" (p.73-94).

Books
*Jastrow, Robert. God and the Astronomers. 1978, 2000. Jastrow is an eminent astronomer and an agnostic--not a Christian. In this easy read, he explores how we have come to know that the universe has a beginning and how the fact that this implies that God created it has been disturbing for his unbelieving colleagues.


INTERMEDIATE
Videos
*Inspiring Philosophy. "A Universe from Nothing, Therefore God Exists!" (12 minutes)
*Craig, William Lane. "The Kalam Cosmological Argument" (Plantiga Conference 2014). (50 minutes)
*Craig, William Lane. "Objections So Bad I Couldn't Have Made Them Up (Worst Objections to Kalam Cosmological Argument). (58 minutes)
*Groothuis, Douglas. "The Cosmological Argument."
*Inspiring Philosophy. "The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument" (12 minutes).

Audio
*Craig, William Lane. "05 Cosmological Argument" (Over 2 hours). Four lectures from Craig's "Introduction to Apologetics" course, comprised of 51 lectures. Scroll down the list there to "05 Cosmological Argument."

Articles
*Craig, William Lane. "The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe."
*Feser, Edward. "Cosmological Argument Roundup."
*Last Seminary has a large list of excellent articles by various authors that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.

Books
*Ross, Hugh. The Creator and the Cosmos. (2018) Astrophysicist Hugh Ross presents the scientific evidence for the beginning of the Universe in the first chapters of this book. (The rest of the book is devoted to another important topic: the fine tuning of the universe.)

ADVANCED 
Video
*Feser, Ed. "Ed Feser on Aquinas' First Way and the nature of God" (1 hour 42 minutes). Feser is a leading expert on Thomas Aquinas, and Aquinas did more to develop the cosmological argument than probably anyone else in church history.

Articles
*Reichenbach, Bruce. "Cosmological Argument" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online).

Books
*Craig, William Lane. The Kalam Cosmological Argument. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2000. Probably the leading evangelical expert on the cosmological argument.
*Feser, Edward. Five Proofs of The Existence of God. Probably the leading Catholic expert on the cosmological argument.


STILL LOOKING?.....
*Check out Christian CADRE's list of resources.

A Hubble/NASA image of Starburst Galaxy Messier 94 (Source)