THE ARGUMENT FROM MUSIC...& Other Aesthetic Arguments for God

Peter Kreeft simply argues: "Bach's music exists, therefore God exists" (Peter Kreeft, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, p.81). Kreeft presents this as simply an intuitive argument. But I have examined this argument more closely and found that there is in fact much more to be said about the beauty and power of music that we experience as humans. (See the audio, etc. for my class below.)

We all know what ugly looks like when we see it.* And yet within creation, everywhere we look the overwhelming impression is of beauty. This--combined with the fact that we have a built-in ability to experience and appreciate that beauty--points us to a God who created us to enjoy this world which is a reflection of his own beauty and majesty.

Steven Weinberg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics...and an ardent atheist...writes: "I have to admit that sometimes nature seems more beautiful than strictly necessary.  Outside the window of my home office, there is a hackberry tree, visited frequently by a convocation of politic birds: blue jays, yellow-throated vireos, and loveliest of all, an occasional red cardinal.  Although I understand pretty well how brightly colored feathers evolved out of a competition for mates, it is almost irresistible to imagine that all this beauty was somehow laid out for our benefit.” *p. 250, Dreams of a Final Theory

Indeed it was.

*Note: Even ugliness makes sense within the Christian worldview, but that is a topic for another time. Part of that answer is found in this excellent 30-minute video featuring Michael Spicher.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

RESOURCES for Digging Deeper
My Class: "Beauty & the Argument from Music:
*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).

RESOURCE LINKS FOR WEEK 3:
*VIDEO MENTIONED IN THE PRESENTATION: 
"Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale"

*MUSICAL SAVANTS:
*"Savant - Leslie Lemke"
*"The Mysterious Gift of Musical Savants"
*"A Musical Savant Shows Talent"
*"Real People, Real Stories: Blind, Autistic, Musical Savant (Tony DeBlois)"
*"The Musical Genius (Autism Documentary) | Real Stories"
*"Top 10 AMAZING SAVANTS With REAL SUPER POWERS"
*MY YouTube PLAYLIST FOR EXPLORING THE AMAZING PROPERTIES OF MUSIC:
*"The Argument from Music"
*SCROLL DOWN THIS PAGE FOR A GREAT "QUOTE on the Evidence for God in Music"

*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"

MORE LINKS FOR DIGGING DEEPER
Videos
*Doug Powell: This 40-minute video lecture given at the 2013 SALT conference presents the argument that objective beauty is evidence for God.
*"Biology of the Baroque" produced by the Discovery Institute and based on the work of Dr. Michael Denton's 2016 book: This 20-minute video is beautiful to watch and intellectually stimulating. It examines non-adaptive traits to present a powerful aesthetic argument for how God's creative touch is seen in nature. And (at the end) it also gives a very cogent anthropological argument, showing significant ways in which humans are completely distinct from all other creatures on the planet. These issues are an insurmountable challenge to naturalistic evolution, but they make perfect sense if the world is designed. They also coincide perfectly with the revelation about creation and humans (created in God's image) 
given in Genesis.
*Michael Spicher: An excellent 30-minute video interview hosted by GivingAnAnswer.

Articles
*Have you ever wondered why music has the power to move us? by Michael Ots

*"The Argument from Beauty" by Alexander Pruss
*"Aesthetic Arguments for the Existence of God" by Peter Williams
*"Arguments from Beauty and Aesthetics" at The Christian Apologetics Alliance
*"Argument from Beauty" at Conservapedia
*Last Seminary hosts five articles on the aesthetic argument that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.

Books
*The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet by Thomas Dubay
*The Beauty of the Faith: Using Aesthetics for Christian Apologetics by Joseph Wooddell.
*A Meaningful World: How the Arts and Sciences Reveal the Genius of Nature by Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt

QUOTE on the evidence for God in music

*”A world thrilling in every atom with rhythmic vibrations; a race of sentient and intelligent beings, so constituted as to perceive, combine, and enjoy an endless variety of musical sounds, and able to reproduce them by artistic methods in elaborate or simpler forms, which gratify and exalt their higher nature; these in a universe ruled by all-embracing law that binds together its limitless realms in a unity demanding one sole cause equal, at least, to the production of its component elements and forces: given these factors, what must we infer? God.

The Deity thus declared is a perfect Being, whose nature is harmony, who is keenly alive to dissonance, physical or psychical, but who delights in every form of beauty. He has set the laws and forces of the universe in an exquisite order, such as will bless his creatures, by their own responsive cooperation, with innumerable melodic and harmonic sounds, that intimate the finer beauty of holiness, and may greatly aid in its attainment. 

If there were no other proofs of the existence of a Creator, supposably infinite in wisdom, power, and goodness, and also of a spiritual constitution of the universe, we need be neither atheists nor agnostics. Music, with its implications and possibilities, would suffice to show to all minds capable of responding to its appeal, and of reasoning upon its causes and correlations, that there is a Supreme Power making for harmony, happiness, and spiritual perfecting. (p.17-18 of God and Music by John Harrington Edwards, 1905)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
**My growing MASTER LIST OF APOLOGETIC RESOURCES

THE MORAL ARGUMENT: Resources for Study

If there is no God, then Evolution must be true. And if Evolution is true, then it can be easily demonstrated that virtually everything we call wrong is really right. It's a part of what created us and what ultimately will make us better and therefore should be encouraged. If evolution is true--if winning and keeping your genes in the pool is what life is really all about, then stealing, adultery, lying and even rape are good (not bad). And yet our conscience tells us otherwise.

We all recognize that certain things are just wrong--even evil. But where does that come from? If there is no God, how can there be an objective moral standard? And if we all have this moral standard within us, who put it there? If there is no God, we are all free to do what we want. But we all know that that is not the way that it is. There is an objective moral standard--a law in our heart. And if there is, there is a Lawgiver who put it there.

RESOURCES for Digging Deeper

My Class: "The Law in Your Heart":
*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).

*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"

INTRODUCTORY
Videos

*Craig, William Lane. "Moral Argument" (2 1/2 minutes)

*Turek, Frank. "A Challenge to the Moral Argument." (8 minutes)

*Turek, Frank. "Can Evolution Explain Morality?" (5 minutes)

Articles

*Lyons, Eric. "The Moral Argument for the Existence of God"
*Manning, Erik. "Every Christian Should Begin to Master the Moral Argument Today"

INTERMEDIATE
Videos

*Copan, Paul. On Guard Conference: "Can We Be Good Without God?"
*Lanier, Mark. Lecture at Lanier Theological Library by top lawyer, Mark Lanier.

Audio
*Craig, William Lane. "07 Moral Argument" (Over 2 hours). Four lectures from Craig's "Introduction to Apologetics" course, comprised of 51 lectures. Scroll down the list there to "07 Moral Argument."
*"Arguments for God's Existence" by Peter Kreeft (78 minutes). Starting at the 18-minute mark, Kreeft gives an excellent 10-minute summary of the moral argument (which he terms "the argument from conscience"), based largely on C.S. Lewis' version of it.

Articles (& chapters of books)

*Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity (pages 8-20). FREE! ebook. FREE! audiobook.

*Shenvi, Neil. "Do Objective Moral Values Exist?"

*Copan, Paul. Passionate Conviction (pages 79-92). Cheap used and full of other great essays besides the one on the moral argument.

*Copan, Paul. "The Moral Argument for God's Existence."

*Geisler, Norm and Frank Turek. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist, Chapter 7: "Mother Teresa vs. Hitler" (p.169-196).

*Last Seminary hosts 24 articles on the moral argument that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.

Books
*Budziszewski, J. What We Can't Not Know: A Guide.

*Lewis, C.S. The Abolition of Man. FREE! here. A Lewis classic.

*Baggett, David and Jerry L. Walls. Good God: The Theistic Foundations of Morality.

Still looking?....

Check out this brief article and bibliography from my friend Carson Weitnauer.....

OR...this excellent website devoted to exploring moral arguments.....

OR...this list of resources at Christian CADRE.

CLASSIC QUOTE:

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. 

Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. 

Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."

- C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity, p.22-23 of the free online ebook version)

ORIGIN OF LIFE: Resources for Study

It is simply not possible to get life from non-life by natural means. The "simplest" living cell  is complex beyond our imagination. 

In 1859, when Darwin published his book The Origin of Species, scientists thought of cells as something like microscopic balls of jelly.....and--much like ancient peoples--tended to believe that such "simple" life magically popped into existence.

Today we know differently. As Nancy Pearcey writes: "Each cell is akin to a miniature factory town, humming with power plants, automated factories, and recycling centers. In the nucleus is a cellular library, housing blueprints and plans that are copied and transported to factories, each of which is filled with molecular machines that function like computerized motors. These manufacture the immense array of products needed within the cell, with the processes all regulated by enzymes that function as stopwatches to ensure that everything is perfectly timed....The outside surface of the cell is studded with sensors, gates, pumps, and identification markers to regulate traffic coming in and out......Each cell has an automated 'rapid transit system' in which certain molecules function as tiny monorail trains running along tracks to whisk cargo around from one part of the cell to another. Other molecules act as loading machines, filling up the train cars and attaching address labels. When the train reaches the right 'address' in another part of the cell, it is met by other molecules that act as docking machines, opening them up and removing the supplies."
*Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth, p.185f; also see notes 16, 17 and 18 on p.416-17

This is just a glimpse into the complex workings of the "simplest cell"....and none of these machines occur naturally by themselves in nature. Rather they are only produced by living cells.

With all of our intense efforts and advanced technologies, we still cannot build a single living cell and create life. We are not even close to doing this from scratch.

To think that life came into being without a Creator stretches the imagination.

RESOURCES
My Class "Life Isn't Simple":
*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).

RESOURCE LINKS FOR THE CLASS:
*Cooper, Brad. "DNA EVIDENCE FOR GOD: Resources for Study"
*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"

INTRODUCTORY
Videos
The following videos give a glimpse of the incredible complexity of a living cell:
*Harvard University. "The Inner Life of the Cell." (3 minutes).
*Discovery Institute. "Journey Inside the Cell." (3 1/2 minutes).
*Discovery Science. "Amazing Flagellum: Michael Behe and the Revolution of Intelligent Design" (3 1/2 minutes).
*Discovery Science. "The Workhorse of the Cell: Kinesin" (3 1/2 minutes).
*Discovery Science. "ATP Synthase: The Power Plant of the Cell" (3 1/2 minutes)
*Illustra Media: "Origin: Probability of a Single Protein Forming by Chance."
*TED Talk: "The Inner Life of the Cell" with David Bolinsky (10 minutes)
*MoreThinking: "Inner Life of the Cell (Full Version - Narrated)" (8 minutes).
*Illustra Media: "Unlocking the Mystery of Life." Watch for FREE here (in 12 parts).
*Illustra Media: "ORIGIN: Design, Chance, and the First Life on Earth."


INTERMEDIATE
Videos

*Tour, James. "Dr James Tour speaking about evolution" (34 minutes). A world-class biochemist who is among the very few in the world who synthesizes molecules and then creates molecular machines.

*Kenyon, Dean. "On the Origin of Life: An Interview with Dr. Dean Kenyon" (54 minutes).

*Rana Fuz and Michael Ruse. "The Origin of Life: Evolution vs. Design [Full Debate]" (2 1/2 hours).

*Rittenhouse, Jon. "Probability of Simple Cell Spontaneously Forming - Rittenhouse" (10 minutes).
*Gauger, Ann. "Causal Circularity in Biology" by Dr. Ann Gauger (May 31, 2019, Waidhofen / Thaya)" (30 minutes).

Articles (& Book Chapters)

*Rochford, James M. "The Origin of Life."

*Nelson, Paul. "The Humpty-Dumpty Effect: A Revolutionary Paper with Far-Reaching Implications."

*Miller, Jeff. "The Law of Biogenesis [Part I]." This lengthy Apologetics Press article has an excellent section on the history of the law of biogenesis (that life does not come from non-life but only from pre-existing life).

*Geisler, Norm and Frank Turek. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist, Chapter 5: "The First Life: Natural Law or Divine Awe" (p.137-168).

Books
*Overman, Dean L. A Case Against Accident and Self-Organization (in Kindle, hardcover and paperback).

*Rana, Fazale. The Cell's Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator's Artistry (in Kindle and paperback).

ADVANCED

Videos

*"The Origin of Life: The Inside Story" (84 minutes) by James Tour

*"The Origin of Life: Evolution vs. Design [FULL DEBATE]" (2 1/2 hours) with Michael Ruse and Fuz Ranae.

DNA EVIDENCE FOR GOD: Resources for Study

Einstein said, “God does not play dice.” He was right. God plays Scrabble. 

~ Philip Gold

 [Quoted in 20 Compelling Evidences That God Exists: Discover Why Believing in God Makes So Much Sense: Boa, Ken; Bowman, Jr., Robert M. (Kindle Locations 1012-1015). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.]

N.A.S.A.’ s search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (S.E.T.I.) presupposed that information embedded in electromagnetic signals from space would indicate an intelligent source. As yet, however, radio-astronomers have not found information-bearing signals coming from space. But closer to home, molecular biologists have identified encoded information in the cell.
~ Stephen Meyer

 [Quoted in 20 Compelling Evidences That God Exists: Discover Why Believing in God Makes So Much Sense: Boa, Ken; Bowman, Jr., Robert M. (Kindle Locations 1124-1126). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.]

~~ * ~~

Did you know that the smallest genome known comes from a bacterium that lives off sap-feeding insects? Its genome consists of 159,662 DNA base pairs. (1) This is equal to a paperback book of about 89 to 106 pages. (2) That's much smaller than most living organisms, but it is still a lot of very precise technical information. 

Do you think you 89 pages is enough space to pack all the instructions for building a robot that finds its own fuel and then reproduces itself? One thing is for sure: if you found such a book, you would be sure that it was produced by a highly intelligent mind and not random ink blots on a page.

(1) from an online article in Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science (October 12, 2006).
(2) Based on a figure of 1500 to 1800 characters per page, which seems to be the best answer on quora.

RESOURCES FOR DIGGING DEEPER:
My class: "Life Isn't Simple"
*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).

RESOURCE LINKS FOR WEEK 3:
*Cooper, Brad. "ORIGIN OF LIFE: Resources for Study"
*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"


INTRODUCTORY
Videos
*Discovery Science. "DNA Is Code: Who Coded It? (Science Uprising 03)." (6 1/2 minutes)
*Wallace, J. Warner. "How the Origin of Life Points to the Existence of God." (14 1/2 minutes)
*Turek, Frank. "DNA, Information, and the God of the Gaps Argument." (1 1/2 minutes)

Articles
*Arrington, Barry. "Dawkins: DNA Is Encoded Digital Information in the 'Strong Sense'"
*Wallace, J. Warner. "Why the Information in Our DNA Points to the Existence of God."
*Rana, Fazale. "Harvard Scientists Write the Book on Intelligent Design—in DNA."


INTERMEDIATE
Videos
*Meyer, Stephen & Douglas Axe. "Information Enigma" (21 minutes)
*Meyer, Stephen. "Centre for Intelligent Design Lecture 2011 by Stephen Meyer on 'Signature in the Cell'." (1 hour 22 minutes)
*Gitt, Werner. "Information from an Explosion?" (54 minutes)
*Sanford, John. "Genetic Entropy & The Mystery of the Genome" (20 minutes)

Articles
*The Christian Scientific Society. "Refereed scientific article on DNA argues for irreducible complexity."

Books
*Meyer, Stephen C. Signature in the Cell.
*Gitt, Werner R. In The Beginning Was Information. Find it cheap used at the title link or read it for FREE! online here.
*Johnson, Donald E. Programming of Life.

FINE-TUNING OF THE UNIVERSE: Resources for Study

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

~ Psalm 19:1-4, a psalm of David, c. 1000 B.C

~~ * ~~

The Fine-Tuning Argument is a very complex idea with multiple levels--having to do with the mathematical elegance of physical laws and the precise values in the coordination of those laws, the properties and distribution of such things as carbon and water, different necessary planetary conditions, the structure of galaxies, etc. It's a very complex issue that is really beyond my level of expertise frankly. But below you will find plenty of resources from people who are experts.

At any rate, the heart of it is very basic: If all of these hundreds of factors were not precisely as they are, human life would not be possible.

When scientists began to notice this in the 1970s, they came up with the term the "anthropic principle" ("anthropic" coming from the Greek word for human, just like our word anthropology, meaning the study of humans).

As the observations supporting the anthropic principle continued to grow, certain scientists began to speculate about and push the idea of a multiverse because they did not want to accept the fact the evidence of fine-tuning clearly points to a Fine-Tuner, a Designer, the Creator of heaven and earth.

It's an evasive move to avoid the obvious conclusion that all of this evidence points to: that the universe is clearly designed; but it doesn't work: not only is there no evidence of a multiverse, but a multiverse would simply add another layer of fine-tuning.

I invite you to get a glimpse of the amazing array of evidence for yourself by looking at some of the resources below.

RESOURCES
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)"

INTRODUCTORY
Videos
*Brierly, Justin. "How a Dice Can Show That God Exists" (4 1/2 minutes)
*Craig, William Lane. "The Fine Tuning of the Universe" (6 1/2 minutes)
*Stephen Meyer Shatters The Myth Of The Muliverse (Science Uprising EP4) by Center for Science and Culture (8 minutes)
*Questions from Atheists. "How likely are life sustaining planets in our galaxy?" (4 1/2 minutes).
*The Privileged Planet by Illustra Media (92 minutes)


Articles
*Cooper, Brad. "A Possible Multiverse Defeater"
"ID's Top Six - The Fine-Tuning of the Universe" at Evolution News & Science Today
*"Physics Professor Tells Students Scientific Evidence Points to a 'Designer'"
*For a list of quotes on fine-tuning by important scientists, go here.


INTERMEDIATE
Videos
*Ankerberg, John. "God's Fine-Tuning of the Universe." An episode of the John Ankerberg Show (28 1/2 minutes)
*Collins, Robin. "Is [It] True? Fine-Tuning the Universe - Robin Collins at Pepperdine" (70 minutes) A Veritas Forum lecture.
*Denton, Michael. "Privileged Species." (33 minutes) An excellent video produced by the Discovery Institute and featuring Dr. Michael Denton.
*Hawthorne, John. "Reflections on Fine Tuning." (48 minutes). From a conference at The Royal Institute of Philosophy in London.
*Hainline, Allen. "The Cosmic Fine-Tuning Argument: A Conversation with Allen Hainline": An Apologetics Academy webinar hosted by Jonathan McLatchie (2 hours 35 minutes).

Audio
*Wintery Knight. "Cosmologist Luke Barnes Answers 11 Objections to the Fine-Tuning Argument." The article includes a brief intro to the audio. Scroll down to find the link for the "Download" of the podcast. (1 hour 16 minutes)

Articles (& Book Chapters)
**Craig, William Lane. On Guard (available in Kindle, Audible, audio CD & paperback). Chapters 3 & 4. Also available on Overdrive.
*Geisler, Norm and Frank Turek. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist, Chapter 4: "Divine Design" (p.95-112).
*Last Seminary hosts 37 articles related to this topic that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.

BOOKS
*Lewis, Geraint F. and Luke A. Barnes. A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos (available in Kindle, Audible, and hardcover). Luke Barnes' introductory video about the book (11 1/2 minutes).
*Ross, Hugh. The Creator and the Cosmos (available in Kindle & paperback). (2018)
*Ross, Hugh. Improbable Planet (available in Kindle, Audible, hardcover & paperback). RTB has an introductory video for the book.
*Gonzalez, Gullermo and Jay Richards. The Privileged Planet (available in Kindle, Audible and hardcover).


ADVANCED

Articles
*Craig, William Lane. "The Teleological Argument and the Anthropic Principle."
*"Robin Collins' Fine-Tuning Website"
*Miller, Calum. "Full Defence of the Fine Tuning Argument."

**STILL LOOKING?....

Check out this excellent article and resource list by my friend Carson Weitnauer. It has helpful explanations and topically arranged links to lots of free resources.

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

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)