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Mike Winger idea 2021-03-19

Kalam leads to God with biblical attributes via conceptual analysis

Continuation of the Kalam answer, explaining the conceptual analysis step.

Genesis 1 Hebrews 11 John 1:1 Genesis 1 Hebrews 11 John 1:1
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

Guest Braxton Hunter (president of Trinity Seminary, PhD) introduces the Kalam cosmological argument and explains its ultimate payoff: reasoning toward what the cause of the universe must be like.

Introduction to the Kalam — what it gets you

Kalam cosmological argument Braxton Hunter Kalam cosmological argument
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

The cause of the universe must be timeless, spaceless, and non-material, because the universe itself consists of time, space, and matter — the cause cannot be made of the things it created.

Conceptual analysis of the cause of the universe

conceptual analysis causation timelessness
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

Abstract objects like numbers are timeless and immaterial but lack causal powers; a mind fits the criteria of being spaceless, timeless, non-material, AND capable of causing something.

Conceptual analysis — why the cause is a mind

abstract objects conceptual analysis causal powers
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

The conceptual analysis points toward a spaceless, timeless, non-material, incredibly powerful, exceedingly wise mind — matching what Jews and Christians have always understood from Genesis 1:1.

Conceptual analysis — conclusion

Genesis 1:1 Kalam cosmological argument Genesis 1:1 Kalam cosmological argument
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

The Kalam conclusion (the universe has a cause) doesn't mention God explicitly, but the conceptual analysis that always follows leads to theistic conclusions about the nature of that cause.

Relationship between the formal argument and conceptual analysis

Kalam cosmological argument Kalam cosmological argument conceptual analysis
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

Objection: the argument doesn't mention God, so it's irrelevant. Response: the Kalam is always the beginning of a case, not the end — it forces you into the conceptual analysis that points to God.

Objection — God not mentioned in the argument

Kalam cosmological argument Kalam cosmological argument conceptual analysis
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

Objection: the cause could be a teacup orbiting Saturn or universe-creating pixies instead of God. Response: they're just describing God's attributes and labeling it something else; Occam's razor reduces pixies to one being.

Objection — teacup/pixies

Matt Dillahunty conceptual analysis Occams razor