Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274 AD) is well-known for his presentation of
the Cosmological Argument for the existence of God. However, both Plato
(c. 427-347 BC) and Aristotle (c. 384-322 BC) offered first cause
arguments long before Aquinas. It appears that Aquinas' study of
Aristotle was what stirred him to develop his own first cause argument
for the existence of God.
1
This argument is based on the universal observation that "Nothing comes
from nothing." The basic thought is that since the universe exists,
there had to be some cause to bring it into existence and to sustain it
through the ages. Aquinas argued that this first cause is God, and
identified him as the unmoved mover, the prime mover, the uncaused first
cause, and the necessary being.
2
Indeed, the existence of the cosmos is exceedingly strong evidence for a
Creator. There had to be an unmoved mover. There had to be an uncaused
first cause. There had to be a necessary being. Our universe and most
especially man himself are contingent, i.e., they are capable of NOT
being. It took a necessary being to bring the universe into existence.
The pressing nature of this argument has become much more so after the
findings that led to the Big Bang Theory. Prior to this time atheists firmly held to the idea that matter was eternal, and there was
no objective evidence concerning the heavenly bodies to convince them
otherwise. However, the data behind the Big Bang Theory destroyed
their static eternal universe argument entirely. Beyond the
speculation involved in how the Big Bang occurred, there is a core finding that the universe indeed had a
beginning called a "singularity." Thus, the universe
must have been created,
for it is not eternal, and is not a static or closed system.
Nothing comes from nothing. The universe had a beginning, and that
singularity was God.
The Bible states this position very clearly in Genesis 1:1; Psalms
19:1-4; and Romans 1:18-20. Thousands of years before the Big Bang
theory, there were these words: "In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth." (Gen 1:1). It was true when it was
written, and it is still true today.
