By
Gerald Cowan
Where did God come from?
This is a common question, usually from
atheists and skeptics, but sometimes from children too. All of us, even
children, seem to know intuitively that everything which happens or exists had
to have a cause, something or someone, that produced it or made it happen. If
that is true, then God must also need a cause. God is something, so God must
have been produced by some cause outside himself. If we say God is an exception
to the rule can there be other exceptions too? The conclusion the atheist or
unbelieving skeptic seeks to arrive at is that there is no God, that the claim
for the existence of God is illogical. Therefore the existence of God is
impossible – He does not and cannot really exist. Here’s the logic: if what we
call God had to have a beginning and a cause that produced Him, then there
would have to be an endless regression of causes for the caused. Who caused the
cause that caused God to exist, and who caused the cause that caused the cause
that caused God to exist, etc ad infinitum. It would be illogical, an exercise
in futile nonsense. Anything that needs a cause cannot be called God. So, if
God needed a cause then God is not God, and if God is not God there is nothing
that can be called God – therefore, there is no God. However, there is a simple
but profound answer to this. We tell our children, “Nobody made God. God has
always been. God has no beginning and no end – God is eternal; God is
forever.” That usually satisfies a
child. But maturing thought and reason ask more. To be acceptable and satisfying
our answer must be logical and complete. At least it must be immune to logical
contradiction.
It is important to insist on two major
dicta. First: something cannot come from nothing, and there can be no
exception. If nothing at all exists then nothing at all can come from it and
nothing at all will ever exist. Nothing makes or produces itself. Second: for
every existing thing there must have been a prior sufficient cause that
produced it. In this case it is a logical philosophical necessity that there be
one, but only one, exception to the rule. There must be one and only one
uncaused cause, one who is eternal and absolutely perfect in every conceivable
attribute who could then cause everything else to become and be. Only such a
perfect being could be called God. How can we prove this? Remember, as we know
and must admit, nothing has come or can come from nothing. If there were ever a time when there was
absolutely nothing in existence, then nothing would have ever come into
existence. But things do exist. Therefore, since there could never have been
absolutely nothing, something had always to have been in existence. That
ever-existing thing is what we call God. God is the uncaused Being who caused
everything else to come into existence. God is the uncreated Creator who
created all existing things, the universe and everything in it. An existing God
is a logical, philosophical, and ontological necessity.
We have shown His existence to be a logical
or philosophical necessity. But what do we mean by ontological necessity? This
too is a matter of philosophy, but it is stated either directly or by necessary
inference in the Bible. It applies more to the attributes of the existing God
than to His necessary existence. Do not forget the essential point: nothing
makes or creates itself; nothing brings itself into existence. The existence of
any created thing ultimately requires an original uncreated creator. But what
about the attributes of the Uncaused Cause?
What kind of being is it? Here is where ontology is the determining
factor. Ontology is sometimes defined as “that than which nothing greater can
be conceived.” But that is an awkward easily misconstrued statement that ends
up being meaningless. Simply stated, it is an argument from perfection. For
every manifestation or attribute it is necessary to assume that the perfect
form of the attribute exists. Notice how this applies to what can be called the
essential attributes of God. With regard
to essential being, God is eternal, as we have already noted. Scripture makes
the claim often. His very name JEHOVAH means the everlasting One who was and is
and will be, the Eternal. A necessary corollary to eternality is immutability.
Material things are subject to change and decay, but the eternal One is unchanging,
not subject to change. “Behold, I am the Lord (God); I change not” (Mal. 3:6).
He is non-material Spirit – unchanging and non-material, the perfect form of
being. (John 4:24). He is perfect in knowledge – omniscient, all-knowing. There
is nothing past, present, or future that is hidden from Him, nothing that He
does not know – including what you think and intend at any time (Heb. 4:12-13).
He is perfect in power, omnipotent, almighty, all powerful (Rev. 19:6). He is
not limited in presence. He is everywhere all the time, omnipresent and
therefore able to know all things at all times (Psalm 139:7-12). The sum of all
this is that God is perfect in all aspects of His being. So there you have it:
God is perfect, the eternal, unchanging, all-knowing, all-powerful, and
everywhere-present Spirit. We can also apply the principle of ontology to the
relative attributes of God, such as love, truth, law and the many sub-sets in
each of them. Nobody can find a flaw or imperfection in anything about God. His
love is perfect, and it is impossible for Him to lie, impossible for Him to do
or want to do anything that is wrong. The God who necessarily exists is
necessarily perfect, in His essential being and in all His attributes.
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