Apologist Frank Turek recently addressed a question that often comes from critics of God who ponder where the Lord originated.
Speaking at an event hosted by Cross Examined, Turek responded to the common objection that if everything has a cause, then God must also have a cause and therefore cannot be the uncaused first cause.
Turek argued that the question misunderstands the nature of God as defined in classical theism, stating that God is not a being within the universe who began to exist, but rather the necessary ground of all being who exists eternally and independently.
He emphasized that the principle of causality applies to things that begin to exist, not to eternal beings, and that positing an eternal universe or multiverse does not resolve the need for an ultimate explanation.
Turek referenced the Kalam cosmological argument, noting that whatever begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist, therefore the universe has a cause, and that cause must be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, and immensely powerful.
He maintained that the only entity fitting that description is the God of monotheistic faiths, and that alternative explanations such as an infinite regress of causes or a self-causing universe are logically incoherent.
Turek also pointed to the fine-tuning of the universe’s constants and quantities as additional evidence supporting the conclusion that the cause of the universe is intelligent and purposeful.
He concluded that the question “Who made God?” is not a valid objection to theism because it misapplies the principle of causality to a being who, by definition, does not begin to exist.
