Theology, Cosmology, And Philosophy Practice Test

A primary idea here is that things that begin to exist have causes, and the universe began to exist. The Kalam cosmological argument forms its two claims into a simple chain: anything that begins to exist has a cause, and the universe began to exist. If both hold, then the universe must have a cause. This setup is used to infer that there is a cause of the universe that lies outside the space-time order (since it brought the universe into being) and that many thinkers identify with God. The other options miss one of these essential moves: one denies a beginning or a need for a cause for the universe, another tries to bypass the issue with quantum events, and another suggests the cause must be God but need not be personal; but the Kalam is specifically tying together the principle about beginnings with the claim that the universe began, leading to the conclusion that there is a cause.