Session 5

APOLOGETICS SESSION 5
God Exists: The Cosmological Argument

Discussion Questions

As a group, can you write out the outline of the cosmological argument by memory?
Is the cosmological argument helpful to you personally? Explain.
Do you think the cosmological argument for the existence of God could be helpful in evangelism? Explain.
Looking at the outline (of the video) below, what stands out to you most? Why?

Outline & Quotes from Video

Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
The universe began to exist.
1. Atheists have typically said that the universe has been here forever.
2. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
  1. The universe is slowly running out of usable energy.
  2. If the universe had been here forever, it would have run out of usable energy by now.
3. Confirmed by scientific discoveries:
  1. 1915 - Einstein: general theory of relativity: allowed us to talk meaningfully about the past history of the universe
  2. Friedmann & Lemaitre predicted that the universe is expanding.
  3. 1929 - Hubble measured the 'red shift' and confirmed that the universe is expanding, and that it sprang into being from a single point in the finite past, a monumental discovery!
    1. Alternative theories have been proposed but have been refuted.
4. "Scientists can no longer hide behind a past-eternal universe. There is no escape. They have to face the problem of a cosmic beginning." -Alexander Vilenkin
Therefore, the universe has a cause.
1. Since the universe cannot cause itself, its cause must be beyond the space-time universe.
2. It must be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, uncaused, and unimaginably powerful - much like God.

Conclusion: The Cosmological Argument shows that it is quite reasonable to believe that God does exist.

Closing Questions