Theistic_Therories

Theistic Therories Cosmological Argument An argument which assumes that there is a first cause for an event and that first cause may be called God is considered a cosmological, or first-cause, argument. A simple version of such an argument states that: a) ‘Stuff’ happens b) ‘Stuff’ just doesn’t happen by itself c) The ‘thing’ that make ‘stuff’ happen doesn’t make itself happen d) There can’t be an infinite number of ‘things’ that can make ‘stuff’ happen e) Therefore there must be an initial ‘thing’ that makes ‘stuff’ happen f) This initial ‘thing’ we can call God. Furthermore, this ‘stuff’ that happens is referred to as being a ‘contingent’. There are two definitions of contingent provided in the textbook, Peterson, et al. (1998): one defines a contingent being as a being which depends on other “things or circumstances other than itself” in order to exist (p. 67); the other defines it as a being that “though it exists, might not have existed” (p.97). Although there are two different definitions, both of these are connected because, a being that is considered contingent by one definition, will also be considered contingent under the other definition. The cosmological argument is broken down into two sections, the finistc first-cause argument and the infinitary first-cause argument. god, existence, argument, being, teleological, personal, infinite, cosmological, contingent, ontological, happen, first, characteristics, supreme, one, made, first-cause, explained, conclusion, ‘stuff’, watch, two, time, states, since, peterson, person, make, just, itself, idea, greater, exists, exist, et, causes