1. The Cosmological
Argument

2. What?
The cosmological argument is an an argument
which tries to prove God’s existence in relation
to the start or the universe.

3. Who?
Aristotle
Aquinas
Leibniz
Kant
Hume
Russel
Coppleston
Antony Kenny
William Lane Craig

4. Aquinas’ five ways
Developed his first way from Aristotle’s idea of
the ‘prime mover’.
The unmoved mover
The uncaused causer
Necessity and contingency

5. Leibniz
Sufficient Reason

6. Kant and Hume
Challengers to cosmological argument
Immanuel Kant – ‘we must deny knowledge in
order to make room for faith’
David Hume – it is meaningless to talk of
something we no direct knowledge to, infinite
regress could of happened.

7. Russell VS Coppleston
Russell – concepts such as ‘cause of universe’ &
‘necessary being’ have no meaning.
Coppleston – used points from Leibniz and
Aquinas to defend the cosmological argument.

8. Antony Kenny
Aquinas’s theory falls at the first way – thing do
not need to be acted on (Newton’s First law of
motion).
However Aquinas wasn't referring to actual
movement in his theory, referred to gradual
movement such a evolution.

9. Kalam Cosmological Argument
(William Lane Craig)
Types of Infinite ;
Potential (things building to become infinite)
Actual ( permanent, necessary e.g.. Math's)
Universe potentially infinite (had a beginning) and was just
caused by it (necessary being) but it is not dependent on it.
Universe was not caused naturally, creation of choice (creatio ex
nihilo).

10. Unscramble
Gicyoecnt
Fgiseinisneerg
Smocos
Nlixeib
Ceaysnsr
Qinasau