Christian Apologetics Resources
Week 3 – Causality
Week 3 - Causality
- → Synopsis
- → Homework
Synopsis
Causality is the relationship between cause and effect. It is the principle that all things that occur have a cause. Whatever has happened was caused to happen by something else. Things cannot occur without a reason.
Main Points Covered
“To doubt the law of causality is to doubt virtually everything we know about reality, including our ability to reason and do science. All arguments, all thinking, all science, and all aspects of life depend on the law of causality.”
— Frank Turek
Causality is the relationship between cause and effect. It is the principle that all things that occur have a cause. Whatever has happened was caused to happen by something else. Things cannot occur without a reason.
Scientists recognize this reality and have developed a list of things requiring a cause:
- Every effect has a cause
- Everything that begins has a cause
- Everything that changes has a cause
- Everything that is finite has a cause
- Everything that is limited has a cause
Homework
Here are some of the questions to think about this week:
- Does the law of causality apply to the universe?
- Why couldn’t “nothing” have created the universe?
- Who made God?
- How do atheists take science and the laws of nature on faith?
- Who or what best explains the laws of nature?
Further Study
Book: Stealing from God, by Frank Turek (Chapter 1 - Causality).
Article: A Universe from Nothing? David Albert Owns Lawrence Krauss by Santi Tafarella from Prometheus Unbound.
Article: A Review of Lawrence Krauss' Book 'A Universe from Nothing' by Dr. Dan Reynolds.
Podcast: Science, the Universe, and the God Question, John Lennox and Lawrence Krauss on 'Unbelievable' with Justin Brierley, September 21, 2013.
Video: The Kalam Cosmological Argument with William Lane Craig.
Video: Who Created God? Frank Turek answers Bobby Conway on the 'One Minute Apologist'.
Video: Has Science Buried God? Debate between John Lennox and Richard Dawkins (the question of "Who made God?" Begins at minute 23 but the whole debate is worth watching)
Video: A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing (The Colbert Report)
Video: The Fine-Tuning of the Universe by Reasonable Faith.
Is It True that Causality Only Applies to the Physical
Science is Impossible without Causality - Frank Turek, PhD
Does Causality Apply Outside Space Time?