The Kalām Cosmological Argument

by William Lane Craig

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2000

Overview

Does God exist? Of the many ongoing debates to answer this question, perhaps none is more controversial than the kalām cosmological argument. According to proponents of the argument, a temporal series of past events could not be actually infinite, and therefore the universe has an absolute beginning. Since the universe could not spring uncaused out of nothing, there must be a creator. William Lane Craig provides a broad assessment of the argument in light of recent developments in philosophy, mathematics, science, and theology.

Key Features

• Discusses implications of existence
• Relies on traditionally Islamic ideas to posit a defense of God’s existence
• Clarifies misconceptions about philosophy for modern readers

Contents

• Historical Statements of the Kalām Cosmological Argument
• Introduction
• al-Kindi
• Saadia
• al-Ghazali
• Notes
• A Modern Defense of the Kalām Cosmological Argument
• Proposed Formulation of the Argument
• Second Premiss: The Universe Begins to Exist
• First Premiss: Everything that Begins to Exist has a Cause of its Existence
• Conclusion: The Universe Has a Cause of Its Existence
• Appendix: The Kalām Cosmological Argument and Zeno’s Paradoxes
• Appendix: The Kalām Cosmological Argument and the Thesis of Kant’s First Antimony

Top Highlights

“I seek to examine one particular proof for the existence of God: the kalām cosmological argument.” (Page ix)

“Copleston’s History.² If so, then they are aware that the Muslim philosophers may be divided into two groups, the eastern and the western, the former encompassing the Middle Eastern nations and whose most famous representative is Avicenna (ībn Sīnā), the latter centred in Muslim Spain and whose most well-known thinker is Averroes (ibn Rushd).” (Pages 3–4)

“Rather than adopt the traditionalist attitude that one knows his faith to be true without knowing how it can be true, the Mu‘tazilites chose to defend the faith by the use of reason and thus to render their beliefs intellectually respectable.” (Page 4)

“they maintained that man could come to know God through reason alone, unaided by revelation” (Page 5)

“In my opinion the cosmological argument which is most likely to be a sound and persuasive proof for the existence of God is the kalām cosmological argument based on the impossibility of an infinite temporal regress of events.” (Page 63)

Product Details

• Title: The Kalām Cosmological Argument
• Author: William Lane Craig
• Series: Library of Philosophy and Religion
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Print Publication Date: 2000
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 224
• Era: era:Contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: God (Islam) › Proof; Islamic cosmology; God › Proof, Empirical; God › Proof--History of doctrines
• ISBNs: 9781579104382, 157910438, 157910438X
• Resource ID: LLS:KLMCSMLGCLRGMNT
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:01:44Z

About William Lane Craig

William Lane Craig (PhD, University of Birmingham, England) is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University and lives in Marietta, GA.