Kalam Cosmology

William Lane Craig’s book The Kalam Cosmological Argument sets out to both explain and defend the theory cited in the title.  This theory is one of the ways that God’s existence is rationally proved.  But Craig mentions God very few times in this book.  The thrust of the book is on the cosmological argument, and not its conclusion.

The lynchpin of this theory rests on the assumption that an actual infinite cannot exist.  If it does not, then the universe must be finite.  It must have a beginning.  If it has a finite beginning, there must be a creator of the universe who existed prior to its creation.  If real infinity exists, and if the universe is eternal, all manner of absurdities would ensue.  Time as we know it would not function.  And the sequential nature of events as we observe them would not exist.

Craig handles this argument in various ways, from showing in very mathematical terms that a true infinite does not exist, to more philosophical arguments.  He then goes on to examine both the theoretical and empirical results of the Big Bang Theory, which  bolsters the argument for a finite, created universe.

Craig will deftly bring you through these abstruse matters; he will not leave you behind, although this is not a book for the rank beginner.   But to see how a mind thinks about matters divine, rationally, and according to the dictates of the senses and experience, Craig is no greater guide.