Some people do not differentiate between cause and reason while they might be used for completely different meanings. The reason of an event is the “why” answer that explains why that event happens whereas the cause of an event is the agent that the event was its consequence. Theists dedicate a large portion of their arguments to prove that the universe has a cause of its existence, but there is more to it than just proving the universe needs a cause as the argument should be reasonable, i.e. it should give us a rational explanation of the existence of the universe rather than wronging out the cause (God) for the explanation.

The reason why I don’t believe in creation

If we consider the existence of an identity, we might find ourselves perfectly able to assume its non-existence without involving any contradiction, and that it was potentially equal for it to be or not to be. We then ask ourselves: what reason made its possibility for being prevails that of not being? Requiring a reason (or a determinant) for inclination of one of two equal possibilities over the other is the basis for what is known as the principle of determination.

W. Craig attributed the use of it to the mutakallimun (Arabic for speakers) more specifically to Mutazilites* (Arabic for withdrawers) but I believe the mutakallimun might have been using it to infer the existence of a cause instead of a reason which is not my purpose in this article. In addition, I can’t claim to know a way to prove the principle of determination or if it is a valid principle in the first place. It is just our quest for building a world based on reason for there is no way to prove a true primary principle other than “common sense”.

If creation was true, then prior to the existence of the universe there was nothing at all but God himself, and every instant of time was indistinguishable from each other as there is no material to tell them apart. Thus the possibility of creating the universe sooner or later than the moment when it was created is equal, so why the universe was created at that very moment? There has to be a determinant but God cannot be it because he can never change. God is said to be perfect. In addition, it cannot be anything else because there was nothing else. Creation is therefore cannot be explained and we would be better off looking for an explanation somewhere else.

In response to my argument, one can claim that prior to the existence of the universe there was no time and therefore no temporal moments of potential likelihood but if that was the case then we need no cause for the universe as if the universe is to be treated as an accident (i.e. an object that has a beginning in time) then there should be a time when the accident wasn’t taking place. Otherwise, at the time of accidence, the accident itself was happening and not happening which is an absurdity.

All in all, I believe that though no one can claim a perfect knowledge of how the universe comes to being (except theists), it is very crucial to adopt the more reasonable view: the universe is eternal.