(September 2, 2014 at 9:52 am)Michael Wrote:(September 2, 2014 at 9:37 am)Diablo Wrote: There is no certainly that the universe had a beginning. It may be that the universe we perceive is the latest in a series of iterations, each one collapsing and 'bouncing' to cause the next.
Yes, I think it's always important to remember these arguments don't provide certainties. They simply proceed from 'reasonable' (but uncertain) premises to conclusions. I don't know anyone personally who has come to faith through philosophical arguments. I'm sure there are some somewhere, but I think it's pretty rare. I see these arguments more as showing that belief in God (or, in this case, an uncaused cause, or an unmoved mover) is not unreasonable. So stating that the universe had a beginning is a reasonable premise; it is in line with what data we do have and some philosophers also highlight problems with infinite regresses. But it's not certain, no.
As I said, it is line with some but not all data and is doubted by some scientists. So the premise in the OP fails - it didn't say anything about being reasonable.
