Angrboda, no, not really, I'm not. Not an expert on Hume. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to what you are talking about, as to what Hume said. If you're speaking about Hume claiming things people infer as designed, and then applying that by analogy to natural things to see that has a Designer, then that's interesting. But I will comment on that after you confirm. Design vs chance would be more going into the Fine Tuning argument Dr. Craig uses. As for the Kalam, its soundness and Truth only depends on the soundness and Truth of Premise 1 and 2, since I think everyone grants Premise 3 follows from Steps 1 and 2.
As for God declaring Himself Eternal: I am saying, what God declared Himself to be nearly 3500 or 4000 years ago, when He spoke to Abraham and Moses, the Kalam can prove to be True of Him today. It can show that a Personal Creator of the Universe, that transcends space and time, created the Universe today; but God declared this of Himself 3000+ years, when He spoke to King David, King Solomon, or Prophets and Patriarchs like Moses and Abraham. Just a "coincidence", I'm sure, and this answers the point of those who were claiming, even if Kalam shows God exists, it doesn't show the Abrahamic God. Well it certainly shows a Powerful Creator God, Who is Eternal, and thus comes quite close to showing the God of Abrahamic Monotheism. Of course, it is a cumulative case, and further arguments down the line, like fine tuning, the moral argument, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ etc show more details.
Let's review the Kalam argument and consider the responses:
1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause: any rejoinders? Not really. Some claim this premise hasn't been sufficiently established. But virtually every example we can think of satisfies it. Even the one or two claimed counter-examples we can think of don't really count as absolute "nothing", but at best are a kind of relative "nothing" or vacuum in a particular state. In brief, step 1 is at least 99% certain, validated based on practically countless examples, with only some half-hearted "counterexamples" offered up to escape the practically inevitable conclusion that God made us.
2. The Universe began to exist: Again, hardly defeatable. The fact that the Universe began to exist is (1) proven by its finite age (2) shown by the impossiblity of a series of temporal moments leading to an actual infinite. (3) proven by the fact that many Science textbooks freely speak of the Beginning of the Universe (4) is also a conclusion of the Borde Guth Villenkin Theorem. Wiki says, of this: "The Borde–Guth–Vilenkin theorem, or the BGV theorem, is a theorem in physical cosmology which deduces that any universe that has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past spacetime boundary." And since our Universe is one such Universe, it clearly follows that our Universe cannot be actually infinite in the past but has a spacetime boundary. See how easy it is, unless you really want to run from God?
3. But why run from God, Who came down from Heaven wanting to save you? God forgave everyone who couldn't reason to the Truth that there was a Creator of the Universe, and came down from Heaven Himself to make it easy for all to find the Way back to Him. But find it we must, and in time before our deaths, if we hope to go to Heaven one day, and rejoice there in that blessed Land of Paradise, with God's Angels&Saints. Amen.
As for God declaring Himself Eternal: I am saying, what God declared Himself to be nearly 3500 or 4000 years ago, when He spoke to Abraham and Moses, the Kalam can prove to be True of Him today. It can show that a Personal Creator of the Universe, that transcends space and time, created the Universe today; but God declared this of Himself 3000+ years, when He spoke to King David, King Solomon, or Prophets and Patriarchs like Moses and Abraham. Just a "coincidence", I'm sure, and this answers the point of those who were claiming, even if Kalam shows God exists, it doesn't show the Abrahamic God. Well it certainly shows a Powerful Creator God, Who is Eternal, and thus comes quite close to showing the God of Abrahamic Monotheism. Of course, it is a cumulative case, and further arguments down the line, like fine tuning, the moral argument, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ etc show more details.
Let's review the Kalam argument and consider the responses:
1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause: any rejoinders? Not really. Some claim this premise hasn't been sufficiently established. But virtually every example we can think of satisfies it. Even the one or two claimed counter-examples we can think of don't really count as absolute "nothing", but at best are a kind of relative "nothing" or vacuum in a particular state. In brief, step 1 is at least 99% certain, validated based on practically countless examples, with only some half-hearted "counterexamples" offered up to escape the practically inevitable conclusion that God made us.
2. The Universe began to exist: Again, hardly defeatable. The fact that the Universe began to exist is (1) proven by its finite age (2) shown by the impossiblity of a series of temporal moments leading to an actual infinite. (3) proven by the fact that many Science textbooks freely speak of the Beginning of the Universe (4) is also a conclusion of the Borde Guth Villenkin Theorem. Wiki says, of this: "The Borde–Guth–Vilenkin theorem, or the BGV theorem, is a theorem in physical cosmology which deduces that any universe that has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past spacetime boundary." And since our Universe is one such Universe, it clearly follows that our Universe cannot be actually infinite in the past but has a spacetime boundary. See how easy it is, unless you really want to run from God?
3. But why run from God, Who came down from Heaven wanting to save you? God forgave everyone who couldn't reason to the Truth that there was a Creator of the Universe, and came down from Heaven Himself to make it easy for all to find the Way back to Him. But find it we must, and in time before our deaths, if we hope to go to Heaven one day, and rejoice there in that blessed Land of Paradise, with God's Angels&Saints. Amen.
