Creationism

[Belacqua]

Maybe somebody should type out what the first cause argument actually says.

Here is a thumbnail version of the Aristotelian/Thomist version (not Kalam).

First, the word "cause" is misleading. It isn't used in the way we use it in conversational English. It is the translation of the Greek αἰτία, which might better be said as "explanation."

The various αἰτία of something are all the things that must be the case in order for that thing to be the case. So you ask yourself, what has to be in order that I can be? The answer will include your parents, but also things like the food you eat, and the sunlight that makes the food possible. All those things which had to be the case so that you can exist are your causes.

There is a chain of αἰτία which is essential, not temporal. That is, we're not talking about one event or action in history which started the ball rolling. We're talking about things that may exist simultaneously, but are necessary for the existence of other things. (You can continue to exist even if your parents die, but if the First Cause disappeared, you would disappear too.)

So for example, for the sun to exist you have to have hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen atoms are among the αἰτία of the sun. If the sun blew up, the hydrogen atoms would still exist. But if all the hydrogen atoms disappeared, so would the sun. Thus the atoms are an αἰτία of the sun.

Then you follow the chain. What is necessary for the hydrogen atoms to exist? Among other things, subatomic particles. What is necessary for these to exist? Time and space. What is necessary for time and space to exist? When you get to the end of the chain, this is the First Cause.

It's common to say therefore that the First Cause is existence itself. For anything else to exist, you must have existence. Existence is therefore the end of the essential chain of αἰτία. This is why it is common to say that God is the Ground of Being, or just Being itself.

This should make it clear that nothing about salvation or the Trinity or any other detail of a religion is included in the first cause argument. To show that the First Cause is the Ground of Being, but is also intelligent, good, etc., requires further argument.