I’ve already shared how the Cosmological and Teleological arguments affected my thinking as an atheist, but they weren’t enough on their own to convince me there’s a God. God knew that and had more strong arguments to come. One of them is known as the Law of Causality.
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event (the cause) and a second event (the effect), where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first.
The law of causality states that every material effect must have an adequate antecedent cause.
If every material effect has an adequate antecedent cause, and if the Universe is a material effect, then the Universe had a cause.
As it was explained to me the Law of Causality is a fundamental principle of science. Science is a search for causes. That’s what scientists do; they search for causes. In the Science of Physics this search for causes is known as Causality – describing the relationship between cause and effect. We see this law all around us – gravity, for instance. Gravity is a force that attracts objects toward the earth. Gravity is the cause — force and weight are effects of the cause. If I jump out of a tree and there is nothing between the tree limb and the ground, we all know what will happen. I will hit the ground at a force determined by mathematics and physics. If I am standing on the ground and step onto a scale, gravity will act upon my body in such a way as to reflect a certain weight on the scale. If I am standing on the moon, the gravitational force on the earth has little effect on me. Instead, the gravitational force on the moon will determine my weight — which will be substantially less.
The Law of Causality is also a fundamental principle of journalism. When something happens, whether good or bad, journalists ask several basic questions which are based on the law of cause and effect: who, what, where, when, why and how. Journalists ask those questions because that process leads to answers to fundamental questions of interest. Who shot the sheriff? Who died in the fire? Who won the spelling bee? Who did people elect to be our next mayor?
The Law of Causality – relationship between an event (cause) and a second event (the effect), where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first.
We know someone shot the sheriff because the sheriff was shot.
We know someone died in a fire because there was a fire, a body was found in the fire, and the medical examiner determined that the fire was the cause of death.
We know someone won the spelling bee because a spelling bee was held and there was a winner.
We know someone will be our next mayor because an election for mayor was held, voters cast their ballots, and one of the candidates won the election.
Simple, but profound. Most of us know things happened because something “caused” them to happen. It’s logical. It makes sense. That’s the Law of Causality.
The Law of Causality – “For every house is built by someone.” When I drive through a neighborhood and see house after house after house in row after row after row on street after street after street, I know that somebody built those houses. I don’t wonder how those houses got there. It’s not a mystery to me. I know someone built them because they were built.
The theists who I interviewed during my investigation explained their position this way —
The Law of Causality – “but He who built all things is God.” When we look at the earth and the sea and the sky and the moon and the sun and the stars, we know that someone built them. We don’t wonder how the earth and sea and sky and moon and sun and stars got there. We know Someone built them because they were built. We believe that Someone is the Creator God. The Apostle Paul said it so well — “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) Paul made a statement of logical cause and effect. Another way I’ve seen it explained is —
Since the Universe exhibits design, it must have had a Designer
Since it exhibits intelligence, the Designer must have been intelligent
Since it exhibits life, the Designer must have been living
Since it exhibits morality, the Designer must have been moral
But, atheists will argue, what does the Law of Causality have to do with proving the existence of God? Go back to the first step in the Cosmological Argument - “First, whatever begins to exist has a cause.” Atheists will use the Law of Causality to argue that God cannot exist because He would have to have a cause. But read it again – “every material effect must have an adequate antecedent cause.” Two things, as explained to me by theists —
God does not need a cause because He did not have a beginning.
God does not have to have an adequate antecedent cause because He is not material. The existence of God cannot be explained away by any true law of science because God established all scientific laws. And because God established all scientific laws when He “built all things,” He will be found in those laws by those who do not suppress the truth of those laws.
Next Time
I’d like to revisit Thermodynamics in the next part of From Atheist to Theist.
How Do I Subscribe To A ‘Section’ On Substack?
If you're a new subscriber to a publication on Substack, you'll receive all sections by default.
If you're already a subscriber and the writer has created a new section or sections, you'll need to subscribe to them in order to receive a new email newsletter or see a post in your app Inbox.