So, you get involved in a conversation with a friend or perhaps someone at your son or daughter's soccer game. They ask you how you know that there is a God or, "What proof do you have that God exists?", are you prepared to give answers? An answer other than, "Oh, because the Bible says so!" Tonight--how to be intellectually prepared to defend and argue (to be an apologist) the TRUTH and fact of the Gospel and that God indeed does exist! We've got to work everyone! Study, research and be willing to be bold for Christ. Ryan Pauly joins us, Founder and President of Think-Well.ORG.

Real LIfe SH 346 Ryan Pauly THINK - WELL.ORG How Do We Know God Exists PT 1

"Conceptual analysis of what it is to be a cause of the universe enables us to recover a number of striking properties which this ultramundane cause must possess and which are of theological significance." - William Lane Craig

In part 1 on the Kalam, I discussed the scientific evidence in support of premise 2 with James Sinclair. Today's show will begin with a quick look at the philosophical arguments for premise 2, and then will focus on how Christians arrive at God based on the Kalam Cosmological argument. Here's the argument:

1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.
4. If the universe has a cause, then an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, who sans the universe is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless, and enormously powerful.

From (3) and (4), it follows that:

5. Therefore, an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, who sans the universe is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless, and enormously powerful.

Come join the conversation and bring your questions!

Content Discussed:
0:00 Intro
4:09 Upcoming shows
7:15 The argument from the impossibility of an actual infinite
15:26 The impossibility of the formation of an actual infinite by successive addition
21:21 Whatever begins to exist has a cause
30:25 Live Question: What did God do before he did the first thing?
31:19 Live Question: Infinite regress is something you have been through.
33:00 Live Question: Must all things have a cause?
34:15 The theological implications of the Kalam Cosmological argument
47:18 Live Question: There's no logical reason why you can't have an infinite regress
49:51 Caller: Abstract objects, a personal God, God and time, defining supernatural, and if we can choose our thoughts
1:18:05 Caller: Is an infinite regress possible?

The Universe Had a Beginning... So What? Apologetics Study Part 3

Training Christians to THINK WELL by curating conversations with Christian thinkers and giving a framework for engaging the culture with a biblical worldview.

Ryan Pauly has been working with students for over a decade as a high school teacher, missionary, and apologist. He is the Founder and President of Think Well, an organization focused on training Christians to engage the culture with a biblical worldview, and the Director of Immersive Experiences at MAVEN. Ryan holds a B.A. in theology and youth leadership from Vanguard University, an M.A. in Christian apologetics from Biola University, and is pursuing a doctorate in cultural engagement from Talbot School of Theology. Ryan lives in Southern California with his wife and two sons. He enjoys watching hockey, roasting coffee, and playing with his boys.

The Universe Had a Beginning... So What? Apologetics Study Part 3

Think Well

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