Second-order divine attributes
From these first-order divine attributes, we can further deduce second-order divine attributes:
- that He cannot depend on material causes, because, as the uncaused cause of the material universe, He existed before material creation
- that He must be unimaginably powerful to create the universe, because the “big bang” happened without a material cause and the power required to create the universe cannot therefore be imagined by material creatures, like you and I
- that He cannot be immanent or exist in the material universe, because, as the uncaused sole cause of the material universe, He is immaterial, and to be immanent would require Him to be material
- that He must know everything, for example, what will happen before it happens, because He created and transcends time, and, for example, the laws of energy, matter and space, because He created and transcends all of them
- that He must be personal with a will
God is personal
God is personal for the following reasons:
A personal explanation is the only causal explanation
There cannot be a scientific explanation for the creation of the universe out of nothing, because a scientific explanation requires the presence of something: of constants and initial conditions on which scientific laws can act.
Since the universe was created out of nothing, there are no constants and initial conditions on which scientific laws can act and therefore there is no scientific explanation for the creation of the universe out of nothing.
Therefore, the only explanation for the creation of the universe is a personal one.
Only an independent person can produce a finite effect
An eternal cause should produce an eternal effect, and yet the universe was created 13-14 billion years ago, a finite time ago. Since the Cause of the universe created time, it is eternal.
Yet, the only way this finite effect of creation could be produced would be if the Cause either began to exist or changed its state before the creation of the universe.
If the Cause began to exist, it would not be eternal. It would not be the First Uncaused Cause and therefore could not be the creator of the universe.
A Cause can change its state by itself or change its state due to an external Cause. A Cause which changes its state due to an external Cause cannot be the First Uncaused Cause. Therefore, the First Uncaused Cause can only be one that can change its own state.
The only thing that can change its own state is a person with an independent will.
Therefore, the only explanation for the creation of the universe 13-14 billion years ago is an immaterial, eternal and transcendent person with a Will which is independent of all causes, material and immaterial. This person chose to create the universe 13-14 billion years ago.
[1] Inflationary spacetimes are not past-complete, Cornell University Library, http://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/0110012v2.pdf, 14 January 2003
[2] Did the universe have a beginning? Cornell University Library, http://arxiv.org/pdf/1204.4658v1.pdf, 20 April 2012
[3] Surah At-Tur Chapter 52 Verses 35-36