James P. Moreland thinks that we can give a strong argument for the existence of God. His argument is something like Aquinas's "first cause" argument, and even more like the medieval Islamic "kalam" argument.Moreland argues, using premises from philosophy and physics, that the world had a beginning in time. Did this beginning have a cause? Surely it did; it would be absurd to think that the world just came into existence for no reason. Was this cause a personal being? Surely it was; the only other alternative, that it was material, is excluded -- since no matter existed prior to the beginning of the world. Thus we conclude that the world had its origin in a personal being, who is God.
This exercise deals with a reading from Moreland in our anthology (pages 196-209 of Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (second edition), edited by Peterson, Hasker, Reichenbach, and Basinger). These computerized exercise materials are copyrighted (c) 2002 by Harry J. Gensler; but they may be distributed freely.