The Universe Began to Exist? Craig’s Philosophical Arguments For A Finite Past

William Lane Craig offers two philosophical arguments for the conclusion that the universe began to exist. To be compelling, these arguments must not only be sound—we must also have reasons to believe that they are sound. I determine that these arguments do not provide such reasons to many individuals. The arguments ultimately rely on supposedly intuitively obvious absurdities. However, if one fails to see these ostensible absurdities—as many philosophers do—then for her, Craig’s arguments lack all epistemic force. 1. William Lane Craig, The Kalam Cosmological Argument (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1979): 63.