Time had a beginning.

It has to be so.

If you missed it, last week I wrote NOTHING BECAME EVERYTHING PART I. You can see that HERE.

At some point, prior to creation, there was nothing. (Though this is where it gets confusing because prior to creation there was no such thing as "prior" at least not in a way of which we can make mathematical sense.) There was no time, no space, no matter. Then, suddenly, there was everything.

Don't get too worked up about "when" did this event happen. That's a debate for another day. The point is, it happened. Everything came out of nothing.

In future weeks I will talk about how time, space, and matter are co-relative. One cannot exist without the other. If we can show time had a beginning we can show matter had a beginning. If matter had a beginning, space had a beginning.

Today I'll focus on time.

The particular argument useful for this is one leg of the Kalaam Argument, associated with medieval Christian and Muslim scholars, but recently popularized by Christian philosopher William Lane Craig.

That leg of the argument goes something like this:

"The past couldn't be infinite because if it were, we would never reach today."

Think about it this way:

If the universe is one week old it would take 6 days + 1 day to arrive at today.

If a hundred years old: about 36,499 days + 1 day to arrive at the here and now (excluding leap years.)

If a million years old: 364,999,999 days + 1 day to arrive (again, no leap years.)

But, if the universe is infinitely old, it would take an infinite amount of days PLUS ONE DAY to arrive at today. Impossible. There is no such thing as an actual infinite.

Because we are experiencing "today", we know the universe had a beginning. Again, "the past couldn't be infinite because if it were, we would never reach today."

The Universe had a beginning and the Christian worldview maintains, "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth."

The Universe had a beginning.

In the coming weeks I will discuss several ways we can know this (Don't freak out. We'll get there.) But I am going to jump ahead a bit to the question:

"What caused it?"

Obviously, as Christians, we believe the cause of the Universe was God, but is there anything in science that backs this up?

As you'll see in the next few weeks, the Universe sprang forth, in a flash, from nothing. Zilch. Zero.

When I say nothing, I don't mean empty space - there was no space.

As Geisler and Turek quote in I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, Aristotle defined "nothing" like this: "Nothing is what rocks dream about."

Modern mathematics and astronomy describe an original state of material nothingness - no time, no space, no matter. And from that nothingness came everything.

So how?

How did the universe instantly spring into being from nothing? What was the cause?

There are only two alternatives. Only two "things" can exist outside of time, space, and matter. They are:

- An abstract concept. An abstract concept would be like the number seven, or "architecture." Both of these can be described as "things" but they are conceptual in nature.

- An unembodied mind. An unembodied mind is just that - a mind, or intellect, without a body.

Because we know in the beginning there was no time, space, or matter, we know one of these two "things" had to be the cause of the universe.

But, only one of these is a candidate. Abstract concepts cause nothing. They are, by definition conceptual and non-causal. They can describe, but they cannot explain. "Seven" never caused anything. (Well, except when seven ate nine, but that's a lame joke I'm gonna avoid.)

The only candidate for the cause of the universe is precisely what theists have been saying all along - a mind without a body - a spirit.

So, if we can show the Universe sprang from nothing, we can also argue the cause had to be a spirit, which lines up perfectly with Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God ...."

Showing that nothing became everything will be our focus for the next few weeks.

Stay tuned.




(Thanks to Dr. William Lane Craig for describing this argument.)

How would your life be different if you had total control of every thought?

Think about it. (Heh!)

No more worries, no more discouragment, and no more unnecessary anger.

And, it would change your behavior too.

If you thought, properly, before you spoke, wouldn't you treat people better?

If you thought accurately about self-destructive behavior, wouldn't you change that behavior?

If you thought correctly about God, wouldn't you worship Him more passionately?

The way we think is important and the Bible instructs us, in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

We are supposed to control our thinking.

It is possible you know. If it wasn't, God wouldn't ask us to do it.

But how do we accomplish such a near-impossible task?

There's several answers and the most important is reliance on God and surrender to His Spirit. When we let Him lead, our thoughts fall in line.

Another is a consistent immersion in His Word. When our mind is transformed (Rom 12:2) our thoughts change.

And while you work on those two areas, here's another tip that will help.

Use the word, "but."

The correct use of this little word can change your life forever.

Here's what I mean:

When you find yourself thinking something you know you shouldn't, immediately cut yourself off and throw out the word "but." Then finish the sentence.

Some examples:

"My boss is a jerk ... BUT ... maybe he has pressures at home I can't relate to."

"That girl is, just, wow ... BUT ... she's not an object. She's God's daughter."

"I am sick of this cold ... BUT ... God is a healer and it is leaving me."

Do you see how, with a negative thought, the word "but" will take over and send you in the right direction?

Christianity and negativity are incompatible. Start using the word "but" today and see if it doesn't change your thoughts.