Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology

Fülszöveg

Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called 'the Big Bang'. But was this explosion created by God, or did it occur without cause? The question of whether Big Bang cosmology supports theism or atheism has long been a matter of discussion among the general public and in popular science books, but has received scant attention from philosophers. This book sets out to fill this gap by means of a sustained debate between two philosophers, William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith, who by turns defend opposing positions in alternating chapters. In Part I, Craig argues that the past is necessarily finite and that God created the universe, and Smith presents his criticisms of these arguments. Part II consists of Smith's arguments that Big Bang cosmology is inconsistent with theism and that the Big Bang has no cause, with Craig's criticisms of Smith's argument. Part III presents... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called 'the Big Bang'. But was this explosion created by God, or did it occur without cause? The question of whether Big Bang cosmology supports theism or atheism has long been a matter of discussion among the general public and in popular science books, but has received scant attention from philosophers. This book sets out to fill this gap by means of a sustained debate between two philosophers, William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith, who by turns defend opposing positions in alternating chapters. In Part I, Craig argues that the past is necessarily finite and that God created the universe, and Smith presents his criticisms of these arguments. Part II consists of Smith's arguments that Big Bang cosmology is inconsistent with theism and that the Big Bang has no cause, with Craig's criticisms of Smith's argument. Part III presents Craig's and Smith's different interpretations of Stephen Hawking's new quantum cosmology and of its bearing upon theism.
William Lane Craig is currently Visiting Fellow at the Higher Institute of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Louvain, and Quentin Smith is the Associate Professor of Philosophy at Western Michigan University.
Jacket illustration: The School of Athens (detail) by Raphael. Photo: Mansell Collection. Vissza