Last week, we stepped out onto the back porch with the Bible skeptic Michael and looked up at the moon, stars and planets. From this common ground, we asked ourselves, “Did the universe have a beginning, or has it always been here?” The answer, of course, is the first step of a far-reaching journey attempting to answer the question, “Is God dead?” After asking this initial question last week, we summarized our thoughts by making the following claim: 1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause 2. The universe began to exist 3. Therefore, the universe had a cause We then concluded that the first claim is straightforward, and almost no one disagrees; everything that begins to exist has a cause. But the second claim, “The universe began to exist,” we said, is set at the heart of the argument because how a person answers this claim points either to a creator or points away from one. For these reasons, there is much to be said about the second claim here this week.

To claim that the universe began to exist is, essentially, to claim that it has not been here since eternity past. That is exactly what Christians claim: that the universe began to exist the moment God created it. But how can the Christian make such a bold claim, especially without using the Genesis creation account? After all, remember the Bible skeptic Michael does not believe in the Bible. If we stand on shared common ground with Michael, we will have to find some other way to defend the claim that the universe began to exist. How about mathematics? Math can undoubtedly serve as common ground that the Christian and the Michaels of the word can agree upon.

In mathematical terms, suppose I said there is no such thing as an actual infinite set. Sounds a bit complicated, but it really is not. In math class, remember, they taught us that a set of numbers looks like this (-2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3). They call this a closed set because it is an actual set of numbers and it has a beginning and an ending. Now, if we think about an infinite set, we could write it; (... -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3). This would be an infinite set going back to negative infinity. But it is not an actual infinite set because it goes on forever to the left. And, since it is not a closed actual set, we should not use the first bracket to “close” the set, but it should read ... -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3). This is a potential infinite set but not an actual infinite set. One could always add one more negative number to the end of it.

Now, suppose that the potential infinite set is a set of days instead of numbers, and suppose we said it was a set of days from eternity past to today. We could write it this way; ... Oct.16, Oct. 17, Oct. 18, Oct. 19). But here is the interesting part: If the universe has always existed, and if Michael and I stood on a timeline on Oct. 19, and we began to walk backward through all the days going back into eternity past, we would never get to the beginning of the timeline. That is because if the universe has been here forever, then an infinite number of days have passed. But here is the amazing part: if Michael and I cannot walk an infinite timeline backward to a beginning, and if we were to turn around and begin to walk on that timeline from eternity past toward today, we can never get here because there would be an infinite number of days to walk across to get to today. The fact that we are here, all of us, today, means that somewhere in time past, there was a first day. This is an indisputable fact, and it seems to me Michael must agree. Time cannot go back for eternity any more than it can come forward from eternity to today; it had a beginning somewhere in history past. Classical philosophy calls it “the impossibility of an infinite temporal regress.” In Oklahoma, we just say, “You can’t get there from here!”

But that is not all there is to know about the cosmos that can help us determine if the universe had a beginning. In fact, it turns out that in the early twentieth century, Albert Einstein and a man named Hubble suspected something peculiar was happening in the universe that no one could see. Einstein suggested that based on his mathematical equations related to his theory of General Relativity, the universe was indeed expanding. A few years later, Hubble came to the same conclusion. What an incredible theory that all the planets, moons and stars were moving further and further away from each other. But what does that mean? How does an expanding universe help us determine if the universe had a beginning? More importantly, what do Einstein and Hubble have to do with answering the ques- tion, “Is God dead?” Please join us again next week as we continue to stand on the back porch with the Bible skeptic Michael and listen to What the Stars Say about whether or not God is dead.

Gloria in excelsis Deo! --- Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika Church of Christ and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at dr.kerley@ isGoddead.com.