A Rational Cosmology: The Universe Cannot Be Created

In "What the Universe is and is Not," I defined the universe as "everything that exists," a convenient shorthand for every entity that is.

If it is true that the universe is "everything that exists," and it could be created, then, whatever entity could create the universe, would be outside that universe. It follows, then, that such an entity would be outside "everything that exists." An entity "outside" existence does not exist! A non-existent entity cannot do anything. Creation is an action that an entity must perform; it cannot be performed if the entity that would perform it does not exist!

It is instructive to note that this principle automatically refutes both the theory that "God created the universe," as will be shown here, and that "the Big Bang created the universe," as will be shown subsequently.

Even if it were possible that all currently known entities were intelligently designed, they could not have been designed by a being that is somehow "beyond existence."

Rather, this being would need to be a delimited entity in its own right, with its own peculiar attributes (qualities) and capacities for action (relationships with other entities). Let the reader recall that everything which is or happens must in some manner involve some entity or entities. There are no such things as "pure" qualities, "pure" relationships, or "pure" creation, apart from the entities that exhibit, relate, and create.

Any Creator of other entities would thus need to exist and be a part of the universe, and it would need to relate to other entities in some manner, as a human creator relates to the entity, "brick," when he constructs the new entity, "building". The Creator would not be able to create the universe, the latter being a contradiction in terms.

But, in most variants of the monotheistic religions, God is not defined as an entity. As a matter of fact, God is defined precisely as a non-entity, something which does not only lack any set qualities, but which cannot possibly be understood or perceived by anyone anywhere in the universe.

God clearly fails the third corollary of identity, which states that any entity must have some relationship to everything else that exists. God also fails the first and second tests, as it is not defined what qualities God has; if God created the universe, He cannot have any qualities whatsoever, because the universe encompasses every entity that exists and thus every entity that can have qualities.

There exist numerous other arguments to refute the existence of God and the contention that "God created the universe," and it is not the purpose of this treatise to delve into them here. Suffice it to say that there has been presented one of many logical refutations to theistic cosmology.

Read other parts of "A Rational Cosmology" by clicking here.