[Lucky Dog]

The cosmological argument could be stated as follows:

Every finite and contingent being has a cause.
Nothing finite and contingent can cause itself.
A causal chain cannot be of infinite length.
Therefore, a First Cause (or something that is not an effect) must exist.


According to the argument, the existence of the Universe requires an explanation, and the creation of the Universe by a First Cause, generally assumed to be God, is that explanation.

In light of the Big Bang theory, a stylized version of this argument has emerged (sometimes called the Kalam cosmological argument, the following form of which was set forth by William Lane Craig):

Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
The Universe began to exist.
Therefore, the Universe had a cause.

[MHGinTN]

Craigs syllogism is by far the tighter of the ways to express this notion. As a Christian apologist, W. Lane Craig is astonishing to listen to.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Aristotle's “Metaphysics”