YouTube Description: On April 18th, 2012 William Lane Craig
and Klemens Kappel debated the topic "Does God Exist?" in Copenhagen,
Denmark. After the debate there was a lengthy question and answer period with
the audience. In this clip, the question arises: How does an unembodied mind
cause the universe to exist?
NOTES:
(0:00) How does a bodiless mind cause the universe to
exist? The events that God causes
in nature are similar to the events we cause in our bodies with our minds
called ‘basic actions.’ We will
with our minds to lift our arms, so we do.
(1:26) J.P. Moreland: ‘Consciousness and the Existence of
God.’ He’s a dualist—minds are
spritual/mental substances that possess causal control of bodies.
(1:41) To search for a physical connection between mind and
body is to reject the notion of a basic action.
(2:04) Doing this means rejecting free will, means we cannot
affect our bodies in any way, but our bodies can affect us.
How did God actually bring about the universe’s
existence? Craig said how God did
this is like a basic action in humans.
We want to lift our arms, and then we do so. Craig seems to suggest that there’s no in between, somehow
no corporeal linkage between cause and effect, at least regarding matters of
spirit and consciousness. How can
there be no actual linkage between cause and effect when, in our universe at
least, cause and effect seem to be so inextricably bound together?
If Craig is right, part of the answer regarding cause and
effect may lie in an examination of Zeno’s Paradox. The Paradox says that, in theory, any action you perform can
be broken down into an infinite series of sub-actions. But if true, you would never be able to
finish the action. In fact, you
could never start it. In fact,
nothing would even exist. Yet,
here we are. Not sure where I’m
going with this.
