By definition, an effect has a cause or is caused by something, while a cause produces an effect; there can be no uncaused effects or causes that don't have effects. There can be uncaused causes, but not uncaused effects; nothing can cause itself! This is not being guilty of worshiping at the shrine of Aristotle, but apologetics is linked to logic and teleology, as a result, known as the cosmological proof of God.
"Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of all things," (cf. Heb. 3:4).
The law of causality (of causal links), also known as the law of cause and effect is the second law of knowledge after the law of noncontradiction. With these two laws predicated, all knowledge becomes possible. Without them, no knowledge is possible. As Augustine said, "I believe in order to understand," so also all knowledge begins in faith (is contingent), assuming something you cannot prove, even in the sciences--both applied and pure--belief causes understanding! The law of causality states simply that for every effect there's a cause; it doesn't state that everything has a cause--that would lead to absurdity and nothingness or infinite regress--and logicians argue for the impossibility of crossing infinity. You must begin somewhere, with some presupposition you cannot prove.
Secularists have faith in science as the ultimate source of truth and bet the farm on this fact--which precludes philosophy or religion as sources of enlightenment. In the final analysis of causality, nothing can be its own cause! Then it would be both a cause and an effect simultaneously or violate the law of noncontradiction. Aristotle saw God as the unmoved mover or uncaused cause. Going back to the beginning of all time, there has to be a First Cause or primary mover of the cosmos. This being, we call the necessary being. Everything is contingent by definition except God! Because if everything is dependent then nothing is necessary in itself.
God, as theologians see it, is the Causa Prima or the First Cause and primary mover of all. He got the ball rolling and fired the big bang, even programming it with some 50 universal constants, including the weak and strong nuclear forces, the force of gravity, the charge of the electron, the atomic weight of the proton, the speed of light, and the freezing point of water, and so forth, which are all constants throughout the cosmos.
Truth, according to the correspondence theory of truth, is that which corresponds with reality! Reality is not an infinite series of efficacious, finite causes, but a limited chain of effects tracing their root to God Himself. Everything in the universe (the time-space continuum) has a beginning; for everything that begins to exist is an effect and has a cause. The Big Bang (it didn't just happen out of the blue!) and the universe began to exist and, therefore, it has a cause--I venture to posit that God is that cause. Nothing just happens by itself!
When you say that Z was caused by Y and Y by X ... you realize infinite regress is impossible that the chain of events isn't eternal and must end somewhere (you run out of letters). This type of evidence for God is called cosmological the law of cause and effect), for Heb. 3:4 says that everything is built by someone, but God is the builder of all, being the First Cause, or origin of all things--"In the beginning God...." God had no beginning and is eternal, therefore has no cause! I posit that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning for Scripture declares that time itself began (Titus 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:9). God is the uncaused being, which doesn't violate any principle of logic or reason.
We must learn to think teleologically, or that everything has a purpose--it is only natural for children to wonder "why" because they naturally think along these lines. This type of proof of God is known as teleological, or that design, art, beauty, order, harmony, and purpose exist naturally in nature. God, being eternal, doesn't change and is therefore not an effect or has no cause. And it is important to note that where we start determines where we will end up; we must begin with God to come to any logical conclusion and not contradict ourselves or commit intellectual suicide.
All in all, there is ample, practical reason to understand the interrelationship of cause and effect: ideas have consequences and to troubleshoot problems we need to understand this relationship. We assign ultimate causation to God: In the beginning God! Finding the "culprit" is the aim, whether mundane or spiritual, whenever we encounter dilemmas or issues. Ultimately, God is the cause of all and works all things to His glory (cf. Eph. 1:11). As Wycliffe's tenet says, "All things come to pass of necessity." In sum, nothing just happens by itself and it's only natural to wonder why things happen as they do. Soli Deo Gloria!
The law of causality (of causal links), also known as the law of cause and effect is the second law of knowledge after the law of noncontradiction. With these two laws predicated, all knowledge becomes possible. Without them, no knowledge is possible. As Augustine said, "I believe in order to understand," so also all knowledge begins in faith (is contingent), assuming something you cannot prove, even in the sciences--both applied and pure--belief causes understanding! The law of causality states simply that for every effect there's a cause; it doesn't state that everything has a cause--that would lead to absurdity and nothingness or infinite regress--and logicians argue for the impossibility of crossing infinity. You must begin somewhere, with some presupposition you cannot prove.
Secularists have faith in science as the ultimate source of truth and bet the farm on this fact--which precludes philosophy or religion as sources of enlightenment. In the final analysis of causality, nothing can be its own cause! Then it would be both a cause and an effect simultaneously or violate the law of noncontradiction. Aristotle saw God as the unmoved mover or uncaused cause. Going back to the beginning of all time, there has to be a First Cause or primary mover of the cosmos. This being, we call the necessary being. Everything is contingent by definition except God! Because if everything is dependent then nothing is necessary in itself.
God, as theologians see it, is the Causa Prima or the First Cause and primary mover of all. He got the ball rolling and fired the big bang, even programming it with some 50 universal constants, including the weak and strong nuclear forces, the force of gravity, the charge of the electron, the atomic weight of the proton, the speed of light, and the freezing point of water, and so forth, which are all constants throughout the cosmos.
Truth, according to the correspondence theory of truth, is that which corresponds with reality! Reality is not an infinite series of efficacious, finite causes, but a limited chain of effects tracing their root to God Himself. Everything in the universe (the time-space continuum) has a beginning; for everything that begins to exist is an effect and has a cause. The Big Bang (it didn't just happen out of the blue!) and the universe began to exist and, therefore, it has a cause--I venture to posit that God is that cause. Nothing just happens by itself!
When you say that Z was caused by Y and Y by X ... you realize infinite regress is impossible that the chain of events isn't eternal and must end somewhere (you run out of letters). This type of evidence for God is called cosmological the law of cause and effect), for Heb. 3:4 says that everything is built by someone, but God is the builder of all, being the First Cause, or origin of all things--"In the beginning God...." God had no beginning and is eternal, therefore has no cause! I posit that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning for Scripture declares that time itself began (Titus 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:9). God is the uncaused being, which doesn't violate any principle of logic or reason.
We must learn to think teleologically, or that everything has a purpose--it is only natural for children to wonder "why" because they naturally think along these lines. This type of proof of God is known as teleological, or that design, art, beauty, order, harmony, and purpose exist naturally in nature. God, being eternal, doesn't change and is therefore not an effect or has no cause. And it is important to note that where we start determines where we will end up; we must begin with God to come to any logical conclusion and not contradict ourselves or commit intellectual suicide.
All in all, there is ample, practical reason to understand the interrelationship of cause and effect: ideas have consequences and to troubleshoot problems we need to understand this relationship. We assign ultimate causation to God: In the beginning God! Finding the "culprit" is the aim, whether mundane or spiritual, whenever we encounter dilemmas or issues. Ultimately, God is the cause of all and works all things to His glory (cf. Eph. 1:11). As Wycliffe's tenet says, "All things come to pass of necessity." In sum, nothing just happens by itself and it's only natural to wonder why things happen as they do. Soli Deo Gloria!