Sometimes you know how worthwhile something is because of how much it is hated by some people. And the famous Kalam Cosmological Argument is such a thing.

The argument, affectionately known as the “Kalam” by some, has been promoted by popular apologist (guy arguing in debates that God exists) Dr. William Lane Craig, and it is simple but powerful. It has inspired passionate resistance among atheists—even whole documentaries devoted to trying to explain it away—all of which always falls short. (Concerning the categories of proof and evidence in our booklet The Real God: Proofs and Promises, it seems to fit in the “Creation Demands a Creator” category.)

The argument says, essentially, that everything that begins to exist at some point has to have a cause behind it, and, since the universe began to exist at some point in the past, the universe, therefore, has to have a cause. Pretty normal stuff. Yet, the cause of the universe can’t be some “ordinary” thing—the cause has to exist beyond space, beyond time, and matter, and beyond energy, since all of those things are part of the universe. In fact, the more you explore what that cause must be, the more you find yourself exploring attributes of God.

While apologetics (reasoned arguments in favor of something—in this case, in favor of God’s existence) are not everyone’s cup of tea, being able to defend why you think God exists is increasingly important. If those sorts of discussions are interesting to you, then the video below might be of interest, as well.