The problem of the creator of God is the controversy regarding the hypothetical cause responsible for the existence of God, assuming God exists. It contests the proposition that the universe cannot exist without a creator by asserting that the creator of the Universe must have the same restrictions. This, in turn, may lead to a problem of infinite regress wherein each new presumed creator of a creator is presumed to have its own creator. A common challenge to theistic propositions of a creator deity as a necessary first cause of the universe is the question: "Who created God?"The God Book, Michael Arnheim, 2015, p. 18. Some faith traditions have such an element as part of their doctrines. Jainism posits that the universe is eternal and has always existed. Isma'ilism rejects the idea of God as the first cause due to the doctrine of God's incomparability and source of existence, including abstract objects.Arzina R. Lalani Degrees of Excellence: A Fatimid Treatise on Leadership in Islam I.B.Tauris 2009 page 3
God as the "Unmoved Mover" In philosophy, the concept of an "unmoved mover" is traditionally attributed to the works of Aristotle, and was popularized in Christianity by Thomas Aquinas. The most famous use of the argument for an unmoved mover within Christianity comes from Aquinas' Summa Theologica, where he gives five ways to prove the existence of God. Aquinas does not reference God as a "creator" in his arguments, and none of their general structures resemble the problem of the creator of God. The arguments which may appear similar function by employing a reductio ad absurdum, which intends to show that it is impossible for there to not be an unmoved mover, first cause, or a "per se" necessary being.Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, q. 2, a. 3 As some philosophers and theologians have pointed out, Jews, Christians, and some Muslims have historically identified their God with the preexisting concept of the unmoved mover, believing that this entity is the God which revealed himself to them.Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2004 , p. 136. Given the similarities and differences between the problem of the creator of God and the treatment of God as an unmoved mover, it is possible that the one arises from a misunderstanding or a strawman of the other, especially in instances where special pleading occurs.
Perspectives Osho writes:
John Humphrys writes:
Alan Lurie writes:
Joseph Smith stated in the King Follett discourse:
Responses
Defenders of religion have countered that, by definition, God is the first cause, and thus that the question is improper:
Ray Comfort, author and evangelist, writes:
Tzvi Freeman, Canadaian rabbi, writes on the official Chabad website:
Atheists counter that there is no reason to assume the universe was created. The question becomes irrelevant if the universe is presumed to have circular time instead of linear time, undergoing an infinite series of big bangs and big crunches on its own.Paul Gabler, Slices of a Life, 2015, Ch. 30 .
John Lennox, professor of mathematics at Oxford, writes:John C. Lennox, God's Undertaker: Has science buried God?, 2009, p. 20. .
See also Creation ex materia Creator in Buddhism Demiurge Ex nihilo King Follett discourse Theotokos Turtles all the way down Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit "Why is there anything at all?"
References