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HOW WE KNOW THAT THE COSMOS WAS CREATED, AND WHAT THE NATURE OF THAT CREATION WAS
(This has been derived from Plato’s Timaeus 28a – 30c.)
Thread:
(This has been derived from Plato’s Timaeus 28a – 30c.)
Thread:
Everything that comes to be must of necessity come to be by the agency of some cause, for it is impossible for anything to come to be without a cause. The universe must have come to be, as it is a material thing, and all things of this kind are in flux and in a state of becoming.
Necessarily, then, the universe came to be by the agency of some cause.
Furthermore, this cause, if it were merely another material cause, must then itself have some cause, and so on. This cannot go on forever. Thus, the cause of the universe must be immaterial.
Furthermore, this cause, if it were merely another material cause, must then itself have some cause, and so on. This cannot go on forever. Thus, the cause of the universe must be immaterial.
If something is created, it is created based on some sort of model. In contrast to the ever-changing, ever-becoming material world, there are those things which are changeless and which always are, and these things are intelligible and are grasped by the mind.
Now, if these changeless, intelligible things are used as models to produce something else, that product will tend to have beauty. On the other hand, if the ever-changing is used as a model to produce something, the product will tend to lack beauty.
And we can see that, not only is our universe beautiful, but in fact it is the most beautiful of all things that have come to be. So, it seems likely that our universe was modeled on the changeless realm of the intelligible.
And if our universe was modeled on the changeless intelligibles, that immaterial cause of our universe perceived these changeless intelligibles and was thus a Craftsman.
Why did the Craftsman create the universe?
Why did the Craftsman create the universe?
Likely, it is because he is good; and since he is good, and therefore free from jealousy, he desired that all things become good like he himself is. And so, the Craftsman saw that order is far better than disorder, and he gave order to the cosmos.
Furthermore, as he perceived that, on the whole, that which has intelligence is superior to that which does not, and since intelligence can only be found with soul, divine providence brought our world into being as a truly living thing, endowed with soul and intelligence.
