When God is postulated as the cause of all causes, as asserted in the Bhagavad-gita (10.08), some people object to it by postulating an infinite chain of causality — if one thing were caused by another and another ad infinitum, we wouldn’t need God at all.
Anyone can come up with any theory, but theories need to be based on sound evidence and sound reason. Given that our evidence-gathering faculties and facilities both are finite, we are unlikely to get any evidence of an infinite causal chain. What, then, can we reasonably infer from the evidence that we do have?
First, based on convergent lines of evidence such as the cosmic background radiation, mainstream science is near unanimous in acknowledging that the universe has a beginning. In fact, this inference was initially, vehemently resisted by many atheists because they feared it would support the idea of God as the starting point. When the inference of cosmic beginning became near inevitable, they came up with various theories like parallel universes to try to dodge the inference of God as the cosmic beginner.
Though the idea of an infinite chain of causality doesn’t have many takers, some people postulate it by subtly redefining infinite to mean no knowable starting point, not no starting point ever. But such redefinition, however it is presented, is actually a reduction of the infinite to the finite, by a disingenuous terminology.
Another way infinite causality is postulated is by making it cyclic, as do some atheistic theories that are purported to be scientific. But even those theories still require some starting condition beyond the ambit of the theory, as postulated by Godel’s incompleteness theorem. That would mean even if there were infinite cycles of big bangs and big crunches, there would still be room and need for a transcendent reality outside the cycle — and that is what the Gita teaches.
One-sentence summary:
The chain of causality is not itself infinite; rather, it points to the infinite.
Think it over:
- What’s the problem with the idea of an infinite chain of causation?
- What’s the problem with a cyclic and infinite chain of causation?
- How does the chain of causality point to the infinite?
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10.08: I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.
To know more about this verse, please click on the image
Casualties do not follow chain reaction