{"id":1564,"date":"2018-02-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument-2\/"},"modified":"2022-06-23T09:39:42","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T13:39:42","slug":"the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/","title":{"rendered":"Does God Exist? – The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is there something rather than nothing? This is the famous question of philosopher G.W.F. von Leibniz, whose cosmological argument took a slightly different approach than Aquinas\u2019s. Instead of arguing from cause itself, Leibniz argued there must be a sufficient reason for the existence of the universe.<\/p>\n

Leibniz bought into Aquinas\u2019 arguments regarding cause but saw that it did not address the\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0of the cause. Things that are caused and states of affairs do not just happen without reason. And in the same way that everything that is caused has a prior cause, Leibniz observed that everything that exists has a reason outside of and prior to its existence. And just as there can be no infinite chain of causes, there can be no infinite chain of reasons. Thus, the universe cannot provide a sufficient explanation for its own existence or state of affairs. The only sufficient reason must be found outside of the universe in a being whose existence is \u201cself-explanatory … (and) logically necessary.\u201d And this being is who we call God.<\/p>\n

This post is an excerpt from the\u00a0<\/em>Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics\u00a0by Doug Powell. It is used with permission. You can purchase this resource in its entirety\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more on this topic:<\/p>\n

Does God Exist? \u2013 The Cosmological Argument\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Does God Exist? \u2014The Kalam Cosmological Argument<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Does God Exist? – The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Does God Exist? – The Design Argument<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is there something rather than nothing? This is the famous question of philosopher G.W.F. von …<\/p>\n

Does God Exist? – The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2408,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[9,10],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-1564","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-apologetics","topics-god"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoes God Exist? - The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument - Apologetics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does God Exist? - The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why is there something rather than nothing? This is the famous question of philosopher G.W.F. von … Does God Exist? – The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument Read More »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Apologetics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-23T13:39:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/\",\"name\":\"Does God Exist? - The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument - Apologetics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-16T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-23T13:39:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Does God Exist? – The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/\",\"name\":\"Apologetics\",\"description\":\"Just another NAMB Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does God Exist? - The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument - Apologetics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does God Exist? - The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument","og_description":"Why is there something rather than nothing? This is the famous question of philosopher G.W.F. von … Does God Exist? – The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument Read More »","og_url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/","og_site_name":"Apologetics","article_modified_time":"2022-06-23T13:39:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/","name":"Does God Exist? - The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument - Apologetics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-16T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-23T13:39:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/greg-rakozy-oMpAz-DN-9I-unsplash.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/resource\/the-leibnizian-cosmological-argument\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does God Exist? – The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/","name":"Apologetics","description":"Just another NAMB Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/1564"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1564"},{"taxonomy":"channels","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/channels?post=1564"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=1564"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/apologetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=1564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}