News > April 3, 2008

By Haowei Tong | Staff writer

Dr. William Lane Craig delivered a lecture titled "Why Does Anything At All Exist?" to a large audience on March 28 in Pugh Auditorium. The lecture was coordinated by the philosophy department.

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Dr. William Lane Craig, a research professor of philosophy at Biola University, delivered a speech concerning existence March 28. (Haowei Tong/Old Gold & Black)

Craig was raised in a non-religious family and declared himself an evangelical Christian at age 16.

He holds degrees from Wheaton College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, University of Birmingham and the University of Munich.

Craig is a New Testament scholar and has published several books.

He frequently engages in public and academic defenses of Christianity. Currently Craig is a Research Professor of Philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology of Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., where he has worked since 1994.

The topic of Craig’s address was Gottfried Leibniz’s principle of sufficient reason, also known as the Causal Doctrine.

Craig first summarized the three premises: first, for every entity x, if x exists, then there is a sufficient explanation for x’s existence.

Second, for ever event e, if e occurs, then there is a sufficient explanation for e’s occurrence.

Finally, for every proposition p, if p is true, then there is a sufficient explanation as to why p is true.

Craig applied these premises to the Christian tradition, supporting the existence and omnipotence of one God.

He also systematically described examples. Additionally, Craig provided counterattacks to atheist arguments. “Atheists have not been so bold as to deny premise two,” Craig said.

“If the universe exists, the explanation for its existence is God.”

Sophomore Paige Daniel found Craig’s perspective interesting.“I thought he made some broad arguments, but I agreed with the premises. It’s always interesting to hear the cosmological perspective on the Christian faith,” she said.

The question and answer session following Craig’s lecture was remarkably lengthy and heated.

A variety of students and adults posed questions, that reflected atheist, agnostic, Christian and other perspectives.

One student asked if the three premises supported multi-deism and Craig responded affirmatively.

Another expressed skepticism on the same issue, and Craig answered, “Yes, I, too, believe there is only one God.”

Craig asked the audience to imagine an encounter with a translucent ball in the middle of a forest.

“If you increase the size of the ball, the need for an explanation is not affected,” he said.

Several students challenged Craig on his example of the expanding translucent ball.

They also disputed his explanation of quarks, a generic type of physical particle forming matter.

“I really enjoyed the lecture; he strongly built the argument in preparation for criticism,” freshman Gary Porter said.

“When he got down to the details, like the quarks and black holes, it started to go over my head,” he said.

“Judging by the reaction of the physics graduate students and others, however, Craig knew the material well.”

While controversy was certainly sparked, most who attended agreed that Craig was knowledgeable and engaging.

Those students who had backgrounds in philosophy conveyed particular appreciation for the lecture.

“Craig’s knowledge in mathematics, biology, chemistry and cosmology strengthen his understanding of philosophical issues, namely his firm position on the dependence of the universe upon a necessary being,” senior Jon Wright said.

“I read his book, Reasonable Faith, and it had a huge impact on my understanding of philosophy and my Christian faith and their relationship. I really enjoyed hearing him speak.”