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Reading Questions #2:  Cosmological Arguments
Philosophy of Religion
Dr. McCormick
 

Choose the (one) best answer for each of these questions:
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Reading Questions #2:  Cosmological Arguments
Philosophy of Religion
 

1.  The first step in Craig's Kalam cosmological argument is,

A.  The universe has a cause.

B.  The universe could not have been created ex nihilo.

C.  The universe began to exist.

D.  Whatever begins to exist has a cause.  
 

2. An actual infinite is:

A.  is a set that contains an infinite number of objects.

B.  impossible because the universe is finite.

C.  absurd because the mathematician Hillbert rejected their existence.

D.  a set that contains a number of objects that can be added to indefinitely to become infinite.

3. A potential infinite is:

A.  impossible because we know that the universe is infinite. 

B.  absurd because a hotel with an infinite number of rooms and an infinite number of guests could not add one more guest.

C.  a set with a discrete number of things in it that could be added to progressively forever. 

D.  possible because there are potentially infinite sets all around us.

4.  Craig's first argument for the claim that the universe began to exist  can best be summarized as,

A.  An actually infinite number of things can exist, therefore, the universe must have had an origination.
B.  A collection formed by adding one member after another cannot be actually infinite.
C.  Actual infinities are impossible, so it is impossible that the series of events in the universe actually recedes into the past infinitely.
D.  Hilbert's Hotel shows that actual infinities like the universe are counter-intuitive.

5.  In Hilbert's Hotel it is possible to:

A.  Shift an infinite number of people currently occupying rooms to make room for one new guest.
B.  Shift an infinite number of people to the even numbered rooms to make room for an infinite number of new guests in the odd numbered rooms.
C.  Shift one person currently occupying a room to make room for an infinite number of new guests.
D.  A and B.
E.  A, B, and C.
F.  None of the above.

6.  Craig's second supporting argument for the conclusion that the universe had a beginning is best summarized as: 

A.  An actually infinite set of things can never accumulate, so the universe cannot actually be infinite.
B.  There can never be enough time to form a potentially infinite set of things.
C.  Given an infinite amount of time, the most that can be accomplished is to form a potentially infinite set, so the universe cannot be actually infinite.
D.  Actually infinite sets can be formed, but potentially infinite sets cannot.  

7.  Which of these is accurate concerning the possibility that the past contains an infinite series of events?

A.  Morriston believes it is possible, Craig believes it is impossible.

B.  Morriston believes it is impossible, Craig believes it is possible. 

C.  Both Morriston and Craig believe it is possible. 

D.  Neither Morriston, nor Craig believe it is possible.

8.  In his "SECOND PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENT AGAINST THE INFINITE PAST" Morriston's view about the claim, "A collection formed by adding one member after another cannot be actually infinite" is best summarized as,

A.  in a set with a discrete beginning, no matter how many things we add, there will never be an infinite number completed.  But that need not be true of a set that does not have a distinct, temporal beginning. 

B.  In sets with no distinct temporal beginning, no matter how many things you add to them, there will never be an infinite number.

C.  Only sets with distinct temporal beginnings and endings have finite members, all others are infinite. 

D.  Sets with beginnings can actually be infinite, sets without beginnings can be infinite.

9.  Craig argues that the universe must have personal cause.  What's the best way to summarize Morriston's criticism of the personal aspect?

A.  we don't have independent grounds, besides the existence of the universe, to infer anything else about what sort of cause the universe had.

B.  an eternal, personal God wouldn't refrain from creating his universe, so it would be as eternal as he is (not finite.)

C.  If the universe had a finite beginning, then its creator would have to have a finite beginning too. 

D.  the universe and God are both infinite.

10.  What's Morriston's view about the Big Bang and the possibility that the universe was created ex nihilo?

A. we know that the Big Bang created the universe and that it came from nothing.  But we don't know that God did it.

B. we know that the Big Bang caused the universe from an infinitely dense point of matter, which is the same as from nothing.   

C.  even if God created the universe with the Big Bang, we don't know enough to judge whether it was from nothing or not.

D.  we know that the universe came from the Big Bang, not from God or nothing.