On the Trilemma of the First Cause

 

On the Trilemma of the First Cause

 

 

The Trilemma of the First Cause is the following three sentences, which all seem to make sense, but they cannot all be true:

 

There is a cause of all causes.

         Every cause has a cause.

         There are no causal loops.

 

Any two of these can be true. 1&2 can both be true if two first causes cause each other; 2&3 can be true if causation reaches back to infinity and no cause is first; 3&1 can be true if the first cause is uncaused. But 1&2 imply paradox, 2&3 imply infinity, and 3&1 imply chaos; all three of which defy intuition.

 

The problem is one of mathematical logic, not theology or cosmology; therefore it has no solution in theology or in cosmology. So far, my research suggests that the solution is to accept the trilemma for what it is. If any two parts are true, then the third is false.

 

My personal preference is to reject #3. So there are causal loops, and the first cause is part of a causal loop. I speculate further that the causal loop goes all the way from first cause, through all causes and effects, all causing the final effect, which then causes the first cause.

 

And, building upon this speculation, I speculate (very dubiously!) that if, in the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth, then, in the end, Heaven and Earth will create God.