Who Started it All? Science, God, and the Problem of Origins
The relationship between science and religion often feels like a battlefield. Words like war, conflict, and enemies get thrown around to describe how the two supposedly clash. While that framing is overstated, it does reflect a real tension—especially when conversations turn to deep questions about origins, causes, and existence itself.
Still, science and religion don’t have to be sworn enemies. In fact, they often ask similar questions from different angles. Few topics show this overlap more clearly than causality, God’s self‑existence, and the idea of self‑creation. Can something exist without a cause? Is God truly self‑existent? And is it even possible for something to create itself?
Let’s explore these questions step by step.
What Do We Really Mean When We Say “Everything Has a Cause”?
You’ve probably heard the phrase “everything has a cause.” At first glance, it seems obvious. Things don’t just pop into existence for no reason—right? But when you look more closely, the statement turns out to be a little sloppy. Strictly speaking, causes and effects go together. An effect, by definition, is something caused by something else. So while it’s true that every effect has a cause, it doesn’t logically follow that everything that exists must be caused.
That distinction matters.
If absolutely everything had an earlier cause behind it, then we’d be stuck with an endless chain of causes, stretching backward forever. And that’s a problem. An infinite chain of causes can’t actually get started. At some point, there has to be something that doesn’t depend on anything else to exist. The late R.C. Sproul put it simply: if God required a cause, then God wouldn’t really be God. He’d just be another dependent thing in the chain.
So maybe the real question isn’t “What caused everything?” but “What—if anything—doesn’t need to be caused at all?”
Enter Aseity: The Idea of a Self‑Existent God
Christian theology has long answered that question with the concept of aseity—the belief that God exists a se, or “from himself.” In other words, God doesn’t borrow existence from anyone or anything else. He simply is. This isn’t a claim that God created himself (that would be a contradiction, as we’ll see later). Rather, it’s the claim that God was never created at all. He has life in himself. No beginning. No dependency. No external explanation required.
Biblically speaking, this idea appears clearly in John 5:26, where Jesus says that the Father has life in himself. Philosophically, it means God is a necessary being, not a contingent one.
Everything else—matter, energy, space, time, and even the universe itself—is dependent. God alone is not.
Why This Makes Some People Uncomfortable
Interestingly, many scientists and philosophers agree that something must be self‑existent. The real disagreement isn’t over whether such a thing exists, but what it is. Some are willing to accept an uncaused reality but hesitate when that reality is identified as the God of the Bible. They’d rather place that role on the universe itself, or on some unknown physical principle. But there’s a problem with that position.
The universe doesn’t act like something that has existence in itself. It changes. It decays. It expands. It depends on conditions. In short, it behaves like a contingent thing—something that could have been otherwise, or not existed at all. So we’re left with a choice: either a self‑existent universe that doesn’t behave like one, or a self‑existent God who does.
The Cosmological Argument in Plain Language
This brings us to the cosmological argument, one of the oldest arguments for God’s existence. Stripped of philosophical jargon, it goes something like this:
Everything in the universe depends on something else to exist
The universe as a whole is no exception
Therefore, the universe depends on something beyond itself
That “something” is what we call God
Critics often respond with a familiar question: “If God created the universe, who created God?” The answer is simple: no one. God isn’t part of the chain of created things. He’s the reason there is a chain at all.
Why Self‑Creation Doesn’t Work
At this point, it’s worth clearing up a common confusion. Some talk about God—or even the universe—as being “self‑created.” That phrase sounds clever, but it doesn’t make sense.
For something to create itself, it would have to exist before it exists. It would have to be both something and nothing at the same time, in the same way. That’s a contradiction, not a mystery.
Nothing can create itself—not atoms, not energy, not the universe, and not God.
God isn’t self‑created; he is self‑existent. There’s a difference. Created things depend on something else for their existence. God does not. That’s what makes him the First Cause, rather than just another link in the chain.
So Where Does This Leave Us?
When we think carefully about causality, we’re pushed toward a profound conclusion. If anything exists at all, then something must exist that doesn’t depend on anything else.
That something cannot be the universe, and it cannot be a contradiction like self‑creation. It must be uncaused, underived, eternal, and independent.
In short, causality makes the most sense when grounded in a self‑existent God. Far from being at odds with reason, this idea may be reason’s deepest foundation.
Still, science and religion don’t have to be sworn enemies. In fact, they often ask similar questions from different angles. Few topics show this overlap more clearly than causality, God’s self‑existence, and the idea of self‑creation. Can something exist without a cause? Is God truly self‑existent? And is it even possible for something to create itself?
Let’s explore these questions step by step.
What Do We Really Mean When We Say “Everything Has a Cause”?
You’ve probably heard the phrase “everything has a cause.” At first glance, it seems obvious. Things don’t just pop into existence for no reason—right? But when you look more closely, the statement turns out to be a little sloppy. Strictly speaking, causes and effects go together. An effect, by definition, is something caused by something else. So while it’s true that every effect has a cause, it doesn’t logically follow that everything that exists must be caused.
That distinction matters.
If absolutely everything had an earlier cause behind it, then we’d be stuck with an endless chain of causes, stretching backward forever. And that’s a problem. An infinite chain of causes can’t actually get started. At some point, there has to be something that doesn’t depend on anything else to exist. The late R.C. Sproul put it simply: if God required a cause, then God wouldn’t really be God. He’d just be another dependent thing in the chain.
So maybe the real question isn’t “What caused everything?” but “What—if anything—doesn’t need to be caused at all?”
Enter Aseity: The Idea of a Self‑Existent God
Christian theology has long answered that question with the concept of aseity—the belief that God exists a se, or “from himself.” In other words, God doesn’t borrow existence from anyone or anything else. He simply is. This isn’t a claim that God created himself (that would be a contradiction, as we’ll see later). Rather, it’s the claim that God was never created at all. He has life in himself. No beginning. No dependency. No external explanation required.
Biblically speaking, this idea appears clearly in John 5:26, where Jesus says that the Father has life in himself. Philosophically, it means God is a necessary being, not a contingent one.
Everything else—matter, energy, space, time, and even the universe itself—is dependent. God alone is not.
Why This Makes Some People Uncomfortable
Interestingly, many scientists and philosophers agree that something must be self‑existent. The real disagreement isn’t over whether such a thing exists, but what it is. Some are willing to accept an uncaused reality but hesitate when that reality is identified as the God of the Bible. They’d rather place that role on the universe itself, or on some unknown physical principle. But there’s a problem with that position.
The universe doesn’t act like something that has existence in itself. It changes. It decays. It expands. It depends on conditions. In short, it behaves like a contingent thing—something that could have been otherwise, or not existed at all. So we’re left with a choice: either a self‑existent universe that doesn’t behave like one, or a self‑existent God who does.
The Cosmological Argument in Plain Language
This brings us to the cosmological argument, one of the oldest arguments for God’s existence. Stripped of philosophical jargon, it goes something like this:
Everything in the universe depends on something else to exist
The universe as a whole is no exception
Therefore, the universe depends on something beyond itself
That “something” is what we call God
Critics often respond with a familiar question: “If God created the universe, who created God?” The answer is simple: no one. God isn’t part of the chain of created things. He’s the reason there is a chain at all.
Why Self‑Creation Doesn’t Work
At this point, it’s worth clearing up a common confusion. Some talk about God—or even the universe—as being “self‑created.” That phrase sounds clever, but it doesn’t make sense.
For something to create itself, it would have to exist before it exists. It would have to be both something and nothing at the same time, in the same way. That’s a contradiction, not a mystery.
Nothing can create itself—not atoms, not energy, not the universe, and not God.
God isn’t self‑created; he is self‑existent. There’s a difference. Created things depend on something else for their existence. God does not. That’s what makes him the First Cause, rather than just another link in the chain.
So Where Does This Leave Us?
When we think carefully about causality, we’re pushed toward a profound conclusion. If anything exists at all, then something must exist that doesn’t depend on anything else.
That something cannot be the universe, and it cannot be a contradiction like self‑creation. It must be uncaused, underived, eternal, and independent.
In short, causality makes the most sense when grounded in a self‑existent God. Far from being at odds with reason, this idea may be reason’s deepest foundation.
Rev. Mike Hernández serves as the senior pastor of Crossroads Presbyterian Church. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando and is a member of the National Association of Scholars. He has written for The Gospel Coalition and writes regularly for Gospel-Centered Discipleship. You can find him on Facebook here.
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