It’s the question every child—and every skeptical atheist—eventually asks: "If God created the universe, then who created God?"

On the surface, it seems like a logical checkmate. But this question, often posed by thinkers like Lawrence Krauss, is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the theistic argument. The real argument isn't that "everything has a cause," but something much more precise.

The Flawed Premise: "Everything Has a Cause"

Christians and other theists do not argue that everything must have a cause. If that were true, then God would need a cause, and we'd be stuck in an endless, illogical chain of creators.

The actual premise of the classic Cosmological Argument is:

1. Everything that has a beginning has a cause.
2. The universe has a beginning.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.

The words in bold make all the difference. The argument only applies to things that come into existence. The universe, as scientific evidence like the Big Bang and the Second Law of Thermodynamics indicates, began to exist. Therefore, it requires a cause.

God is the Uncaused Cause

By definition, the Creator of the universe is not part of the universe. He is the uncaused, first cause. The Bible describes God as a necessary, self-existent being who exists outside of time. He did not begin to exist; He simply is.

As Isaiah 57:15 describes Him, He is the one "who inhabits eternity." Since time itself was created along with the universe, God is not limited by it. He has no beginning and therefore requires no cause.

Krauss's Contradiction

Ironically, Lawrence Krauss wishes to grant these very properties to nature itself. He speculates about an eternal multiverse or eternal physical laws to avoid a beginning. But this doesn't solve the problem; it just moves it. One must still ask, "Why is there an eternal multiverse rather than nothing?"

The question "Who created God?" is therefore based on a category error. It mistakenly applies the logic of contingent, finite things that begin to exist to the transcendent, uncreated, necessary Being who does not.

The universe, with its undeniable beginning, points to a cause that is itself uncaused. The only way to avoid this conclusion is to claim that something can come from nothing—a claim that, as we've seen, relies on redefining the word "nothing" into something it is not.