Why Think the Cause of the Universe Is Personal?

I give three reasons for thinking that the first cause reached by the kalam cosmological argument is personal. Very briefly summarized:

Number one would be that it's the only way to explain an effect with a beginning in time from a permanent timeless cause. If that cause has existed permanently and is truly sufficient for its effect then the effect should exist permanently as well. The only way to have a cause that is timeless and permanent and yet for the effect to begin to exist just a few billion years ago is if that cause is a personal agent endowed with freedom of the will who can therefore make a choice or execute an action without any prior determining condition, something that is altogether spontaneous and new.

The second reason would be that the cause of the origin of the universe must be an immaterial object that transcends time and space. The only things that we know of that could possibly fill that bill would be either an abstract object (like a number – mathematical objects are immaterial and typically transcend time and space) or else an unembodied mind or consciousness. But here's the rub – abstract objects are causally effete. By definition, what makes them abstract is that they have no causal effects, and therefore the cause of the universe cannot be an abstract object. I think that makes it very plausible that the origin of the universe is a personal cause.

Finally, the third reason would be that causal explanations are of two types. One would be a scientific explanation in terms of initial conditions and natural laws. The other would be a personal explanation in terms of an agent and his volitions. When you think about it, an absolutely first physical state of the universe cannot have a scientific explanation because there are no prior initial conditions from which one could extrapolate the first physical state by the laws of nature. Therefore, it follows that the only category of causal explanation that would apply would be a personal explanation. There is a personal agent who, by his free will, brings the universe into being.

So all three of those arguments coalesce, I think, beautifully to make it I think very probable that the cause of the universe is a personal creator endowed with freedom of the will.