It's pretty easy to prove that God didn't create the universe, given just a couple of very uncontroversial postulates and the definitions of the words "universe" and "God" as most people understand them.
- Define the causal closure of a point in space-time X to be X plus the causal closure of any points that could influence X or be influenced by it.
Define the universe (which we'll also call the "L-universe") as the causal closure of planet Earth as it is today. (If you dislike the use of "planet Earth" or "as it is today" in this proof, you can substitute it for some other subset of the universe that is alleged to be created by God.) - Postulate that if A created B then A influenced B. This is a pretty trivial postulate - creation of something is obviously a kind of influence over that thing.
- Postulate that creators cannot create themselves. This is also pretty trivial - the concept of creation of an X implies that there is a time before the X exists and a time after which X exists. The creator of X must exist in both of these times, but the creation can only exist in the latter.
Suppose that the universe was created by God.
- This implies that planet Earth was created by God (planet Earth is part of the universe).
- This implies that God influenced planet Earth (creation is a sort of influence).
- This implies that God is in the causal closure of planet Earth (definition of causal closure).
- This implies that God is part of the universe (definition of universe).
- This implies that God could not have created the universe (creators are not part of their creations).
- Which is a contradiction. Therefore, the universe did not have a creator.
This is a formalization of the common "If God created the universe, who created God?" argument but sidesteps the possibility of a creatorless God or a God created by another God by including all such Gods in the larger L-universe.
This suggests that to believe in God, one must have a different definition of "universe" (call it "S-universe") which is a subset of the "L-universe". This brings us to the real value of this proof - any argument for the existence of God that doesn't distinguish between the L-universe and the S-universe must be invalid, because to be true it would have to apply to the S-universe (for which there can be a God) but not to the L-universe (for which we have already seen that there isn't). Some examples of such arguments:
- We don't know how the universe was created, so let's just define God to be whatever created the universe.
- The universe seems well suited to our needs.
- Anything of sufficient complexity must have had an intelligent creator.
WHO CREATED GOD?
Earlier it was impossible for us to give any satisfactory answer to this question. But modern science, rather we should say that Einstein, has made it an easy task for us. And Stephen Hawking has provided us with the clue necessary for solving this riddle. Actually scientists in their infinite wisdom have already kept the ground well-prepared for us believers so that one day we can give a most plausible and logically sound answer to this age-old question. Let us first see how Hawking has helped us by providing the necessary clue. In his book “A Brief History of Time” (Chapter: The origin and fate of the universe) he informs us that there are 1080 particles in the region of the observable universe. Then he raised the question regarding the origin of these particles, and gave the answer himself. According to quantum theory particles can be created out of energy in the form of particle/antiparticle pairs. But there the question does not stop. Another question props up regarding the origin of that energy. But when it is said that total energy of the universe is exactly zero, then all is said and done. So this is the clue: if we can somehow arrive at zero, then no further question will be raised, and there will be no infinite regression. What I intend to do here is something similar to that. I want to show that our God is a bunch of several zeroes, and that therefore no further question need be raised about His origin. And here comes Einstein with his special theory of relativity for giving us the necessary empirical support to our project.
God is a Being. Therefore God will have existence as well as essence. So I will have to show that both from the point of view of existence as well as from the point of view of essence God is zero. It is almost a common saying that God is spaceless, timeless, changeless, immortal, and all-pervading. Here we are getting three zeroes; space is zero, time is zero, change is zero. But how to prove that if there is a God, then that God will be spaceless, timeless, and changeless? From special theory of relativity we come to know that for light both distance and time become unreal. For light even an infinite distance is infinitely contracted to zero. The volume of an infinite universe full of light only will be simply zero due to this property of light. A universe with zero volume is a spaceless universe. Again at the speed of light time totally stops. So a universe full of light only is a spaceless, timeless universe. But these are the properties of light only! How do we come to know that God is also having the same properties of light so that God can also be spaceless, timeless? Scientists have shown that if there is a God, then that God can only be light, and nothing else, and that therefore He will have all the properties of light. Here is the proof.
Scientists have shown that total energy of the universe is always zero. If total energy is zero, then total mass will also be zero due to energy-mass equivalence. Now if there is a God, then scientists have calculated the total energy and mass of the universe by taking that God into consideration. In other words, if there is a God, then this total energy-mass calculation by the scientists is God-inclusive, not God-exclusive. This is due to two reasons. First of all, even if there is a God, they are not aware of the fact that there is a God. Secondly, they do not believe that there is a God. So, if there is a God, then they have not been able to keep that God aside before making this calculation, because they do not know that there is a God. They cannot say that they have kept Him aside and then made this calculation, because by saying so they will admit that there is a God. They cannot say that the behind-the-picture God has always remained behind the picture, and that He has in no way come into the picture when they have made this calculation, because by saying so they will again admit that there is a God. At most they can say that there is no God. But we are not going to accept that statement as the final verdict on God-issue, because we are disputing that statement. So the matter of the fact is this: if God is really there, then total mass and total energy of the universe including that God are both zero. Therefore mass and energy of God will also be zero. God is without any mass, without any energy. And Einstein has already shown that anything having zero rest-mass will have the speed of light. In other words, it will be some sort of light. So, if God is there, then God will also be light, and therefore He will be spaceless, timeless. So from the point of view of existence God is zero, because he is spaceless, timeless, without any mass, without any energy.
Now we will have to show that from the point of view of essence also God is zero. If there is only one being in the universe, and if there is no second being other than that being, then that being cannot have any such property as love, hate, cruelty, compassion, benevolence, etc. Let us say that God is cruel. Now to whom can He be cruel if there is no other being other than God Himself? So, if God is cruel, then is He cruel to Himself? Therefore if we say that God is all-loving, merciful, benevolent, etc., then we are also admitting that God is not alone, that there is another being co-eternal with God to whom He can show His love, benevolence, goodness, mercy, compassion, etc. If we say that God is all-loving, then we are also saying that this “all” is co-eternal with God. Thus we are admitting that God has not created the universe at all, and that therefore we need not have to revere Him, for the simple reason that He is not our creator!
It is usually said that God is good. But Bertrand Russell has shown that God cannot be good for the simple reason that if God is good, then there is a standard of goodness which is independent of God’s will. (Book: A History of Western Philosophy, Ch: Plato’s Utopia). Therefore, if God is the ultimate Being, then that God cannot be good. But neither can He be evil. God is beyond good and evil. Like Hindu’s Brahma, a real God can only be nirguna, nirupadhik; without any name, without any quality. From the point of view of essence also, a real God is a zero. Mystics usually say that their God is a no-thing. This is the real God, not the God of the scriptures.
So, why should there be any need of creation here, if God is existentially, as well as essentially, zero?
But if there is someone who is intelligent and clever enough, then he will not stop raising question here. He will point out to another infinite regression. If God is light, then He will no doubt be spaceless, timeless, etc. Therefore one infinite regression is thus stopped. But what about the second regression? How, and from whom, does light get its own peculiar properties by means of which we have successfully stopped the first regression? So, here is another infinite regression. But we need not have to worry much about this regression, because this problem has already been solved. A whole thing, by virtue of its being the whole thing, will have all the properties of spacelessness, timelessness, changelessness, deathlessness. It need not have to depend on any other external source for getting these properties. Thus no further infinite regression will be there.
That's a big wall of text with many wrong statements that I could pick apart, and no mention of which of the premises of my "proof" you actually disagree with. I don't have all day to spend arguing with you, so I'll just point out one (extremely major) flaw in your reasoning: you say that God is timeless/changeless. That implies that God could not be the creator of the universe, since an act of creation implies that there is time before and a time after. Creating a universe is a change in something, so can't be done by something changeless.