Editing Cosmological argument (section)

===Timeless origin of the universe===

In the topic of [[cosmogony|cosmic origins]] and the standard model of [[cosmology]], the [[initial singularity]] of the [[Big Bang]] is postulated to be the point at which [[space]] and [[time]], as well as all [[matter]] and [[energy]], came into existence.<ref name="sciam">{{cite magazine |last1=Gott III |first1=J. Richard |author1-link=J. Richard Gott |last2=Gunn |first2=James E. |author2-link=James Gunn (astronomer) |last3=Schramm |first3=David N. |author3-link=David Schramm (astrophysicist) |last4=Tinsley |first4=Beatrice M. |author4-link=Beatrice Tinsley |title=Will the Universe Expand Forever? |magazine=[[Scientific American]] |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24950306 |jstor=24950306 |access-date=December 10, 2023 |page=65 |date=March 1976}}</ref> [[J. Richard Gott]] and [[James Gunn (astronomer)|James E. Gunn]] assert that the question of "What was there before the Universe?" makes no sense and that the concept of ''before'' becomes meaningless when considering a timeless state. They add that questioning what occurred before the Big Bang is akin to questioning what is north of the [[North Pole]].<ref name="sciam"/>

Craig refers to [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s postulate that a cause can be simultaneous with its effect, denoting that this is true of the moment of creation when time itself came into being.<ref>{{cite web |title=Creation and Simultaneous Causation |url=https://www.reasonablefaith.org/question-answer/P650/creation-and-simultaneous-causation |last1=Craig |first1=William Lane |website=Reasonable Faith}}</ref> He affirms that the history of 20th century cosmology belies the proposition that researchers have no strong intuition to pursue a causal explanation of the origin of time and the universe.<ref name=CraigPC /> Accordingly, physicists have sought to examine the causal origins of the Big Bang by  conjecturing such scenarios as the collision of [[Membrane (M-Theory)|membrane]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Britt |first=Robert R. |title=Brane-Storm {{pipe}} Challenges Part of Big Bang Theory |publisher=Space.com |date=April 18, 2001 |access-date=June 21, 2008 |url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/bigbang_alternative_010413-3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511144628/http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/bigbang_alternative_010413-3.html |archive-date=11 May 2008 }}</ref> Feser also notes that versions of the cosmological argument presented by classical philosophers do not require a commitment to the Big Bang, or even to a cosmic origin.<ref>{{cite book |first=Edward |last=Feser |author-link=Edward Feser |title=The Last Superstition |publisher=St. Augustine Press |year=2008 |page=103|isbn=978-1587314520 }}</ref>