Where is the bachelor's wife?

We have a young boy that has been coming over to our home recently wanting to hang out with my youngest son, Jacob. This young boy comes from a troubled background and is several years younger than Jacob. So it is kind of a chore for Jacob to hang out with him. But he does, honestly, because he feels pity for him.

One of the days he was over at our home, he asked me a question as we were outside shooting some hoops in the driveway. He asked me this (knowing that I am a pastor), "Who made God?"

That isn't a new question. So many young children have asked it. And honestly, it is one we need to be prepared to answer (1 Peter 3:15).

So who did make God?

The answer is no one did. He was not made. He has always existed. Only things that had a beginning - like the world need a maker. God had no beginning, so God did not need to be made.

For those of us a little older, a little more can be said. Traditionally, most atheists who deny the existence of God believe that the universe was not made; it was just "there" forever. They appeal to the first law of thermodynamics for support: "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed," they insist.

Well, if that is so, then that is not science...that's philosophy. Science is based on observation, and there is no observational evidence that can support the dogmatic "can" and "cannot" implicit in this statement. It should read, "{As far as we have observed,} the amount of actual energy in the universe remains constant."

That is, no one has observed any actual new energy either coming into existence or going out of existence. Once the first law is understood properly, it says nothing about the universe being eternal or having no beginning. As far as the first law is concerned, energy may or may not have been created. It simply asserts that if energy was created, then as far as we can tell, the actual amount of energy that was created has remained constant since.

If the universe is not eternal, it needs a cause. On the other hand, if it has no beginning, it does not need a cause of its beginning. Likewise, if a god exists who has no beginning, it is absurd to ask, "Who made God?" It is a category mistake to ask, "Who made the unmade?" or "Who created the Uncreated?"

It is the same as asking, "Where is the bachelor's wife?"

(For support on this, I consulted the works of Norman Geisler and Josh McDowell.)