Here is the argument:
Hers is my refutation1 Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2 The universe began to exist.
3 Therefore, the universe has a cause.
4 This cause is the God of Classical Theism, and is a personal being, because He chose to create the universe.
Yes, like for example how a table begins to exist. The carpenter who gets a piece of wood and shapes it into a table causes the table to begin existing.1 Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
ok. Lets allow that for the sake of argument although I have some reservations.2 The universe began to exist.
Yes. Like a table has a cause. Something or someone (which we can call God) took pre-existing material (like the carpenter took a piece of wood) and shaped it into the universe.3 Therefore, the universe has a cause.
I see no logical link between 3 and 4 and this seems like a faith statement to me. But whatever.4 This cause is the God of Classical Theism, and is a personal being, because He chose to create the universe.
I have a a question:
The carpenter who causes the table to exist does so by shaping material that already exists. This seems to apply to everything that ever begins to exist. Sperms and eggs existed before a baby begins to exist. Sodium and Chlorine exist before Sodium Chloride begins to exist. Huge clouds of gas exist before a star begins to exist. Etc.
To claim, without solid empirical evidence, that the universe is the one exception to the universal rule that something needs to already exist in order for something else to begin existing (aka First Law of Thermodynamics) is a monumental case of fallacy by Special Pleading.
Therefore it's perfectly reasonable to assume that "God" caused the universe to come into existence by acting upon some material object that already existed, and shaping it into the universe, much like a carpenter acts upon a piece of wood that already existed, and shapes it into a table.
So here is the question: Where did the stuff that God shaped into the universe come from?
Bonus question: If everything that begins to exist has a cause, what caused God to begin to exist?
Bonus question 2: If your answer to my first bonus questions is something along the lines of "It's possible for God to exist without having began to exist", then you're saying that it's possible for some things to exist without having began to exist. If that is the case, on what basis do you exclude that the universe exists without having began to exist, thus nullifying premise 2 of Kalam's argument?