“And I might turn the question around. Who created God? If you say He has always been, then why not say the same about the Universe (or more properly, the multiverse)?” This argument, borrowed, I think, from Sagan, is nonsense. It’s reasonable enough to say if something has always been then it doesn’t require a cause or explanation (which would be the position of theists in relation to god, and the position Plait seems to encourage in relation to the universe.) But you can’t just “say” the universe has always existed - you would have to provide some strong evidence to support the contention. At present, however, all the evidence suggests the opposite - that the universe of time and space in which we exist in has not existed eternally in the past, but rather has a definite temporal boundary. So Plait’s argument is a bit of a dodge, and he makes it worse by appealing to the multiverse, a hypothetical entity for which we have no more evidence than we have for god’s existence.
