Hi Limon,
You are absolutely correct in your logic when you note the parallelism between an infinite regression of material causes and an infinite progression of material effects. Both are equally absurd and both are an inadequate expression, not only of the universe which we know, but of the demand we feel inside ourselves to make sense of it. Just as looking backwards leads us to the conclusion of an uncaused cause, looking forwards leads us to envision a transcendent purpose.
This is in accordance with the dual nature of God as being both immanent and transcendent, as standing outside of existence and himself not subject to causality, yet Him being both the ground and the aim (the “alpha and omega”) of that existence.
But to repeat, we are not to conceive of either the first cause or the final purpose as being events within a temporal framework. God is eternal and his dual nature imparts both fundamental and ultimate characteristics to every moment of physical time.
In my first argument, I addressed the question of a first cause. This led to an understanding of God as being imminent. In theology, it is expressed using the symbols of Creation, Fall, and Omnipotence.
On the other hand, it is possible to make an equally valid argument regarding the nature of a final purpose to existence. It leads to an understanding of God as being transcendent. In theology, it is expressed using the symbols of Consummation, Judgment, Salvation, and Eschatology. With a little imagination, you can see how this argument is relatable to man’s moral existence, where as the first one is more relatable to his divine origins.
Eternity equally inhabits all moments of time, and therefore every moment contains a “final purpose” which concerns God infinitely and participates with him in the Divine Life. I’d like to quote you a passage which may serve to illustrate the mater graphically.
‘This drives us to the question as to whether we can imagine a diagram which in some way unites the qualities of “coming from,” “going ahead,” and “rising to.” I would suggest a curve which comes from above, moves down as well as ahead, reaches the deepest point which is the nunc existentiale, the “existential now,” and returns in an analogous way to that from which it came, going ahead as well as going up. This curve can be drawn in every moment of experienced time, and it can also be seen as the diagram for temporality as a whole. It implies the creation of the temporal, the beginning of time, and the return of the temporal to the eternal, the end of time. But the end of time is not conceived in terms of a definite moment either in the past or in the future. Beginning from and ending in the eternal are not matters of a determinable moment in physical time but rather a process going on in every moment, as does the divine creation. There is always creation and consummation, beginning and end.’
Paul Tillich
Systematic Theology, Vol. III
p. 420
I hope this helps. I would highly recommend reading Tillich’s Systematic Theology to anyone who is earnestly seeking answers to theological questions styled in modern philosophical terminology. It is a great book by one of the brightest religious thinkers of the twentieth century. It covers the arguments I’ve presented here plus a great deal more, and is well worth looking into.
Always,
-Matt
Jonetta