Why do some Christians say atheists believe that the universe came from nothing?

There are three options, the way I see it: 1 - The universe came from nothing, by nothing, and for nothing. 2 - The universe came from something else. 3 - The universe has always existed.

Option 1 is illogical. Out of nothing, nothing comes. Option 3 is mathematically impossible (because we cannot have an actual infinite number of past moments.) That leaves only option 2, and thus the universe must have come from something else.

Some people say that the universe came from a multi-verse, or (the new theory that no one takes seriously but gets a lot of press) two "branes" that collide occasionally. The problem is, we must explain where the multi-verse or the branes come from . See the three options above.

All we've done is push back the question of origins, as they 1 - can't come about spontaneously, from nothing, and 3 - they cannot have always existed. You cannot escape the logical certainty that the universe must have an "unmoved mover" that acts without causality to bring about the universe. There is no other option.

Stephen Hawking, in his latest book "The Grand Design" (promoted heavily here on Yahoo! Answers via the Discovery Channel show "Curiosity") attempted to circumvent this logic, saying that given gravity, the universe will form. The problem is, "given gravity."

Where does gravity come from? It must come from one of three places (this should look familiar by now): 1 - Gravity came from nothing by nothing, and for nothing. 2 - Gravity came from something else.

3 - Gravity has always existed. The ultimate conclusion -- that something must have acted of its own accord to form the universe -- is inescapable. I'm convinced that the Big Bang (or the cosmic singularity) is the mechanism, but the cause is you-know-who.

----- Your updated question is absolutely correct. Time (or anything else) can CONTINUE infinitely in one direction. It will ALWAYS be finite, however.

(To illustrate this, let's make a number line, starting at 0. Go as far right as you like for an infinite amount of time, and you'll still have a finite amount of numbers on the line. No matter how far you go, you'll always have a beginning point.).

Per Mr. Sagan's ghost: "...a lack of basic understanding of the subjects of cosmology and atheism, coupled with a propensity for religious fanaticism." I would ask Mr. Sagan's ghost how much basic understanding he and most other critic's have on the subjects of theology, Jewish and Greek history, comparative religion along with a strong understanding of biblical content? Your criticism may be correct, however without credibility such arguments are weak at best.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.