system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How can God not have a cause?

Many religions argue that God does not have a cause, but if that’s the case, then why can’t the same be said for the universe? Why does the universe need a cause?
gpt
Probably the reason differs between theologians/philosophers, and certainly there is nothing stopping a person from in principle claiming that God *does* have a cause or that the universe does *not* have a cause. But one reason why philosophers have argued that God does not have a cause whereas the universe does have one is that causes are not appealed to or cited in order to explain something's *existence* but only its coming-to-be. This is what Plato says at the start of the *Timaeus*, for instance. Specifically, Plato applies what we now think of as the principle of sufficient reason -- or at least some early prototype of it -- in order to show that God exists. But for Plato, God isn't the sort of thing that needs a cause; we identify causes to explain how something has come into existence. We don't identify causes in order to explain that something *exists*. God exists but never *came* into existence; therefore, God doesn't need a cause.