Effects result from causes distinct from themselves.25 Since the effects in question include the beginning of the universe as a whole and the fine tuning of the whole universe from the beginning, the nature of the effects requires a cause beyond the universe—a transcendent cause. Since God, as conceived by both theists and deists, possesses this attribute (as well as intelligence), God could plausibly function as an explanation for the beginning of the material universe and the origin of its fine tuning.
