...laid out within this post? Theists have claimed all along that the universe was created. Atheists claimed for the longest time the universe was eternal and only recently have started to accept it is finite and has a beginning.

The question is: is there a God? Let's look at some facts, because we exist there must be something that existed to cause our existence. You cannot get something from nothing. Something must be causing things to come into existence: despite our not being able to detect what it is. If a cheeseburger appeared on your desk you would not say, "thank the cosmos for evolution", you would say someone created it and put it on my desk. You don't except that something can appear from nothing, in practicality, and just because science hasn't figured out what created the universe doesn't mean that something can come from nothing. There must be an eternal first cause, something that has always existed, or we will be eternally asking the question: what created that finite existence; and so we must ask that question: as we know that something cannot come from nothing. The question is, "what is that eternal entity"?

What we can know is that the eternal is not linear in existence, that means that it cannot have the concept of time: as time is measured by all finite existences beginnings. Next we can know that the eternal cannot change, as change only occurs by imposing forces upon other objects and if there were such imposing forces, we must then ask: where did they come from? in order for 2 things to coexist: there must be a larger spherical universe for them to exist in and therefore it would be made up of things that could self destruct and therefore would eventually destroy itself and not be eternal. The idea behind the eternal is that it just is, it is not created, nor can it change: but rather it just exists as it is; this is a hard concept for us to accept because it defies everything that existences in the finite. All finite existences must be in the present, with the infinite, or the eternal would not exist as it is: but it would rather be constantly changing; and seeing the eternal must just exist as it is, in order for it to have the characteristic of of being eternal, change is an impossible characteristic of it.

In order to understand the eternal you need to stop trying to relate to it as finite, as it is not: it is infinite and you must think in infinite terms.

While you reject the ideology of a Creator: on what grounds do you do so? Because you can't see it? But you must know that something cannot come from nothing: so what is creating matter? And once you have some kind of answer that satisfies that question, you must then ask what created the creator of matter and eventually you must come to accept that the eternal is eternal and has always been and seeing that the eternal must exist in an unseen dimension, you will have to accept its existence by faith/persuasion, just as you accept the existence of the wind without seeing it: but rather by only seeing the effects of its existence.

As time is finite and man and the universe also finite, it is not possible for the finite to see, nor understand, the eternal in all its existence and thus you are destined to continue in eternally questioning the existence of the infinite, or you must accept that you have an eternal "Creator", although this word is not really proper in explaining Him, but it is one that we relate to: in our finite relationships. What it does say is that we have the ability to create and are intelligent and personal and so is the Creator. You cannot prove the absolute existence of the universe, you can only prove the absoluteness of your existence and as dreams fool the consciousness into thinking that they are real, so also only death and the next conscious experience will prove that your reality is in the experiences that you know as real. If the universe is not eternal, then it would seem logical that we cannot relate to the infinite by our experiences to finite relationships, we must come to understand the qualities of the infinite in order to understand the eternal: it has been through this process that men have come to understand that the universe was created and looked for answers that to prove it our through science.

I hope this is helpful to you in your journey here in this body: which you perceive this universe through.
Dear Actual Answer VDP, yes it is true that in infinite terms, or that is to say from the infinites perspective, the finite is present, but from the finites perspective: our existence is relative to our experience.

How were we created: I don't think is as important as the fact that we exist.
Dear logicallyreasonable, follow the argument through and you must come to an eternal first cause that has no preexisting cause and is self existing. This is where you and others fail to relate to the eternal; but then again, you don't what to understand the eternal, just refute the fact that the eternal can be personal, as you want to live your life with no conscious convictions of the concept that your actions may be corrupt and accountable to a higher being of existence: this is really the truth of your beliefs.