In article , says...
1) Assume that our senses and minds are reasonably reliable - that the science
we know today is more-or-less correct but subject to improvement.
More succinctly: We can know thing about our Universe.


Actually, science often confounds our senses. Do your senses tell you that your body is
almost all empty space? And my senses would never have come up with Schrodinger's (sp?)
cat :-). But I'll agree that our intelligence, such as it is, does allow us to find out
things by experimental testing of hypotheses.


2) Because of 1) we can observe two important things:

a) The Universe is bounded (in size, volume, content ...) The total
energy and matter in the universe is fixed - merely being exchanged
one for another - thank you Albert Einstein.


Well, yes, but the theory of an infinite number of alternative parallel universes is
gaining support. See the recent (last 12 months?) article in Scientific American.

3) Handwaving Philosophy Mode

a) The fact that the Universe exists implies that something (or someone)
brought it into existence. Something that exists does not spring into being
spontaneously out of nothing - at least we have no example of such
phenomena.

Agreed that this is philosophy. But there is no proof one way or the other. That's why
I say the only rational answer is "I don't know."

BTW, intelligent design does claim that something came from nothing - a god. "It's
turtles, all the way down."

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever