The Big Question 65: Does The Big Bang Prove Creation False?
May 18, 2021 1869
Radio Version:
Does the Big Bang prove creation false?
What the Big Bang is is a model that describes how the universe expanded from an extremely hot dense early state into what we see today. It’s a bit hard to get your head around it but it wasn’t an explosion from a single point in space. In the Big Bang, space itself exploded and that’s how the universe began.
Underlying the model of the Big Bang is the idea that the universe had a definite beginning and that it will also have an end. And just think about it. It’s not just matter but also time and space at least as we know them that were brought into being by the Big Bang that will also end. There’s enough here to do anyone’s head in isn’t there?
The idea of the Big Bang makes sense to cosmologists because it’s clear that the universe is expanding and also because of the microwave radiation that is everywhere in the universe. And apart from these things there’s actually quite a lot of evidence that suggests that the Big Bang really did happen.
So where does this leave us with creation and with God? Do we need to toss out the Bible?
Not at all.
I actually don’t have too much of a problem with the Big Bang at all. You see the Big Bang model doesn’t have anything to say about the Big Bang itself.
All it can say is that it happened. It can’t say anything about what came before. It’s a description of how the universe began and not an explanation of why. It can’t say anything about what or who caused the Big Bang or in other words made the universe.
So in general terms there’s no real contradiction between the model of the Big Bang and what the Bible says about creation. The Bible says that God spoke the universe into existence and that could have been the Big Bang right there.
However, the crunch comes when you ask the question “how old is the universe?” The Big Bang model says that the universe is almost 14 billion years old. There’s some Christians out there who wouldn’t have an issue with this. Then there’s a lot of Christians who read the creation story of Genesis more literally and reckoned that creation happened thousands of years ago instead of billions. And then there’s another bunch of Christians who don’t really care.
Anyway that’s a whole other big question, isn’t it?
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