Godtacular Study - The Big Bang

Big Bang

Microwave radiation

Stephen Hawking "What I have done is to show that it is possible for the way the universe began to be determined by the laws of science. In that case, it would not be necessary to appeal to God to decide how the universe began. This doesn't prove that there is no God, only that God is not necessary."

What is he right about? What is he wrong about?

If we believe there is no God, our understanding of our place in the universe and our purpose will be very different from one who does believe in a personal deity.

Dawkins quote

What is the implication?

Does the Big Bang rule out the need for a God?
What is your understanding of the theory?
What aspects are accepted by the scientific community?
What aspects are still disputed?

Before Planck time, the laws of physics break down. 5.4 x 10-44 s Another kind of physics must have been acting at that time.
Gravity in particular would cease to operate so scientists coined the term quantum gravity but such a theory has so far escaped us.

Science is able to describe things but not explain them. Explanations involve why more than just descriptions. Theories that don't require explanations tend to be the ones accepted by science. That's why explanations like steady state cosmology were popular before 20th century evidence for the big bang was found.

Stead state cosmology has since been given up on. It was the theory that the universe was generating matter as space expanded such that it counterbalanced the expansion.

Nearly all cosmologists now believe the universe had a beginning.

Since the expansion of the universe is pretty much agreed upon, scientists who still won't allow for God look for other theories.

One physicist put forward an idea that the universe might have exploded like the big bang, slowed due to gravitation to a near stop, then a hypothetical "anti-gravity" would hold it there for some period, then it would be allowed to expand again. As evidence increased the believed age of the universe, this theory was discarded.

Colossians 1
16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Still one more is that the universe keeps having big bangs followed by big squeezes. It has its own flaws but even if true, it still doesn't answer the question of an ultimate cause, it just postpones it.

A little science fiction

In Show Me God, the author writes a short fictional story about an extraordinary astronomical phenomenon. As it is discovered, the scientists realized it was very similar to a television broadcast signal but was being generated form somewhere outside the solar system. First they tried the NTSC standard TV they had around and that didn't work. Converting to PAL did however.

The images that followed were shocking. They were lines of Hebrew text. The first line of which said "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Each day, a new page of text appeared from Genesis.
Some scientists said it was a hoax perpetrated by aliens. Jewish scholars pointed out that the text followed the order they were familiar with, not the order in the Christian Bible. Some were upset that the message was so religious (and not their religion) but for many, it prompted the ultimate Bible study.

The transmission ended with the end of the Old Testament. The world replied with "What does this mean? What do you expect us to do with this message?" In less than an hour, a new signal appeared - the New Testament in Greek. Christians argued about whether the text recieved supported their various positions. Many people decided to follow Jesus through this occurrence - but many also decided to use the "infinite monkeys typing on infinite typewriters" approach to say that this occurrence was bound to happen in one of the infinite alternate universes.

People claim "if only God would show himself" but the point is that just like not everyone believed when Jesus came, not everyone would believe if he reached out to us through a miraculous TV signal from a pulsar.