Big Bang, Origin of the Cosmos, and the Voice of God
When I was young, just turning 10 or 11 years old, my family lived out in the farmland of Central Pennsylvania. Because we were so far from any major city, I remember on cold winter nights looking up and the sky and marveling at the number of stars that were up there. I loved to find constellations. Orion was especially easy to find, so that was one that I frequently marveled. He would come out in the Fall and go back in the Spring, but there was some sort of comfort that he was there.
For thousands of years, humanity has been relegated to this point of view: on the ground and just looking up and observing. Eventually, humanity put together devices that allowed us to view things a little closer, but the view was not vastly improved. What did happen, however, was a discovery that things up in the sky were not static but moving. Early astronomical observers were able to precisely predict when certain bodies in the sky would appear and disappear. Also discovered were differences in those objects in the sky. A star was different than a planet that was different than a moon. All these objects are moving in ways that could be measured and predicted.
When we think of astronomical science today, it is mind-blowing how far this observation has advanced. No longer are we tied to this planet, but humanity can now observe space from space. The technologies that have been developed have allowed observers to see even greater movement in the entirety of space. The amount of space observable now is all but 0.003%[1]. This observation is not just observing space, but also time. Because light travels 186,000 miles/second, and we measure space distance in light-years, then those objects that appear to us that are millions of light-years away are a glimpse into millions of years in the past. This ancient movement we can now observe appears to be in a general direction away form something. That something is the origin of the universe or commonly known as Big Bang.
That the universe has a beginning and that observations of galaxy movement indicate movement from a source can be either comforting or disconcerting based upon one’s preconceived ideas of origins. If one is a naturalist and has a model-dependent upon an infinite nature of space, then the idea of the Big Bang does great harm to the model. If one believes that the universe is 6,000 to 10,000 years old based upon Biblical genealogies, then there needs to be a reckoning of either the science or the model of Biblical interpretation used.
But the Big Bang theory of Cosmos origin can be seen in several Biblical texts. These texts complement the science behind the approach. The most apparent text is Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning, God” compliments the transcendent nature of the cause of Big Bang. The verse further identifies God, the uncaused cause, creating the heavens (the universe) and the Earth. The prophet Isaiah spoke much the same thing in 45:18. The expansion of the universe is mentioned in Job 9:8 where God is said to “stretch out the heavens (universe).” Again, Isaiah 42:5 reiterates this same point.
What this whole concept of the Big Bang does is force us to realize that a transcendent force started the universe.[2] Space, as well as the objects in space, are streaming from this one source.[3] All of these objects affect one another to the point where the perfect conditions exist for life on this planet. All this stems from the origin – the transcendent uncaused cause. Here is William Lane Craig, founder of Reasonable Faith with a short explanation of why this is so important to understanding the existence of God:
Genesis 1 states that when God spoke, things were created. Looking at all of the movement, all of the fine-tuning, and all of the many wonders of the universe, all streaming form the origin of the Big Bang, we are witnessing the voice of the Creative God at work. It makes me wonder. It causes me to worship.
[1] Hugh Ross, Creation as Science: A Testable Model Approach to End the Creation / Evolution Wars (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress 2006), 86.
[2] Ibid, 88.
[3] Ibid, 92.
The Wandering Wesleyan 