The Origin of the Universe
Where does everything come from?
This may be one of the most important questions to ask. The answer we give to this question has significance for many aspects of our lives, and will in fact determine the most important choices we will take.
For more than 2000 years people in the West believed that the Universe was eternal. It had always existed, it was unchangeable and would exist forever. This was the view the Greek philosophers had. The Christian Church adopted this view. In addition, Science also regarded the Universe to be eternal.
However, in the beginning of the last Century some scientists proclaimed that the Universe had a beginning. It had not lasted forever. This new view started with Albert Einstein who by many are looked upon as one of the brightest men of all time. He forwarded a theory called The general theory of relativity. This theory was presented for the first time in 1915 in a lecture by Einstein. According to Einstein´s theory neither matter, energy, space or time existed before this very beginning. The Belgian Catholic Father Lemäitre who was a physicist verified Einstein´s results. In USA Edward Hubble discovered what is called the red-shift, which is evidence for the expansion of our Universe.
This means that science has verified that our Universe had a beginning. We have known this for almost one hundred years. Today we use the expression Big Bang for this beginning. Most of us are familiar with this designation. Our physical reality started at Big Bang.
Big Bang is consistent with a Christian view on creation. The first verse in the Bible states that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth”. That is exactly what modern Science tells us.
How shall we explain the beginning of the Universe? We have no eyewitnesses, and we are not able to repeat the creation of the Universe. This means that Science is not able to give a rational explanation. We have to resort to Logics. Logic tells us that everything that has a beginning needs a cause for its beginning. Logic also tells us that nothing is not able to create anything at all. Because it is a logical absurdity to suggest that something can cause itself, the cause of the universe must necessarily be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, and energyless. Indeed, it would be every bit as absurd to suggest that a person could give birth to herself as it would be to suggest that something within the natural universe could be the cause of the natural universe.
Before Big Bang there was according to Science no matter and no energy. So both the matter and the energy of our Universe have their origin at the Big Bang. I have an I-phone. Most of the time the phone is located in one om my pockets. Ten years ago that phone did not exist. But now it exists and serves its intended function. I use it for phone calls. The reason that this phone does exist is that somebody has made it. The same applies for all our clothes, machines, cars, furniture etc. Somebody has made all these items.
Then logic tells us that the Universe needs a cause for its existence. Science is not able to give us scientific evidence with regard to this cause. We therefore have to use philosophy to present possible explanations. What are the theoretical possibilities for the origin of our Universe? We have only two possibilities to choose between. A third alternative does not exist. Either the Universe is the result of an almighty Creator – or the Universe came into being just by random. We then understand that our worldview determines the explanation we choose. People who have not excluded the possibility of God will conclude that God and his omnipotence is not only the best explanation, but the only explanation. On the other hand, people who resist the existence of God will have to mean that the Universe just come into being by itself. Atheists do not believe that there is a God in the Universe. They do not believe in a Creator. They believe in natural causes. However, before Big Bang nothing existed, so prior to Big Bang there were no natural causes. Nature and everything in nature were created by Big Bang.
Accordingly, it is up to you who watch this program to choose. You have only two possibilities, either creation or happenstance.
The Big Bang theory is regarded as the standard explanation, and is the prevailing view among scientists. However, there has during the past century always existed scientists who find it absolutely impossible to include a God. God is a concept that is totally out of the picture for them. A concept of God does not even exist in their minds. What have these scientists proposed as an explanation?
The prevailing alternative is what is called the multiverse theory, suggesting that there are a vast number of universes, and ours is just one of these. However, you have to know that Science is not able to investigate anything that is located outside of our universe. Science is the study of our physical Universe. Science can therefore not give any evidence for multiverse. Spokesman for multiverse have even argued that the theory of multiverse is so attractive that they have proposed that Science should adopt this theory even in the absence of any evidence. If this view is accepted it inevitably leads to the breakdown of Science.
At his 70th anniversary Stephen Hawking was presented that all existing models for multiverse involve a beginning. Even multiverse needs a causal explanation. He then uttered that to recourse to the hands of God means the breakdown of Science. However, Hawking was not able to see that to have to resort to God is the breakdown of Atheism and Naturalism. God and Science do not exclude each other. They live very well together.
Another approach to explain the origin of the universe is to redefine the “nothing” that Einstein´s theory involves. This nothing contains something, they propose. Some scientists mean that quantum mechanics may explain the origin of the Universe. However, Max Planck, the founder of quantum mechanics said: “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”
The presence of radioactive materials is also a proof for the origin of the universe. If the Universe was eternal, all radioactive material would have been decayed today. There would be no radioactivity left. The Cosmic background radiation is seen as evidence for Big Bang. This radiation is distributed in the universe in a uniform manner, unlike ordinary radiations that come from one single point. Scientists believe that the cosmic background radiation is remnants from the Big Bang itself.
Conclusion: Obviously, the best explanation for the origin of our Universe is creation. We have to resort to God to present the best explanation.
We- as ordinary people- may have periods of skepticism regarding the presence of God. And we also live in a culture where secular ideas and thoughts may be promoted. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance that all who see this program really understand that without God there would be no reality. In periods of doubt and uncertainty, you have to remember that our Universe, the entire Cosmos, requires an almighty Creator, in whom you may trust
