How did everything BEGIN?
This question has intrigued people for millenia. Everybody has wondered about it at some time or other. Scientists, evolutionists, philosophers, and thinkers of every stripe have all pondered this question.
Scientists once primarily believed the universe was eternal — they thought it had always existed. But starting with Einstein’s work in the early 1900s, scientists gradually came to believe the universe must have had a Beginning.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that everything is running down. If the universe were “eternal,” it would have become inert dirt trillions and trillions and trillions of years ago. Therefore, since it is not just dust, it must have had a Beginning.
Long before today’s scientists concluded the universe must have had a Beginning, the Bible clearly taught this.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Genesis reports the Beginning occurred about 6,000 years ago and identifies the Beginner as the Creator God of the Bible. But none of that is very widely accepted today, except for the fact of a Beginning.
Stephen Hawking
One of today’s most famous physicists, Stephen Hawking (1941-2018), died last week. He was a proponent and popularizer of a beginning theory called The Big Bang, but he did not believe in the Creator God of the Bible.
In 2014 he told El Mundo:
“Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist.”
(Lori Johnston, “What Stephen Hawking Said about God,” Washington Post, March 14, 2018.)
Hawking also said,
“I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.”
(Notable Quotes from Stephen Hawking, Washington Post, March 14, 2018.)
Hawking said he was “extremely grateful” for “the grand design of the universe.” But to Whom was he grateful, and Who was responsible for the grand design that Hawking recognized? Sadly, Hawking had no answers for these questions.
Andromeda Galaxy
Spiral galaxy with a trillion stars about 2.5 million light years from earth.
It’s about twice the size of the Milky Way.
The Big Bang
“Nothing exploded into everything.” That’s the Big Bang theory in a nutshell. Nothing could be more wrong, for from nothing, nothing comes.
The prevailing worldview asserts the universe popped into existence with a Big Bang almost 14 billion years ago. What could be more ridiculous? How could this be? What caused the explosion? From where did the matter and energy for the explosion come? How did the physical laws that governed the explosion originate?
It is a logical impossibility for the universe to create itself, Big Bang or not. How could an extremely complex, highly ordered universe possibly result from an explosion? Explosions are destructive, not creative. They are disorganizing, not organizing.
The Big Bang has many problems. If a big bang started the universe, then matter should be evenly distributed. It is not. Matter is organized into groupings: star-planet systems, then galaxies, then clusters of galaxies, and sheets of clusters with great separating voids.
How did planets, stars, and galaxies form? No mathematically sound theory exists for their formation by a Big Bang.
Physics professor James Trefil said, “There shouldn’t be galaxies out there at all, and even if there are galaxies, they shouldn’t be grouped together the way they are. The problem of explaining the existence of galaxies has proved to be one of the thorniest in cosmology. By all rights, they just shouldn’t be there, yet there they sit. It’s hard to convey the depth of the frustration that this simple fact induces among scientists.” (The Dark Side of the Universe, 1988)
Scientists do not universally accept the Big Bang. Astronomer Halton Arp wrote, “In my opinion the observations speak a different language; they call for a different view of the universe. I believe the Big Bang theory should be replaced, because it is no longer a valid theory.”
It is not repeatable, observable, or testable.
It cannot be investigated in the lab.
The Big Bang is not scientific — it is only speculation about the distant past.
Astronomer Geoffrey Burbidge wrote, “Big Bang cosmology is probably as widely believed as has been any theory of the universe in the history of Western civilization. It rests, however, on many untested, and in some cases untestable, assumptions. Indeed, Big Bang cosmology has become a bandwagon of thought that reflects faith as much as objective truth.” (Scientific American, 1992)
The Big Bang is a speculative hypothesis about the origin of the universe. It has no eyewitness confirmation. It is not a repeatable, observable, testable phenomenon that can be investigated in the laboratory. The Big Bang is not scientific; it is historical conjecture.
Nobel physicist Leon Ledermann, referring to speculations like the Big Bang, wrote in The God Particle, “When you read or hear anything about the birth of the universe, someone is making it up.”
The Big Bang Contradicts the Bible
Some believe the Big Bang was when God created light in Genesis 1. But this violates the text — earth and heaven already existed before light was created. Moreover, God created sun and stars three days after earth.
Big Bangers contradict Scripture by reversing this order, claiming sun and stars preceded earth by billions of years.
Big Bangers also say earth formed as a hot molten blob before water formed. But Scripture teaches earth was created cool from the start because it was enveloped in a blanket of water (Genesis 1:2,9; 2 Peter 3:5).
Contrary to current scientific speculation, there was no Big Bang in the beginning. Yahweh created heaven and earth on Day One by His word (Psalm 33:6,9).
Ongoing grounding in God’s Word is vital to avert the danger of being deceived by our society’s current whims. Christians who believe the Big Bang are essentially concluding that what God said in Genesis is not true.
There was NO originating Big Bang. The Great Creator, the God of the Bible, Yahweh is the Beginner.
To learn about the real Big Bang, read the sequel: Science in the Bible – The End.
Science Catches Up to the Bible
Thousands of years ago, the Genesis record testified to a Beginning for the universe by the Beginner. Only within the last century have scientists confirmed this Biblical truth of a Beginning.
Although the Bible is not primarily a science textbook, it does contain many scientific truths like this and those mentioned in this Science in the Bible series, truths that long pre-date their discovery by today’s scientists. This is strong evidence of divine authorship of the Bible.
Questions to Ponder
1. If Stephen Hawking was convinced God did not exist, why did he repeatedly express concepts using God in his terminology?
2. Since no mathematically sound theory exists for the formation of planets, stars, and galaxies by a Big Bang, why is the Big Bang so widely believed and promoted?
Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.
Soli Deo Gloria.
This is the 29th article in the Science in the Bible series of blog posts. While there is much science connected with Creation and Noah’s Flood, this series will focus on lesser known scientific truths that were alluded to in the Bible long before they were known to scientists.
Read the prequels:
1. Science in the Bible – Blood
2. Science in the Bible – Ocean Currents
3. Science in the Bible – Undersea Mountains
4. Science in the Bible – Ocean Reservoirs
5. Science in the Bible – Good Medicine
6. Science in the Bible – Round Earth
7. Science in the Bible – Don’t Marry Kin
8. Science in the Bible – Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
9. Science in the Bible – Hanging Earth
10. Science in the Bible – Thermodynamics
11. Science in the Bible – Water Cycle
12. Science in the Bible – Quarantine
13. Science in the Bible – Starry Host
14. Science in the Bible – Turning Earth
15. Science in the Bible – Hygiene
16. Science in the Bible – Seed of Life
17. Science in the Bible – Circumcision
18. Science in the Bible – Expanding Universe
19. Science in the Bible – Visible From Invisible
20. Science in the Bible – The Sun
21. Science in the Bible – Atomic Fission
22. Science in the Bible – Surgery
23. Science in the Bible – Dinosaurs
24. Science in the Bible – Biogenesis
25. Science in the Bible – Pigs with Wings?
26. Science in the Bible – Eating Pigs
27. Science in the Bible – First Aid
28. Science in the Bible – Chicken & Egg Dilemma
Read the sequel:
30. Science in the Bible – The End
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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday March 21, 2018 A.D.
Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Bible-Science Guy 
Pick up a lava rock and notice the “dried bubbles” formed in it. This proves that at one time the piece was molten. Look at the moon and see the same molten form. This proves that the moon at one time was molten (like the sun) but cooled. The bible says the sun AND moon were lights- greater and lesser lights. Then something happened and the moon lost its light. It cooled. Could it be that the sun and moon were types of the Son and His Bride, or, as in Joseph’s dream, mother and father, and when Adam fell, the moon lost her light, and now is only a REFLECTION of the SON? As the moon is now only a reflection of the sun? Something to think about. And very biblical.
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By: Annie McIntyre on March 21, 2018
at 10:01 am
You said, ” Yahweh created heaven and earth on Day One by His word (Psalm 33:6,9).” Genesis says in verse 1 that God created the heavens and the earth, but it doesn’t mention the first day until verse 5. Verse 1 gives no mention of time at all. The duration of time when the earth was “formless and void” isn’t given … it could have been a very long time.
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By: Darrell Johnson on March 21, 2018
at 2:08 pm
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Verses 1-5 of Genesis 1 describe Yahweh’s creative work on Day One. The duration of time when the earth was formless and void could NOT have been a very long time because of what the Lord God Himself said when giving the Ten Commandments:
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. (Exodus 20:11)
Yahweh Himself says here that He made everything in six days.
Verse 1 actually does reference time; In the beginning is a time phrase.
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By: BibleScienceGuy on March 28, 2018
at 4:46 pm
Thank you so much for another well-written article. It was a joy to read.
I am so sorry to hear of Mr. Hawking’s entering eternity. I had always hoped that he would someday see his need for God and humble himself before the One true friend of his soul. How very sad! Let us pray for his family.
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By: gwennonr on March 27, 2018
at 9:03 pm
In response to Question 1: I think quotes from Hawking demonstrates the truth of Scripture, specifically Romans 1:20 comes to mind: “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Hawking clearly saw God’s creative power and design, yet he refused to give him glory and honor for it. It’s sad, but now he is without excuse.
In response to Question 2: I think most believers in the Big Bang would say they’ll continue to accept it until there’s a ‘better alternative’. It’s not good enough for the Big Bang to fail, but it must be replaced by a more compelling theory with greater explanatory power. For that’s the nature of science, they say. But I’d say it gives them the crutch they’re looking for so that they don’t have to admit the existence of God. It serves a purpose for them. Others just can’t allow for a supernatural explanation and have been conditioned to believe that every explanation for our origins must be purely naturalistic.
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By: Jonathan Silcox on April 3, 2018
at 8:06 pm
Personally, I don’t think Genesis 1 is sufficiently clear as to HOW God “created the heavens and the earth.” I believe they were created by the Word of God per John 1:1, that is, He created them ex-nihilo by divine fiat. I’m open to the possibility that Genesis 1:1 could be a description of the Big Bang. That isn’t a cop out or capitulation to naturalism. We have NO IDEA of the mysteries of creation that lies behind the first verse of the Bible, just as there are many things concerning God’s nature that we can’t comprehend. Let’s admit our ignorance just as Job did when God asked him, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
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By: Darrell Johnson on April 4, 2018
at 4:32 pm