That’s in the Bible: Christianity and the Big Bang Theory
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: The Big Bang Theory is how some people attempt to explain the origin of the universe. But did the universe emerge by chance as the Big Bang Theory suggests? Is there a conflict between Christianity and the Big Bang Theory? Don’t you want to know, dear friends, for sure, who created the heavens and the earth?
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The Bible: the basis of our faith in the Church Of Christ, which answers questions about proper worship, the right relationship with God, and most importantly, salvation. That’s in the Bible.
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: I’m Bob Pellien, and welcome to the program That’s in the Bible. We often receive questions and comments about the origin of the universe, often about the Big Bang Theory and how that relates to God and the creation of the universe.
Is there a conflict between Christianity and the Big Bang Theory? Who created the heavens and the earth? Is there proof that the universe was created by divine power?
So many, many questions. Well, in order to tackle this topic regarding the origin of the universe, let’s set out to answer these related questions.
- What is the prevailing theory on the origin of matter?
- What are the theories of the origin of our solar system?
- What are the theories of the origin of our universe?
- What is the biblical account of creation?
- Does knowing the origin of the universe benefit us?
Friends, some notes to consider as we begin this important study pertaining to the origin of the universe. Pantheism: Pantheists consider God and the universe as one. This is where we get the common trending expressions today, such as “The universe is not happy with me,” or “Tell the universe your plans and it will happen,” etc. etc. Some pantheists might not even realize that they are pantheists and may just consider themselves as an atheist or maybe an agnostic. However, their line of thinking is different from atheists and agnostics. If you consider that atheists well, they say that there is no God and the agnostics add we have no evidence, therefore we don’t know.
Also worth noting: most scientists, when explaining the origin of the universe, well, they start with matter, or energy, or both, already in existence. They make no attempt to explain their origins. They merely assume their existence. They do attempt, however, to explain the formation of life, the universe, and our own solar system from that matter.
So let’s pose this specific question: What’s the prevailing theory on the origin of matter? Dear friends, the truth is this: many scientists attempt to explain the origin of matter and energy on a purely materialist basis.
They often state their belief that matter is eternal and by itself, along with energy, has the capacity to produce the various changes that have brought about our present universe. This is often called materialism, which, by the way, has nothing to do with the concept of pleasure in material things. Materialism that we’re talking about is a theory in philosophy. For example, if we were to turn to a dictionary, open up dictionary.com it defines materialism as
the philosophical theory that regards matter and its motions as constituting the universe and all phenomena including those of mind, as due to material agencies.
Dictionary.com
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: So, materialism is any theory which considers the facts of the universe to be sufficiently explained simply by the existence and the nature of matter itself. Or, dear friends, in short, those who spread this theory, they offer no explanation as to the origin of matter. They simply accept that it exists. That’s important. Other scientists hold the, let’s call it preposterous view that the universe created itself by chance or believe that the universe has no origin, has existed eternally. A simple internet search reveals endless controversy among scientists regarding the origin of matter.
But, the point here is clear, dear viewers. Even though evolutionary scientists say they don’t explain the origin of matter, origin of energy, they’re trying to explain the formation of the universe and the solar system from that matter.
So, what are the theories of the origin of our solar system? Let’s recap a few of these theories in a historical timeline before turning to the Bible’s responses.
So the first, the Nebular Hypothesis was proposed by the French mathematician Pierre LaPlace in 1796. He proposed that our solar system started as a gaseous body shaped like a flat disk, very hot, and rotating slowly. Then as the mass cooled off, it contracted and rotated more rapidly. Finally then, small parts were left behind and formed the planets rotating and revolving around the central body in the same direction that the gaseous body originally rotated, and the central body formed the sun.
Question: does science still agree with that theory? No, because by 1900 the Chamberlin-Moulton Planetesimal Hypothesis was developed by geologist Thomas Chowder Chamberlin and the U.S. astronomer Forrest Ray Moulten. Their hypothesis replaced that of LaPlace. They assumed that a star came near to ours, near to the sun, and by gravitation pulled off masses of matter which then condensed into planets.
Did that scientific theory go unchallenged? Again, no. Because Henry Norris Russell and Lehman Spitzer Jr proved that that theory was defective. Spitzer proved that the sudden releasing of a mass at a temperature of a million degrees would result in it being exploded by its own radiation, and it could never then condense into a planet. Couldn’t happen. Did the scientific research end there?
It did not. Hoyle’s Hypothesis states that the sun was once one of a pair, or was part of a double star. The companion star that he said exploded and formed. That’s what formed the planets. The scientific findings of Russell and Spitzer also disproved Hoyle’s Hypothesis. Dear friends, you know, theories about the origin of the Solar System, it cannot be separated from theories concerning the origin of the entire universe.
So, well, what are theories of the origin of our universe? Well, let’s look at what some would consider the most popular of the such theories. And that’s, as we mentioned at the outset, the Big Bang Theory. Now, the Big Bang Theory assumes that at one time all matter existed in one place. Then an explosion flung all of it out into space, causing the current measurable expansion. This was proposed, by the way, in 1929 by the Belgian astronomer Georges Lemaitre.
Similarly, the Evolving Universe Theory of Alpher and Gamow further states that the universe was formed by an explosion from a state of high density and temperature. It proposes that the cosmos evolved from the original, highly compressed, extremely hot gas into stars, galaxies, and all the background material. The present outward motion of the universe is a result of this explosion. The Big Bang, as a hypothesis, is part of the Evolving Universe Theory.
So, dear friends, the problem with all of these is that it is evident that the supporters of these theories do not account for the origin of the original matter, or the source of energy, which brought about the pressure, the heat, and the explosion. Encyclopedia Britannica, a very well renowned encyclopedia, has this to say about the lack of consensus among these, these scientists,
It should be emphasized that no theory of the origin of the solar system has as yet one general acceptance. All invite highly improbable assumptions. But the difficulty is in trying to find a theory with any degree of probability at all.
Encyclopedia Britannica
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: So, dear friends, that’s the chaotic state of science concerning these things. How about the Bible? What is the biblical account of creation? Does the Bible present a source of, or origin of matter, origin of energy, beginning of all things? Yes. Hebrews chapter 11 verse three reads this way, I quote:
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:3 New International Version
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: Dear friends, the Bible begins by teaching that the universe was formed at God’s command, and it was not made out of other, visible, materials. Visible things. No. He created both matter and energy from nothing. This doctrine of creation is found, you know, in almost a hundred different passages of the Bible throughout the Old and New Testament, referring to God as the creator. That’s in the Bible.
Also, in the very first book of the Bible, which we all know to be the book of Genesis, we can find a simple account of the origin of the universe and even the beginning of life, answering the question, who created the heavens, the earth? Answer, found in the Bible, Genesis chapter one, beginning in verse one, it says:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness he called “night”. And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day. And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky”. And there was evening, and there was morning–the second day. And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.”
And it was so. God called the dry ground “land”. And the gathered waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:1-10 New International Version
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: So, dear friends, God is the only clear explanation for the emergence of the universe. No scientists or any other discipline for that matter, can explain the origin of energy. Yet the universe has been created, proven by the fact that it’s here. Having come into existence by an almighty and powerful God. How about life and living things? If we were to continue reading in this, first book of the Bible, Genesis chapter one, let’s just go ahead and include verse 24 and 25 where it says,
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 24-25 New International Version
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: The Almighty God not only created the universe, but has also created the life that lives in it. Others might say, no, no, no, that’s that’s not so. It was an evolutionary process they might say. Following the theory of evolution back to its origins it also cannot account for the origin of matter, nor the life that preceded it. The inability to do this is one of the many weaknesses of that theory. The Bible has no such weaknesses. It accounts for it. God created all things, both visible and invisible.
But maybe the question would be, how did he do that? How did he create all things without the use of preexisting material? Good question. We turn to the Holy Bible for the answer and read the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. Chapter ten, verse 12, responds this way:
God has made the earth by His power. He has established the World by His wisdom, and by His understanding and skill has stretched out the heavens.
Jeremiah 10:12 Amplified Bible 1965
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: So, dear friends, it’s by God’s power, his wisdom and skill that he made the earth and established the world and all that is in it by his power. Because of this, what’s the biblical instruction to all people? Psalm 100, verse three records the following:
Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, we are his flock.
Psalm 100:3 Good News Translation
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: What are we to do? Acknowledge that the Lord God made us. He made us, and we belong to him. God is our maker and the owner of our life. There might be some who are watching our study together that feel or think that, oh, why does it even matter so much how we got here?
What’s the big deal? Whether it’s by random chance or were created by God with His power? Shouldn’t we shouldn’t we just be focusing on what presently exists? So we ask, does knowing the origin of the universe benefit us? Again, we turn to the Holy Bible to answer such questions. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 answers this way:
After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, Because this is all that we were created for. God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Good News Translation
BROTHER BOB PELLIEN: Dear friends, according to what we have read here. Is knowing the truth about the origin of the universe valuable information. It is. How so? It’s because it’s by knowing how we came to be that we will be able to know our purpose. The purpose of our existence in the first place. Why? What should we understand about our purpose? We are to have reverence for God, obey his commands. Maybe some would say, well, why do I need to do that? What’s the benefit of that? We also read here in this verse: because that is all that we were created for.
That’s the purpose of our creation, whether we believe this or not, whether we follow these biblical instructions or not. What is the truth about our lives? The Bible is very clear as we read, God’s going to judge everything that we do, whether it’s good, whether it’s bad, even the things that are done in secret. It matters. Truly. Faith is the basic requirement then for the understanding of the universe. It benefits, benefits us to know that God has created us.
Because knowing and accepting that leads to an understanding and a belief in his promises also. According to the scriptures, what are such promises? His promise about saving his people. Promise about bringing us to the eternal kingdom there in heaven, a place without the chaos and turmoil that’s experienced in this life. So, dear friends, continue listening to the teachings of God, our creator, that are always taught in this program That’s in the Bible and in all of the programs of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the Church Of Christ, so that you too can be included among those that God will bring into his heavenly kingdom soon.
So to summarize, let’s review. We started out with these basic questions, and this is what we have found out in our discussion.
- What’s the prevailing theory on the origin of matter? We learned theories, including materialism, simply offer no explanation at all pertaining to the origin of matter or to the origin of energy.
- What are the theories of the origin of our solar system? We took a look at some briefly. We looked at a couple, and we saw that the popular theories were debunked one after another by updated theories throughout time, over and over again.
- What are the theories of the origin of our universe? The most popular is the Big Bang Hypothesis, which is part of the Evolving Universe Theory. This theory assumes that one time all matter existed in one place. Then, an explosion flung all of it out into space to cause the expansion that can now be measured. This theory, it does not explain the origin of the original matter, nor the origin of the energy that exploded it, and therefore cannot be accepted as scientific, factual information regarding the origin of the universe. The history of science is a history of succession of theories and of hypotheses, which were proposed and then replaced by some later idea. The Bible, however, it never changes nor has ever needed to be updated.
- What is the biblical account of creation? As we have read, the Bible teaches us that God created the entire universe. God created all matter. God created all energy. God created all living things. And then we ask,
- Does knowing the origin of the universe benefit us in any way? It certainly does, because knowing the truth about our origin will lead us to know and fulfill the purpose of our existence. We, as members of the Church Of Christ, Iglesia Ni Cristo, we still have true faith in the biblical account of creation and offered to him our creator. Our sincere worship and praise, as well as our heartfelt thanksgiving in hopes of salvation.
And we invite you to come join with us doing so. We’d like for you to continue learning about the teachings of the Bible taught in the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the Church Of Christ. To do so, please visit us online. Browse the different topics or set up an appointment to meet with a minister of the gospel at our house of worship that’s nearest to you.
We are here to help you, and if you have any questions about the Bible or salvation, please email them to us. I’m Bob Pellien. Thanks for watching. See you next time right here on That’s in the Bible.
