Do you believe in the Big Bang? (Merged) Is it Catholic dogma?

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DavidFilmer

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It is settled science among physicists and cosmologists that the universe originated in an incredibly violent event which is commonly termed the Big Bang. This theory holds that the entire universe originated from a singularity (which is a zero-dimensional object of infinite density).

I am NOT asking for opinions of what CAUSED the Big Bang. I am simply asking if you agree with these scientists, in that the universe came about in this way.

I am NOT seeking discussion about antimatter, or dark matter/energy, or Minkowski space, or any such subject. I am ONLY asking if you agree or disagree with the theory of the Big Bang.
 
I voted Catholic/agree. It never occurred to me to disagree, but something I read in another thread, posted by a respected Catholic contributor, led me to think that other Catholics have their doubts. So I wanted to explore this idea, and gauge opinion of other Christians.

The Big Bang theory was first proposed by a Belgian priest (Monsignor Georges Lemaître). Some of the initial opposition to the theory came from those who felt it was merely a scientific ruse to justify the doctrine of Creation (that God created everything from nothing). The idea that the entire universe (with its billions of galaxies) originated from NOTHING (a zero-dimensional singularity - which can easily be considered to be “nothing” if we consider that “something” must occupy space) seemed absurd.

The prevailing theory in Monsignor Lemaître’s time was a steady-state universe, where matter was eternal. The idea that ONLY God is eternal was repugnant to the scientists of this time.

No reputable scientist today advocates the steady-state theory.

I find the Big Bang theory to be completely compatible with the Catholic teaching of creation.
 
Why should any Catholic not believe in the ‘Big Bang’ theory?

It’s entirely compatible with the Creation Story in the Bible.

If you think about it, God creating the universe just-like-that had to have been a pretty explosive and amazing event…

The problem comes with some people who would have you believe that the universe is only 5000 years old because they take the Bible absolutely literally. Including the Old Testament, which was handed down verbally and in a form that was easiest to remember - poetic, full of imagery, etc. It’s not a literal account in the form of a diary or a history paper: it’s illustrative, in some ways allegorical.

It is, however, inspired. Think about it: the ancients, without access to any science whatsoever, managed to describe the creation process in exactly the right order. Six 24 hour days it might not have been, but six distinct phases of creation it definitely was - and science has confirmed it.

Do I, a Catholic, believe in the Big Bang theory? You bet I do. And it only serves to bolster my faith.
 
DexUK said:
Why should any Catholic not believe in the ‘Big Bang’ theory?

It’s entirely compatible with the Creation Story in the Bible.

If you think about it, God creating the universe just-like-that had to have been a pretty explosive and amazing event…It is, however, inspired. Think about it: the ancients, without access to any science whatsoever, managed to describe the creation process in exactly the right order. Six 24 hour days it might not have been, but six distinct phases of creation it definitely was - and science has confirmed it.

Do I, a Catholic, believe in the Big Bang theory? You bet I do. And it only serves to bolster my faith.
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That’s how I feel about it. To me the Big Bang is clearly the moment when God said “Let there be light.”
 
I’m Catholic and on the fence. I would have no trouble believing it except for once again, “difficulties” are causing scientists to make things up to fill in the gaps.

Maybe it’s because for 5 years I was told that a problem I had was all in my head until I saw a recently educated doctor who had learned about my problem. Why couldn’t those other doctors have said, I’m sorry you’re having this trouble, but I don’t know what it is?

So we have theories with problems and instead of saying, we have a problem and we don’t know what it is, the scientists make things up.

Insofar as the Big Bang Theory accords with what we actually observe, it’s great. Why can’t we leave it at that?
 
DexUK said:
Why should any Catholic not believe in the ‘Big Bang’ theory?

It’s entirely compatible with the Creation Story in the Bible.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure I agree with this. I don’t have the verse in front of me but it says something like “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” According to the Big Bang, the universe(the heavens) began nearly 14 billion years ago. The earth formed something like 9 billion years later. That doesn’t sound like the beginning.
 
I selected “I don’t know,” because I thought maybe there were other valid theories I don’t know about. I don’t disbelieve Big Bang, but I’m not sure it’s the only or best.
 
no big bang doesn’t equal no God. It actually has nothing to say about his existence either way.
 
Catholic/Agree

No problems here reconciling science and belief. Science tells us how. Theology/scripture tells us why.

Although, I would’ve sppreciated some more “why” for calculus explaination in the first few chapters of Genesis. It could’ve helped out in college… 😃
 
For now it seems to be the best theory presented. But then we don’t know everything and this too might change as we continue to discover the mysteries of the universe and its real laws and better ways to understand it.
 
Catholic/agree

Based on the evidence we have at this time, it seems to be the most reasonable explanation.
 
I voted Catholic and agree.

However, to those more scientifically minded than I am may I ask if the Big Bang is a proven scientific fact or just the best and most acceptable scientific theory so far?
 
Catholic/Agree, but I’m sure if that’s the right word for me. It’s not so much that I agree with “Big Bang” as fact, but as a possibility that doesn’t conflict with Creation from the Christian perspective.
 
DavidFilmer said:
It is settled science among physicists and cosmologists that the universe originated in an incredibly violent event which is commonly termed the Big Bang. This theory holds that the entire universe originated from a singularity (which is a zero-dimensional object of infinite density).

I am NOT asking for opinions of what CAUSED the Big Bang. I am simply asking if you agree with these scientists, in that the universe came about in this way.

I am NOT seeking discussion about antimatter, or dark matter/energy, or Minkowski space, or any such subject. I am ONLY asking if you agree or disagree with the theory of the Big Bang.
Click to expand...
Just in case someone doesn’t know, Monseigneur Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, was a Belgian Jesuit priest, astronomer and professor of physics at the French section of the Catholic University of Leuven.He was the first known academic to propose the theory of the expansion of the universe, widely misattributed to Edwin Hubble.He e also proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe.
 
DavidFilmer said:
The idea that the entire universe (with its billions of galaxies) originated from NOTHING (a zero-dimensional singularity - which can easily be considered to be “nothing” if we consider that “something” must occupy space) seemed absurd.
Click to expand...
I would not just say that God created the world out of a singularity and therefore out of nothing because the singularity is not a nothing. It is a something. Rather, we can say that God had to have created the singularity itself out of nothing.

This singularity, or “primeval atom,” began 13.82 billion years ago. This was the beginning of what we measure as Time-Space. So, our language and our concepts do not lend themselves to speaking of a “time” “before” this event. This “primeval atom,” as Fr. Georges Lemaitre called it, was in such a state that the explosion or Bang was inevitable and it happened within the smallest measurements of time after it appeared. This “primeval atom” could not have existed for several seconds, and certainly not for several years, before the explosion as its unstable nature and the laws of physics rendered the explosion or Bang imminent, within micro-seconds (actually less.)

So, 13.9 years ago, if there was such a time to be referred to, there could not have been this singularity, or “primeval atom.”

The website below links to articles by Fr. Robert J. Spitzer that demonstrate the entropy of our universe proves that our universe did have a beginning. Its existence could not have gone back infinitely in time or all the usable energy would have been used up or burned out so to speak long ago.

defendingthebride.com/code/lemaitre-einstein.jpg

Fr. Georges Lemaitre and Albert Einstein

defendingthebride.com/code/sci.html

.
 
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