Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
God and Science – Part 2

God and Science – Part 2

Last updated on: December 20, 2021 at 12:17 am by Richard E. Simmons III

God and Science – Part 2 2021-12-20T00:17:13-06:00 Richard E. Simmons III

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One of the great questions that has befuddled scientists over the years is “How did the universe begin?”

The Bible has a very simple explanation. In the first verse of the Bible, we are told that God created the heavens and the earth. From the days of Moses, many faithful Jews and Christians have accepted that this is how it all got started.

On the other hand, for many years, cosmologists disputed this belief by arguing that the universe was eternal and one, therefore, does not need to think about the origin of the universe because it did not have a beginning; it has always existed.

But when Einstein came along with his theory of relativity, and then astronomer Edwin Hubble began his work observing the heavens, this view began to change.

It was 1916 and Albert Einstein didn’t like where his calculations were taking him.

If his theory of relativity were true, it meant that the universe was not eternal but had a beginning. Einstein’s calculations indeed were revealing a definite beginning to all time, all matter, and all space. This flew in the face of his belief that the universe was static and eternal. Einstein later called his discovery irritating. He wanted the universe to be self-existent, not reliant on an outside cause, but the universe appeared to be one giant effect. In fact Einstein so disliked the implications of General Relativity, a theory that is now proven accurate to five decimal places, that he introduced a cosmological constant (which some have called a “fudge factor”) into his equations in order to show that the universe is static to avoid an absolute beginning. By 1922, Russian mathematician Alexander Freidman had officially exposed Einstein”s fudge factor as an algebraic error. (Incredibly in his quest to avoid a beginning, the great Einstein had divided by zero something that even schoolchildren know is a no-no.) Meanwhile, Dutch astronomer Willem de Sitter found that General Relativity required the universe to be expanding. And in 1927, the expanding of the universe was actually observed by astronomer Edwin Hubble. Looking through the one hundred-inch telescope at California’s Mount Wilson Observatory, Hubble discovered a red shift in the light from every observable galaxy, which meant that those galaxies were moving away from us. In other words General Relativity was again confirmed. The universe appears to be expanding from a single point in the distant past.

In 1929 Einstein himself made a pilgrimage to Mount Wilson to look through Hubble’s telescope. What he saw was irrefutable. The observational evidence showed that the universe was indeed expanding as general relativity had predicted. With his cosmological constant now completely crushed by the weight of the evidence against it, Einstein could no longer support his wish for an eternal universe. He subsequently described the cosmological constant as “the greatest blunder of my life.” And he redirected his efforts to find the solution to the puzzle of life. Einstein said, and I quote, that he,

. . . wanted to know how God created the world. I’m not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element, I want to know his thought.

Einstein went on to say, most likely with tongue in cheek, that the rest are just details.

The predominant view in cosmology today in regards to the start of the universe is the big-bang theory.

The theory proposes that the universe is expanding from a single point in the distant past. In other words, at some definite point in the dimension of time there was a uniquely massive explosion, what scientists call a “singularity,” and the universe has been expanding ever since. Thus, since the universe had an actual beginning, then, arguably, the big-bang theory points rather conspicuously to a theistic view of the universe.

The big bang is profoundly theistic. In fact, I read recently that it is hard to find a cosmologist who will want to participate in a public debate on the existence of God. What”s happened in their branch of science makes the atheistic point of view extremely hard to defend.

Let’s go back to Alan Sandage from last week’s blog.

Remember, he was the scientist described by The New York Times as the grand old man of cosmology? He says,

“The big bang was a supernatural event that cannot be explained within the realm of physics as we know it.”

And Steven Meyer from Cambridge says,

“You can invoke neither time nor space nor matter nor energy nor the laws of nature to explain the origin of the universe. General relativity points to the need for a cause that transcends those domains. And theism affirms the existence of such an entity, namely God. In short, naturalism is on hard times in cosmology; the deeper you get into it, the harder it is to get rid of the God hypothesis.”

When taken together, the theories of the big bang and of general relativity combine to provide a scientific description of what Christians call creation ex nihilo or creation out of nothing.

As Nobel Prize winner Arno Penzias said about the big bang,

“The best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted had I nothing to go on but the first five books of Moses, the Psalms, and the Bible as a whole.”

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul utters these interesting words, that God, “calls into being that which does not exist.” Maybe this explains the origin of the universe. Again, maybe Paul has it right.

To learn more about the evidence for God that exists, I invite you to read my book Reflections on the Existence of God. The book lays out, in short essays, much of the evidence for the existence of God that is available. We should seek to take the evidence offered and use it to make reasonable conclusions. What you will find is, as the evidence accumulates, it enables us to come to confident conclusions about God. Who He is. And, that He truly is.

Life Purpose

Seeking God

Spiritual Truth

About Richard E Simmons III

Richard E. Simmons III is the founding director of The Center for Executive Leadership, a faith-based ministry in Birmingham, Alabama focused on counseling businessmen and professionals. His newest book, an Amazon best-seller, is Reflections on the Existence of God – a series of short essays seeking to answer life’s most enduring question: Does God exist? You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

December 7, 2021

God and Science - Part 1

Next Post

December 22, 2021 God and Science - Part 3

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Character Development Inspiration Leadership Life Purpose Personal Growth Relationships Seeking God Spiritual Truth The Bible True Masculinity Uncategorized Wisdom

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which king of Judah burned the scroll of Jeremiah's prophecy?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Zedekiah Josiah Hezekiah Jehoiakim