Origins of the Universe Big Bang Theory Cosmological Argument

GENESIS 1 CREATION STORY God created in 6 days Created ex nihilo (from nothing) Light first, simple then more complex animals Humans were final creation and special – made in God’s image Max 2 marks for simple description of each day’s activity

How did the Universe Begin? Is God the First Cause? Did God cause the Big Bang? Different Interpretations of the origins of the universe CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Literal/Creationist God created the universe in 6 days God has power to create in 6 days There was no Big Bang! Big Bang theory is not mentioned in the Bible, and it denies God as creator Genesis 1&2 is historical fact Genesis is a direct revelation from God and so true The Big Bang theory is full of problems and cannot be proved to be true The universe is only 10,000 years old

Liberal Genesis 1&2 is a symbolic account – gives us truths about the purpose and meaning of life and were never meant to be true in a historical way Big Bang theory does not remove need for God – could be his means of creating the universe The Bible contains certain truths. God created ‘ex nihilo’, and the Big Bang supports this idea The universe could not be made in 6 x24 hour days – and the creationists can’t even agree about this! The First Cause theory may show the need for God, but not necessarily a Christian idea of God The universe needs a First Cause. The Big Bang shows the universe had a beginning. God as First Cause and Big Bang theory can work together. Science and religion can work together – science answers ‘how?’ and religion answers ‘why?’

Scientific Materialist The universe just created itself – doesn’t need a ‘creator’ or ‘First Cause’ Cannot say that everything needs a cause and then say God does not need a cause. It’s illogical! Quantum Physics shows that something can come out of nothing There is no need for God, science has all the answers The universe came out of a chance arrangement of matter and energy The universe is billion years old and the earth itself is very old Our minds are open to new information, unlike some Christians!

First Cause or Cosmological Argument of Thomas Aquinas The necessary first cause is God. Everything that exists has a cause.Nothing has to exist. The chain of causes goes right back to the beginning of time. Time began at the beginning of the universe. There must have been a first cause of the universe. The first cause’s existence must be necessary for things to begin whereas everything else does not need to exist for things to begin

The Three Ideas Behind Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument Motion/Prime Mover Everything in the world moves and/or changes. Anything that moves and/or changes needs something to move and/or change it. Things only move or change if an external force is applied to it. There had to be a something which did the moving first That something is the Prime Mover. The Prime Mover is God. The Uncaused Cause is God. Causation/1 st Cause Nothing could be the cause of itself because if something caused itself it must have existed before it was caused to make itself. You cannot go back into an infinite line of the cause of the cause of the cause and so on Something had to start everything off. Something that did not have a cause. Something that was an uncaused cause. Contingency/ Necessary Being Everything is born and everything dies At one point nothing existed in the universe, not even the universe. Everything depends on something else for its existence Whatever created the universe must be separate from it It is needed or necessary for anything to exist at all The Necessary Being is God

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument Strengths/AcceptWeaknesses/Reject The universe exists and needs an explanation Everything is contingent Everything moves and changes Can be observed It is simple Logical- things cannot make themselves exist Big Bang Theory supports it Does not prove the existence of the Christian God – could have been a team of gods Why can’t there be an infinite regression of causes How can we talk about anything that is outside our experience? It’s as easy to say that the universe is eternal as God is eternal Just because everything we see Has a cause it doesn’t mean to say that everything has a cause How can we talk about how universes were made since none of us have experienced it?

The History of Cosmology 200 BCE Earth at the centre c1500 Ptolemy Copernicus Sun at the centre c1550 Digges Space is infinite c1575 Kepler Universe is changing c1600 Galileo Universe not perfect c1650 Newton Mechanical universe Ancient universe Darwin c1850 c1880 Heisenberg Random universe Big Bang Theory Lemaitre Hubble c1925 Red shift of galaxies c1930 Microwave radiation Penzias c1970 c1980 Guth Something from nothing c1990 COBE Heat detected c2000 NASA Age Confirmed 13.7 billion years 2007 Most Acceptance of Big Bang

15,000 billion years ago. Dense concentration of matter and energy. BIG BANG!!!!! Matter and Energy moved outwards at great speeds. Stars and Galaxies are formed.

In our galaxy (The Milky Way), a sun surrounded by 9 planets is formed. The planet Earth can support life. Life begins in the sea.

BIG BANG! billion years ago Universe had a point of beginning – the space-time singularity. Massive explosion -No specific cause ‘Stuff’ (matter) emerged from explosion – particles developed into electrons, protons, neutrons and became the main atoms and molecules of the universe.

Under the force of gravity, clouds of gas formed and the elements formed eg hydrogen, helium Particles expanded and cooled, clumped together (under force of gravity), and formed galaxies and suns. Solar systems, including our own formed around 10.5 billion years ago

Evidence? Galaxies are moving away from each other– universe is expanding. ‘Red shift’ confirms this: light coming from galaxies changes colour as it moves away (the faster the galaxies travel the light gets redder!) Cosmic microwave radiation background -radiation from original explosion can still be detected (CMB) Hydrogen and helium proportions lend weight to the theory

Big Bang Evidence Redshift of galaxies Background radiation Primordial elements Spread of galaxies Moving away from each other as if from an explosion Galaxies appear to age- universe had a beginning Heat from explosion has been detected everywhere Hydrogen+helium amounts today suggest explosion

Big Bang Strengths Physical evidence supports it Independently checked by scientists Universe is not infinite,everything is in decay Neutral- does not set out to support belief system Big Bang Weaknesses: physical evidence The horizon problem Temperatures at opposite ends of the universe should be different but they are the same The flatness problem Universe is curved. Big Bang would not produce a curved Universe but it is curved Magnetic monopole Should produce particles but none can be detected which means that this evidence is missing Age Tests Estimates of the age of the universe vary so much that they cannot really be trusted e.g. cmb, primordial elements e.g. always being reviewed e.g. everything gets old and dies e.g. not trying to prove or Disprove God

Big Bang Weaknesses: other considerations Add onsParadigmAssumptions Add to the theory to make it work Currently accepted approach Assumptions about natural laws Making it up as they go along Other approaches not accepted Assumptions could be wrong weaknesses not widely accepted in the scientific community

Cosmological Argument The Universe Exists Nothing can cause itself to exist Everything is caused by something other than itself The universe was caused by the Big Bang What caused the Big Bang? Cannot have an infinite series of causes Cannot have caused itself Caused by something external to it Something that is outside the universe Something that has caused itself That something is GOD

The Big Bang Challenges Christian Beliefs A challenge because: It says the universe is here by chance It says that God did not create the universe It says that natural processes created the universe It says the Bible version of creation is not true It says that the Earth is not at the centre of the universe

The Big Bang is how it all started. Literalist Creationist Evidence for Big Bang is conflicting Science has duped people into accepting the Big Bang as true Big Bang is only a theory The Bible tells exactly how it all began. Liberal/ Integrationist Evidence points to a Big Bang Creationists evidence is not reliable Over-emphasis on authority of the Bible in the face of scientific fact Bible is religious not scientific Big Bang is far more profound than Bible Scientific Materialist Evidence points to there being a beginning. Origin can be explained naturally Science has scope to change its view- religious people do not. No Big Bang mentioned in Bible, therefore wrong.

Challenges to the Bible Three Broad Approaches to the Bible by Christians Literal 100% true History and science No errors Given by God Cannot question Dictated by God Liberal Mainly myth Must question Many authors Work of Man Not scientific Many errors

Are the views of Science & Religion compatible? Interpretation1 Creationists REJECT Science Interpretation2 Science REJECTS Religion Interpretation3 Christian Belief AND Scientific Theory are compatible