Is The Big Bang Theory Biblical?

Is the Big Bang a biblical concept or simply a theory?  Are the creation account and the Big Bang compatible?

What is the Big Bang?

The Big Bang is the theoretical belief and the cosmological model that attempts to explain the development of the universe or at least it’s starting point.  Based upon the state of the universe at present and its rapid expansion, if you wound everything backwards in time and space, all matter would appear to be contained within a tiny, miniscule singular point of matter that is indescribably dense.  This singular point is believed to have exploded or expanded at greater than light speed around 13.8 billion years ago and is used to base the age of the universe.  All matter expanded or perhaps exploded from a single point which contained all matter that was infinitely dense and immeasurably hot even though scientists cannot explain how such a density of matter and heat can reside in the tiniest of points without becoming an enormous black hole.   Neither can they determine why it “exploded” and didn’t collapse upon itself.  Also, it’s not known why the explosion caused the matter of the universe to expand at such a rapid state. Interestingly, the further out the matter is, the quicker its speed.   As it expanded, it cooled and made possible the formation of all the essential elements of the universe; hydrogen, helium, and lithium from the condensing of and combination of subatomic atoms.  That is what the Big Bang essentially is or we could say was.

Does Genesis One Explain the Big Bang?

The Bible is not so much a book about the heavens as much as it is a book on how to go to heaven.  Although there are some scientific facts in it, it was not written to provide us with a scientific explanation of the creation but just states it as a fact.  God created the heavens and the earth but there are no exact details as to how it was done.  God created it and that’s all that God believed that we needed to know about it.  I basically know how a car works but I couldn’t give you a detailed explanation of all the intricacies of the combustion engine.  I don’t need to know how it works down to most finite detail; I just need to know that it works.  All I have to know is how to turn the key on, step on the break, add the gas, and check the oil along with a few other things.  Just because I can’t explain how a car engine works doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work.

Was God the Cause of the Big Bang?

For Christians, we know that God is the cause of all things but the Big Bang is a theory and has never empirically been proven to be true.  We take it as fact but it’s still largely a theory.  Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (1916) seems to have destroyed the belief of an eternal universe, later called the Steady State Theory (1948) which postulates that the universe is eternal.  The finding in 1964 of cosmic background radiation may have reinstated belief in the Big Bang Theory and then it wasn’t so much a question of if the universe had a beginning, it was a question of when it begin.  Did the creation of the universe occur in a Big Bang fashion?  No one can say for sure because there were no eye witnesses.

The Origins of Genesis One

In Genesis 1:1 we have the four scientific necessities for a beginning of the universe which are space, matter, time, and energy.  If you read Genesis 1:1 it says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” but if we break each part of this sentence down we can insert these four necessities; “In the beginning (that’s time) God created (there’s energy) the heavens (that’s space) and the earth (that’s matter).  Was the “God created” that which set into motion the universal bodies?  We do know that God “spoke, and it came to be; he commanded and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:9).  Christians take it by faith that “the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Heb 11:3) and we do know that all matter consists of atomic and subatomic matter that is invisible to the naked eye.  Job understood enough to know that it was God “who seals up the stars;  who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south” (Job 9:7b-9).  Truly, the heavens are stretched out across an immense area of space and they are presently still being stretched out.  The material universe is under a state of decay which fits the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics as Hebrews 1: 11 says “they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment” and “the heavens vanish like smoke,  the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner” (Isaiah 51:6) even though the “Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning” (Heb 1:10a) which is what Genesis 1:1 is all about.

Conclusion

Even though we don’t have all the answers about the “how” we do know the “Who.”  That is, it is God Who is the Creator.  God doesn’t care if we believe it or not. He simply states this as a fact “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, ‘I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone’” (Isaiah 44:24) because it was “by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col 1:16-17).  All I need to know is “You alone are the LORD You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them You give life to all of them. And the heavenly host bows down before You” (Neh 9:6) “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being” (Isaiah 66:2). I agree with the Apostle John who wrote “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created” (Rev 4:11).

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book  Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon