Is it okay for Christians to believe in the big bang theory?

Bible Question:

Is it alright to believe in the big bang theory and still be a Christian?

Bible Answer:

“Yes,” a person can be a Christian and believe in the Big Bang Theory. However, a Christian must deal with two key questions: 1) Is the Big Bang Theory factual, and 2) Does the Big Bang Theory violate the teaching of God’s Word? Every Christian is encouraged to consider the fact that the Bible says God created the universe and everything that is in it within seven days. The Big Bang supposedly occurred in Genesis 1:1. The Big Bang Theory seeks to provide a different answer. Advocates of the Big Bang Theory typically reject the idea of God and use their theory to explain how everything came into existence without God. That is the ultimate goal of the theorists. However, some have considered God to be the One that started the Big Bang and allowed the earth to evolve on its own.

Is it okay for Christians to believe in the big bang theory?

Is The Big Bang Theory Factual?

Science is a series of theories. Some have been proven to be correct and others have not. Those theories that can be tested and verified are declared to be facts and are used to build products, homes, bridges, airplanes, rockets, and send men and women into space, for example. Those theories that are not proven should be discarded. Some theories cannot be proven. The Big Bang is a theory that cannot be proven. Yet, many people accept it as if it were fact. We cannot go back in time and observe it. We cannot recreate the Big Bang in a laboratory. It is an unprovable theory. We cannot test it.

In order to demonstrate that a theory is true we must be able to develop a test, run the test, and then determine if the result is consistent with the theory. This is credible, scientific practice. For example, we believe that gravity exists. We test this theory every time we flex our leg muscles in order to propel ourselves upward and then we fall back to the ground. We call this jumping and we prove that the scientific theory of gravity is correct. But we cannot test the Big Bang Theory. But many believe it anyway, even though there are numerous strong reasons for rejecting this theory. Recently, the theory was seriously wounded by a significant scientific observation.

According to the theory, the Big Bang occurred as an extremely hot, super dense knot of energy burst outward, sending matter everywhere. The universe came into existence as a result. One perplexing problem that cannot be answered is, “How did the particles come into existence that were expelled in every direction, and how were the laws of physics established that caused the event?” The answer is not known if you reject God. Several years ago the secular magazine, “Discover Magazine,” carried an article about the Big Bang in which it was stated that the Hubble Telescope observed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating and not slowing down as demanded by the Big Bang theory. The laws of physics require that the expelled particles from the Big Bang theory should be slowing down and not speeding up. Yet, the particles are speeding up. If a baseball pitcher throws a ball it slows down and eventually stops. Consequently, the Hubble discovery was a serious blow to the theory. As a result, the theorists have been postulating new versions of the theory in search for a viable one. In short, the theory was wrong and the scientists are now modifying it. The following quote from the “Discover Magazine” illustrates the fact that the theory has been seriously damaged. Notice the reference to a “mysterious energy force.” It is being postulated in order to make the theory viable.

Today, 13.7 billion years after the Big Bang, the universe continues to expand and in fact is speeding up under the influence of a mysterious energy force. If things keep going this way, the future of the universe looks bleak: Stars will burn out, galaxies will disintegrate, and the universe will end eternally dark and lifeless. This theory leaves many unknowns hanging. It does not explain why the Big Bang happened and what, if anything, existed before. It also does not explain the nature of the unidentified energy field that is causing our universe to accelerate.[1]

After reading the above quote it is interesting to note that the Apostle Peter said the following,

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 2 Peter 3:10-12 (NASB)

According to Peter these things will occur at the end of the world – when Jesus returns. We do not know when the Lord returns. He could come soon, wait hundreds of years, or come at the end of the universe.

The Big Bang theory is also seriously wounded because it does not really explain how the universe came into existence. Many ignore this basic truth. In the same article of the Discover magazine we read the following admission,

To address some of the limitations and paradoxes of the Big Bang model, cosmologists Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok have developed a new cosmology that views the visible universe as one small part of a much larger reality, most of which exists in other dimensions that we cannot perceive. Our universe exists on a three-dimensional membrane . . . that lies right next to another membrane.[2]

Notice that the authors are hypothesizing that our universe is part of a larger invisible cosmos. It is becoming clearer that science cannot explain how the world was created. It cannot explain where the particles came from that existed at the time of the Big Bang and were expelled outward. The theory is faulty and damaged.

Does the Big Bang Theory Violate the Teaching of the Bible?

Does the Big Bang violate Scripture? The answer is yes! Those Christians who support the Bang Theory reveal their lack of a solid biblical hermeneutic and commitment to the authority of Scripture. “Christian evolutionists” is an inconsistent phrase. On the one hand, the name Christian implies one believes in God and the term, evolutionist, implies the exclusion of God’s involvement in His creation. This is contrary to the character of God. Our God is not detached from His creation. Genesis 1 teaches us that God was actively involved in the details of creation. He was the cause of the creation and still maintains the creation.

For 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 through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17 (NASB)

John MacArthur summarizes the problem of the secularist’s evolutionary theory this way,

It’s hard to imagine anything more absurd than the naturalist’s formula for the origin of the universe. Nobody times nothing equals everything. There is no Creator; there is no design or purpose. Everything we see simply emerged and evolved by pure chance from a total void.[3]

The reader is encouraged to acquaint yourself with the following for additional information:

Young or Old Earth?

Why are the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 different?

The GAP Theory, part 1

The GAP Theory, part 2

Is It Okay For Christians to Believe In the Big Bang Theory

The correct solution is to believe that God created the world as He claims–as He says in Scripture. The Big Bang Theory is driven more by man’s philosophy, a low view of God and greater view of science. As we have seen, scientists are now searching beyond the known universe for an answer to the beginning of life and the universe. Why not consider God instead of a colliding three-dimensional membrane?

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 (NASB)

Conclusion:

Yes, one can believe in God and the Big Bang Theory, but why? The Scriptures do not support the Big Bang Theory. (Note: the author was trained as a mathematician and an aerospace electrical engineer. He has multiple advanced degrees.)

References:

1. Discover.com (www.discover.com/issues/feb-04/cover/?page=2).
2. Ibid.
4. John MacArthur. The Battle For The Beginning. WPublishing Group. 2001. p. 31.