Christopher Eric Hitchens, a British-American author once remarked: “Religion is part of the human make-up. It's also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at literature, the texts, our first attempt at cosmology, making sense of where we are in the universe, our first attempt at health care, believing in faith healing, our first attempt at philosophy.” Isaiah 40:22 reminds us: “It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in.”
Cosmology is a branch of physics and metaphysics that addresses the scientific principles of the origin, evolution, and overall structure of the universe. It is heavily reliant on complex mathematical equations to support and understand the large-scale formational behavior of an evolving world. It is identified and seen as an orderly system or entity within the universe as it is dogmatically perceived. Cosmology is defined as a broad discipline covering the deductive reasoning of scientific analysis, religious or philosophical aspects of the cosmos and its nature. Religious and philosophical approaches may include the cosmos among spiritual entities or other matters deemed to exist outside the physical universe. Within certain reasoning, the "Big Bang" theory is regarded as the scientifically accepted explanation for the universe's beginning. However, it should be borne in mind that some aspects of cosmology are still considered theoretical and subject to further research and refinement due to the vast scales involved and limitations in observation technology.
There is much controversy over the opposing theories of science and many religions regarding the assumption of a “Big Bang” theory in contrast to the belief that the creation of the universe was in fact by God’s personal hand. Some Christians are said to view the “Big Bang” theory as compatible with their faith, interpreting it as the method God used to create the universe, with the "beginning" described in the first book of the Bible representing the moment of the “Big Bang.” But creationists differ in their opinion. Genesis 1:1-8 reminds us: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”
It should be emphasized that some conservative Christian groups, particularly those adhering to Young Earth Creationism, reject the “Big Bang” theory as improbable because it contradicts a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation story, which they believe describes a much shorter time frame for creation. The relationship between cosmology and religion is complex. While some cosmologists are said to be religious, others are believed to be either atheistic or agnostic in principle. In its scientific defense, it has been inferred that the “Big Bang” theory does not necessarily oppose the idea of God's work; many religious individuals, including Christians, are said to interpret the “Big Bang” as a scientific explanation for how God created the universe, seeing it as the mechanism through which God initiated creation rather than contradicting the concept of a creator. The main problem in its formulation is that the theory lacks concrete proof, only conjecture in the further important factors of creation, such as life itself, plants, trees, etc. Its main emphasis is on the initial concept. Little explanation, or scientific proof is offered as to how everything else was formed. The other prevalent factor is that the “Big Bang Theory” is exactly what it suggests: Theory.
But theory is not fact and can always change over time. Time is said to be relative. In a religious context, this may equate to the concept that God exists outside of the linear passage of time as we experience it, meaning that God perceives all moments of time simultaneously, essentially experiencing the past, present, and future as a single "now" because he is considered both timeless and eternal. This aligns with the concept that God created time itself and is not bound by its scientific limitations. Alper Mazun (No further details known) once remarked: “Time is relative. In human life, time is experience. The faster you archive a significant experience to your memory, the more you live in the same clock time. In physics, experience is represented by the distance traveled, and this entire thing is called the Relativity of Time. I want to age and die through archiving my experiences, not watching my biological clock. Please don't waste my clock time with mediocrity and egotism, let me use it towards serving to others.”
The “Big Bang” theory is primarily about the expansion of the universe, explaining how the universe began as a very small, dense point and then rapidly expanded outwards to form the vast universe we observe today; essentially, the core concept of the “Big Bang” theory is that the universe is constantly expanding from its initial explosive origin. There is a school of thought that suggests that cosmologists generally agree that the universe began 13.8 billion years ago with the inception of the “Big Bang.” This is based on decades of observations showing that all the galaxies in the Universe are flying apart: in other words, the universe is expanding. If you reflect on the whole issue, it looks like everything in the universe was originally clumped together. The implication is that, at the very beginning, everything was compressed into an infinitely tiny dot or "singularity" – which then expanded as the “Big Bang” happened.
It is a dangerous course of action for man to attempt, suggest or diminish God’s divine power. Romans 1:16-23 reminds us: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
God has a definitive power and purpose for everything created. Whether time had a beginning or if time has an end is God’s knowledge and privilege to know, and His alone. No matter how many differing theories are offered to suggest otherwise is irrelevant to life, because everything in life is under God’s control. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”
Amen.
