In the Beginning…
Theories of Origin
Yes! The universe had a beginning, a big bang. In the 20th century, scientists have dated the birth of our universe back billions of years. For those of us living in the 21st century, we take this for granted. The Big Bang theory has been taught to us from an early age, and we learn about the Big Bang in our schools and see its beauty as astronomers and astronauts explore the outer reaches of space and time. But throughout human history, science has provided few decisive answers to the origins of our universe. That is, until the last century. Thankfully, physicists have concluded through laws of natural science, like gravity and thermodynamics, that the universe began billions of years ago. Now, we – inheritors of this knowledge – have the commonly accepted, universally taught, and wonderfully insightful Big Bang theory.
It’s easy to take the Big Bang theory for granted. It is common knowledge. But we cannot forget, it has only recently become common knowledge. Let us not forget the long road to this theory. From a scientific point of view, the fact that our universe had a beginning has only been proved in the last hundred years. Even the great Albert Einstein was unsure as a physicist if the universe was finite or infinite. He mentioned in his insights on general relativity how “closed spaces without limits are conceivable” because of curved space, but this insight on a closed space without limits only produced more questions. Because of curved space, Einstein noted, “a most interesting question arises for astronomers and physicists, and that is whether the universe in which we live is infinite, or whether it is finite in the manner of the spherical universe. Our experience is far from being sufficient to enable us to answer this question.”
Thanks to Einstein and other great thinkers, human experience is now sufficient. The answer is conclusive. The universe not only had a beginning, but the universe is finite. It’s easy to take this idea for granted, but let us remember, it was billions of years in development. Things Einstein wondered, we now know. Things Ancient Jews claimed thousands of years ago, we only recently proved through science. And while the Big Bang is now a universally accepted scientific explanation, it is only recently universally accepted.
The Big Bang Theory was first proposed in the early 20th century by a Belgian physicist, a cosmologist, Georges Lemaître. Interestingly, he was also a Catholic priest. I mention Lemaître’s background, as both physicist and priest, because for me (an atheist) the Big Bang theory created a crisis of faith because of its relation to laws of energy. As an atheist and scientist, I was confronted with what seemed like an irreconcilable dilemma, a dilemma that had to do with energy and energy transfer.
Humans live by energy transfer. We consume all the energy we need as organisms through eating, drinking, and breathing. These systems of energy transfer abide by laws of thermodynamics. And these laws explain the energy processes behind our everyday experiences. Our cravings for food, water, and air are evidence of our everyday thirst for energy. Our survival in this universe is dependent on our ability to satisfy this energy craving. Energy is necessary for life to exist. We eat, drink, and breathe; when these stop, we die. When we stop breathing, drinking and eating, we don’t get the necessary energy we need, and we die.
As humans, we go beyond our everyday energy cravings to do more than survive. Laws of thermodynamics also guide how we manufacture goods, drive cars, cool houses, heat food, and a myriad of other everyday activities. Whether we recognize it or not, we live by these invisible laws of energy transfer (laws of thermodynamics) not only for survival, but also pleasure.
So, what is so important about these rules of energy transfer? For an atheist, someone who doesn’t believe in God, there is the uncomfortable realization and striking reality that one of the fundamental precepts of these laws of nature is energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transferred in form.
The issue for atheists is if we are forced to summarize the Big Bang theory in one sentence, the result is “the universe out of nothing.” But if energy cannot be created nor destroyed, where does this energy come from? Out of nothing? This is a major problem which, if left unresolved, results in an illogical worldview. A scientist passionate about truth may be able to handle mystery, but not bad logic. And so, on one hand a law says energy can only be transferred in form and cannot be created; on the other hand, a theory says the universe (and all its energy) is created out of nothing. Understood in this way, the Big Bang Theory violates known and proven laws of nature. This is impossible. As Shakespeare wrote in King Lear, “nothing shall come from nothing”. To have everything come from nothing is nonsense from a scientific point of view and impossible according to the laws of energy. And so, if energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transferred in form, from where was it transferred?
I was glad to learn that Lemaître’s ideas on the Big Bang were not well-received by the scientific community. I can relate as I too struggled with the implications of his theory and our laws of energy transfer. Lemaître’s revolutionary theory required great persistence to face the resistance of the scientific world and influence scientists to see the truth of these ideas, rather than hold on and cling to old and false beliefs.
What’s frightening about these laws of energy is how aware they make someone of the end of the world. The laws of thermodynamics also point out that in closed systems energy is lost (in the sense of unusable) in the transfer from one state to another. This means, as the universe continues to transfer energy, at some point the energy dwindles down to nothing. Just like living bodies die, the universe will likewise perish. And as scientists monitor the temperature of the universe, they note it is decreasing. One day we are destined to reach absolute zero, and that’s the moment the universe passes away.
From ancient history, humans have always been confronted with death of living beings. But now we know not only is death universal, but the universe will experience its own death. The universe itself is destined to pass away. As we came from nothing, we will most certainly return to nothing. One day, the universe will reach a temperature of absolute zero, at which point the universe will wear out like an old garment. The whole world, especially for atheists, needs an energy source to not only account for the creation of the universe, but also to sustain the universe. Otherwise the circumstances are dire, and everlasting is simply an idea from fairy tales.
But for Lemaître, a believer in God, his worldview easily reconciles the Big Bang theory with known laws of energy. He not only has a source to create the universe, but also has a source to sustain the universe. His one sentence summary is not “the universe from nothing,” but instead, “the universe from God.” His scientific theory is consistent with his religious beliefs because “the universe from God” aligns perfectly with ancient Hebrew storytellers, “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth…” Lemaître simply translates his understanding of reality from religious to scientific terms.
For Lemaître, the Big Bang theory describes in the language and culture of a physicist the reality about the origins of the universe, the reality he believed as a Catholic priest. For me, the shocking revelation is a physicist priest is able to make better sense of reality than me because of his religious views. This is a hard pill to swallow for atheists passionate about truth (like I prided myself to be). The physicist priest’s ability to see reality and discover new scientific truths are enhanced – not limited! – by his belief in God.
As a young atheist and budding scientist, I knew I needed to address this gap in logic. I needed a coherent worldview that enhanced my pursuit of truth, not diminished it by holding illogical viewpoints. It’s not right to believe in a theory that violates known and verifiable natural laws. This results in flaws of how I see the world. Scientific theories are supposed to make sense of natural laws, not violate them. If nature cannot violate the laws of thermodynamics, neither should a theory about all of nature.
And so, a challenge stands for atheists to solve. There needs to be s source of energy from outside of the universe. Otherwise, atheists have misplaced faith in a scientific theory that violates known laws of nature. This book is my journey of facing the impossible in my search for truth. What started as a quest for an energy source led to so much more.
The good news was science had conditioned me to believe there were answers to be found. When a scientist revisits old experiments gone wrong, they revisit original assumptions. I had to see the origins of the universe from a new perspective. The beauty of science is old experiments guide how to conduct future experiments. All knowledge is beneficial because it shapes what you do moving forward. Science trained me to believe that those who seek shall find. I knew in my gut there were better answers to be had, I just needed to search them out. From the beginning I believed and hoped that I would one day resolve my little crisis of faith in science. And because ultimately, we need unending and everlasting energy, my starting point would be new investigations into the idea of infinity.