This post and the next, I want to talk to you about the recent developments in our understanding of the origins of life. A lot has happened in this area over the past several decades and scientists are still hashing out the details, just like in other disciplines. Similar to biochemistry, the discoveries of the last several decades have not closed the “gap” for science to explain away God or anything similar to that. The opposite is the case – more discovery has conveyed more complexity and intricacies that we would otherwise assume didn’t matter. It was “out of sight, out of mind.” Our discoveries, while increasing our knowledge, have also made it very clear just how little we truly understand about our universe and origins. As such, to draw inferences assuming that we do have everything figured out is certainly premature.
Let’s look at a couple of examples (this post and next) of how things have changed and what they mean for people of faith.
The Big Bang:
The “Big Bang” theory (originally a derogatory term) came about through the work of two scientists in the 1920s – Lemaitre and Friedmann. They took Einstein/Hubble’s data about the universe expanding and made an obvious conclusion: if the universe is expanding, at sometime in the past, the distance between all matter in the universe must have been zero. Though the model made sense, I posted about all the attempts to produce another theory that didn’t have a “starting point.” Why? Because up until the Big Bang theory, cosmologists uniformly believed that there was no beginning or end to the universe. And all research endeavors to that point had been undertaken with that assumption firmly in place, once again denoting the “humanness” of science. But when a beginning point became a possibility, it became entirely feasible to ask what produced this beginning. In 1965, scientists found evidence of the big bang: residual radiation coming from all directions at equal length. Called cosmic microwave background radiation, their discovery silenced most critics of the Big Bang theory.
So, why is this a big deal? Well, it points to a beginning. And that makes it some of the best news science has ever produced for those looking for reconciling science and faith. For strict young earth creationists, the Big Bang is often seen as the enemy. But for all other models (various forms of intelligent design or theistic evolution, for example), this is an example of the reaffirming/collaborative effort faith and science can bring to each other. Science is still dealing with understanding this. For example, in attempting to reconstruct the precise point of the universe’s inception, astrophysicists have been able to calculate backwards to a point about 10-43 second from the zero point. At that point, their physics breaks down due to quantum’s uncertainly principle. Does this “prove” God exists. No…the only thing it “proves” is that we don’t know what happened beyond 10-43 second. All inferences at this point become philosophical/religious.
“we don’t know what happened beyond 10-43 second. All inferences at this point become philosophical/religious.”
Ahhh….
. What the “hard” scientists can’t figure out, leave to the real thinkers… haha
But seriously, its tough not to believe that the entire framework we use to categorize moments as slices of time is odd to me (the whole “time before the beginning of time” argument). Perhaps if I read Einstein and that whole time-space stuff, I might have a different perspective.
That was horrible english. I meant to say “its tough not to believe that the entire framework we use to categorize moments/occurances as succeeding ‘slices of time’ is *flawed*.”
Hi Chris –
Excellent point, my friend. We work from a predisposition of the importance of time in determining the “beginning.” Most folks wouldn’t even begin to deal with that issue. Of couse, you jump right on in there, don’t you?
10^-43 is a human distinction based on our linear understanding of time. I haven’t read a lot of Einstein either (and probably wouldn’t understand it if I did) but he seems to quickly jettison parts of that linear perspective in order to maintain a universal equilibrium that falls outside of common-sense intuition. How about this – you can go read all his works and tell me what he thought…sound good? 
Sam
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Hi Sam, one of the problems that too many people have is viewing time in the linear fashion. God, in Jewish thought is not linear and anytime one starts to view the theology of God in linear fashion problems occur. God is more like a 3-D sphere model. No beginning and no end. Once science deals with time in this fashion then answers may occur as time differs in the few moments of creation as the universe is expanding.
Hi Roy –
Well put, my friend. That Westernized linear view of time confines our understanding of how God not only can create, but how he may operate in creation today. Freeing ourselves from a linear time frame where God is concerned allows much more freedom in determing the possibilities of where, when, and how God has created and is still creating. I think science is beginning to catch on to this, particularly as quantum mechanics and string theory push the envelope. That’s my next post anyway. Thanks (as always) for weighing in…
Sam
I onced wrote a play called The Didact and the Abecedarian. The student told the teacher to explain how A to Z could be a circular set and the professor kept arguing that it was linear. In my mind, when I picture what G-d must be like-I imagine a time where time is interpolated and constantly changing-events in the past have their place and we are but a brief variable while we are alive–but when I was very sick (one day I will explain) I was worried that hostile people would destroy the world with a bomb that was based on Nuclear Arms Proliferation Theories (one theory is that the country with the most devastating weapon can impose world peace) that even if evil people try to destroy the world–they will fail because G-d’s plan of human perfection is already in existence and cannot be undone-even with events that could randomly occur based on our free will choices. My understanding is that G-d is the creator of all consciousness and so only a finite set of possibilities can occur-meaning G-d has the upper hand. So-even though we have free will–our choices cannot supersede G-d’s.
Sorry I am rambling…