Science, Religion and the Big Bang Theory

Whenever a major new scientific theory comes along, there is a tendency to mix it together with religion, and the outcome is often both unexpected and unfavorable. When the distinction between science and religion is clearly understood, such problems can be avoided. The history of the Big Bang theory is a fine example of how to do it right, thanks to one man who had that clear understanding.

A century ago, we had no idea of separate galaxies. There were some fuzzy objects out there, but telescopes weren't good enough to resolve what they actually were. Astronomy was still a fascinating field, but there was not yet a field of cosmology. Then in 1916 came Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which was a comprehensive theory uniting space, time and gravity.

That theory was totally different from what people had previously assumed. However, Einstein's previous accomplishments (four important new theories in 1905) assured that many scientists at least paid attention. By 1919, a prediction of Einstein's theory was verified via an experiment conducted during a solar eclipse, and that greatly enhanced the credibility of General Relativity.

Soon many more scientists got interested, because it was possible to associate the huge amount of observed astronomical data with a theory that made sense of it all. The measurable difference in light arriving from some very distant stars (the “red shift”) provided convincing evidence that the universe was expanding – and that begged for an explanation. Einstein's equations of General Relativity involved tensor calculus, which was unfamiliar to most scientists at the time; but a few set out to solve those equations for special conditions of the universe. Einstein, who once said, “I want to know God's thoughts...the rest are details,” himself believed that the universe was in a “steady state,” hardly changing at all.

In 1922, the Russian Alexander Friedmann worked out a solution for a universe expanding from a singular starting point; unfortunately, he died soon thereafter and his work wasn't noticed. Working independently, Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian Catholic priest, solved Einstein's equations for a universe starting at time t = 0 and expanding from a singular point to its present size. He submitted that as his doctoral thesis to both Harvard and M.I.T. in 1925, and that was quickly noticed in the western scientific world.

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Articles: Science, Religion and the Big Bang Theory