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Jonathan Brindle

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104 T/TR 9:30-10:45

05 April 2018

Since the inception of human intuition, humanity has pondered what the origins of our

lives, earth, stars, and everything that we can see has come from. Many explanations have come

and gone, and throughout history mankind has fought over these ideas, spilling blood over a

mere difference in opinion. The two most relevant ideas that have been adopted in the current

age are The Big Bang Theory and The Creationist Story of Origins. The Big Bang Theory is a

relatively new idea in the known age of our species existence.

Interestingly enough, a Catholic priest first proposed the idea of an expanding universe in

1927 which would eventually be dubbed “The Big Bang Theory.” The priest, Georges Lemaître,

proposed this idea after recognizing the red-shifting light of spiral nebulae at the edge of the

observable universe. A redshift in light means that the photons, or particles of light, have lost

their energy in their long journey from the point of origin to the observer. Light has energy and

this energy can be measured and placed onto a scale. Observable light, or light that we can see is

in the middle of this scale. Purple is the most energetic of light whereas red is the least energetic.

Due to this scientific truth, the idea of red-shifting consists of light losing its energy as it travels

immense distances and appearing red to our eyes. Once code for finding what correlated with the

idea of an expanding model for the universe and the proper technological advances was made,

scientists were able to determine the beginning of the expansion of photons by measuring the

distance between the earth and the edge of the observable universe and calculating the time it
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took to reach from the edge to the observer based on the finite speed of light. These observations

were key in forming the backbone of the modern-day interpretation of The Big Bang Theory.

The Creationist’s explanation for origins involves an intelligent design of the universe to

account for the unknowns and the randomness that seem to have all coalesced into what we see

today. For example, Michio Kaku, a world-renowned particle physicist stated “To me it is clear

that we exist in a plan which is governed by rules that were created, shaped by a universal

intelligence and not by chance.” (Hollingsworth, String Theory Co-Founder) This excerpt

exemplifies the fact that even physicists have doubts about the idea of there not being a God and

some even embrace the idea of a God such as Professor Kaku. These two ideas have been

questioned extensively, but neither has been able to address every question that has been posed.

Scientists that have worked in this field have even stated that the chances of everything falling

perfectly into place as it did in order to create life on this planet are so infinitesimally small that

an intelligent being must have had something to do with the creation of our universe. These

existential questions are deeply rooted in our human nature. Every last one of us has gazed

towards the heavens and wondered to ourselves what exactly created all of the vastness of space

and the beautiful planet we call home. The origins of our universe, as proposed by The Big Bang

Theory and the Creationist Story of origins, should be considered the two best representations of

the beginning of our universe. Furthermore, the idea that these two could go hand in hand rather

than juxtaposing one another should be taken into account instead of dismissing one or the other

based on one’s personal preference.

The mountain of evidence that corroborates the ideas encompassed within The Big Bang

Theory only cover a small portion of the abyss of questions that the theory raises. It seems as if

one mystery solved by science opens another two inquiries. This constant train of questionings
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has led us to the quandary we are at today. Humanity now holds more knowledge about the past

and the future than we ever could have imagined, even 100 years ago. I was able to consult a

valuable source in “The Physics of the Universe” in order to construct a timeline of the Big Bang

Theory. This timeline begins with the singularity. Essentially, the Big Bang Theory begins with a

point which scientists call the singularity. This singularity, as hard as it may seem to visualize,

holds every single particle in the entire universe in space of about 1x10^-35 meters. This would

be much smaller than even a single proton. This idea was derived from Einstein’s Theory of

General Relativity. This singularity would be infinitely dense and infinitely hot. Another idea

concerning the singularity is that all of the fundamental forces in physics must have existed as

one during the time of the singularity. This symmetric representation of the forces of gravity,

weak nuclear and strong nuclear forces, and electromagnetism has been compared to the

symmetry of a freshly sharpened pencil. A freshly sharpened pencil may very well be symmetric,

but is rather unstable when you attempt to place the graphite end on a table and stand the eraser

portion facing upwards. This instability is believed to have caused the expansion. Before this

singularity there was a nothingness. A common misconception is that the singularity existed at a

point in space, however, nothing existed before this singularity. There was no space and no time

before the singularity formed. One of the fundamental issues of this theory is exposed in this

unknown. What could have possibly created the singularity? Our minds cannot grasp the concept

of something deriving itself from nothing. This mystery is one of the greatest of our entire

universe and one in which Creationist’s posit that God’s hand must have created the singularity.

As previously mentioned, the instability of such a great force in such a small space can

account for the expansion. At this point, space and time begin. Gravity and the Strong Nuclear

force within the singularity break off and begin the never-ending expansion, known as the
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inflationary epoch or the cosmic inflation. An estimation of the temperature of the so-called

quark-soup at this point of the expansion is put at 10 quadrillion degrees, or about

10,000,000,000,000,000 degrees if you’re interested in the long hand version. This quark-soup is

composed of the early elementary particles such as Z, W, and Higgs Boson particles. For the

purpose of maintaining simplicity, these particles are distant cousins of the electrons, neutrons,

and protons that make up the everyday matter that we interact with. The next stage of the

expansion shows the universe to have cooled to about a trillion degrees and this allowed for the

combining of hadrons to form electrons and weightless neutrinos. These neutrinos are some of

the hardest particles to detect in the universe. They are traveling at nearly the speed of light and

have nearly zero mass. As small as these particles are they are fundamental in the search for truth

concerning the expansion of the early universe. The next stage consists of another cooling down

which allowed the first elements to form such as Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium. This stage also

allowed for the formation of photons. These photons are what light is made of and what allowed

scientists to age the universe so accurately.

Photons would dominate the next few hundred thousand years as the universe was still

cooling and this plasma like soup of matter thrived during the early expansion. After 300,000

years of expansion and cooling the universe finally fell to the point at which it was the same

temperature as the surface of our sun today. This allowed for more particles to interact and

initiate the formation of solid material and the many elements from which all matter is

constructed. In the next stage of The Big Bang, mysterious dark matter dominates the lion’s

share of the mass in the universe. Not much is known about dark matter because we cannot see it

with any sort of instrument. The only reason we know that it exists is due to the abnormally fast

rotations of galaxies within the universe. These supermassive portions of matter drive the
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rotation of entire galaxies in our universe today. This era of Dark Matter is known as the Dark

Era and would carry on until about 150 million years after the initial cosmic inflation.

After this stage of development, the universe has cooled to the point where the first stars

can begin to form. These first stars were supermassive and highly unstable. They often would go

supernova, which is a term used to describe the final stage of life in a supermassive star. The guts

of the star shoot out of itself in a massive explosion that emits cosmic radiation and creates some

of the brightest lights that humans have ever seen. This ejection of mass would go on to create

other stars and in turn begin the formation of the first galaxies and solar systems. Our solar

system is no exception as it was formed about 4.5 to 5 billion years ago from this same process.

Now, nearly 13.7 billion years after the initial inflation we stand on the third rock from

the sun in the Milky Way galaxy, within the Laniakea Supercluster of galaxies. So, what can all

of this mean and how can we be so sure that it occurred in this manner? Well, we can never

know for sure, but there is a great deal of evidence that does support this position. These pieces

of evidence include; red-shifting light, microwave background, mixture of elements in distant

galaxies, and our ability to look backwards in time. Red-Shifting, as previously mentioned, can

account for the measured distance between the earth and the edge of the observable universe.

This hard edge is a barrier that blocks us from seeing any further due to the fact that light has not

had enough time to travel to us from that immense distance. The old saying goes that you are not

the center of the universe and this may be true in a philosophical sense but in reality, every single

person, is in fact, at the center of their observable universe. Light expands in all directions at the

same speed, so in your own perspective you and everyone else are at the center of the universe.

The cosmic microwave background also provides some concrete evidence for the Big Bang

Theory. This theory stated that the early universe would be infinitely hot and due to the nature of
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the heat should leave behind a glow that can be measured in microwaves. This glow has been

measured and recorded accurately by orbiting detectors, concluding that the map of the glow

directly correlates with what was expected from such a rapid expansion proposed in The Big

Bang Theory. We also have the ability to view distant galaxies which are far younger than our

own but are made up of what would be considered early universe expansion material. We can

accurately predict what these galaxies are made of and if they are wholly consistent with what

was expected in the early universe. This points to the idea that the expansion of the same

materials that made our galaxy and solar system also made the galaxies located billions of light

years away. These key pieces of evidence corroborate and support the entirety of The Big Bang

and all of its stages.

The Creationist’s view of the beginning of the universe is far less random and in fact a

very intricate design. This design is performed by an intelligent being often in the form of God.

Creationists believe that God created all that lies within the universe. In the Christian version of

creation, God is said to have created the entirety of the universe in only seven days. However, we

know that this is scientifically impossible based on the evidence that has been compiled. The

bible was never intended to be interpreted literally; Christians believe that God’s time functions

on a different scale than our human conception of time does. For instance, a day for God could

have been a billion years in humanity’s eyes. The main argument that scientists use to discredit

the claims of the bible and the claims of creationists are that there is no scientific evidence to

support the existence of God, the carbon dating processes ability to forego the time scale of a

creationist, and the idea that evolution is a much better model for the variation in species than

simply creating many different species all at once.

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Firstly, evidence of God would never become available to our human minds. The idea of

God and his involvement in our lives is that we should have faith in his existence. This means

that God would never show himself to us before we depart from this life. God’s entire purpose in

providing for our existence is for us to exercise our free will in determining whether or not he

exists and whether or not we believe he is the ultimate creator of the universe. Therefore, the

burden of proof does not belong to the creationist to show God’s existence because proving his

existence would be fundamentally broken in the face of a faith-based belief.

Secondly, the carbon dating systems points out a fatal flaw in the idea that the earth is

only 7,000 years old. Now, this truly puzzles some creationists and some are completely adamant

that the Earth must be exactly this old. One of the fundamental ideas in the story of creation is

that God simply doesn’t function at the same scale that we as mankind do. This means that if we

were to record the age of the Earth based on the evidence that God provided within the content of

the bible then we would come up with the number similar to that of 7,000. However, one must

understand that God has no timetable. God is purportedly present forever with no beginning and

no end. This idea is mind boggling in both the creationist and the non-creationist. How can

something have no beginning and no end? This is where one can draw a parallel from the

previously discussed singularity and God himself. Human minds cannot understand the idea of

something with no origin and no end because we have been taught that every single thing in our

universe must have a beginning and an end. This parallel unknown elucidates the fact that we

simply do not know enough to banish one idea or the other to the scrap heap.

Lastly, evolution teaches us that small variations in the genetic code has provided us with

the many variations in the species of Earth. Creationists posit that God created every species that

can be found on the planet and that without his intelligent design there is no way that all the
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necessary materials could be present to create a single living cell all at once. The central

argument against this is that without a slow genetic variation there would not be so many

similarities between humans and other species that look nothing like us externally. Furthermore,

why would there be so many extinct species if the intelligent designer gave them life? For

example, if God created the dinosaurs then why would they be killed off as an entire species

nearly 65 million years ago based on carbon dating and the entirety of the human race remained

intact? This is one of the more difficult arguments for Creationists to refute, however, the best

answer that has been provided has to be the idea of the mouse trap. For a single bacterium to

form and function long enough to reproduce, the environment must be exact and several key

parts must come together all at once. The pieces cannot come together slowly in order to form

the first living organism, but rather all at once. A flagellum, or small tail on bacteria that allows

it to move throughout their environment would need to be constructed all at once from a random

assortment of atoms and molecules along with the other seemingly infinite number of atoms and

molecules that encompass the entirety of the bacteria. This parallels with the idea of a mouse trap

because a mouse trap must have no less than eight parts in order to function. One must consider

the possibility of all of those parts randomly assembling to form the mouse trap all at once rather

than over an extended period of time. This example provides the best evidence for an intelligent

design that can currently be surmised. The randomness and infinitesimally small possibility of

life forming on the only planet that life would be possible in all of the planets that we have

observed simply seems to point to the idea that there must be some sort of an intelligent designer

that allowed life to occur all at once. One concession that could be made be made by Creationists

is that God utilized the process of evolution in order to create the vast diversity in species on
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Earth. In this manner we can see that there is not a definite way to refute the idea of Creationism

by intelligent design based on our current knowledge of the universe.

As a rebuttal for the Creationism argument, Neil deGrasse Tyson provides a key

philosophical issue with the application of Creationism as a means for describing the universe’s

inception. He states “The history of discovery, particularly scientific discovery, is one where at

any given moment there is a frontier, and there tends to be an urge for people, especially

religious people, to assert that across that boundary into the unknown lies the handiwork of

God.” (Tailgatos 00:00:38-00:01:02) Tyson discusses an anecdote where Isaac Newton had

discovered the laws of gravity and motion. Tyson states that once people reach a limit of

understanding, they tend to invoke the power of God. Philosophers call this the “God of Gaps,”

in which people invoke the power of God and the hand of God because they cannot yet

understand a concept. In this discussion Tyson is asked whether or not Dark Matter could be the

God of the Universe as it is known that it binds together all that we can see. This reasoning is

crucial when considering the objectivity of an argument in which science and religion go hand in

hand. I of course, cannot say that Tyson is wrong in saying this because it is quite possible that

this is all that religion is. Without religion many people would find no purpose in life. To fulfill

their Earthly duties is what some live for on a daily basis. However, what Tyson describes as

scientific ignorance, I view as understanding one’s perspective and place in the universe. Tyson

is a known agnostic and this is an understandable viewpoint, but I believe it would be foolish to

dismiss the possibility of God’s existence based on the premise that all scientific discoveries

have snuffed out the teachings of the church. Instead, one should view this as a possibility of

God’s work as an intelligent designer that left clues to discover the workings of his hands.
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After analyzing the evidence and arguments for both sides, I am convinced that there

must be a God. The key flaws of the Big Bang Theory can be attributed to the fact that we

simply are not intelligent enough to understand all that was needed to create the universe. For

example, the singularity that is present at the beginning of The Big Bang Theory simply cannot

exist without it being created by something of a higher order. If it not then it would defy all laws

of physics. Simply put, a massive ball of material cannot just appear. The mouse trap anecdote

also pokes a huge hole in the theory of random life assembly as described in The Big Bang

Theory. From an objective point of view, I cannot understand how someone could be arrogant

enough to believe that they understand enough about the universe to refute the idea of a God

entirely. Agnosticism is an understandable practice because as much as religious people and

atheists would like to believe, no man truly knows whether or not God exists. In order to believe

in God, one must exercise their faith that he exists rather than facts. I am not convinced that we

can even reach an intelligence high enough to allow us to know with 100 percent certainty that

there is not a God. As for now, the evidence points to an intersection of science and creationism

as the most likely way in which the universe was created. Those who hold a hardline stance

against the idea of evolution and The Big Bang Theory are simply ignorant to the facts. Science

has proven that these things truly happened and if a creationist cannot grasp the concept that God

could have utilized these two methods in order to create all of the universe then they are truly

lost in the literal teachings of their holy books and in committing this they are only minimizing

the power of an all-powerful God. One must consider the idea that if we are to attribute these

capabilities to a God then we must allow him the capability of completing the process of creation

through the means described in the Big Bang Theory and The Theory of Evolution, otherwise,

we have minimized the power of God to that of a mortal. Due to the fact that neither creationism
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and scientific reasoning can refute each other explicates the idea that they have the possibility of

working together in order to achieve a common goal rather than working as counter arguments to

one another.
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Works Cited

“Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.” National Geographic. Uploaded by National Geographic.

Written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, Directed by Brannon Braga, Performed by

Neil deGrasse Tyson. March 9 2014. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/cosmos-a-

spacetime-odyssey/

Hollingsworth, Barbara. “String Theory Co-Founder: Sub-Atomic Particles Are Evidence the

Universe Was Created.” CNS News, 17 June 2016,

www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/string-theory-co-founder-sub-

atomic-particles-are-evidence-0.

National Schools Observatory. Evidence for The Big Bang. NSO. 2018.

https://www.schoolsobservatory.org/learn/astro/cosmos/bigbang/bb_evid

“Neil deGrasse Tyson-God of the Gaps” Youtube, Uploaded by Tantan Tailgatos. Interviewee

Neil deGrasse Tyson, 18 Feb 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytaf30wuLbQ&feature=youtu.be

Mastin, L. Timeline of the Big Bang. The Physics of the Universe. 2018.

https://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/topics_bigbang_timeline.html
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Public Broadcasting Service. A Space Odyssey; The Big Bang Theory is Introduced. 1998.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dp27bi.html

Rennie, John. 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense. Scientific American. 1 July 2002.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/15-answers-to-creationist/