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This site is for thoughtful Christians learning how to answer the hard questions people are asking today
MACRO TOPIC 1.1

Can Christians believe the Big Bang?

Science now acknowledges the beginning

Big Bang in God's creation of universe
PURPOSE: Helping Christians engage in intelligent conversations with doubters and unbelievers

QUESTIONS

discussed on this page

Tough questions people are asking about the Bible and Big Bang:

Is the Big Bang compatible with the Bible? Why or why not? Does a Christian have to choose one or the other?

Scientists say the earth is billions of years old, but most Christians say only thousands of years. Who's right? Why?

Is there an inherent conflict between science and the Bible? Is science an enemy to Christian faith?

How can a Christian give an intelligent and compelling biblical answer to people who think that Christians – and the Bible – are flat-out wrong about age of the universe?

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WHY THIS MATTERS

Bible credibility and Christian witness

Problem for unbelievers

Most Christians just shrug off the questions here by saying, 'It doesn't matter to me whether the earth is young or old. Big Bang, or not. It doesn't make any difference.'

Woman wondering about Bible credibility

But this response misses the real issue: It's not about ME! It's about THEM!

Bible credibility is the issue. If the Bible is wrong about origin and age of the earth, doubters and unbelievers can reasonably conclude that it is probably wrong about other matters, too, and that the Bible cannot be trusted as a book of truth.

Similarly, personal testimony is greatly diminished if others think Christians are uneducated, naive, or brain-washed.

It's important to get it right about the earth in order to establish respect and influence.

Maybe the subject will never come up in open conversation, but every Christian should be ready if it does. Even if doubters don't raise the issue, they think about it! In some situations, a Christian should raise the issue just to flush out hidden misunderstandings and establish better rapport

FIRST WORDS IN THE BIBLE

'In the beginning ... '

'IN THE BEGINNING God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.' – Genesis 1:1-2
RESTATED IN TODAY'S LANGUAGE: God created the universe instantly with a release of divine energy beyond human comprehension, the Big Bang. Heat was so intense that everything was vapor and light could not penetrate it. Vapors eventually cooled to form the earth's core with a crust and a deep watery surface. God was getting ready to do something special here!

This is all the information the Bible provides about the creation of the universe. To say more would have created credibility issues for people in earlier times who didn't have the historical and scientific understanding we have today.


These first two verses of the Bible are just an introductory summary of God's creation. See life to earth in six stages called 'days,' in essentially the same sequence as modern science now explains it – written in the Bible more than 3,500 years ago!

BIBLE REPORTED BIG BANG FIRST

Science discovered it 3,500 years later

Old science was 'steady-state' until 1960's

Until the 1960s, scientists held to the steady-state theory that the universe had no beginning or end in time and that the earth has always existed in one form or another. They scoffed at the Bible for saying the earth had a beginning.

The first use of the term 'big bang' was by astronomer Fred Hoyle in a BBC broadcast in 1949 when he said that a new theory was being proposed by some radical astronomers 'based on the hypothesis that all matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular time in the remote past.' He argued against the theory and said it was 'irrational and outside science.'

However, as a result of better telescopes and computers, by the 1980s the 'Big Bang' had become the dominant explanation by astronomers and astrophysicists.

New science is 'Big Bang'

Today, the Big Bang is generally regarded as settled science.

The universe started with a 'singularity' (Christians say 'God'), then exploded, expanded and cooled over the next 13.8 billion years into the cosmos we know today – and it is still expanding!

NASA has calculated that In the first second after the universe began the surrounding temperature was more than10 billion degrees Fahrenheit!

Bible has been saying it for thousands of years

The Bible says that 'In the beginning' the earth was 'formless and empty.' Heat was so intense that everything was vapor – just gasses – and nothing was yet solid.

There was 'darkness over the face of the deep.' We now know that light cannot penetrate intense heat.

The 'spirit of God was hovering over the waters' (condensing steam and cooling crust): God was giving special attention to planet earth because He planned to do something very unique and special here, to create life.

The Big Bang is what scientists have been saying for less than 80 years but what the Bible has been saying for more than 3,500 years!

This gives us great confidence in the Bible because the writer of Genesis could not have known about the Big Bang that long ago except by special revelation from the Creator.

Churches are silent about it

One would think that churches would be enthusiastically telling parishioners about this very significant change in scientific understanding, which greatly strengthens the credibility of the Bible.

Instead, churches have been silent about it. Most Christians are completely unaware that science has changed its basic thinking and now agrees with the Bible regarding the instant creation of the universe.

This is a sad commentary on the underlying hostility between church and science, so strong that most pastors don't want to bring science into the conversation even when new findings support the Bible.

METHOD AND TIMING

makes God's creation even more awesome

Universe began externally, not within nature

There are no natural explanations for either the existence or the purpose of the universe.

Earth creation by God from outside of nature

If the Big Bang is the beginning of nature, then some intelligence and power outside of nature and greater than nature had to trigger the Big Bang, to start everything out of nothing, and to establish the predetermined laws of nuclear energy, physics, and chemistry that enabled it to develop with orderly precision.

Christians believe that divine intelligence and power is the only reasonable explanation for an instant universe of such magnitude, majesty, and precision.

Scientists call this source the 'singularity;' Christians know it as 'God.'

The Big Bang does not push God out of creation. It just explains God's method and timing. Like everything else scientific, God lets us learn more and more over time about His creation and how it works.

Earth was not created instantly in present form

Genesis 1:1-2 says that, at first, the earth was formless, empty, and dark. Now it has form, content, and light. Therefore we know from the Bible that the earth was NOT created instantly in its present form. Enormous changes have occurred over time in the earth's structure and content.

The only question is: How much time?

The Bible does not specifically tell in years when the Big Bang occurred, but scientists are now in agreement that it was approximately 13.8 billion years ago.

The earth (solid) is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Apparently, it took about 9.3 billion years – the time between Genesis 1:2 and Genesis 1:6 – for the gasses to cool and form a liquid core with solid crust covered mostly by water. Then God began shaping the earth and putting life on it.

See Bible study here on God's six stages of transformation.

The compiler/writer of Genesis could not have had this amazing scientific insight more than three thousand years ago without special revelation from the Designer/Creator.

 See Bible study here on why creation 'day' is more than 24-hours.

The earth is still cooling, a whirling glob of molten minerals, 8,000 miles in diameter, with a thin crust (typically 5-25 miles) that supports life. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the known universe.

And now there's spiritual life

The Bible and the scientific community are now in essential agreement about the beginning of our physical world.

But there's another part of our world that came later – the non-physical part, even more complex and wonderful than any physical BODY the human SOUL (mind, will, and emotion) and human SPIRIT (connection to God).

Topic 2.4 (future topic) will investigate from scripture how humans are made in the image of God: A human trinity (soul, body and spirit) which mirrors God's trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

SCIENCE IS NOT THE ENEMY

Bible and science both seek truth

There is only one truth

There can be no difference between true science and true Christianity because both seek truthand there is only ONE TRUTH!

Science and Bible both seek truth

Science inquires into the physical, and Christianity inquires into the spiritual. They make different inquiries in different ways, but both are part of the same quest for truth.

Conflicts between science and the Bible have resulted from a lack of knowledge at particular times in history but are eventually resolved. For example:

World was flat. Christians fought the theory advanced by Pythagoras that the earth is round, not flat. They argued from four Bible verses that refer to 'the four corners of the earth.' The earth can't be round, they said, because the Bible says it has corners. And they argued from eight verses in the King James version about distance that say to 'the end of the earth.' The earth can't be round, they said, because it would then have no end. Christians once quibbled over 'corners' and 'ends' the way we quibble over 'days.'

World was stationary. Christians fought the theory advanced by Copernicus that the earth revolves around the sun. They believed that God made the earth the center of everything and argued from Psalm 104:5 ('He established the earth upon its foundations ...') and Psalm 93.2 ('... the earth is firmly established, it will not be moved'). They quibbled over 'established' and 'foundations' the way we quibble over 'days.'

Universe had no beginning. Similarly, on the other side, scientists rejected the Bible's teaching that the universe had a beginning. They claimed for centuries that the universe has always existed (steady-state theory), and they scoffed at Christians for believing that God spoke it into existence.

Eventually, Christians accepted the fact that the world is not flat and stationary ... and scientists have now accepted the fact that the universe had a beginning.

Conflicts in wording and understanding are usually resolved over time as we get more facts. Still, in the meantime, there have been many unnecessary battles that have undermined confidence in the Bible.

Today, a good study of both the Bible and science will reconcile God's word with God's world. Properly understood, science is just our growing understanding of God's marvelous creation.

Science makes the case for a single almighty God

Science and the Bible are not enemies.

In fact, science is making a case for belief in a single almighty Designer/Creator God – ONE GOD, not many Gods.

For most of human history, people believed in a pantheon of gods.

People believed that hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, and diseases were the wrath of the angry gods who had to be appeased with offerings and rituals. Many early Christians were persecuted and even put to death because they did not honor the local gods and thus were blamed for bringing punishments upon the community.

Science has been a great help to Christianity by revealing a single master design plan, leaving no doubt that a pantheon of gods does NOT run the world and that natural disasters and illnesses are NOT caused by wrath of the gods but by natural laws emanating from an intelligent and predictable master plan for the universe.

For most people in the United States today, the choice is not which deity to worship, but whether or not to acknowledge and obey the ONE Designer/Creator God.

See Bible study here on one God only for this foundational Christian belief.

Christians inadvertently help science take the place of God

In stretching and defending the Bible, some Christians are actually degrading the Bible's authority and encouraging the rise of science as the new authority.

The Big Bang is a good example.

When Christians insist from tradition that the Bible says the universe was created less than 10,000 years ago all in one week – even though it really doesn't say that – it pits the Bible against science and makes them enemies of each other.

Instead, Christians should embrace new scientific discoveries and claim them as part of Christianity – as the design of our almighty God – rejoicing that God allows us to learn more and more about His marvelous creation every year. Discovery is vastly different from creation!

The chemical compounds, instruments, machines and structures that man has built from God's physical laws and atomic building blocks have made life better for everyone. They are gifts from God. No one wants to go back to primitive days.

Everyone knows instinctively from common sense that there is super-human intelligence and design behind the amazing discoveries.

Outwardly, largely due to career and social push-back against over-zealous Christians, most scientists simply say that life is a mystery, and they maintain an agnostic attitude toward God.

Scientists don't fight Christianity until Christians move into their domain and make stupid pronouncements that the scientists know to be false. For the most part, scientists are just trying to figure out how the physical world works.

Robot: Science is America's new god

By stretching the Bible and fighting science – rather than embracing science as progressive discovery of God's design – many Christians have set the stage for the terrible cultural shift that's occurring in American today.

Science is becoming America's new god!

In the Millennial and Gen Z generations – now more than half of the U.S. population – science IS god for most, and Christianity is increasingly regarded as old, unthinking, and irrelevant.

Christians are largely to blame for this seismic shift from Christianity to science because most Christians don't have the interest or courage to face the divisive issues and to re-read their Bibles in light of new knowledge. Christians are not prepared to answer the tough questions.

See the chart and statistics on this site showing how Christianity in America is in steep decline as older generations are dying off.

SCIENCE is discovery of God's physical design plan
THEOLOGY is discovery of God's spiritual design plan

FIVE REASONS

for believing Big Bang was real

✓ REASON 1. Bible said it first
Genesis 1:1-2 (quoted in yellow above), the first words of the Bible, describe the Big Bang. We could not deduce the full massive concept from those few words – and the concept would have been incomprehensible to ancient people – but now with help from modern science we see how everything began in an instant with the Big Bang, the moment when God spoke the universe into existence.
✓ REASON 2. Science now agrees
Until the mid to late 1900s, most scientists believed that the universe had always existed (steady-state) and rejected the idea that it had a beginning. Now, however, virtually all scientists agree that the universe had an instant beginning caused by a 'singularity' (Christians say 'God').
✓ REASON 3. Removes barrier to faith
Jesus gave Christians the commission to 'make disciples.' Christians often thwart the mission by erecting unnecessary barriers to faith. When doubters and unbelievers are told that the Bible says the universe is less than 10,000 years old – and they are convinced by modern knowledge that this is patently false – they assume that the Bible is wrong about other things, too.
✓ REASON 4. Enhances gospel
Accepting the Big Bang does not in any way alter Christology (birth, life, teaching, atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ). Instead, the gospel message is enhanced because it is not tarnished with concerns that the Bible has been proven wrong by science.
✓ REASON 5. Honors God
A universe that unfolds with majestic precision over billions of years is even more marvelous than a universe put together as-is in a week. It diminishes God's creation when people say His creation is less amazing than it really is.
NEXT ►
 Is a Bible creation 'day' more than 24 hours?
LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS
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Thanks for your comments. Your thoughts are helpful to us. We are always learning.

You are anonymous, so no tracking, and we have no way to contact you.
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Wish I could remember all this.
I find your explanation very compelling and appreciate that we do need to answer questions of unbelievers, there needs to be effort in this direction. So I thank you for your efforts
You have developed material that is vitally needed for reaching the newer generations.
Very good
Very interesting. Verification of my own thoughts.
God created everything that was created in six literal days.
Just happened upon this site and wow! This is fabulous. I will be back. Thank you for putting this together and sharing it with us all. God bless you and your family.
Wrong!!
Proof of the absurdity of ALL religions, thanks.
This is awesome, very detailed information and totally makes sense, thanks for sharing!
Either believe the world or believe God. We cannot have both.
This is a great Bible study, it explains everything perfectly so there is no confusion anywhere, it just helps understanding the Bible and God's word so well.
Thank you for the article! There are several nonbelievers in my life that I love deeply. My heart breaks for them. Every time I share my faith, I'm bombarded with science. Perhaps this will help. Thank you. God bless you.
Someone has never had a real encounter with God and does not know the assumptions he is making with the scientific evidence. Sad when you don't know either God or Science
I want more information and I want bible study
Please pray for me as I ponder the input you've provided online.
I am a Christian, and I have always been a “young earth” proponent. My son, also a Christian, is an “old earth” proponent, and we have debated this topic. After reading the content of this website thoroughly, I am willing to reconsider my position.
This is great. God has shown this to me some time ago, but you are the first that has ever confirmed it. God is good.
Excellent
I absolutly loved this! My daughter is a high school science teacher, and we are both christians. We had our own ideas of what scriptures say, and what actual physical science says. This brought ALOT to light! Thank you.
I applaud you on your studies and have to say that I do not disagree with what I have read. You seemed to have covered this subject very thoroughly.
Rational Evangelicals. Exellent.
Since your website is new and still in the making, it leaves me excited yet hungry for more understanding. Thank you so much for putting your website together to help those of us asking questions about traditional lines of thinking. I look forward to reading more!
Thank you for this.It helps me understand my youngest grandchild(age 31). Also this affirms my teaching as a science teacher and pastor.
Death and suffering had not taken place until the original sin, so no one was before Adam.
Thank you
Very interesting
I’m learning so much. Thank you.
About time!
I'm a pastor in NE Ohio. Good stuff!!
Wrong all wrong
Interesting !!
You really don’t understand the Bible at all.
Fascinating and deightfully clear!
I ran across your website this morning. At age 50, I lead a women's Bible Study in Florida. I am at a place where I am questioning so many things about what I have been taught - traditions handed down for generations. To continue teaching is becoming challenging. I have a daughter who is also a believer but wrestles aloud with questions concerning Adam and original sin, eternal hell with eternal suffering, etc. Honestly, I think her wrestling has led me to stop and think more. So now I am seeking…
All present dating methods are based on assumptions that cannot be proven. The methods do not meet scientific requirements of being observable, repeatable, and testable. They can reliable determine chemical compositions, but they CANNOT reliably give age..
This is wonderful. Would like to read more.
Enjoyed the read. I am a believer.
Do you offer a textbook?
What you have said makes so much sense to me. I would love to read more of what you think.
The problem with "science" today that too much of it is based on theory and not enough observation.
I found this to be extremely informative. I'd always had doubts about the "original sin" and being punished for my ancestors sins, but this explained why "original sin" doesn't really exist in a way that resonated with me. Thank you. I will definitely check this site more often.
Brilliant
Trying to reinterpret the Bible according to man’s interpretations that are based on unprovable assumptions destroys the authority of the Bible. God was there. Man was not.
I appreciate your thorough investigation into the Word of God.
Wonderful subject thank you I want more Bible studies
Have always believed in this way ,read and ask for understanding and it will be given to you.
Not bad, I'll have to check the Hebrew to double-triple check, for this kind of study the KJ is almost useless.
Interesting and thought provoking, following a line of thinking that has interested me for years. To question traditional interpretation doesn't detract from the validity and power of scripture but reinforces it. Jesus was rejected by the religious experts of His day because He didn't fit the traditional interpreting of scripture. We still have much to learn.
I am looking forward to reading through the rest of the Thinkers website. Thanks for investing in this work. It’s so important! Especially in these times. 
I hope this excellent presentation penetrates the evangelical church where sadly a majority of Christians believe that the Big Bang is an atheistic concept rather the Fingerprint of God that it is!
Nice to read a legitimate attempt to harmonize the traditions of the Bible with scientific discoveries.
very well done.!!
Really enjoyed
All bad things on the face of the earth are connected to sin , by one mans sin we were all condemned.
I am excited to have found this site when I was seeking the truth about Bible timelines. I have been forced to justify my beliefs by a pastor who has a very fundamental belief in God's seven days of creation.
Will this material be made available in print form for purchase?
Very enlightening and interesting, Thank you
These explanations make real sense.
Interesting topics. The bible is good for salvation but not for earth history
Thank you I knew about these things but I did not understand
I recently discovered your bible studies website and I just want to thank you for your initiative in establishing this study resource.
This is from the devil. The Bible says Satan is a liar and the creater of it. This is a lie created by Satan to deceive people. Adam was the first man and the first sinner. His sin is what started death.
Your Thinkers site is the best Bible site I've come across.
Thank you. You have clarified how to teach what I have always believed. I didn’t know how to explain it to others.
I am eagerly awaiting more topics.
Thank you for helping to break down these scriptures, I found out now a lot of what I thought I knew was actually just tradition, most of which was confusing up until now, very grateful.
Not only do I thoroughly enjoy the topics you discuss but also the motivation behind their writing.
I really enjoyed this article. I found it very insightful as well as challenging.
Mainstream science is wrong about almost everything.
False teaching. Repent
When are more topics coming?
Great explanation of something I've wondered about.
I can't wait to share this article with my grandson.
God bless.
I have always thought this to be true but have never heard it said! Praise God!
No scripture to back up your words.
Some scientists are open to intelligent design, the problem is some scientists think they are trying to bring church into the classroom.If some scientists find out that some believe in intelligent design they will lose funding.
Excellent reading
Humans were around a lot longer the 4000 bc. Thats not even as old as Sumer the first proven civilization. Evidence strongly supports that civilization may have existed long before Sumer.
Amen. Thank you.
Great information, it is worth further studies. Kept up the good work, all of us need to read and study the bible more including me. We need to remember Christ is the Only Way to eternal life.
Very interesting please keep me posted
Much of what you share are things that have been revealed to me by the Spirit of God. Finally your site is out and does not counter Biblical script and does not hinder the Christian witness. Thank God.
This is heresy. I hope you repent and trust the Scriptures.
Just another Satanic attempt to change God's WORD. More likely made up of Liberal Kids that don't know any better.
Found this to be very helpful. Answered my questions.
awesome info keep up this good work
So interesting. Thanks for sharing. Keep them coming. Enjoy reading them so much.
By observing ruins etc firsthand, my personal opinion is that man existed before Adam. Adam was the first God breathed His Spirit into.
So far you make a lot of sense, I do believe in God.
You have answered so many questions for me! Thank you!
I really enjoy your website. I find your arguments compelling.
praying Gods direction, provision, and anointing on this site and everyone, like me, blessed enough to have been led to it .
I have believed for many years what you have written here, but who among my friends and fellow-Christians will believe me? I stand alone. It took almost two hundred years before the church—or church members—believed that the earth was not the center of the universe. Will it take that long before Christians will believe that Adam and Eve were not the first humans created?
I do not believe in a Supreme Being who created us in his image and likeness as quoted in the bible
One of the best study sites I have found!
Scientists lie to us. They lie about the age of the earth.
I now have Biblical support for my belief.
I wish to save this
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Helping Christians engage in intelligent and persuasive conversations with doubters and unbelievers