Present Implications

Today, we are left with two main different views on the creation of the universe; science versus God. Through the facts and theories that are present today on the Big Bang theory and God being the creator of the universe, humans are still left with no answer or solid evidence for either beliefs. "For the Judeo-Christian tradition, the opening words of Genesis are entirely compatible with the Big Bang," (Collins, 115). Though both theories don't completely go hand in hand, in the 1950's, Pope Pius XII decided that the church would accept the big bang as a theory because it does not go against their theory that time itself started with a creation.

That shows us that today we are becoming more acceptable of scientific findings. Before, in 1642, the church prosecuted Galileo for his beliefs and theories of the universe that the Earth is not the center of the universe . Now times have changed, but not enough to the point where we can say whether science or religion can prove the creation of the universe. "These are two very popular views, which brings us to something very significant metaphysically or philosophically. If the big bang theory is true, then we can conclude God is not the same as the universe (a popular view) and God is not contained within the universe (another popular view)," (http://www.lightandmatter.com/evolution/). With the different beliefs that make up the creation of our universe, we still cannot prove which theory is true. Can we say that due to the theory of relativity or because something had to create the universe, that the big bang theory or God created the universe? As of where we stand right now, we cannot do so. All we have is faith and facts to help support both theories.

Because there is no absolute proof of God, the term "Atheism" has been created for people who just don't believe in a higher being. "Fuel for the atheist perspective subsequently was supplied by the writings of Sigmund Freud, who argued that belief in God is just wishful thinking," (Collins, 218). However, more powerful than Freud is Darwin and his beliefs in evolution that contradict religious beliefs. This was and became "a powerful counterweapon against spirituality," (Collins, 218). Though there are the controversies betweens science and faith, there are beliefs that they will come together and unify. "The potential conflicts between science and faith will continue to appear. But i will argue that if we wisely apply Saint Augustine's advice, crafted well over a thousand years before there was any reason to be apologetic about Darwin, we will be able to find a consistent and profoundly satisfying harmony between these world views," (Collins, 116). What this is saying is that if the existence of God is true and scientific conclusions are true, then they cannot contradict one another, they can meet harmoniously. This is also shown through other forms of religions conversing to form a "bridge of friendship," between the Pope Benedict XVI and a Rabbi at a Jewish Synagogue.

"It was the first time a pope had set foot inside a Jewish house of worship in the United States, a visit made at the invitation of Rabbi Arthur Schneier, who broke the silence in the synagogue by saying, "Your Holiness, a heartfelt shalom ... warm, warm welcome," (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/18/pope.fri/index.html). As we have evolved from prosecuting beliefs/theories into accepting them, now bridges are starting to be built between religions. This shows us since the beginning, we have come far in trying to connect and solve this mystery of creation and make up for hard feelings in the past. Forty years ago, the church would not apologize to the the jews who survived the holocaust, but now things have started to change. "Benedict has made other strides toward reaching out to Jewish leaders. As theological adviser to Pope John Paul II, he is credited with playing a key role in John Paul's decision to apologize to Jews for the role Catholics played in the Holocaust," (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/18/pope.fri/index.html). As of where they are now, this shows that progress is being made in uniting.

"Ahead of the pope's speech, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told him, "In so many ways, our mission unites us with yours."

The pope expressed admiration for the U.N.'s mission, saying its founding principles -- "the desire for peace, the sense of justice, respect for the dignity of the person, humanitarian cooperation and assistance -- express the just aspirations of the human spirit and constitute the ideals which should underpin international relations," (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/18/pope.fri/index.html).

Now that we are starting to see pieces of the puzzle come together. According to Collins quote above, we can find harmony between all views of creation. If God is true, then God gave us the mind set to understand sciences and other forms of beliefs, but people in recent years, have manipulated it to be something that is separate from God. But if you believe in God, science is a part of God's creation.

Looking at science and religion today, it is hard to imagine them two coming together. However, one day they may form an answer to all natures questions. However, i still pose the question, how can we ever be absolute certain of how we came to be? Right now we have spent our years since birth of man trying figure out how we came to be and have not yet found an agreeable answer amongst everyone. But, why do we have such of a desire to know where we came from? Is it because we fear death? However, we do know we came from something rather than nothing. " The idea that something came from nothing has been totally rejected in the history. With not being able to prove God and not having enough evidence to prove the big bang, it could be so that we will never have the complete answer to our questions of life and purpose. Society craves to know this answer and try to solve it through religion, and others are still trying to know through sciences, which currently puts a barrier in between. Maybe we are just not meant to know; and we should let that be.

But man has made his purpose in life to find out how he came to the point of creation; questioning science and god. Myths are dated back since the age of man. They were created because we have always wanted to know how the universe was created and myths solved primitive mans questions. Once society started to evolve, science was created to logically solve the equation that lays within our universe. Findings on gravity, our nearby galaxies, atoms, relativity, the speed of light...However, we still have this desire to know all the answers to our questions in life, and i believe we will never be able to answer all of them. Because 86 percent of our worlds population is religious, the fact that a theory could disprove the concept of god could have a huge impact on society. Sciences are furthering their technology and studies to find this equation of the universe, to prove how the universe came to the point of its creation. If we find the universal equation, it will solve everything we have wanted to know with the help of science and math. Because we want to know how we came to be, technology will only advance, changing and affecting our society and how we function. Science will affect the way people think and try to discover. However, what if science does prove the creation of the universe? Would that make religion collapse and cause religion to fall? That is up to society and what people chose to believe. Due to family tradition, personal experiences and belief in religion, people have formed their experiences with their beliefs. Even if evidence is in front of someone's face, it does not mean they will accept it as the truth. Ultimately, scientific evidence wont prove the creation of the universe to society, society will determine what is to be believed: you cant force a belief on society. This will allow religion and beliefs to exist and not allow science to make it collapse. With this as our situation, it now brings up a controversy between faith and empirical evidence: faith and proof from an observation or experiment. This shows how faith and scientific evidence will be fighting for societal acceptance.

In the end, I believe we cant make it our personal goal to find where we came from and how that came to be. If we do eventually find the answer, I have learned through personal experiences, that we wont be have a society that all agrees on everything. When one person is happy, it doesn't mean everyone else will. No one will never be content with what is present today, and that will lead to more questions that will want to be solved. Once we do possibly get the answer to the creation of the universe, that won't be the end to discoveries and findings. There will be more questions and desires to find new discoveries. In the beginning, I wanted to know and I craved to find things that would disprove God and religion, but in the end, I realized what good will that do? It wont change anything, it will just help support my ego, and thats what I think this whole controversy is about: ones ego.

Faith/Religion

"An effort to understand the origins and workings of the cosmos has characterized nearly all religions throughout history...," Collins, 81).

Since man has been around, he has always questions where he came from and what his purpose is here. In primitive years, that was explored and made up through myths. Myths "explain origins, natural phenomena, and death; others describe the nature and function of divinities...They depict humans as an integral part of a larger universe, and they impart a feeling of awe for all that is mysterious and marvelous in life," ( Rosenburg, xiii). These myths have either remained as myths or have evolved into religions. When looking into different myths, you see more than life lesson, but you see what that culture thrives off of; what morals and their traditions. "Myths symbolize human experience and embody the spiritual values of a culture. Every society preserves its myths, because beliefs and world view found within them are crucial to the survival of that culture," ( Rosenburg, xiii). When man was primitive and had no idea where he came from, it was easy to point to a God and base a belief of of that. Based off of this, it influenced religion and sciences to help explore where man came from. Through man always having this curiosity in what he was and how he came to be, the creation of beliefs and theories formed.

"To put it boldly, science is the attempt at the posterior reconstruction of existence by the process of conceptualization. But when asking myself what religion is I cannot think of the answer so easily," Einstein (http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/einsteinsgod/einstein-scienceandreligion.shtml) When asking a religious believer (a creationist) on their evidence for how to prove that there is a greater being; God, they said, "It can only be proven through the Bible and your faith." In the Bible it states that " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, "Let there be light, and there was light," (Genesis, The Bible). Even though this is stated and viewed as the creation of the universe by many people, what is the reasoning for people in believing this without evidence? When polling Americans in 1955, it was found out that 96% of Americans have faith in a higher being. Replies for why they believe in a existence of God in order of frequency was, "1) The order and majesty of the world around us, 2) There must be a Creator to explain the origin of man and the world, 3) There is proof of God in the Bible (or other church authority), 4) Past experiences in life give me faith that there is a God, 5) Believing in God gives me much comfort," (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,861103-1,00.html). Religion and the belief of a bigger being dates back far into history; having faith in a higher being is antique. Part of the reason why many people are religious is because faith has been passed down for over centuries through families. People have been raised with it.Through believers of God reading the Bible, they believe that "God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them," (Genesis, The Bible). Though religion is a belief and thrives off of faith, through peoples reasons in believing in God, the belief does not derive from facts; rather from faith. While sciences tries to solve mysteries, religion is based off of the human soul for comfort and emotion.

When having faith, you do not need to see to believe, rather through your faith and beliefs allow you to believe. As a believer "You hold fast to the concept of God as Creator; you are right to hold fast to the truths of the Bible; you are right to hold fast to the conclusion that science offers no answers to the most pressing questions of the human existence...," (Collins, 239). When Christianity started and people believed in God, it is said that God gave his approval to the people due to their faith in him. "By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen," (Hebrews 11:3). Through miracles and answers of prayers, the existence of God has been shown to people as their evidence of him as a creator. In return of having faith in God and praying to God, your prayers can come to life and appear in front of you. Due to having faith in God, Moses could part the Red Sea and allow the people of Israel through the sandy surface underneath the water. When it came time for the Egyptians time to cross the sea, the all drowned. According to the Bible, this is through purely faith in God. "True faith is not based on empirical evidence but on divine assurance, and is a gift of God," (Hebrews 11:1). In order to receive Gods signals, you need to show you believe and have faith in him. Because having faith in him allows you to feel him, it is hard to disprove a God. "For if God’s greatness entails being invisible, intangible and inscrutable, then he can’t be disproved — but nor can he be proved," (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/magazine/04Flew-t.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=god%27s+universe&st=nyt&oref=slogin).

Because God is shown through faith, and not visible, it makes it that more harder to prove his existence and prove creationism through God. The only proof religion has on the creation of the universe is through faith in God. With that said, you cannot prove God and the creation of the universe through him, rather instead, you have to have a personal experience with religion to prove God to yourself. As of where we stand right now, we cannot prove religion, instead we can just believe in it.

Math in the Big BANG/ E=MC SQUARED

Has the speed of light changed since the birth of the Big Bang and did that effect the amount of energy in the universe from then and now?

The speed of light today is 299,792,458 meters per second. With that, it affects the amount of energy something has also being effected by its mass.

The equation derived from Einsteins work on special relativity. Special relativity is the theory tat the speed of light will always be constant. That eventually lead to his theory on general relativity. The equation E=MC² demonstrates that energy equals mass ties the speed of light squared.The speed of light connects with energy because, "the resulting energy is by definition moving at the speed of light. Pure energy is electromagnetic radiation," (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/legacy.html). Due to the fact that the speed of light is squared, it makes even the smallest things have a lot of energy. "the speed of light squared is the conversion factor that decides just how much energy lies captured within a walnut or any other chunk of matter," (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/legacy.html).

Ultimately the equation shows that energy and matter are one.

HOW E=MC² CONNECTS WITH BIG BANG

Has the speed of light changed since the birth of the Big Bang and did that effect the amount of energy in the universe from then and now?

Before the Big Bang explosion, there was one single atom that was about to explode, known as the Big Bang. In order to that one atom to stretch out in its explosion over billions of miles in less that minute; it requires a lot of energy. In order for it to have a lot of energy for an atom, because the speed of light plays a big factor in the amount of energy, the speed of light during the big bang could be more that what our speed of light is today. Where this stems from is observational evidence that the "fine structure constant" has changed. The fine structure constant determines the exact wavelength of fine structure lines in the spectra of atoms, and measurements of the spectra of quasars suggest that it many have decreased by 0.00072 +/- 0.00018 % over the past 6-10 billion years," (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=606).

With that given to us, it would most definitely affect the answer/energy of MC²Because one atom exploded (according to the bi bang), its energy must have been a huge number for it to do what theorists say. What would make that energy a higher number would not be its mass because the mass of the universe was much much much smaller then now. The mass was one atom and today is billions of miles long. What had to have affected the energy to build up so much energy is the speed of light. The speed of light must have been a higher number when the uiverse started and has slowed down today.

Lets say our universe's mass is constant, from its birth to today. The only thing that has changed is the speed of light since birth to now. Today we could make up the equation:

E=MC²

^{E= energy}

^{M= Universe's constant mass}

^{C= 299, 792, 458 ^2 (speed of light)}

^{Traveling back in time towards the birth of the universe, this equation would change based off of the theory that the speed of light was different then:}

E=MC²

^{E= energy}

^{M= Universe's constant mass}

^{C=299, 792, 458.00072 ^2}

^{When calculating the different speeds of lights squared by the same mass, the answer will be different, showing that the energy of the universe today is different from the birth of the universe; the energy was greater then.}

Proving/Disproving Big Bang Theory

What scientists base all of their information off of is hypothesizing, coming up with theories, conducting experiments to try to solve their hypothesis, and observe. "Many experiments on the cutting edge of science fail, and most hypotheses turn out to be wrong," (Collins, 82). How scientists come up with theories are usually evolved from previous ones and the cycle continues until proven; science is continuously moving forward and evolving with time. Based from observations of our planet, people make "theories" and try to prove them. So far in the human race, many have been created; proved and disproved.

Once Newton discovered and explored universal gravity, it was then later on further explored by Einstein. Through Einsteins general theory of relativity, it shows through his equations are correct; that the universe is expanding."Beginning in 1917, Einstein and others applied general relativity to the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole.At first Einstein thought the answer to his equations were wrong due to the conclusion it made, but in 1916 a Dutch man by the name of Willem de Sitter solved the equations showing that the universe was not static as thought before. The leading cosmological theory, called the big bang theory, was formulated in 1922 by the Russian mathematician and meteorologist Alexander Friedmann. Friedmann began with Einstein's equations of general relativity and found a solution to those equations in which the universe began in a state of extremely high density and temperature (the so-called big bang) and then expanded in time, thinning out and cooling as it did so. One of the most stunning successes of the big bang theory is the prediction that the universe is approximately 10 billion years old, a result obtained from the rate at which distant galaxies are flying away from each other. This prediction accords with the age of the universe as obtained from very local methods, such as the dating of radioactive rocks on Earth," (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/relativity/). Through Einsteins theory, Friedmann gained interest and decided to explore it along with him. Along with Friedmann, A Belgian priest named Georges Lemaitre gained interest in Einsteins discovery and further explored it.

Georges Lemaitre was not only a priest, but studied in the math and sciences. "In May 1931, Lemaitre published in Nature, a paper that ventured to suggest that the Universe was born from an infinitesimal supreme state of matter condensation, the Primeval Atom as Lemaitre called it. The explosion of this Primeval Atom was what later started off the expansion of the Universe," (http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_05/01FEB07/04-SFI.htm). With Einsteins equations, it helped Georges prove that the universe is not static. "The universe has to expand or contract. From this realization, the big bang theory, as would later be called, was born," (Scientific American, The End of Cosmology). Through finding that the universe is expanding through relativity and that we can reach the universes radiation, it indicates that the universe had a beginning through one explosion; an atom. "For one thing, we look in the sky and see it! The universe is permeated with microwave radiation that has been traveling through space ever since the universe cooled to the point where it was transparent. The detailed spectrum and anisotropy (lumpiness) of the radiation have been measured with excellent precision by the Cosmic Microwave Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, and the agreement with theory is so good that scientists can even relate its features to quantities like the speed of sound waves traveling through the Big Bang fireball. We also currently observe that the universe is expanding. Not only does this suggest that in the past everything must have been closer together, but it can even be proven mathematically from Einstein's general theory of relativity that the current expanding state of the universe traces back to a time when what is now the entire observable universe was smaller than a single atom," (http://www.lightandmatter.com/evolution/).

Once the theory of the universe expanding was present, in the 1920's, it was discovered that our nearby galaxies are moving further away from us. This shows that the universe could be indeed expanding. "The first person to provide observational evidence for the expansion was American astronomer Vesto Slipher, who used the spectra of stars to measure the velocities of nearby galaxies," (Scientific American). In order for this to be found, light fro the galaxies are compressed, forming blue light that travel towards the earth which have been seen. Because the galaxies are moving away from us, it stretches the light, making the wavelength longer and the light redder. This allowed Slipher to see whether the galaxies are truly moving away from us or not.

Along with Slipher, Edwin Hubble helped determine the distance of the galaxies from Earth. This led to helping prove that the universe is expanding.

Once the universe started to expand, it left over radiation that was found in 1965 by two astronomer named Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. "It indictates that the universe began hot and dense and has since cooled and thinned out," (Scientific American). Once this was found, it was presented to Gamow and analyzed.

The theory of the universe having a birth points to creation; the universe was created at one point or another. By God, not according to most scientists, but rather by one atom. The theory of a God creating the universe is skeptical. "Belief in God is not only a delusion, he argues, but a “pernicious” one. “I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there,” (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/books/review/Holt.t.html?scp=2&sq=no+proof+of+god&st=nyt). As we have found hard today, how do we go abouts proving that there is a higher being that created the universe? If we could prove God with evidence, would that cancel out sciences and the big bang theory? "In a masterfully terse thousand words, a man, Flew, argues that “God” is too vague a concept to be meaningful. For if God’s greatness entails being invisible, intangible and inscrutable, then he can’t be disproved — but nor can he be proved,"(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/magazine/04Flew-t.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=god%27s+universe&st=nyt&oref=slogin). The concept of God, right now, is too vague for us to try to prove. According to religion, you cant prove God, you can only prove it to yourself through inner faith. Along with religion, as of right now, we cannot prove the Big Bang either. As shown, we have evidence of a universe expanding which indicates it had a birth from an atom, but the big bang cant tell us yet if it is true; they are not yet facts that prove it, but can conclude to it.

Though we have scientific reasons on the creation of the universe, the scientific research and view of the universe is not enough to answer all the question about our true origin.

Major Thinkers

According to Francis Collins, "scientists have a streak of closeted anarchism...," (Collins, 82). It first started with Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler who had strong opinions on the universe that did not neccessarily appeal to the church. Due to the church not being compatible, the church opposed and set the theorists beliefs aside.Through their anarchism, they hope that they will prove their scientific theories and achieve a "synthesis between science and faith," (Collins, 83). This may be a theory itself on what drives the Big Bang theory in scientists.

The curiosity of what wraps around our atmosphere; known as space, has intrigued man since the age of time. One of these men created the term gravity and explored it due to his curiosity of why the moon orbits around the earth; Sir Isaac Newton. "For nearly 300 years Newtons theory of the universal gravitation served as the basis for almost all of astronomy," (Scientific American, The End of Cosmology). His curiosity began when he was sitting underneath an apple tree and an apple fell on his head. As did the earth pull the apple towards the ground, the Earth's gravity pulled the moon to orbit the Earth. Through equations and time, Newton realized that "Gravity governed not only the moon but all planets," (Fox, 33). As does gravity apply to our planet, it does so to the universe, known as universal gravitation. "If everything is attracted to everything else, then planets and stars and the earth should be constantly in erratic motion, constantly pulled one way or another," (Fox, 34). Through this, Newton based a theory that the universe is infinite, pulling in all equal directions. Due to Newtons exploration with gravity and the universe not being static, it lead to the theory of inflation helped by Einsteins relativity theory.

Based off of Newton's discoveries with gravity, it made Einstein question gravity more and in detail. Einstein made up equations of the universe to help solve whether the universe was static or not; ultimately finding out whether the universe is expanding or not. This was done so with the General Relativity presented in 1917. Through General Relativity, "he realized there is no "absolute space" or absolute time," (Fox, 41). Through his equations and findings from the theory of general relativity, he found that at one point there was no universe; meaning it did have a starting point and from then on it has expanded.

When Einsteins theory came to life, it was easily accepted in the community. However, one man did not just accept it, he applied it. Georges Lemaitre was a Belgian priest who studied engineering, physics, and math. Inspired by Einsteins theory he formed his own theory. "He arrived at a single point in space and time when everything, every atom, every photon, every bit of energy, was coalesced into a single pot. All of matter, claimed Lemaitre, was once squashed down into a "primeval atom."Fror, this amazingly dense first particle sprang our entire universe," (Fox, 46-47). Based off of his math and einstein's general relativity theory and equations, the conclusion seemed correct, but it seemed abstract to other scientists. Father Lemaitre has been viewed as the "Father of the Big Bang" theory due to Einsteins and Friedman's explorations with gravity and the universe.

After WWII, the scientist Gamow came into light when he decided to explore the theory of an infant universe and the nature of the big bang. To come to conclusions, he studied einstein and freidman works. "Gamow was one of the earliest nuclear scientists and was well respected for his understanding of the atom," (Fox, 57). He connected the links that since the universe came from one single atom, then what exists today had to have come form that single atom. In order for that one atom to explode and expand, he came to the conclusion that that atom had to be HOT and static to explode. After the explosion, it is said that the atom expanded to the full length of the universe. To help support his theories of the expansion, in 1965, scientists, Gamow, and his students that once the big bang occured, radiation was given off, however, there was no evidence for that.

That day came when Arno and Penzias, two astronomers, found that radiation through a built antenia produced by them. That radiation was from the glow in the universe.

Though Gamow presented this to the science community and was ignored, religion did not ignore it. After Gamow completed his theories, he addressed Pope Pius XII with them in 1951. Due to the science showing that the universe had a creation/creator, Pope Pius XII accepted the big bang as a theory, linking religion and science together.