What is the Big Bang Theory?

This young theory came about in the 20th century and for Science is now the leading explanation about how the universe began.

However, the Big Bang Theory (BBT) is still seeking to answer all the detailed questions regarding how the beginning of the universe came about. Instruments don't allow scientists to peek back at the universe's birth, so much of theory about the Big Bang comes from mathematical formulas and models.

According to the theory, before the Big Bang there was no time or space. In essence, the universe began with a small unknown singularity which then "inflated" like a balloon over some 13.7 billion years to the cosmos we know today. So, out of nowhere [?], suddenly an incredibly hot infinitesimal ball of something [?] appeared somewhere [?], somehow [?] for some an unknown reason [?] and began to expand rapidly [?] with the entire universe inside of it. Shrouded in mystery, chaos found order.

After the first second the universe began, there was a cosmic soup of fundamental particles such as neutrons, electrons, and protons. These were extremely hot and very dense. Nothing immediately happened in the way of formation, as the universe was still too super-heated. However, after 400 million years or so the universe came out of its dark ages. During the next half-billion years or so stars and galaxies formed. According to BBT, our solar system was birthed from the cosmic soup after 9 billion years or so after the Big Bang, making it about 4.6 billion or so years old.

A Christian knows "who" banged ["spoke"] the universe into existence - God (Gen. 1:1). They can also answer the "how" the universe came about (Gen. 1:1-2:3) and for what purpose; "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created" (Rev. 4:11). As astrophysicist Dr. Robert Jastrow states:

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. [1]

Why?

Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. ... That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact. [2]

Needless to say the Big Bang Theory is not a Biblical view of Creation. It is the merely the musings of those men and women who have not experienced the Big Bang of the New Birth (John 3:1-8; cf. John 1:12-13).

Footnotes

[2] "A Scientist Caught Between Two Faiths: Interview with Robert Jastrow," Christianity Today, August 6, 1982), pp. 15, 18.

Various Creation Positions

What is the Day Age Theory?
What is Ex-Nihilo?
The Framework Theory
What is the Gap Theory?
What About Hebrews 11:3?
What is the Intelligent Design Theory?
What is the Mature Universe Theory?
What is Old Earth Creationism (OEC)?
What is Progressive Creationism?
What is Theistic Evolution?
What is Young Earth Creationism (YEC)?

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