In the Beginning
Take a look at your hands. The entire history of the universe is written in your hands.
Have you ever thought about where your hands came from? Naturally, you got your hands from your parents. They gave you the DNA which determined the size and shape of your hands. All the muscles, bones and tendons in your hands were honed by natural selection to the form you have today. Your DNA contains the entire history of life on earth from its early beginnings more than 3.5 billion years ago to the present day. It is a profound concept when you think about it, but that is just part of the story.
Your muscles, tendons and DNA are all made up of oxygen, carbon, iron, and a dozen other chemical elements. Where did they come from? It turns out that oxygen, carbon and iron all trace their origin to nuclear fusion within the hearts of stars. Long before our solar system formed, ancient stars burned brightly, their cores fusing hydrogen and helium into all the useful elements we see around us. But as with all things, their life came to an end. When large stars die, they rip themselves apart in what are called supernovae. All that carbon, oxygen, iron and more are cast out into space, creating large regions of gas and dust called nebula. About 5 billion years ago, a humble star we call the Sun formed within such a nebula. The Earth and all the other planets of the solar system formed from the dust left over from the Sun’s formation. Your hands are made of stardust, formed in the hearts of long-dead stars. All the atoms and molecules from which you are made were created long before the Sun ever shined its first light.
But where did those long-dead stars come from? The earliest stars formed within galaxy-sized clouds of hydrogen and helium. The hydrogen and helium were formed about 14 billion years ago. At that time the universe was much more dense, and much hotter than it is today. We think of space as being cold and empty, but at that time the entire universe was about as hot and dense as the surface of the Sun. We still see the remains of that period as the cosmic background radiation. This radiation has cooled over time as the universe expanded, until now it is a weak echo of its former intensity. It looks like this:
This is a picture of the universe when it was only about 400,000 years old. Everything you see around you, from your hands to the most distant galaxy is in a sense contained within this picture, because everything traces its origin to that ancient fireball.
When you look at your hands, you are looking at atoms which are billions of years old, some of which are among the oldest atoms in the universe. They have been a great many things, from stars to planets. They have been living things and ancient stones. Before they became a part of you, they were most likely wheat, or apples, or chickens. That is, until you ate them, and they became a part of you. These ancient elements will eventually continue on their way, leaving you to continue on yours. But for now, they are your hands.
But where did this early fireball come from? Before this period, it was too hot and dense for atoms to form, and so the universe was a sea of protons, neutrons and electrons. This period lasted for most of the first 400,000 years, leading back to the first moment of the universe. In that earliest moment the universe was so hot and dense that even protons, neutrons and electrons couldn’t exist. What happened before that is complicated and somewhat speculative. Our concepts of matter, energy and even space and time start to break down. What we do know is that in the earliest moment of the universe, it was very very dense, and very very hot.
We call this period of time the big bang. Most people think of the big bang as some grand explosion, but that is the cartoon view of things. In actuality, the big bang describes this early moment of the cosmos. Matter, energy, space and time all wrapped up in this cosmic origin. But if everything in the cosmos began with the big bang, where did THAT come from?
That’s an excellent question.
Last time I discussed now neuroscience shows us that that we are not soul puppets, nor are we computer brains. We are instead sentient forms through which matter flows. I referred to our forms as souls, and not everyone approved. Fair enough. What I didn’t discuss was the whole philosophical rabbit hole of what “we” or our “soul” may or may not be. The main reason I didn’t go into it was that concepts of the soul are almost always supernatural. For something to be supernatural, it must lay beyond scientific study. There are several interpretations for what that means, and they strike at the heart of the conflict between science and faith.
The most even-handed interpretation would be to say that science defines the boundary of what can be objectively said about reality. Anything which can’t be objectively quantified may or may not exist. In this view, the soul may or may not exist, but also the Flying Spaghetti Monster may or may not exist. Within reason, this is the scientific position. I say within reason because there comes a point where an unverified claim becomes so ridiculous that scientists don’t give it serious credence. Young-earth creationism, faked moon-landings, and Santa Claus all fall into this category. So does God for many scientists. Where that line of absurdity is drawn varies among scientists, but your average scientist places the bar much higher than the general population. This is why scientists are often seen as closed-minded or overly skeptical, particularly by those of certain religious persuasions.
I mention all this because we have reached the point where that line of absurdity is front and center. And that is, where DID the big bang come from? I’m sorry to say I don’t have a solid answer for you. I’m also sure that many of you reading this do have a solid answer: God.
Genesis 1:1 is very clear: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Surely the origin of everything must be God. To say otherwise is to cross the line of absurdity.
But that line isn’t the same for everyone. One could just as easily ask, if God created the universe, where did God come from? If God didn’t need a creator, then maybe the universe doesn’t need one either. It all depends on where you draw that line of absurdity.
What science has to say about the beginning is this: In its earliest moments, the universe was an intense concentration of, for lack of a better word, light. From that light came everything we see around us, from smallest particle to furthest galaxy. Everything is made from that first light. We are the light of the universe. We are the universe made manifest.
Pretty awesome when you think about it.
So what does it all mean?
That’s an excellent question.
