Acceptance of 'Big Bang' theory as "Beginning of Time"?

Question

In Professor Hawkings book "A Brief History Of Time" he makes the statement that the Catholic church accepts the big bang theory as the beginning of time, Is this true and does anyone know of any other churches who believe or are inclined to feel this way ? I feel a little embarrassed and shocked I had never heard this before, any comments on this are much appreciated.

Answer 1

He's right, except Catholics believe the Big Bang was caused by God, not a black hole/etc.

Answer 2

They should, a Catholic Priest is the one to postulated it!

Father Georges-Henri Lemaître was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, honorary prelate, professor of physics and astronomer.

Monsignor Lemaître proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, although he called it his 'hypothesis of the primeval atom'. He based his theory on the laws of relativity set forth by Einstein, among others...

Gregor Johann Mendel was an Augustinian abbot who is often called the "father of modern genetics" for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Mendel showed that the inheritance of traits follows particular laws, which were later named after him. The significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century. Its rediscovery prompted the foundation of genetics.

Now there is a dispute over Time.

In an INFINITESIMAL universe theory (such as the Expanding and Contracting motif) time is simply that point on the line where the BANG happens.

That BANG is News years Day.

However since it will repeat over and over every 200 billion years some people view TIMES as INFINATE with NO begining or end.

Remember TIME is a RELATIVE commidity as Einsten Postluated and has been proven by Atomic clocks.

If you live on Earth and are 18 and your 36 year old mother takes a trip to the neartest star, Alpha Centuari, at about half the speed of light when she returns YOU are 38 and SHE is 37.

Answer 3

I've read the Catholic position. It doesn't absolutely accept the big bang or evolution, but it does not contradict it and refers the matters out to science. This is all but an endorsement of it.

The Catholics have learned from history that in the long run you look foolish to fight a time tested scientific theory that is accepted as fact. They had that whole flat Earth thing and it does seem stupid now, although there are still Christians that say it is flat.
Gotta love fundies.

Answer 4

In physics the "big bang" was when time became seperated from the singularity of time/matter/energy. So in science the "big bang" was the beginning of time (in our universe).

To the tiresome person who answered above: get an introduction to science book and look up the definition and use of the term "theory" in science. Or to save you time, in science the word theory is used as an explanation that best fits the facts.

Answer 5

the reality of origin of individual existence is a more profound question as it ask of realism ,in reality the universe began not before your own conception ,we believe that the universe existed prior to you own origin but that is illusion and a form of consensus agreement that is necessary to integrate into society but the creation of the universe began at conception for the individual and not before .its interesting for comparison using the nature of dream,the dream universe we experience each night is a new creation every night but the history that we take as an assumption in dream appears to have depth but on closer inspection has its origin in the beginning of the dream and did not exist before .this is the same for waking consciousness but at a slower vibration

Answer 6

Catholics don't 'believe' that, they are merely allowed to believe that by the Church since the Church has no official position on it.

The thing to remember is that evolution is still just a theory - a hypothesis, a speculation, an unproven assumption.

According to Scripture NOTHING evolved but everything was created "AFTER THEIR KIND"....

"From the beginning of the Creation God made them male and female..."-- Jesus (Mk. 10:6)

Scripture says God SPOKE all things into existence with His Word:
" By the Word of the Lord were the heavens created, and all the host by the breath of His mouth. For HE SPAKE AND IT WAS DONE; HE COMMANDED AND IT STOOD FAST". (psalm 33:9)

Answer 7

All religions resist science to one degree or another as it often threatens their dogma. The implications of an oscillating universe are obvious. Even though cycles take billions of years to run, given no time limits the universe as we see today will be recreated over and over again. This is what organized religions fear most of all.

Answer 8

Another attempt to tear down Christian beliefs that God created everything and if it went bang who but God was there to witness it?

Answer 9

I have never heard of this being proclaimed by the Church but, I would agree with it and it would harmonize with St. Thomas Aquinas' proofs of God's existence, which is very scientific.

ARTICLE 1. Whether the Existence of God Is Self-Evident?
I answer that, A thing can be self-evident in either of two ways. On the one hand, self-evident in itself, though not to us, on the other, self-evident in itself, and to us. A proposition is self-evident because the predicate is included in the notion of the subject, as “Man is an animal,” for animal is contained in the essence of man.... Therefore I say that this proposition, “God exists,” of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject, because God is His own existence as will be hereafter shown (Q. III, A.4). Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us, but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature -- namely, by effects.

ARTICLE 2. Whether It Can Be Demonstrated That God Exists?

I Answer that, Demonstration can be made in two ways. One is through the cause, and... The other is through the effect... When an effect is better known to us than its cause, from the effect we proceed to the knowledge of the cause. And from every effect the existence of its proper cause can be demonstrated, so long as its effects are better known to us, because since every effect depends upon its cause, if the effect exists, the cause must pre-exist. Hence the existence of God, in so far as it is not self-evident to us, can be demonstrated from those of His effects which are known to us.

ARTICLE 3. Whether God Exists?

I answer that, The existence of God can be proved in five ways.

The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion.... [Newton’s second law of motion] whatever is moved must be moved by another. If that by which it is moved be itself moved, then this also must be moved by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover, and, consequently, no other mover, seeing that subsequent movers move only because as they are moved by the first mover... Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover which is moved by no other. And this everyone understands to be God.

The second way is from the notion of efficient cause.... There is no case known (nor indeed, is it possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself, because in that case it would be prior to itself, which is impossible.... Now to take away the cause is to take away the effect.... Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.

The third way is taken from possibility and necessity... [or] to be or not to be. ...If everything is possible not to be, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence. Now if this were true, even now there would be nothing in existence, because that which does not exist only begins to exist by something already existing. [FACT: Matter can not be destroyed nor created; at most it changes form i.e. solid, liquid, gas. Physical Law: the first law of Thermodynamics.] Therefore, if at one time nothing was in existence, it would have been impossible for anything to have begun to exist; and thus even now nothing would be in existence -- which is clearly false. Therefore, not all beings are merely possible, but there must exist something the existence of which is necessary.... Therefore we must admit the existence of some being having of itself its own necessity, and not receiving it from another, but rather causing in others their necessity. This all men speak of as God.

The fourth way is taken from the gradation to be found in things. Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble, and the like. But “more” and “less” are predicated of different things [like a match in comparison to the sun]... Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being [a Supreme Being], goodness, and every other perfection. And this we call God.

The fifth way is taken from the governance of things. We see that things which lack knowledge, such as natural bodies, act for an end... Hence it is plain that they achieve their end not by chance, but by design. Now whatever lacks knowledge cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence, as the arrow is directed by the archer. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are ordered to their end; and this being we call God.

Answer 10

for me, life began when i was born. whatever happened in the past stays in the past and learning about the beginning of time is of no benefit