Atheists: Has everything always been here or did it come from nothing?

Question

Most religions are clear on their beliefs of the universal origins. I do not feel the need to ask this question those religions since I already know what they believe. I do not know what the atheist believes, that is why I directed the question at that segment. I am suprised at the lack of direct responses to such a common question.

Brett A........nice answer, but not for this question. You didn't answer the fundamental question.

Answer 1

Don't expect to get an intelligent answer. Jesus was once asked by his disciples about things in heaven and his response was, "you cannot even understand earthly things, much less heavenly things."

Answer 2

A good question. One for which I don't have any good answer.

However, I believe that one of the things that makes me an "Atheist" is that I don't mind admitting when I don't know something. You see, I feel that the various deities that mankind has worshipped over the years (there have been thousands of gods, yes?) have largely come about because most people can't admit that they don't know something. And so, to answer your question, they make something up. They say that the world exists on the back of a turtle, or that some air god slept with an earth god, or that the universe came out as a big sneeze or something.

But you know, I don't think that saying "Well, God created the universe," actually answers anything, either. Because, then you have to ask: Has God always been here or did He come from nothing?

And, if you think that God has some sort of ability to either 1) always have been in existence or 2) come from nothing... then... why can't the universe have that exact same ability?

Anyways, the bigger point is this: just because Atheists can't tell you where the universe came from, doesn't mean that your God--or any other god--exists.

Answer 3

Friend, I am not an athesist, but a Christian, I could not help but to see some answers these atheist gives, talking about the big bang 13.7 billion yrs. ago. I will not argue with the big bang theory nor the time span, but To all atheist, who created that big bang, God did. As a Christian, Yes I do believe there was a prehistoric time, & an Ice age. it is all there in the bible, God told Noah to do the same thing as he told Adam, to REPLINISH the earth. Why would Adam be told to fill up the earth AGAIN if there was no life on this planet at a earlier time, But those cave men was not Sons or daughters of God nor did they have a soul. And also you can find in the bible where God had took angels that sinned so bad, & chained them up until the great white throne judgement, where did they sin, in the testing grounds of the prehistoric time.Atheist you can go back 50 billion yrs. & My question & answer will be the same God created that big bang. Even the book of Job says that God hung the earth upon nothing, & to this day it is still in rotation.

Answer 4

Neither. Some 13.7 billion years ago, what is known as the Big Bang Singularity existed (not to be confused with black hole singularities). It contained all the matter & energy in the Universe in a very high mass / close to zero volume point. Thus it was almost infinitely dense - i.e. *far from nothing*. And anything back farther than the Big Bang is unknowable.

Your question also asked if "everything always been here", and since we now have planets, galaxies, pulsars, stars, etc., it's obvious that *nothing like these* were here at the Big Bang event (i.e. *only* the singularity existed).

Implicit in your question (I think), is "What *did* happen if neither of these options were correct?" As we see it, the Universe emerged from the singularity due to rapid inflation - the "Big Bang". This should not be viewed as *explosive*, as the singularity was *already" tremendously hot, and then began cooling immediately as inflation occurred. As the Universe expanded, atoms were synthesized, and mass clumped together to create stars, planets and galaxies. An appropriate way of visualizing expanding space is with the raisin bread analogy - think of entities like galaxies as the raisins and the Universe as the whole loaf while rising. This is a *very* brief overview - please ask or email if you want more, but HTH.

[Edit]: Well, *that*'s a silly response... You state that I "didn't answer the fundamental question" and then don't expound!!?

Answer 5

This is not an atheist question, but a creationism argument. We know only what we can observe. Scientific theories are just that, they are theories that explain facts. If the facts change the theory changes.

The present scientific theory is the big bang. It is only a theory.

From revelation, we get that God existed before He created everything we can observe which means that everything we can observed can from the unobservable (not nothing).

Atheists have heard the revelation and deny it.

I have seen too many of this pseudo science trying to establish that God exists. Neither science nor revelation proves God existence. In Science, this question is beyond the science method, and in the bible, it is assumed.

Answer: Read the Gospel of John and see how Jesus address unbelief.

Answer 6

I honestly couldn't tell you.

What I will tell you is how the phrase "I don't know how everything got here" does not at all give a lick of credence to the phrase "God made it all".

The reason God does not serve as an explanation for the creation of the Universe is that his is existence immediately begs the question "Who created God?". If God made everything then he is necessarily even more complex then the things he has created. So how did he get here?

You see, God is not an answer, he just a bigger question. Tossing God into the mix explains nothing at all, but just adds an arbitrary extra step to the regression. I agree that the Universe had to come from somewhere, but if it came from God then so did he, and we are right back where we started. The God Hypothesis explains nothing.

Answer 7

You know, I'd like to point out that evolution and the Big Bang are both THEORIES. Okay? Theories. Theories are unproven explanations, and even though they may seem correct, they cannot be proven difinitively. There were other theories that came before these and were subsequently proven incorrect; what's to say that these won't be as well?

I believe in a creator, because to me it's pretty illogical to say that something came from nothing (and the Bible does cover that God is the beginning and the end...circular, like a donut). But it's no one's place to say what others can and can't believe in.

Answer 8

You appear to be under the false delusion that atheism equates an evolutionist. Science has never said the universe came to be from nothing. That is a lie that your religious handlers are feeding to you. Science doesn't know how the universe got its start. They have some good theories based on observation of evidence though. But taking the easy way out, and blaming it on a silly infantile god fantasy is not the correct way to find out. God is a cop-out for those unwilling to find the correct answers.

Answer 9

Who knows? The only thing that can be known is that it was not like it is.
Just because somebody does not believe your creation myth does not mean they need another one to replace it. And if they do not have an answer and say that we might never have an answer that does not in any way prove your fantasy correct.

Answer 10

are you a christithingy, why are you asking atheists?

don't you already assume you know?

you see, I don't pretend to know! I have no idea, I just think that the majority of people don't want to live in conflict! if you don't believe me! ask the majority!

why I'm here is irrelevant, what I do while I'm here is more important!

Answer 11

Who knows?

Were you there?

Should we:

a) take our answer from a book written 2000 years ago by people who knew a LOT less about this world than we do (they didn't even know there was a universe)?

b) use all available evidence along with all of proven science to construct the best idea we can?