Atheists: explain to me how it is more rational to believe that the universe came from nothing than from God?

Question

The big bang theory is the most common explaination for our universe. It makes sense to one who believes in God because the bible said God spoke and bang... things were created, however most atheists I have spoke with tell me some nonsense about nothing exploding into something for no reason and somehow organizing itself into life. doesn't that take a bit more faith to believe in than a creator God?

if I commited the straw man fallacy or whatever it was called, forgive me. just give me a better or even different explaination

Thanks for taking the time to answer and giving me questions to try and answer on my own

Thanks for taking the time to answer and giving me questions to try and answer on my own

Answer 1

Except it didn't come from "nothing." They particles were there for the big bang to occur.

Of course the obvious question is god wasn't there before god was so where did it come from? Seriously, you believe the same thing except you say god did it. Do you not even see that?

Answer 2

This argument will never convince those who believe on the basis of emotions, rather than evidence:

It's simple to reduce something the universe to a single religion created two thousand years ago, and to believe that everything in our universe was made by some kind of humanoid who punishes non-believers with fire.

But the more evidence accumulates, the more humans find a universe the result of natural, unintelligent processes that build in complexity as time goes on. Our universe is so grand and incomprehensible that I often find it mind boggling. But reducing it to a humanoid male who has an emotional interest in the human species does not give justice to the scale and complexity of reality.

But the biggest key is evidence. The Big Bang theory may be subject to refinement and improvement, but there is no evidence for any god. How would you pick which god to believe in? There is no evidence, so people will stay with the religion that they are born into, develop a passion for later in life, or are told is the correct one, "or else" as an incentive. But that doesn't make any suggestion real.

It's hard to imagine an existence without gods because human beings like to create things, and we are capable of planning our past and giving meaning to life, even if it has no extrinsic purpose. Understanding a universe without gods can feel counterintuitive and mind boggling. But wanting something, even if billions of people believe in it, does not make it exist. Five hundred years ago, the Western world believed that the planets orbited the earth, and that we lived in the center of the universe.

Primer on the Big Bang:

Galaxies move away from each other, and the distance between them increases over time.

This is important. If Astronomers rewind this movement back in time, they find that all matter in the universe converges on a single point, billions of years ago. This is the underpinning of the Big Bang Theory. You'll have to do some research with an open mind if you want to find out more, and the theory is subject to refinement as we understand more about this strange universe. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I'm presuming that you mean this as an honest question, so I'll go ahead and answer honestly. There may well be a god. However, I do not care. I do not choose to live my life by the precepts of a big, invisible being, the only proof of it's existence being 'these guys wrote it down!'. I do not choose to grab a book that purports to have all the answers, but no explanation, and leave it at that.

There are any number of theories about the origin of the 'big bang' and all of them (including yours) involve the idea of something existing outside the normal 3 dimensions (4 if you count time) that we are able to observe. Perhaps something out there is god, perhaps it's not. But whatever it is works according to physical laws, and I'd rather try to find them then to toss my hands in the air and say 'it must be god!' and never discover anything new. If everyone did that, we'd still think the world was flat, and the sun revolved around us.

So that's my answer.

Besides, I don't know if you're up on your quantum physics, but things appear out of nothing pretty much all the time, everywhere.

Answer 4

Actually all matter existed at the time of the Big Bang- it was just condensed in a very hot plasma ball. If you study it, you'll learn how as these particles moves further apart and cooled elements were formed that led to supernovas, which formed the heavier elements necessary for life. It makes perfect sense. It doesn't take any faith to believe. It's what science has pretty much proven.
God has not been proven.

I personally believe in a Creator, but your argument is weak.

Answer 5

Yes, I suppose it would. However, you are making the assumption that what you describe is precisely what atheists are proposing. It isn't. This is faulty argument is what's known as a "straw man" fallacy (misrepresent your opponent's argument so that it's something easy to tear down).

It would be like me saying "You believe in God, so that must mean you believe in a man with a long white beard who can be seen sittting in a cloud somewhere in the sky, while people around him play harps. Well that's silly, therefore you're wrong." Again, straw man argument.

The big bang model does not propose that "nothing exploded into something", let alone "for no reason". Nor does it propose that the matter then "somehow organized itself into life". For one thing, cosmology and biology are two completely different subjects. Do some honest research on these subjects (and no, they can't be summed up in two paragraphs of layman's terms; you need to READ), and hopefully you'll understand what they're really saying.

Answer 6

You're right, except that the big bang theory doesn't need God. The theory states that at one time all the matter from the universe was contained in a small area. Due to heat and pressure it began to expand and soon it all had to go somewhere, it all spread from this center source and over time (trillions of years) it organized itself into what we know today. Also, why is it more rational to believe that a being, who nobody has seen mind you, made everything we know? Scientists have seen explosions million of miles across that release the power of eighty trillion megatons of TNT into space. I haven't seen God do anything!

Answer 7

There is no difference. The Bible says, "In the beginning was the word and word was God." Now is that any different than science that says it all began as a "Big Bang". Neither explanation really explains it. They both say it just suddenly appeared. So if you're satisfied that the Bible tells you all you need to know, keep asking yourself, as you look around the world, "What page in Genesis described this?"

Answer 8

Actually, the Big Bang can be explain by BOTH Creationism AND Scientific Theory!

Scientific Theory says that each and every square inch of space contains the energy equal to all of the amount of energy in the entire rest of the Universe! Why? Because, it is known that energy is sometimes "spontaneously" created inside a vaccuum, yes, energy can appear in the middle of nothing "FROM NOWHERE, and disappear again." This could have been how the matter appeared in this Universe for the Big Bang to have happened.

The Creation theory of course says God created it using His Holy Spirit (Ghost) an energy source that will never run out and has a sembelence of intellengence. Sounds like "spontaneous matter" to me! Personally, I don't think God CARES if we guess right or wrong, I seriously doubt he's offended by evolution, he may get a giggle out of it now and then tho.

Answer 9

it is easier to discredit something that can't be proved. it's easier to say there's no creator than to come up with a half decent theory about how things really started then. i don't follow a religion nor believe in the big bang (if there was one then it wasn't just 2 atoms). i stay open minded though. athiests are non religious. they probably just get sick of people trying to talk them into something. just like parents tell you what to do and you go and rebel. right or wrong...why are we seeking an answer that we won't get until we die? people believe in faith but i think that investment is riskier than a random stock on nasdaq. why can't people just be good people without a rule book telling them what's ok and what isn't? the closest thing in my mind to knowing the after life is the near death experiences dvd. you should watch it if you can get your hands on it because in the end athiests, agnostics and other religions change their view of life into the same one.

Answer 10

How long is a piece of string? Faith, or unbelief, is not a matter of knowledge, or rational discussion. You cannot persuade anyone to believe anything religious by appealing to logic.

I happen to be Christian, but that does not by itself make me morally or intellectually superior to anyone who is not. Furthermore, many atheists have rejected Christianity because of the actions and words of Christians.

There may come a time, in the lives of the persons you wish to persuade of the existence of a God, that they will be ready to consider the possibility. In the meantime, let it be.

God bless you and keep you.