There was nothing, and then.... there was something?

Question

I'm still abit sktechy on all the details as to how athiests approach the question of "Where did anything come from?" before there was someting there had to be nothing so when something came along, either divinely created or otherwise... how do you explain?

Answer 1

I am not convinced that there was nothing before there was something. Maybe there always was something. There is no satisfying answer right now anyway, therefore it is best to abstain from useless speculation or dreaming up an answer.

Answer 2

Well, here is the Christian perspective. In the beginning there was God. Who made God - a mystery. What was before God - a mystery. How did God make things - a mystery. Etc.
In other words, God explains absolutely nothing.

Now its the turn of science. We have a scientific explanation of the universe back to within 300,000 years of the Big Bang (our telescopes can actually look back that far, so we can actually see it, take photographs of it, put it on the internet etc - not like god, its not a mystery).

We also have a complete explanation of the origin of life on Earth (a one off event - has been reproduced in a lab). And we have a complete description of the process by which life once it originated increased in complexity through natural selection. Natural selection is know to be a very rapid and effective way of reaching "ideal solutions", and gives rise to spontaneous complexity. We have modelled it in computers and have a full record of it in living and fossil organisms.

We cannot answer what came before the Big Bang because this event was a singularity. We can mathematically describe a singularity, but by its nature you cannot trace the laws of physics across one. This again is not a mystery. Its just like having a closed door - if you ask me what is in the room, as a scientist I have to say "I have no way of knowing - and nor do you".

Answer 3

Something coming from nothing is the conceptual reality of our four-dimensional space. That is why Einstein hinted on the open universe. What I mean is that something from outside our 4-dimensional space is filling up the vacuum inside.

Answer 4

Existence is random and uncaused. This is what quantum mechanics says and it is supported by experimental evidence, e.g:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/dn11376-photons-life-cycle-watched-in-full.html

QM also says that a state of complete nothingness is impossible, because existence is a matter of probability, and a state where nothing at all existed would be completely deterministic.

Hence a creator cannot exist.

Answer 5

I do not know.

Sting theory is interesting, but I have problems with thinking in 11 dimensional space.

The difference is that the theists says "God Did It" and walks away.

The atheist says "I do not know". Then says "Let's try to find out". And then goes on to invent more technology that can improve our lives as they try to find the answers.

Answer 6

This is one of the rare questions where atheists give an honest answer. They don't know. They'll talk about the big bang but ask them where the matter and energy came from to create a big bang and they don't know. But they'll try and turn it on Christians and say that because they don't know, it doesn't mean it was God. Which is true. But it doesn't change the fact that it was God.

Answer 7

ever heard of the Big Bang ?

Answer 8

"There was nothing, and then.... there was something?"
I thought that was the Christian perspective.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

You want to know my approach?

"I don't know, and neither do you."

Answer 9

why ask why? better to ask how to live in accordance to divine law (no different than any other natural law).