If the universe has existed for all eternity (as believed by some) and if all things that are possible...?

Question

given an infinite amount of time, then why does the universe still exist? I mean, is it not possible for the universe to be annihilated at some point? And if so, should it not exist anymore?

Thank you for all the answers so far. But let me clarify my question.

When I speak of the universe, I guess I am speaking of both time and space and matter. I don't subscribe to the steady state theory. However, even before the Big Bang, matter existed. Why did the Big Bang happen when it did? If everything has a cause and effect, what was the cause of the Big Bang? Why didn't it happen a second before or a second after it did?

And if our universe is in an eternal cycle of Big Bangs and Big Crunches, it still doesn't explain why there is matter, space, or time or anything at all to begin with.

Which brings me back to part of my original question (based on my clarification):

Why is there something as opposed to nothing?

Answer 1

It appears that the Universe is an active place where aging massive stars collapse and become supernovas (forming heavy metals such as gold, silver and iron), and new ones are being created when millions of stars cluster together known as starbursts. Galaxies do collide and annihilate each other, sometimes they can merge into one galaxy. When you observe galaxies, they all tell a story of their past. The Universe is like Broadway--a stage, the stage never dies, but new shows come and go, and we're the lucky spectators. I like to think of the Universe as a Fourth of July celebration. The sky is the Universe and the fireworks are the galaxies.

I always wonder whether the Andromeda Galaxy (our nearest neighbor) is going to collide with us eventually, or whether we're moving apart from each other.

COSMO - At the extreme of interactions are galactic mergers. In this case the relative momentum of the two galaxies is insufficient to allow the galaxies to pass through each other. Instead, they gradually merge together to form a single, larger galaxy. Mergers can result in significant changes to morphology, as compared to the original galaxies. In the case where one of the galaxies is much more massive, however, the result is known as cannibalism. In this case the larger galaxy will remain relatively undisturbed by the merger, WHILE THE SMALLER GALAXY IS TORN APART. The Milky Way galaxy is currently in the process of cannibalizing the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy and the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy.[43][44]

I SURE AS HEAVEN HOPE WE ARE THE "LARGER" GALAXY.

As an example of such an interaction, the Milky Way galaxy and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy are moving toward each other at about 130 km/s, and—depending upon the lateral movements—the two may collide in about five to six billion years. Although the Milky Way has never collided with a galaxy as large as Andromeda before, evidence of past collisions of the Milky Way with smaller dwarf galaxies is increasing.[70]

Answer 2

If the universe had existed for all eternity, the stars would have used up all of their fuel by now. I think that's one of the main reasons why the steady state theory was discredited and replaced by more modern theories such as the big bang theory.

Some theorists have speculated that there may have been other big bangs, eventually followed by "big crunches" when the universe stopped expanding and collapsed back into a singularity before a new big bang started the process all over again. If this is true, I suppose you could say that the universe as we know it has been annihilated and re-created, but this is only a theory and I don't think it's widely held. Personally I think that since the universe is still expanding after billions of years, it's not likely that gravity would be strong enough to pull it all back together by the time it reaches its maximum size because the stars would be too far apart by then, but then I'm not a space scientist. I just enjoy reading about the theories.


"There is a theory which states that if anyone discovers just exactly what the universe is for and why we are here, that it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. Then there is a theory which states that this has already happened. "

- Douglas Adams

Answer 3

Maybe it did and it collapsed into the cosmic egg which exploded into the big bang. We have no idea of what happened or was going on prior to the big bang.

The steady state universe has long been disproved, the work of Hubble, the astronomer, was the first stake in it others have only continued to kill the entire idea.

Has there been an infinite amount of time? Has time started, or was there just nothing before the universe, we know of, started?

Can the universe be annihilated? As it stands that would be impossible, and call for a complete break down in the laws of physics; but then the laws of physics don't work inside of a black hole do they. If someone found a way to turn a black hole inside out; if that is even possible then what would happen then? Would the Norse Gods come out to fight the Greek Gods? Would time flow backwards or "sideways?" We have no way of knowing.

The Universe is huge, with a radius of at least 13.7 billion light years (the number of years since the big bang). We assume there is a finite time for life to exist and there to be a universe we know that due to entropy at sometime it will fail. There is no way to prevent that, but it may not happen for another 13.7 billion years so there isn't any threat we need to worry about. The impending collision with the Galaxy Andromeda in 2-3 billion years is closer.

As far as our understanding of the Universe is there was only space before the big bang. For us time started with the big bang, so time has not been infinite; which means there are a limit to the possibilities. We know the universe is about 13.7 billion years old and nothing can go faster than the speed of light, so if we were somehow able to travel 14 billion light years then we would be beyond the limits of the possible universe, as we know it. We could be in deep empty space, or in the space before our universe began; we just don’t know.

But we do know that your question violates physics and our current understanding of the universe.

Answer 4

Time can't be infinite if the existence of matter also is not of infinite duration, time came into existence with matter and space. Infinities exist only in mathematics. If the universe continues to expand at its current rate, as it appears it will in spite of science introducing all kinds of exotic stuff like, Dark Matter and Dark Energy, in a futile effort, like a drowning man grasping at a straw, to explain what is going on, the universe will expand into a state of matter distribution is so thin nothing will be observable to the eye or to instruments, that is how it will vanish.

Answer 5

The Universe is not eternally old but around13.7 billion years old. There is a current hypothesis that the present Universe began from a big bounce but this does not indicate a repetitive endless cycle. The Universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate. It will not bang again but will expand forever and new star production will eventually cease. Nothing will annihilate the Universe.

Contrary to Shakespeare's play, all things are NOT possible.

169 moons- I wasn't going to answer the above question but someone has to contradict your false statement that 'old galaxies collapse and die cataclysmically'. I have no idea where you get that thought from but it is in no way true. Galaxies are made up of individual stars of differing ages. Perhaps you are thinking that ONE star in a galaxy may die in a supernova but it in no way destroys the entire galaxy. The actual death of a galaxy is quiet. Stars die and less stars are born as the galaxy simply grows dimmer except for it's glowing halo. Quite the opposite of a cataclysm.

As far as the Milky Way colliding with Andromeda: This is a big event yes, but not one to fear. It is better to call it a merger than a collision. Odds are that ZERO stars will collide. Galactic mergers are a common occurance in the Universe. The Milky Way has already merged with other dwarf galaxies in the past. In fact, it is merging with one right now! There are 8 other dwarf galaxies around the Milky Way that we will also merge with. Contrary to any doomsday scenario, the mergers only result in friction between gases which creates shock waves leading to the creation of new stars. The only result of our merger with Andromeda will be that the new result will be an elliptical galaxy instead of a spiral one.

In reference to the questioner's additionals: The concept of something occuring out of nothing may seem difficult at first but spontaneous and uncaused appearances of subatomic particles are routinely observed in particle accelerators.

The Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy says that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. The total quantity of matter and energy that is in the universe is constant.

Matter and energy are in many ways interchangeable but in a technical sense, you cannot just create matter out of energy: there are various 'conservation laws' of electric charges, the number of leptons (electron-like particles) etc., which means that you can only create matter / anti-matter pairs out of energy. Anti-matter, however, has the unfortunate tendency to combine with matter and turn itself back into energy. This could be why the Universe expanded at such a rapid rate.

In short, the first matter forms out of pure energy.

Why did it occur when it did and not one second before or after? Impossible to know at this time.

Answer 6

steady state theory was pretty much killed in the mid 20th century. and what would annihalte the universe? nothing is big enough to do that. only things like the big freeze, the big crunch, the big rip and others would be able to destroy the universe. and those all have to do with expansion or contraction of the unvierse, which the steady state theory says does not happen.

Answer 7

First of all, not all things are possible even with an infinite amount of time. The classic example about an infinite number of monkeys, if given an infinite amount of time, reconstructing the works of Shakespeare is ludicrous.

Answer 8

Maybe it just hasn't happened yet. Who knows? Sit back and enjoy the show.

Answer 9

EVIDENCE FOR CREATION

1. The Fossil Record...Evolutionists have constructed the Geologic Column in order to illustrate the supposed progression of "primitive" life forms to "more complex" systems we observe today. Yet, "since only a small percentage of the earth's surface obeys even a portion of the geologic column the claim of their having taken place to form a continuum of rock/life/time over the earth is therefore a fantastic and imaginative contrivance.1" "[T]he lack of transitional series cannot be explained as being due to the scarcity of material. The deficiencies are real, they will never be filled."2 This supposed column is actually saturated with "polystrate fossils" (fossils extending from one geologic layer to another) that tie all the layers to one time-frame. "[T]o the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favor of special creation." 3

2. Decay of Earth's Magnetic Field... Dr. Thomas Barnes, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at El Paso, has published the definitive work in this field.4 Scientific observations since 1829 have shown that the earth's magnetic field has been measurably decaying at an exponential rate, demonstrating its half-life to be approximately 1,400 years. In practical application its strength 20,000 years ago would approximate that of a magnetic star. Under those conditions many of the molecules necessary for life processes could not form. These data demonstrate that earth's entire history is young, within a few thousand of years.

3. The Global Flood... The Biblical record clearly describes a global Flood during Noah's day. Additionally, there are hundreds of Flood traditions handed down through cultures all over the world. 5 M.E. Clark and Henry Voss have demonstrated the scientific validity of such a Flood providing the sedimentary layering we see on every continent. 6 Secular scholars report very rapid sedimentation and periods of great carbonate deposition in earth's sedimentary layers..7 It is now possible to prove the historical reality of the Biblical Flood.8

4. Population Statistics...World population growth rate in recent times is about 2% per year. Practicable application of growth rate throughout human history would be about half that number. Wars, disease, famine, etc. have wiped out approximately one third of the population on average every 82 years. Starting with eight people, and applying these growth rates since the Flood of Noah's day (about 4500 years ago) would give a total human population at just under six billion people. However, application on an evolutionary time scale runs into major difficulties. Starting with one "couple" just 41,000 years ago would give us a total population of 2 x 1089. 9 The universe does not have space to hold so many bodies.

5. Radio Halos...Physicist Robert Gentry has reported isolated radio halos of polonuim-214 in crystalline granite. The half-life of this element is 0.000164 seconds! To record the existence of this element in such short time span, the granite must be in crystalline state instantaneously.10 This runs counter to evolutionary estimates of 300 million years for granite to form.

6. Human Artifacts throughout the Geologic Column...Man-made artifacts - such as the hammer in Cretaceous rock, a human sandal print with trilobite in Cambrian rock, human footprints and a handprint in Cretaceous rock – point to the fact that all the supposed geologic periods actually occurred at the same time in the recent past.11

7. Helium Content in Earth's Atmosphere... Physicist Melvin Cook, found that helium-4 enters our atmosphere from solar wind and radioactive decay of uranium. At present rates our atmosphere would accumulate current helium-4 amounts in less than 10,000 years.12

8. Expansion of Space Fabric...Astronomical estimates of the distance to various galaxies gives conflicting data.13 The Biblical Record refers to the expansion of space by the Creator14. Astrophysicist Russell Humphries demonstrates that such space expansion would dilate time in distant space.15 This could explain a recent creation with great distances to the stars.

9. Design in Living Systems...A living cell is so awesomely complex that its interdependent components stagger the imagination and defy evolutionary explanations. A minimal cell contains over 60,000 proteins of 100 different configurations.16 The chance of this assemblage occurring by chance is 1 in 10 4,478,296 .17

10. Design in the Human Brain...The human brain is the most complicated structure in the known universe.18 It contains over 100 billion cells, each with over 50,000 neuron connections to other brain cells.19 This structure receives over 100 million separate signals from the total human body every second. If we learned something new every second of our lives, it would take three million years to exhaust the capacity of the human brain. 20 In addition to conscious thought, people can actually reason, anticipate consequences, and devise plans - all without knowing they are doing so.21

1Woodmorappe, John, "The Essential Non-Existence of the Evolutionary Uniformitarian Geologic Column: A Quantitative Assessment," Creation Research Society Quarterly, vol. 18, no.1 (Terre Haute, Indiana, June 1981),pp. 46-71

2 Nilsson, N. Heribert, as quoted in Arthur C. Custance, The Earth Before Man, Part II, Doorway Papers, no. 20 (Ontario, Canada: Doorway Publications), p. 51

3Corner, E.J.H., Contemporary Botanical Thought, ed. A.M. MacLeod and L.S. Cobley (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1961), p. 97

4Barnes, Thomas, ICR Technical Monograph #4, Origin and Destiny of the Earth's Magnetic Field (2nd edition, 1983)

5Blick, Edward, A Scientific Analysis of Genesis (Oklahoma City: Hearthstone, 1991) p. 103

6Clark, M.E. and Voss, H.D., "Fluid Mechanic Examination of the Tial Mechanism for Producing Mega-Sedimantary Layering" (Third International Conference on Creation, Pittsburg, July 1994)

7Ager, Derek, The Nature of the Stratigraphical Record (New York: John Wiley and Sons) p. 43 and p. 86

8West, John Anthony, Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt (New York: Julian Press, 1987) pp. 13-14

9 See Morris, Henry, Scientific Creationism (El Cajon, CA: Master Books)

10Gentry, Robert, Creation's Tiny Mystery (Knoxville, Tenn.: Earth Science Assoc.,1988)

11 Baugh, Carl, Why Do Men Believe Evolution AGAINST ALL ODDS? (Oklahoma City: Hearthstone, 1999)

12Cook, Melvin, "Where is The Earth's Radiogenic Helium?" Nature, Vol. 179, p. 213

13Cowan, R., "Further Evidence of a Youthful Universe," Science News, Vol. 148, p. 166

14Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 40:22

15Humphries, Russell, Starlight and Time (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1994)

16Denton, Michael, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, Maryland: Adler & Adler, 1986) p. 263

17 Mastropaolo, Joseph, "Evolution Is Biologically Impossible," Impact # 317 (El Cajon, CA: Institute For Creation Research,1999) p. 4

18Restak, Richard, The Brain: The Last Frontier, 1979, p. 390

19The Brain, Our Universe Within, PBS Video

20Wonders of God's Creation, Moody Video Series

21Weiss, Joseph, "Unconscious Mental Functioning," Scientific American, March 1990, p. 103


[ Coal:Evidence/Young Earth | Evidence for Creation | Magnetic Field | Created Earth | Macroevolution | Mammoths | Carbon Dating | Evidence for Creation-2 | Scientific Allusions in Scripture ]

Answer 10

it is within the plan of God, a mystery beyond our understanding.