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God Created the Universe with a Big Bang Where did it all come from? many people before us have asked themselves. Scientists of Cosmology, who study large scale structures and the origin of the universe, have struggled with this very question and have developed several theories to answer just that. One such theory is called the Big Bang.
It has become one of the most widely accepted theories of our time because in several ways, it provides tangible evidence to explain the origin of the universe. The Big Bang Theory assumes that the Universe began as cosmic singularity as small as an atomic nucleus which is infinitely small and infinitely curved and that all matter and energy were concentrated in a single point (Silk 77). This implies that the universe as an evolving model that existed in space-time, which began from an initial singularity and subsequently expanded (Davies 50). Fundamentally, this theory tries to account for the physical events that took place in the very first moments during the creation of the universe, well over 15 million years ago. In much of the literature, it is evident that the three key pieces of evidence that support this theory include: the presence of cosmic microwave background radiation, galaxies are taking part in a universal expansion, as indicated by the linear relationship between distance and redshift, and the discovery of light elements (nucleosynthesis) in the universes atmosphere that indicate the plausible event of a Big Bang (Weinberg 116). Despite the contentions some scientists have with this theory for its inability to explain other phenomena, it remains today one of the most compelling theories used to explain how the universe came into being (Weinberg 121).
While considering the topic of causality, it would be beneficial to investigate the ideas of one of the leading philosophers in this area: Saint Thomas Aquinas. While Aquinas attempts to prove the reality of a finite chain of causality and hence an initial cause, Hume argues against trusting implicitly our perception of causality. Through his examination of the cosmological argument concerning the existence of God, Aquinas was able to validate and support his refutation of a causal series continuing infinitely into the past. Essentially, Aquinas succeeds in justifying that the universe has a definitive beginning and proceeds to explain the necessity of God as the agent of this beginning.
For the purpose of understanding Aquinas' argument, causality can be defined as the relationship between two consecutive events and the presumption that one always precludes the other and in fact brings it about. What Aquinas' argues is that in order for an event to happen, a force must be applied by something else. Aquinas uses the analogy of a stick moving something only if a hand moves the stick. However, he contends that this series of cause and effect cannot go back into an infinite past. Essentially Aquinas argues that to remove a cause, is to also remove its effect. Therefore, by removing the initial efficient cause, all resultant intermediary causes are also removed.
This would also negate the possibility of any final cause. Aquinas' argument at this point appears to be logically sound insofar as providing a satisfactory justification for a primary initial cause. However the question still remains of what this initial cause was and the justification for its independent existence outside the laws of causality. Inseparably linked with his proposition of a finite chain of causation are Aquinas' arguments proclaiming the existence of God.
However many philosophers have disagreed with Aquinas' proclivity towards this cosmological style of argument and see it as superficial answer to the problem of how the universe was set into motion. In response to Aquinas' proposition of God as the initial cause, a common response is that this only moves the causal series back one step. Consequently it can be argued that Aquinas fails to identify the initial cause, leaving only another equally perplexing question; what created God? In retaliation, Aquinas further develops this cosmological style argument by explaining qualities of God to circumvent this objection. Basically Aquinas defense revolves around God being outside time and space. Similarly He possesses a quality of infiniteness that transcends these restrictions.
Expanding on this, in accordance with his theory of causality, Aquinas affirms that there are possible and necessary beings. In nature it is always possible for things to exist or not exist. These things are referred to as possible or contingent because they are not required to exist. Contingent beings must derive their existence from something that has its existence necessarily in itself.
Everything exists because of the mover or creator, however the First Mover (God) can only start this series of creators. Therefore in order to exist independently Aquinas characterized God as a necessary being. Hence God is the only necessary being and also not subject to the constrictions of causality. Aquinas shows that a necessary cause by nature would retain a characteristic of independence from the normal chain of causation. This description of an initial cause could be seen to correspond to recent advances in theoretical physics. At the time prior to the big bang, the universe was supposedly compressed into a point of infinite density, with infinite space-time curvature.
This is what is referred to as a singularity, and retains a property of existing as a point where the normal laws of physics break down. This concept can be construed by philosophers as an event that exists independently of the laws of physics and therefore possibly independent of the laws of causality. A singularity could be a modern version of Aquinas' original necessary cause. In 1915, Albert Einstein developed his Theory of Relativity, which attempted to make his equations of relativity mesh with the incorrect belief that the universe was stable and static, with no beginning nor an end (Davies 204). To recall, his Theory of Relativity identified the relativity of gravity with that of the curvature of space-time, and from this theory, he yielded a static model of the universe. His failing however, was his account that the universe was static and unchanging, which was later challenged by meteorologist Alexander Friedmann, and mathematician Georges Lemaitre both of whom, without concrete observational evidence for universal expansion, individually discovered the solutions to Einsteins equations of gravitation which described an indefinitely expanding universe (Silk 118).
The first of the key pieces of evidence of the Big Bang, according to The Universe Revealed, is the existence of cosmic microwave background radiation. It is a diffuse isotropic radiation whose spectrum is that of a blackbody at 3 degrees Kelvin and is most intense in the microwave region of the spectrum (Barrow 133). Consequently, this cold, uniformly intense radiation can only be detected by radio telescopes. It is postulated that this radiation came from the cooled residue of the initial explosion from which the universe evolved (Barrow 137). What is interesting is that the scientist, George Gamow postulated the existence of this radiation even before the radio telescopes capable of detecting the microwave radiation were even created.
Upon its discovery, scientists noticed its high degree of uniformity which proved its origin was from the farthest points of the universe, since any radiation produced near the sun, in our galaxy or nearby galaxies would be unevenly distributed (Gribbin 90). Furthermore, the cold temperature of 3 degrees Kelvin accounts for the notion that the universe was (and is) continually expanding, in that if the blackbody radiation was traced in time, it becomes hotter until it reaches the conditions to create blackbody radiation; a state of perfect equilibrium between radiation and matter (Riordan 62). Quite remarkably, this background cosmic microwave radiation is tangible evidence of a cataclysmic event that occurred long ago. The second major piece of evidence that supports the Big Bang Theory is the relationship between a galaxy's redshift and its distance, which was demonstrated by Edwin Hubble in 1929.
Edwin Hubble was greatly influenced by the work of an astronomer, William de Sitter, who hypothesized in 1917 that "the universe possessed the peculiar property that the light from the most distant regions became progressively reddened as the distance increased" (Riordan 109). Following this logic, Hubble's redshift is due to a Doppler shift of light from a galaxy that is receding, and provides a credible explanation for Hubble's law that states, the distance of the galaxies from us is linearly proportional to their redshift and therefore is linearly proportional to their relative velocity of recession (Barrow 201). In essence, galaxies that are twice as far from us than another move twice as fast. This indicates that it has taken every galaxy the same amount of time to move from a common point of origin to its current position, despite where that point is (Davies 256).
The last key piece of evidence for the Big Bang is the presence of a large number of light elements found throughout the universe's atmosphere. The theory predicts that light elements were fused together in the first few moments of the initial explosion (nucleosynthesis), which was made conducive by the very high temperatures that were believed to have existed during these first minutes. Deuterium, for example, is an 'extremely fragile element, ' which consists of helium and 1 isotope of hydrogen. It is known that this element is destroyed in stars because it cannot survive the high temperatures at the center of star formation, but it is not produced, so therefore, it can only exist in interstellar matter that has not yet formed into stars (Gribbin 155). Other elements that have been found in abundance in the universe include hydrogen, helium, and lithium.
Hydrogen's relation to helium remains quite consistent from galaxy to galaxy, which demonstrates its cosmological origin (Riordan 144). Lithium found in the oldest stars is much greater than that found in younger ones which indicate that this light element was created long ago during the 'Big Bang. ' This shows that lithium has very early and pre-galactic origins (Gribbin 186). This following figure was taken from The Universe Revealed, which demonstrates the predicted abundance of light elements from nucleosynthesis calculations (solid curves) compared with observational bounds in the abundances (light horizontal bars). There is a relatively narrow range of density (dark vertical bar) for which the observation of all four elements agrees with the model. In summary, there is a wealth of tangible evidence to demonstrate with a high degree of certainty that the Big Bang Theory is a convincing and plausible explanation with regards to the creation of the Universe. The discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, Hubble's demonstrable relationship between a galaxy's redshift and its distance, and the abundance of light elements in the universe's atmosphere lend firm, supporting evidence to the Big Bang Theory which aims to explain the events and processes that occurred to create our universe into what we know it today.
What is most intriguing is that many of these discoveries were postulated even prior to the availability of technologies capable of detecting their existence in the universe's atmosphere. However, in spite of the few outstanding questions the Big Bang Theory fails to answer, there are several proofs that guide our impetus to entrust in its validity. Words Count: 1, 854. Bibliography Barrow, J. D. Theories of Everything, Ballantine, N.
Y. , 1992. Davies, P. C. W. , The Edge of Infinity, Dent, London, 1981.
Davies P. C. W. and Brown, J. , Superstrings: a theory of everything, Cambridge UP, Cambridge, 1988. Gribbin, J. and Rees, M.
J. , Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter, Mankind, and Anthropic Cosmology, Bantam, NY, 1989. Gribbin, J. , In Search of the Big Bang, Bantam. Riordan, M. and Schramm, D. The Shadows of Creation, Freeman, 1991. Silk, J. , The Big Bang, (2 nd ed. ), W.
H. Freeman, San Francisco, 1988. Weinberg, S. , Dreams of an Ultimate Theory, Basic Books NY, 1993.
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Research essay sample on God Created The Universe With A Big Bang
