Photo Illustration by Abby Bellow
While addressing a meeting of the Pontificial Academy of Sciences, an independent body inside the Vatican, on Oct. 28, Pope Francis said scientific answers for the creation of the world, such as the Big Bang theory, do not conflict with the role of God in creation.
“The ‘Big Bang’, that today is considered to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the creative intervention of God, on the contrary it requires it,” Pope Francis said, according to Reuters.
Since he gained his papacy on Mar. 13, 2013, Pope Francis has become popular not only for his controversial ideas on the role of the Catholic Church, but for his works within and outside the church.
“He has done a great job in communicating the inexhaustible fount of mercy that is Jesus, a crucial aspect of the Catholic faith that is most of the times not perceived by those who look at the church from outside,” senior Brady Ross said
The Big Bang theory, one of the most popular theories on how the universe was formed, claims that the cosmos came into existence about 13.7 billion years ago and life developed through a process of evolution.
Jim Baird, a Bible and Philosophy professor, said he believes there had to be a creator before the Big Bang theory was set into motion.
“The Big Bang would be the first moment of time so you cannot even ask what happened right before the Big Bang because there is no right before the Big Bang as far as time is concerned,” Baird said. “There cannot be a physical cause that leads to the Big Bang right before the Big Bang.”
In today’s scientific world, the Big Bang theory continues as the most popular origin theory.
“I think the Big Bang theory is widely accepted by scientists, but I also think there are problems with it,” Baird said. “There are certain elements of it that we don’t really have any good explanation for. We have no explanation for why it would happen – why would a Big Bang theory take place.”
According to Pope Francis, the Big Bang theory and religion proves the existence of a creator.
“The beginning of the world is not the work of chaos that owes its origin to something else, but it derives directly from a supreme principle that creates out of love,” Pope Francis said. “Evolution in nature is not in contrast with the notion of (divine) creation because evolution requires the creation of the beings that evolve.”
Baird said the Pope might have a point that not only does the Big Bang theory exclude a creator to set things into motion, but that in order for the cosmos to be set into motion, it requires a creator.
“The Pope is alluding to something that many people have pointed out,” Baird said. “The pope says the Big Bang does not exclude the Creator, but it actually requires a Creator. It certainly suggests something that causes the Big Bang to happen because the Big Bang seems to exclude any physical cause prior to the Big Bang.”
Senior Christelle Kwizera said the very fact that the Big Bang theory cannot explain time proves the existence of a Creator who is not held within the confinement of time since he himself is time.
“My take on the Big Bang theory is that it is a theory,” Kwizera said. “It draws from current observations to try to understand what happened in the beginning. God is out of time since he is the creator of time itself, thus he is not affected by the Big Bang theory. The perceived conflict is that it seems to disagree with the Genesis story of creation.”
Although no one has been able to prove or disprove the Big Bang theory, there is no denying that new scientific discoveries continues to give answers about the world and its functionality.
“As a Christian, my admiration of God increases each time I learn of new scientific concepts and advancement in science,” Ross said. “For I know that God created all that and put in place a world that science is still trying to understand.”
Kwizera said that God might have a reason for keeping his secrets about the cosmos.
“The world is built with such perfection that as humans, the most intelligent creatures on earth, we can’t even truly recreate the same things.”
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