We scientists believe the universe exploded from a singularity 14 billion years ago, forming everything we know today. Five billion years ago, a dust cloud in our galaxy condensed, forming the Sun and the planets in our solar system. The third planet was the right distance from the Sun for liquid water, the right size to hold an oxygen atmosphere, life formed, and eventually the species Homo Sapiens emerged. We humans often question the meaning of our existence. Well, it turns out we apparently have a genetic disposition to the spiritual, [1] so I would like to explore the religious perspective on the creation of the universe and how it relates to the story that science has returned to us.
Christianity: Genesis 1 1:4: “In the beginning when God created the heaven and earth, while the earth was a formless waste and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters, God said ‘let there be light’; and there was light. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.”
John 1 1:5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being with him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Recognizing that thousands of years ago there was little scientific understanding, the Scriptures are surprisingly close to what science believes. There was essentially nothing. God wills there to be light. Light = big bang? As in most other religions, the difference between light and dark is stressed. Although the ancients were referring to day and night, when the writing is carefully examined, creation began when God sparked light in a previously dark pre-universe. John writes that God is “the Word” and light is again associated with God. The reference to language is compelling – could he be saying that that God is, like, a universal language of some sort? When I hear that, I think about our understanding of Natural Law, mathematics, and how they reflect the very fabric of the universe, and further speculate that math is a universal language.
Buddhism: They believe that creation of the universe is cyclical and we are in essence spirit beings. “At the beginning of each kalpa (cycle) land forms, in darkness, on the surface of the water. Spiritual beings who populated the universe in the previous kalpa are reborn; one of them takes the form of a man and starts the human race. Unhappiness and misery reigns. This is the interval that we are experiencing today. Eventually, the universe dissolves; all living creatures return to the soul life, and the cycle repeats.” [2]
“ Lama Shenpen Hookham of Buddhism Connect writes: "The Buddhist view is that everything… is illusionlike…the illusion is created by infinite intricate connections that are not anywhere and not in time. Time and space are part of the illusion that is emanating from that Primordial expanse - so it is all very mysterious… evolution is not in itself a full story or full account of life on earth…” [3]
In short: the universe forms from darkness (Big Bang), spiritual beings are reborn into the new universe (life emerges), life struggles, then the universe dissolves (the Big Freeze). Living creatures die and return their souls to the spirit world. Repeat. And the Buddhists accept the mystery that the universe and existence itself are illusions.
Hindu: “…universes form from the breath of the God Vishnu's breath…‘With each breath, countless universes emanate from Vishnu in seedlike forms that expand. Then Vishnu multiplies Himself in as many forms as there are universes and enters into each universe.’
“…One started with the sacrifice of the primal man, named Purusa. His body was the entire universe. The lower quarter of his body became the earth; the rest became the heavens…” [4]
Vishnu creates numerous parallel universes, and “Primal man” became a universe. This supports a concept on multiverses I wrote about earlier on. Also, is there a possible reference to a super-race of beings that inhabited the universe or, for that matter, created our universe?
Islam: “When describing the creation of the ‘heavens and the earth,’ the Qur'an does not discount the theory of a ‘Big Bang’...‘the heavens and the earth were joined together as one unit, before we clove them asunder’ (21:30). Following this big explosion, Allah ‘turned to the sky, and it had been (as) smoke. He said to it and to the earth: 'Come together, willingly or unwillingly.' They said: 'We come (together) in willing obedience'’ (41:11). Thus the elements and what was to become the planets and stars began to cool, come together, and form into shape, following the natural laws that Allah established in the universe…It is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course’ (21:33).” [5]
The Big Bang is referred to in the Qur’an, then Allah coalesced the heavenly bodies from the resulting “smoke.” The balance of the story parallels the Christian perception.
Taoism: “Chinese art and culture and Confucianism speaks of the yin and yang or the dark and the light. They are supposed to be the creative power that sustains life and being. Yin and yang are natural forces behind even the gods. According to the theory, there was a time of utter chaos, mist and emptiness. Suddenly, there was a colorful light from which all things came to be…The heaven and earth yielded two strong forces - yin and yang. While yang is hot, fiery and male, yin is moist, cool and female. Left alone they are capable of destroying the world and together they generate balance and harmony. The belief is that yang created the sun and the moon came from yin. Together they created the four seasons and the five elements and all kinds of living creatures…” [6]
Dark and light are creative forces even mightier than the gods. The Universe started empty, then “Suddenly, there was a colorful light from which all things came to be,” or, the Big Bang.
So what’s the common theme in these beliefs? A supreme entity existed before the universe formed. The entity did something and the Big Bang happened or the universe (and several others) was created. What I find fascinating is that these stories were all written thousands of years ago, before modern science. So is the story of the creation of the universe wired into our minds somehow? Carried by our spirit within? Or even programmed right in our genetic matter, as per the compelling Time article “The God Gene.” [7]
To further understand what happened, what does science say existed before the Big Bang? “As physical entities, time and space can change - suffer distortions - as a result of gravitational processes. Gravitational theory predicts that under the extreme conditions that prevailed in the early universe, space and time may have been so distorted that there existed a boundary, or "singularity," at which the distortion of space-time was infinite, and therefore through which space and time cannot have continued.” [8] And just at the point of the Big Bang, if it indeed was created from a supermassive black hole, imagine the space-time distortion at t = 0 – it would be infinite! How can this be rationalized with our limited understanding and perception?
Thanks especially to the Hubble telescope, we strive to look as far back into the Universe as we can to understand what happened. If we succeeded in observing the Big Bang itself, would we be looking God in the eye?
Since the very day man became self-aware, we question why we are here. We have a genetic disposition toward spirituality. Many including myself believe that we possess a soul. The soul is our spiritual entity within. If the ancients understood the “Big Bang” genesis of the universe, is there any doubt that we have a spirit within, genetic hard-wiring toward the spiritual, and that our existence is Purposeful? Most importantly, will we learn to treat each other as though we possess Spirit within despite our numerous differences?
Are we ready for the message we will receive when we look God in the eye?
References:
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
7. See [1].
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