If a Begin requires a Beginner...

[Kurieuo]

How ridiculously and highly improbable is that, though? Inserting god seems pointless and irrelevant, as it only begs the question of where did god come from, and using god as a first cause is a complete non-argument. Just because we don't have a complete understanding of how it all started, doesn't mean you can fill the gap with god.

How do you believe it all started? Surely this question is not pointless and irrelevant.

[mrpinz]

I believe the most plausible answer is that the universe started from the big bang, which was triggered by the collapse of the universe which came before that.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I believe the most plausible answer is that the universe started from the big bang, which was triggered by the collapse of the universe which came before that.

Your faith is great indeed!

FL

[Byblos]

I believe the most plausible answer is that the universe started from the big bang, which was triggered by the collapse of the universe which came before that.

Where did the very first universe come from?

[Kurieuo]

How ridiculously and highly improbable is that, though? Inserting god seems pointless and irrelevant, as it only begs the question of where did god come from, and using god as a first cause is a complete non-argument. Just because we don't have a complete understanding of how it all started, doesn't mean you can fill the gap with god.

How do you believe it all started? Surely this question is not pointless and irrelevant.

I believe the most plausible answer is that the universe started from the big bang, which was triggered by the collapse of the universe which came before that.

And what is your evidence? If believing an omnipotent being such as God created the universe is pointless and irrelevant, than how is your solution any different? Looks to me like you are just inserting your faith in atheism into "the gap".

Given your theory though, what of the physical laws of the universe? For example, those surrounding space, time, matter and energy. Are they uniform across all these collapsed universes, or were they too caused by the collapse a previous universe?

[Anita]

Couldn't resist this one either.

The question is not pointless and irrelevant. Its not about the big bang, or where the first universe came from. Its about ENERGY!

People wake up here! The laws of thermodynamics tell us concerning the universes beginning that if we go back in time the available energy will increase until it equals the total energy. We can go back no further because time and energy must have come into existence at this point at its highest level beyond which it could have existed or it would have disintegrated, and since energy cannot create itself, both logic and science drives us to the conclusion that in the beginning G-d created the Heaven and earth. It could not have gotten its available energy by chance through time - it had to be designed!

G-d said just incase you cant see it in your vision because its foggy, I happen to have written a book to tell you exactly how it happened in order that you would have no excuse for remaining in willful ignorance of what I've done.

[Pashan]

...and the universe began (was created, through the Big Bang), and scientists appoint the Big Bang as being the most correct theory about how our universe began, why don't they believe in some kind of Creator? This may be a silly question, but isn't it obvious that God exists if the universe was started? The question "what existed before the Big Bang" doesn't belong to the realm of science but rather for the realm of theology, and thus obviously some kind of deity (biblical or not) why God is still denied by scientists?

A begin does not require a beginner. In quantum mechanics, virtual particles wink into existence all the time. Real particles disappear. The world is not static, and these events have real world consequences. The smaller an electronic circuit, the more likely it may be susceptible to failure due to quantum effects. The world is NOT deterministic.

I know a few scientists deny the existence of God. I am inclined to think most would remain agnostic on that issue, however. Does God exist? This question has not lent itself to suitable tests in these modern times. I know in the old days some prophet built an altar on a mountain top, then doused it with water, such that the water filled a trench around the altar. The prophet prayed for rain, and God struck the altar with fire from heaven such that the offering was burned, as was the pile of fagots upon which the offering rested, and the stones from which the altar was built, and the water in the trough around the altar, and the trough. Quite a fire.

Prophets of Baal had before this performed a similar rite, dancing around their altar and cutting themselves, but without success. This scientific test demonstrated Baal lacked the power to control fire, but the God of the prophet (the God of Abraham) did.

I am not aware that anyone has conducted such a test today. If they did, and the altar was consumed, would the test be repeatable? If not, could the initial consumption of the altar by heavenly fire at the moment of the conclusion of the prophet's prayer be nothing more than a remarkable coincidence? In the case of the Bible story, we have no sure fire way to convince ourselves the account was not simply entirely invented. We may choose to believe or disbelieve the account as we see fit, just as today a few oddballs disbelieve Americans set foot upon the moon despite the abundant evidence they did.

God did not sign the universe. If I were God, I might have arranged it so that the stars spelled out my name in every written human language. I might have made earth's orbit precisely 100 pi days long (314.14159265), rather than 365.2422 days long. Why that particular odd number? What does that signify? I might have encoded long prime sequences into immutable strands of intronic DNA, or better yet, essential DNA, such as the DNA responsible for cellular respiration in all organisms. That would be pretty clear and compelling evidence all creatures great and small were designed and were of recent origin, rather than are the product of long and gradual evolutionary change.

Wonder why God never thought of any of these things. I don't believe it is because God does not exist. I believe it is because God's purpose is not to convince us He exists. We probably have not yet guessed God's purpose. I am disinclined to think God's purpose involves some weekly ritual or the adoption of a bizarre and illogical creed. Some religions seem to me to compete with each other on which can get the most people to believe the silliest things. If you don't agree, then explain Scientology to me in some other context. I don't mean any offense to Scientologists here, but again, if I were Creator of the universe and were founding a new religion, I wouldn't pick a second rate science fiction author as my primary prophet.

[awms]

I don't know, the evidence for design in the universe seems pretty compelling to me. I'd say God makes a case for himself, but not to the point to override our need for faith.