SOMETHING FROM NOTHING?
Did the universe begin with a massive explosion about 15 billion years ago? That's what the popular 'big bang' theory says. Supporters of the theory tell us that all the matter and energy now present in the universe were compressed into a tiny, superdense core, maybe as small as the full stop (period) at the end of this sentence. This exploded, first producing hydrogen - the lightest of all elements - and eventually stars, galaxies and at least one planetary system. Then, after a few more million years, plants, animals and people evolved.
But there are a number of serious objections to this idea. We need to ask what was there before the 'big bang'. If there was nothing, then nothing can't explode! And if there was something, then where did it come from? Astronomer David Darling has pointed out the difficulties of creating something out of nothing: 'Don't let the cosmologists try to kid you on this one. They have not got a clue either - despite the fact that they are doing a pretty good job of convincing themselves and others that this is not really a problem.... But there is a very real problem in explaining how it all got started in the first place.' (New Scientist, Sept. 14th 1996, p. 49)
One of the most serious objections to the 'big bang ' theory, and the whole concept of evolution, is that it flies in the face of the 2nd. Law of Thermodynamics. Put simply, this law states that all systems, left to themselves, will decay and break down. It is an inevitable, universal, downhill process. We can see the evidence of this all around us: rooms get untidy, buildings crumble and need repair, our own bodies grow old and eventually die. Yet, the evolution theory has things going from simple to complex - from hydrogen to humans! The chemicals that make life were supposedly synthesized by accident, maybe by lightning, single-celled creatures like bacteria are said to have emerged, developing over millions of years into the amazing variety of life we see on earth today - and all from an explosion! Now, we know that explosions always produce disorder and chaos, so how could our orderly universe, and our own planet, with its highly complex forms of life, possibly have originated in a 'big bang'? It just doesn't add up! For one thing, the evolution of more complex creatures would have required the addition of new genetic information, and there is no known way for this to happen.
Those who promote the 'big bang' theory have to believe all this happened in spite of the 2nd. Law of Thermodynamics! Is it not easier - and more logical - to believe that the universe, our planet, and the life upon it, are the work of an Almighty, all-powerful Creator? 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth' says the Bible (Genesis 1:1). Only God can create something from nothing!
The theory of Evolution: Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas which given enough time, turns into people.
(By Geoff Chapman, published by the Creation Resources Trust, Yeovil, England. E-mail: 101775.137@compuserve.com)