The Unity of Truth

MATERIAL SELECTED FROM CHAPTER 1: THE BIG BANG THEORY, WHERE THE TRUTHS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION HAVE ALREADY MET HOW THE BIG BANG THEORY CAME ABOUT We start our quest at the beginning, at a point where the truth of science and the truth of religion have already overlapped, perhaps by accident, perhaps by intent, in a way that is quite mysterious and largely unknown to most scientists and religious people alike. The story starts out with the equations of general relativity that were developed by Albert Einstein in 1915 and with a suggestion from a Belgium Jesuit priest and physicists, Father Georges Lemaitre, of a novel solution to these equations. Father Lemaitre, who was the first (in 1927) to call to the attention of the world’s physics and cosmology communities, that a theory of cosmology could be constructed, identifying a point in time when the universe began. The steady state theory of the universe theory, most favored by the scientist of the time, was unacceptable to theologians because it elevated the material universe to the position of being co-eternal with God. However, Father Lemaitre found a solution within Einstein’s equations of general relativity that predicted the existence of a definite point in time where our universe began. If this were true, our universe was not eternal, answering the objections of the theologians. Once our universe came into being, it embarked on a period of expansion which continues to the present day. This picture of our universe’s beginning is remarkably similar to the creation story in the Bible (found in Genesis 1). Although Father Lemaitre never publically stated his intention to build a bridge between the biblical account of creation and the scientific account of creation, but it is hard to imagine that he would not have this motive in mind. Initially, the physics-cosmology community did not take Father Lemaitre’s proposal very seriously, but gradually a fantastic story of discovery began to unfold as evidence mounted favoring Father Lemaitre’s ideas. First there was the Hubble’s red shift, and later to clinch the argument, there came the discovery by two Bell Laboratories communication engineers (in 1962) of the cosmic microwave background noise. Interestingly, the term “big bang” was initially use as a term of derision by Fred Hoyle, a British steady state cosmologist. For their efforts in this discovery, the two communications engineers were to go on to share a Nobel Prize in physics. Since then, even the pope has spoken approvingly of the big bang theory, because it sounds so unmistakably similar to the biblical account of creation. The big bang theory, first proposed by a priest, had now arrived at universal acceptance within the world of science. A rare and unique occurrence had taken place; religion had lit the way forward for scientific progress. Scientific truth and religious truth had, for just this moment, come into perfect alignment, and were, within the narrow confines of the big bang, truly united. If this situation can happen once it can happen again.