Lesson 23 –
Does the Big Bang Prove Creation?

Big Bang Cosmology is not primarily meant to be an explanation of the fundamental origin of the universe. Instead, it offers an explanation for why the universe looks the way it does today. The basic model for the Big Bang does not describe the transition from nothing to something, but the change from an unimaginably dense and hot initial state to the fairly cool, diffuse universe of galaxies, stars, and planets that we see today, with all their complex physics and chemistry.

Course Reading

Summa Theologiae I q. 46 | St. Thomas Aquinas

Beyond Aristotle… and Beyond Newton: Thomas Aquinas on an Infinite Creation | Thomas P. Bukowski

Excerpt from the Summa Theologiae I q. 46, a. 1:

“Nothing except God can be eternal. And this statement is far from impossible to uphold: for it has been shown above (Question [19], Article [4]) that the will of God is the cause of things. Therefore things are necessary, according as it is necessary for God to will them, since the necessity of the effect depends on the necessity of the cause (Metaph. v, text 6). Now it was shown above (Question [19], Article [3]), that, absolutely speaking, it is not necessary that God should will anything except Himself. It is not therefore necessary for God to will that the world should always exist; but the world exists forasmuch as God wills it to exist, since the being of the world depends on the will of God, as on its cause. It is not therefore necessary for the world to be always; and hence it cannot be proved by demonstration.”

Course Listening

In the Beginning: The Big Bang and the God of Creation | Fr. Thomas Davenport, OP

The Infinite Creator And Finite Creation | Prof. James Madden

This episode was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this project are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.