The universe has a beginning and an end, according to the Bible, so it is not eternal (Genesis 1:1; Revelation 21:1).
Philosophers and scientists have debated and argued against the beginning of the universe for years. They've claimed that since the first law of thermodynamics states that "energy can be transformed (changed), but it can neither be created nor destroyed" energy and matter must be eternal. But this argument simply does not hold up to philosophical or scientific scrutiny.
Generally speaking, those who argue against a created universe do so on religious, not scientific, grounds. If the universe was created, something or Someone must have caused it. And if that is so, the universe must have a purpose. These ideas are uncomfortable to many. However, the facts of nature and the universe point to a beginning and ending.
We can see that the universe and everything in it is deteriorating and coming to an end. We can see the same pattern in the cycle of life of every living thing that goes from life to death. It is the same with the universe. This is explained in science, even, in the second law of thermodynamics.
We can observe that the universe is expanding from a single point—and not just the matter in the universe such as planets and stars, but space itself is expanding. If it is expanding, it could very well reverse and contract.
Bell Lab scientists discovered the radiation echo in 1965 that was the result of the beginning of the universe (the afterglow of the Big Bang; i.e., there was nothing, then BANG, something came into existence). This proved that the universe is not static, but had a beginning and therefore must have an impetus or stimulus to beginning—a Creator.
Another discovery by relatively recent science is the existence of temperature ripples in space that gathered matter to collect into galaxies. These ripples were found by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE launched in 1989). The ripples have perfect, precise rhythms that allow galaxies to form. The NASA lead for COBE even compared this to looking at God.
Albert Einstein's theory of relativity shows that the universe had a beginning, challenging him to change his mind on the subject of its inception. He said the universe was the result of something happening—it was an effect, not a cause itself. Because Einstein had trouble philosophically and religiously with the idea, he came up with what he called a "fudge factor," which required a division by zero (a mathematical error). When others pointed out the error, Einstein called it "the greatest blunder of my life." After this, and with additional research demonstrating the universe is expanding as his theory had predicted, Einstein concluded that the universe had a beginning and therefore he wanted "to know how God created the world."
Also consider that every effect resembles its cause. Every created thing has something within itself that is embedded by something outside itself, and that something hints at what the outside influence was. In other words, you cannot give what you do not have. To surmise that an impersonal, amoral, purposeless, and meaningless universe stumbled upon human beings as a creation that have personality, morals, meaning, and purpose is to believe that matter came before, and created, mind. However, all scientific, philosophical, reasonable, and personal evidence points to mind, or thought, coming before any creation. To put it another way, a created being cannot precede some sort of mindfulness. Mindfulness must precede creation.
All evidence points to a created universe. Biblically, scientifically, and philosophically speaking, we can say with confidence that the universe is not eternal. It had a beginning and will also have an end.
Copyright 2011-2024 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved.
