As is proved by the shift of the spectrum of the galaxies toward the red, the universe is expanding; something like the concentric waves of a fireworks display. For the galaxies to move apart, they must have had a starting point. It is supposed, then, that in the beginning the entire mass of the universe was condensed into an imperceptible nucleus, much smaller than a pinhead, in which a dreadful heat reigned. At a given moment, perhaps ten or fifteen billion years ago, something occurred that was not, properly speaking, an explosion, but rather an abrupt dilation, accompanied by an enormous release of energy into the void. This energy was gradually transformed into matter over the course of the dilation of the initial physical point until it formed, by virtue of a series of metamorphoses (the word is inexact, but any other would be as well) the continuously expanding universe, whose immensity defies the reach of our telescopes.

This theory, originated some sixty years ago in the observations of the Belgian astronomer Lemaître and taken up more recently by the physicist Gamow, who spread it under the expressive name of “Big Bang” or primordial “Great Explosion”, has today been admitted and adopted by the majority of astrophysicists. Since it assigns a beginning to the universe, it is not at all contrary to the Judeo-Christian doctrine of Creation, and the Church could rely on it without any reservation in order to provide, at last, a scientific basis for its preaching.”

Response by André Frossard

Nevertheless, although it is true that the account of creation opens in the Bible with the evocation of a “chaos”, vaguely referring to the cloud of particles (more exactly, of “quasars”) that would have followed the Big Bang, it is also true what the Gospel tells us: “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), or the Logos, and nothing else.

The Church has always striven not to commit itself to any scientific system. For a time it relied on the theory of Ptolemy, which placed the earth at the center of the world, and then came Copernicus and Galileo who placed it among the swarm of the stars of the firmament, and the ecclesiastics found themselves obliged to follow them after a vain attempt at resistance. Scientific theories possess the great advantage of being subject to revision, and it would be nothing out of the ordinary if the Big Bang hypothesis were succeeded by another which, instead of speaking of expansion, maintained that the galaxies describe their majestic curves so as to converge on a point of irresistible and unknown attraction. Who knows! The works of physicists and astrophysicists hold the greatest interest, but there is no reason to erect their hypotheses into doctrine; nor do they themselves do so, given how much they value —and rightly so— their freedom of inquiry.

For the rest, the Big Bang theory presents quite a few obscure points. When we are told, for example, that the brutal dilation of the original physical point releases an enormous quantity of energy into the void, it is evident that the problem is shifted from that physical nucleus (the “pinhead” where the mass of the universe is concentrated) to the aforementioned void, an absolute and primordial void as difficult to define as any mystery of the Christian creed.

And the theory is not so new. The same intuition can be found in the brilliant masterpiece of Edgar Allan Poe entitled Eureka, which was published in 1848. The theory of the North American writer is of pure logic, and the state of the knowledge of his time did not allow the author to support it with the analysis of the spectrum of the galaxies or the cycle of thermonuclear reactions, but the result is of a surprising analogy: the universe is expanding and all of it has come out of a tiny point. It may happen that genius, even lacking the exceptional means of investigation existing today, obtains the same results.

As for the relationship between the text of Genesis and the Big Bang, there is an error, at least, in the fact that the sacred book speaks to us of the beginning of the visible world, not of the secrets of the manufacture of matter.

And let us not forget that we —Christians, Jews or Muslims— believe that the spirit is prior to all things, visible or invisible.

Author: André Frossard