Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist, tells in one of his books (“A Brief History of Time”) about how he was invited to the Vatican to report on the origin of the world. He gave his lecture and when he left the lecture hall he met the Pope. The latter now stated that it was quite all right for him to lecture on the Big Bang. But he should not talk about things that took place before the big bang. Stephen Hawking describes this episode and then added that just the hour before he had been talking about the time before the Big Bang.
Does the Bible say anything about the Big Bang?
No, the Bible says nothing about the Big Bang. Some people are tempted to bring the Bible into line with natural science at the drop of a hat. There it is then about comparisons of creation and evolution and the like more. Already in another post I have explained that the Bible does not speak about the origin of the world in a scientific way, but rather about the relationship between the world and God “from the beginning”. It was never the task of the Bible to explain this world scientifically. We do not find a big bang there, but this does not mean that it did not exist. The concern of the Bible is simply different.
Creation from nothing
A popular thought is that God created the world “out of nothing.” I’ve heard this over and over again. However, if you look in the Bible, you will find no such statement. However, there is a verse in Hebrews that suggests this:
“By faith we understand that the eons were prepared by a saying of God, so that what is glimpsed did not come from anything that was manifest.”
Heb 11:3
If you read this verse carefully, it says something different. What is glimpsed has not come into being from something that existed before. In other words, this world did not exist before in any other form. It’s not like this world has existed in a slightly different way before and has just been somewhat remodeled. The world is unique. What makes it unique, however, is the way it was created. It was “prepared by a saying of God.”
What the world was created from, however, is not said here. It is only referred to after that, which created it. One cannot deduce from this verse that the world was created “out of nothing” because nothing is said about this.
Everything is from God
The Bible describes relationship above all else. This world, what we stand on, is in a direct relationship with God. Therefore, it is logical that the world came into being “from Him”.
“But so for us only One is God, the Father, from whom is the universe.”
1Cor 8,6
“For out of Him and through Him and to Him is the universe!”
Rom 11:36
So, the world did not come into being “from nothing”, but it came into being “from Him”. That is a big difference. It’s not a scientific explanation, but it doesn’t have to be. The subject is different. The universe is not only from Him, but also through Him and to Him. Origin, course and goal are brought there in direct connection with Him. You can’t get more comprehensive than that. It is about much more than the beginning than the big bang. Where we come from, what sustains us and where we are going is thus succinctly described.
We who walk in this world are in relationship with a God who holds everything in His hands. This is not only very comforting, but it also gives a tremendous outlook for our lives and beyond.
Visible and invisible
While a big bang deals with the physical, visible world, the Bible describes an understanding of the world in which there is room for the visible and the invisible.
“For in Him (the “Son of His love,” Col 1:13) is created the universe: that in the heavens and that on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions, principalities or authorities. The All is created through Him and to Him, and He is before all, and the All exists together in Him.”
Col 1:16-17
The context allows us to see that Paul starts from a comprehensive world view. He describes that this world was created in the Son of God’s love. Likewise, that the world was created through this son of His love and also toward this son of His love. Finally, that everything consists in this Son of His love. Pretty comprehensive, isn’t it?
An expression like “the visible and the invisible” is meant to sum up everything that exists. Paul is not only concerned with the physical world, but also with “thrones or dominions, principalities or authorities.” This refers to orders and hierarchies. Paul speaks about this in several places (e.g., Eph. 1:21-23). It seems that Paul’s understanding of the world is not only about molecules and physical events, not only about the Big Bang, but that this world knows a much higher context. The figurative language in the Bible reflects this expanded understanding.
The time is included
If we go back to the verse in Hebrews mentioned earlier, we read:
“By faith we understand that the eons were prepared by a saying of God, so that what is glimpsed did not come from anything that was manifest.”
Heb 11:3
What exactly was prepared by a saying of God? They are the eons. Aeons are ages and every external appearance of this world corresponds to an age with a certain imprint (Eph 2:2 “the aeon of this world”). The writer of the letter to the Hebrews does not have to limit himself to the definition “time” with the word eon. Words often have a symbolic meaning that includes much more. Certainly he refers here to “eons”, namely ages, however obviously also in such a way that it includes the visible.
Here is the promise: The God of this world is not only the origin and goal of this world, but also carries the world through time. We are included there. We can understand this through faith.
