# Does this discovery regarding the Big Bang invalidate Christianity **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 21, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039 "2002-09-21T22:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JS\_Princeton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JS\_Princeton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JS_Princeton)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039/21 "2002-09-22T23:08:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by His4ever \* > I like what a friend of mine says about the “big bang” theory. God said it and " **bang** it happened! My problem with this little quip is that it is too often used to ignore the actual content of the Big Bang theory in favor of changing the subject to metaphysics. It is often heard in mixed company when I’m trying to get at the meat of why certain Christian-folk have a problem with modern scientific theories. The Big Bang, to them, is a nice turn-of-phrase that can be used to describe the relationship between creation and creator. Well, that’s one interpretation I guess. The minute, however, I say that the universe is 15 billion years old, or some other FEATURE of said theory, many of these very same people get very hot-under-the-collar. “I thought you were IN FAVOR of the Big Bang?” I ask. “God made the universe the way it describes it in the Bible,” they reply. “Okay, but the details of this are that 15 billion years ago…” “Lies! Lies! Lies! Read Genesis!” comes the response. Okay, so I’m paraphrasing. The crux of the matter is that the very same people who are happy with the ab initio point of Big Bang Cosmology being fundamentally agnostic don’t want to deal with the details of the theory that illustrates some profound points on epochs of “creation”. If you don’t believe me, check out the website, Answers in Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![Spiratu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Spiratu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiratu)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039/22 "2002-09-23T01:53:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by romanticide \* > \*\*How is it that Christians get away with picking and choosing what parts of the Bible they want to believe? Saying that one part of the book is truer than other is a fallacy. \*\* The thing is, **romanticide** , that the Bible is not just one “Big Book.” It’s more like a library, made up of lots of smaller books. Would it make sense to say that every book in your local library is wrong just because _The Lorax_ is in said library and it’s obviously fiction? No, of course not. Each book in both libraries was written for different purposes, by one or more different authors, and at different times in history. _The Lorax_ is a good book, and it has an important message…but that message has to be interpreted in a different way than the message in _Do-It-Yourself Home Plumbing_. Similarly, most Christians believe that while, for instance, Mark’s Gospel and Genesis both have important messages for Christians to live by, these messages are not told in the same way, and those books are not considered equally “historically true.” ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039/23 "2002-09-23T02:07:16Z")
Out of curiosity– Why isn’t the OP question “Does the Big Bang invalidate RELIGION?” I know fundamentalist Christians get more hung up on literal creationism, but the creation story is important to Jews and Muslims, too. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039/24 "2002-09-23T02:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > **That would be so if we had hard evidence, but all we have is the Gospels. There’s no tissue samples, no EEG readings, no hard data at all.** So? The lack of evidence doesn’t make something unscientific. It does make the question unanswerable, but it’s still scientific. \*\* > [@](#): > > Without evidence, some things will have to remain impervious to scientific evaluation. We know that Julius Caesar was murdered in 44 BC, but do we know what he had for breakfast that day? No, because that morning’s menu was never written down, and thus is lost to us. \*\* No, but if I make the claim that he had a can of Boost and a black olive and sausage pizza, there’re good reasons to believe that I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039/25 "2002-09-23T03:07:42Z")
\*\*ResIpsaLoquitor wrote: Why isn’t the OP question “Does the Big Bang invalidate RELIGION?” I know fundamentalist Christians get more hung up on literal creationism, but the creation story is important to Jews and Muslims, too.\*\* Such a silly question. There’s only **ONE, TRUE** religion, of course; Christianity! All others are pale shadows or they’re worshipping false gods. (for the humor-impaired, the preceeding was a joke) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039/26 "2002-09-23T12:33:35Z")
Freyr- that BETTER be a joke or you’ll have to be doing some fast talking come Ragnarok! _G_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-discovery-regarding-the-big-bang-invalidate-christianity/129039.md?page=1)