Will we not declare it?

Did you know that the Big Bang theory was first proposed by a Belgian priest? In 1927, Fr. Georges Lemaître called it "the hypothesis of the primeval atom," but it was essentially what has been confirmed since the 1966 discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation: that the universe originated from a singularity one-billionth the size of a proton (which, by the way, in turn is 1/500 billionth of the dot on an i.)

Albert Einstein at first objected to Lemaître's theory, because it reminded him too much of the Christian dogma of creation and he suspected Lemaître's objectivity. Also, Einstein believed in a static universe, while Lemaître proposed one that was expanding, which Hubble, of telescope fame, verified in 1929. So in 1933, when the Belgian detailed his theory, Einstein exclaimed, "This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened."

While Biblical fundamentalists and literalists may not consider it satisfactory, much less beautiful, it remains as close to anything else proven that the universe has been expanding for between 10 and 20 billion years. The universe was already unimaginably vast in less than a minute, but now its ultimate size is so unimaginable that cosmologists are unwilling to put a cap on it. Personally, I like the idea of many that it will eventually contract all the way back to that singularity. For me, it somehow tends to fit with Christ as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. 21:6 ) and God as all in all (1 Cor 15:28).

Speaking of the Omega, enter Pierre Tielhard de Chardin, another priest-scientist, but this time a paleontologist rather than a cosmologist. De Chardin thought of evolution as a process involving not just biological material, but all matter. He published his conviction in 1955, arguing that belief in evolution does not contradict Christianity. He believed that the universe is undergoing successively more complex changes that will lead ultimately to an Omega Point, interpreted as the second coming of Christ. In this, he was boldly anthropocentric, contending that a 15 billion year cosmic flow was directed toward humanity and its ultimate vindication.

At the risk of seeming to support the Intelligent Design argument (which I do not, since its patently bad science), I will note that many physicists appear to lend backing to de Chardin's contention. They believe that the universe was programmed for the emergence of the human mind from the beginning. To them, it is clear that the initial conditions of the universe were very finely-tuned for the development of life -- and in more places than just earth. Whether it was deliberately so or mere happenstance remains arguable. I suspect science will never penetrate the mystery of the singularity, and what its origin might have been. It seems like trying to answer the childhood question, "Where did God come from?"

Meanwhile, Lemaître and de Chardin are but two examples that people of faith need not fear or reject science. In fact, we can thank science that the heavens -- including our little orb -- now tell the glory of God to an extent Hayden could hardly have imagined. Moreover, as David Toolan observed, the new, post-Einsteinian physics has begun to pay more attention to the nonlinear, erratic side of things -- and with such phenomena we tacitly re-enter the eschatological universe of the Hebrew prophets. (Cross Currents, Fall 1996)

Consider the words of one of these prophets. "You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known. They are created now, not long ago." (Is 48:6-7a) Our universe is unimaginably ancient and expansive, yet steadfastly stable. It is still more remarkable in its processes, which are self-organizing, interconnecting, communicative, fluctuating, and open. New things are indeed created now.

And will we not declare it? In a relatively new hymn, Herbert Brokering says, "Earth and all stars, loud rushing planets, sing to the Lord a new song! Knowledge and truth, loud sounding wisdom, sing to the Lord a new song!" The refrain goes, "God has done marvelous things. I, too, will praise God with a new song!" Will you not declare it?