By T. Dolcy
One of the most startling discoveries of modern science is that the universe had a definite beginning, perhaps some 13.8 billion years ago, with an event that is popularly known as the ‘Big Bang’. This discovery had very crucial implications about the reality of this universe and our place and role in it.
Various options could be offered to seek explain what caused the ‘Big Bang’ event. Some people might suggest mere chance or an accident as the cause, but both of these seem wholly implausible. Others might suggest that the event happened without any cause at all, but this option seems equally unlikely. The only truly rationally appealing (as well as intuitively satisfying) explanation is that the event was caused by a pre-existing conscious being that willed it to happen—or in other words, a Creator God.
From this, one of the features of God that we can discover scientifically is that God is the Creator of the entire universe, with everything that it contains.
Another thing that we can surmise about God from the ‘Big Bang’ is that ‘He’ is transcendental to the universe, having pre-existed it. God’s attributes are reflected in His creation but God is not identical with His creation.
A third thing that we can extrapolate about God is that He is the epitome of power and intelligence. He is so powerful and intelligent that He can simply will the entire universe into being. The cause of something as momentous as the creation of the entire universe obviously possessed intelligence and power to the absolute possible degree. Absolute intelligence and absolute power are thus clearly two of the attributes of the Creator God.
Thus, it can be said that through science alone (and without necessarily believing in any religion) one can discern the existence of the Creator God and can know of at least some of ‘His’ attributes. To know about God and to have faith in ‘Him’ thus do not require one to subscribe to any religion at all. One can have a direct relationship with the God who brought the universe into being without this relationship having to necessarily be mediated through, or predicated on, religion, as the term is understood conventionally. One can have a relationship with the transcendental Creator of the universe and seek His guidance and help without having to follow this or that religion, without having to believe in scientifically unverifiable dogmas and without identifying with this or that religious community. This fact is of particular importance in the context of conflicting absolutist truth-claims among different sets of religionists, which has caused such immense suffering and horror down the centuries and which continues in our times too.
Another liberating aspect of the fact that one can relate with the Creator God independently of religion is that it solves the conundrum faced with vast numbers of people who, unable, on moral, logical, rational and scientific grounds, to reconcile to certain dogmas, beliefs and practices of religion, give up faith in God altogether and turn into hardened atheists or just leave God totally out of their lives. Realisation of the fact that one can have a direct personal relationship with the Creator without having to subscribe to this or that religion can easily solve this great dilemma that many thinking people face.
The modern scientific discovery of the fact of the definite beginning of the universe was an event of great spiritual significance, clearly indicating the existence of the All-Powerful and All-Intelligent Creator God. The realization that each person can relate with this Creator independently, without having to go through any intermediaries (such as priests) and without having to believe in any religion, is another great discovery—and an immensely personally liberating one at that.
Comments