THE BIG BANG THEORY: THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE 2006 NOBEL AWARD IN PHYSICS.

The work of George F. Smoot and John C. Mather and their team members established that perfect black-body radiation and minute variations of matter – aggregations of particles – necessary for the development of solar bodies both existed as early as about 389,000 years after the Big Bang. Those findings provide still more credence that the Big Bang should be “the accepted theory of cosmology.” Included, of course, is the knowledge that the cosmos is many billions of years old.

The theological significance of this degree of certainty means that the Big Bang Theory is now so well established that every science-literate person will accept it and have little if any need for a master-manager God of the kind in the teachings of current conservative theology. Conversely, only people who are science-illiterate can believe the numerous creation narratives of the cultures in the world because they are, at best, statements of the historical perspectives of very inadequate knowledge bases. To that extent the constructs of God and how God functions now – and has functioned for a long time in the past – must be changed. The implications are several and huge.

First, the belief that God is in complete control of everything all the time has to be changed to an understanding that God does not exert that level of control. God must be considered to relate to natural processes by standing back from them – transcending them – has self-limited divine control over them. Second, if God is as loving and compassionate as modern theology has evolved into believing, then it must be understood that God does not control everything that happens to each of us, that we cannot pray for special treatment that violates natural processes. Third, we cannot hold God responsible for all the poverty, suffering, and ignorance found among millions of earthlings and that we are responsible for correcting such massive problems. These are the essence concepts of the Transcendence Theology I have written about in this blog, and their applications shake the foundations of Christendom and all the religions of the world that specialize in making us so comfortable and complacent.

Are these honored scientists now content with their findings and the leap of information they have provided? No, they are moving on. They want even “more precise measurements that will reveal the parameters of the universe,” to quote Dr. Smoot’s statement in his interview immediately after he was notified of the Nobel award.

If you want to sense the feelings of these two scientists within hours after being awakened from their sleep by their calls from Stockholm, go to:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2006/index.html

It is exhilarating to sense what they are talking about as they discuss their decades of patient and precise work, the need for close cooperation with NASA, and their vision for future studies.

THE QUEST FOR REALITY IS AN UNENDING SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE AND ITS BENEFITS, A HUMAN DRIVE RELIGIONS OFTEN SEEM UNABLE TO ASSIMILATE.