The Big Bang and Christianity
David Knott has responded to my previous article, which explored the possibility that the universe may not have begun with a Big Bang, and offered a different perspective from the viewpoint of spirituality and the philosophy of idealism. The points he raises are so interesting that they are worthy of full articles rather than a private response.
My main interest is to discuss his statements and views about the soul and the creation of humans, which I’ll do in forthcoming articles. Here I’ll address what he says about the Big Bang.
This question is obviously relevant to religion and Christianity, since it is the scientific equivalent of a creation myth. It is also something I have debated on Medium with Gerald R. Baron. He seems to remain attached to the Big Bang model, despite the objections I have pointed out to him.
Both he and Knott are Christians, Biblical Theists, and we have had earlier discussions about Christianity, especially the question of whether the Bible is consistent and coherent, and whether it could therefore be considered to be the Word of God, ideas I have serious disagreements with.
So far I’ve had no reason to distinguish between their Christian beliefs. Here for the first time there is a difference. Baron wants to believe in the Big Bang because he thinks it is consistent with his understanding of Christianity. Knott says that he is comfortable either way. He has no problem with the idea that the material universe is a manifestation of the thought of God, thus the idealist interpretation which Baron, in a recent series of articles, is trying to move away from, since he finds it in conflict with Biblical Theism (or at least his interpretation of the Bible).
I’m not sure that Knott is aware of the full implications of his statement. He calls God ‘He’. Idealism, however, believes that everything that exists at all levels is a manifestation of the ultimate creative principle (the Mind of God), not just the material universe. In other words everything that exists emanates from, and therefore was originally contained within, the Mind of God. This suggests that this Mind must be half feminine, what Taoism calls the yin principle. The word ‘He’ as a description of God, which seems fundamental to Christianity, would therefore be inappropriate. As many spiritually oriented people have noted, Christianity has been repressing the Divine Feminine for many centuries — a serious error which needs to change.
It also means that what we call evil originated in the Divine Mind, a point which Gerald Baron has understood, and is a conclusion that he, along with many theologians down the ages, is currently trying to resist by adopting the philosophy of scientific realism, where he says that “in the biblical account, God is not the only conscious, wilful being in the whole of creation”. In which case we might reasonably ask who created these other beings, if not God. (I intend a response to Baron’s current series soon.)
More to follow on the Trinity, the soul, and the early chapters of Genesis, including an alternative interpretation of the Garden of Eden story.
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I hope you have enjoyed this article. I have written in the past about other topics, including spirituality, metaphysics, psychology, science, Christianity, politics and astrology. All of those articles are on Medium, but the simplest way to see a guide to them is to visit my website (click here and here). My most recent articles are only on Medium; for those please check out my profile.
