Re: TOBS: From nothing?

JaBrIoL:
>  Can experts now explain the origin of the universe? Many scientists,
> uncomfortable with the idea that the universe was created by a higher
> intelligence, speculate that by some mechanism it created itself out
> of nothing. Does that sound reasonable to you? Such speculations
> usually involve some variation of a theory (inflationary universe
> model) conceived in 1979 by physicist Alan Guth. Yet, more recently,
> Dr. Guth admitted that his theory "does not explain how the universe
> arose from nothing." Dr. Andrei Linde was more explicit in a
> Scientific American article: "Explaining this initial
> singularity—where and when it all began—still remains the most
> intractable problem of modern cosmology."

Not exactly, but some explanations look pretty promising, because they
make testable predictions about the way the universe should be today.
Some scientists -- notably Stephen Hawking -- seem to have an axe to
grind. Hawking appears determined to prove that God did not create the
universe. As near as I can ascertain -- from reading, not my own
research -- the universe came into being by accident. But popular
opinion holds that accidents don't just happen, they are caused. I have
no idea whether God caused the creation of the universe, but I keep an
open mind. It seems to me that efforts to prove that the universe was
or was not created by God are futile, and trying to prove that there is
or is not a God is not good science. It is conceivable to me -- I
didn't say likely -- that scientists could one day say "We've examined
all the possibilities, and the most likely one is that God set it all
in motion." It is not conceivable to me that scientists will one day
announce that "We have determined the entire course of events down to
the instant of the singularity, and have probed the events prior to the
singularity, and we now know that God did not create the universe."

> If experts cannot really explain either the origin or the early
> development of our universe, should we not look elsewhere for an
> explanation...

If "we" means everyone, no. The scientists should continue to pursue
their line of research, and the philosophers, religious or otherwise,
should continue their musings. Whether the twain shall ever meet, I do
not know.  Who knows, we may reach a time when we know everything about
the creation of the universe except *why* God created it (if he did).
>From that time on, the cosmologists would all be unemployed, but the
theologians and philosophers would be busy until the end of time! 

Davoud

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