Creation vs Big Bang

In honor of the first reader-comment on my blog, I thought I'd write about the ever-present argument between biblical Creation and the Big Bang theory.

The comment mentioned above linked to this Wikipedia page about the Big Bang.  I'm not sure which standpoint the anonymous reader was taking, but here are the three major positions in the Big Bang:

1. The Big Bang never happened, and Creation as detailed in Genesis is the only truth about the origin of the universe.
2. The Big Bang theory and the biblical Creation story support each other because the Big Bang can be viewed as creating something from nothing and because the most common versions of the theory allow for the existence of an outside force which caused the Big Bang.
3. The Big Bang is the only plausible explanation for the origin of the universe, and biblical Creation is a complete hoax.

There are tons of other gray areas between these three, and these don't even begin to discuss how other religions react to the Big Bang theory.  For a little bit more Wikipedia discussion of religious interpretations of the theory, click here.

I personally think that too many people forget a fundamental aspect of scientific use of the word theory: to describe a predictive model based on available observed facts.  As with all theories, scientific ones are conjectural in nature - meaning that they have not been proven to be 100% accurate.  This pretty much eliminates #3 above as a worthwhile view of the universe's origin.  As somewhat of a science nerd myself, I find it disheartening when people try to push theories as though they are fact, especially when those same people are ignorant of other scientific theories which rebut the one theory they've chosen.  For an easy-to-understand, but detailed explanation of the Big Bang theory and the questions it still leaves unanswered, I recommend this five-part video of a Steven Hawking lecture.

For similar reasons, I think that option #1 above is refutable.  The Creation story in Genesis leaves too many questions unanswered.  Many people say that God doesn't want us to ask these kinds of questions, but I disagree.  I've always viewed it as God's way of telling us to use the brains He gave us and figure it out.  What would life be like without a little mystery?  God knows that we thrive on searching for answers to the unknowns.

This leaves only option #2 above, which has problems of its own.  I think the important thing is that we keep our minds open to new ideas, while keeping a general understanding that the ultimate "Why?" question has already been answered.  While it's fun to try and figure out how the universe works, I am confident that the universe exists because God decided that it should.  Maybe it's arrogant of me to say this, but I think that the first few chapters of Genesis make it clear that the universe was Created for humans to explore, fill with our young, and ultimately own.