The Origin of Everything

The edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth. This image was picture of the day on the English Wikipedia for August 17, 2024.

Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson August 11-17; Doctrine and Covenants 88

Doctrine and Covenants 88:3-13 says, “Wherefore, I now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comforter is the same that I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of John. This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom; Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son—He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.”

So, the light of Christ is the power by which the entire universe was created. At the birth of our universe, all the energy of the universe was concentrated in one tiny speck of space. From a scientific perspective, we don’t know where that speck of almost limitless energy came from or how it got there.

In 1988, the British cosmologist and theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking said of those questions:

“Hubble’s observations suggested that there was a time, called the big bang, when the universe was infinitesimally small and infinitely dense. Under such conditions all the laws of science, and therefore all ability to predict the future, would break down. If there were events earlier than this time, then they could not affect what happens at the present time. Their existence can be ignored because it would have no observable consequences. One may say that time had a beginning at the big bang, in the sense that earlier times simply would not be defined…One can imagine that God created the universe at literally any time in the past. On the other hand, if the universe is expanding, there may be physical reasons why there had to be a beginning. One could still imagine that God created the universe at the instant of the big bang, or even afterwards in just such a way as to make it look as though there had been a big bang, but it would be meaningless to suppose that it was created before the big bang. An expanding universe does not preclude a creator, but it does place limits on when he might have carried out his job!”¹

So, Hawking was saying that before the big bang, “the laws of science” didn’t exist and therefore events occurring before the big bang would have no effect on what happens now. Thirty years later, in 2018, Hawking added, “The role played by time at the beginning of the universe is, I believe, the final key to removing the need for a grand designer and revealing how the universe created itself.”²

However, in his 1988 and 2018 statements, Hawking is talking only about the visible, “normal” universe. In a 2013 speech at Caltech, Hawking stated, “The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.” He further noted that, “normal matter is only 5 percent of the energy density of the known universe; 27 percent is dark matter, 68 percent is dark energy.”³ So, when Hawking arrogantly stated in 2018 that time removes “the need for a grand designer”, he was only referring to less than 5% of the known universe.

Furthermore, when he stated that anything that happened before the big bang “could not affect what happens at the present time”, Hawking was basing that statement upon knowing about only the 5% (or less) of the known universe. Over 95% of the universe is either dark (obscure) matter or dark energy, about which we know next to nothing. Because we know almost nothing about dark matter and energy, we have no idea whether or not they existed before the big bang, or what influence they may have had in the origin of the visible universe. We do “know” that dark matter apparently does not fill the entire universe, but exists as strands in which all of the galaxies are embedded, and their very structure depends on the surrounding dark matter.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:3-13 is essentially an expansion of John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” I believe that God made the heavens and the earth through Jesus Christ. I have no idea how. All I know from both the scriptures and science is that an enormous amount of power/energy/light was involved. Because of the limitations of science concerning dark matter and energy, it is likely that we may never peek behind the curtain and discover what happened before the big bang.

After all: we are told in Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” And in verse 6, “…without faith it is impossible to please…[God]”.   

Trent Dee Stephens, PhD

trentdeestephens.com

stephenstrent7@gmail.com

References

1.     Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, p. 8-9, Bantam, New York, 1988

2.     Hawking, Stephen, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, Bantam, New York, 2018

3.     Smith, Brett, Dark Matter at Caltech Speech, redOrbit.com, 18 April 2013