A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME

A Bantam Book/a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group 1988
Hard cover 187 pages including Glossary
Cosmology

I believe in a Creator. I also believe in the evolution of the time-space continuum. To me, they are all-encompassing. A disjunctive proposition where one alternative does not and can not rule-out the other.

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 KJV
“And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2 KJV
“And God said, let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 KJV

Clearly, something spoiled the original creation which made it necessary for God to restore order out of chaos. The Hebrew word ‘hayah’ as written in the original scripture of Genesis has been incorrectly translated to mean ‘was’. When in actuality, the Hebrew word ‘hayah’, as scholars have attested, rightly translates to mean ‘became’: “And the earth ‘became’ without form, and void…..”. (Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words – ‘to be’)

“…..only a cosmic catastrophe could account for the introduction of chaotic confusion into the original perfection of God’s creation.” (A Survey of Old Testament Introduction written by Gleason Archer, professor of biblical languages).

The Bible, read as a whole, supports a time-gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. So, what we have here is the science of what is now known as The Big Bang Theory through the words of God Himself.

Stephen W. Hawking, Theoretical physicist and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge has given us a look into the time-space continuum without condescension or overly technical language… a remarkable rendering into the Big Bang singularity that any layperson can identify with.

Professor Hawking, regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein, reviews some of the theories set forth by a few of the greatest scientific minds in history: Galileo, Newton, Einstein. Quantum mechanics, astronomy, cosmology, and physics are explained in such a way that the non-specialist can easily understand.

Space and time; black holes; forces of nature; the expanding universe; and God, all as they relate to the science of theoretical physics. Hawking, who adds a bit of levity into the seriousness of this subject, also weaves snippets of his own personal journey: his marriage, children and debilitating illness throughout the pages of his time-space theories.

Why do we and the universe exist? “If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph to human reason — for then we would know the mind of God.” page 175

In 1981, Professor Hawking attended a conference on cosmology in the Vatican where he was granted an audience with the Pope:

“He told us that it was all right to study the evolution of the universe after the big bang, but we should not inquire into the big bang itself because that was the moment of Creation and therefore the work of God.” page 116

Giving some allowance to doubt, regardless the direction, each of us will have to determine for ourselves. So, this is where I leave you – to ponder our beginning within your own understanding.