Claim 3 of 13 · Case 08 · Science
A Catholic priest was among the first to derive an expanding-universe model, and the first to propose it had a beginning, while refusing to treat it as proof of God.
One claim from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
The Big Bang is sometimes used as if it were an argument against religion. The history runs the other way. The Russian mathematician Alexander Friedmann first derived expanding-universe solutions to Einstein’s equations in 1922. Georges Lemaitre, a trained physicist and an ordained Catholic priest, independently derived the same kind of solution in 1927, connected it to real astronomical observation, and in 1931 was the first to propose that the universe began from a single primeval state. Just as telling, he insisted that his science not be used as religious proof, which cuts against the idea that believers only reach conclusions that flatter their faith.
Backed by 2 pieces of evidence
Georges Lemaitre and the primeval atom
This directly answers the claim. The person who originated the theory now cited against God was a priest, which is hard to fit into a simple story of science versus faith.Lemaitre’s caution to Pope Pius XII
This removes an easy objection. Lemaitre was not a believer bending science toward his faith. He kept the two apart on principle, which makes him a fair witness rather than a partisan one.