Objection · Case 08 · Science
Lemaitre’s own insistence that his science not be used as religious proof is an argument against this entire case, which uses the Big Bang exactly that way.
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
Lemaitre’s caution deserves to be taken seriously. He distinguished between physics, which describes the natural beginning, and the doctrine of creation, which concerns the world’s dependence on God and is compatible with any physics. The Big Bang is not used here as proof of God. It is used as a fact that fits theism and disconfirms one older form of naturalism, the eternal universe, which is a modest use Lemaitre might well have accepted. The line he drew is the line this case tries to stay on the right side of.
About this exhibit
This objection is to Lemaitre’s caution to Pope Pius XII.
When Pius XII suggested in 1951 that the Big Bang confirmed the doctrine of creation, Lemaitre was uneasy and worked to persuade the Pope to stop using it that way. He held that a physics theory can…