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The Big Bang is Christian

Dubbed the "Pillars of Creation", this photo was taken in 2022 by the James Webb telescope, showing massive columns of gas -- 66 trillion kilometers tall! -- in the Eagle Nebula, about 6,500 light years from earth. The nebula is called a stellar nursery, as new stars are actively forming within it. View the full res (70MB) photo.

Today I came across this post by well-known Christian conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey:

The part that got me was, "absurdly illogical belief that the universe was initiated by a big bang."

This is a common sentiment in the conservative Christian world. I suspect many in the Messianic and Hebrew Roots world feel the same. 

But a dirty little secret about the Big Bang theory is, it's Christian.

The Big Bang theory was developed by a devout Christian and the theory itself supports the Biblical idea that the universe had a beginning. It was initially combatted by atheist scientists because it too closely aligned with the Bible.

A devout Catholic priest and physicist by the name of Georges Lemaitre proposed the theory in 1927. 

Prior to this time, the scientific consensus was that the universe was eternal; it had always existed. But working off the theories of his contemporaries Edwin Hubble and Albert Einstein, Lemaitre theorized that the universe is expanding, with a definite point in time and space where it came into existence. In other words, the universe had a beginning.

Lemaitre's theory, which he called the primeval atom theory, was initially rejected by many atheist cosmologists. British astronomer Fred Doyle mocked the idea and coined the term "big bang" as a pejorative, claiming the theory too closely resembled the Book of Genesis.

But today, nearly 100 years later, scientists almost unanimously agree the Big Bang theory accurately describes the beginning of the universe. 

What changed their minds? 

A number of discoveries with powerful evidence:

  • Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. In the 1960s, scientists discovered faint radiation left over from the beginning of the universe. This radiation has been since observed to be stretched out due to the expansion of the universe, shifting visible light to different frequencies, aligning with predictions of an expanding, finite universe.
  • Hubble's discovery of the expanding universe. Edwin Hubble discovered that galaxies are moving farther apart, suggesting the universe originated at a single point in space. This couldn't be true of an eternal universe.
  • Abundance of light elements. The Big Bang predicted formation of precise amounts of hydrogen, helium, and lithium. Observations of old stars confirm these predictions.
  • The reality of a dark sky. If the universe were eternal, the night sky should be very bright. Instead, it's mostly dark, suggesting a finite past.
  • Distant galaxies' difference from our own. Observations of galaxies far away -- and thus, very old -- are made up of extremely bright stars, suggesting that the universe was much different than it is today, and suggesting that it had a precise beginning, not an eternal past.

The Big Bang is probably true, and it is Christian in its origins and Biblical in its implications. 

It's painful to me, then, that many uninformed Christians today reject the Big Bang categorically, as if it implies atheism. It does no such thing. It theorizes that the universe suddenly exploded into existence. 

In Biblical terms, "Let there be light!"

The universe isn't eternal, it had had a beginning: an instant of creation. And doesn't an instant of creation imply the existence of a Creator?

Some Thoughts on Miracles by Aaron Hecht


We have just come through Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This year, as sometimes happens, it coincided with Holy Week in the Orthodox Christian calendar, which starts with Palm Sunday and then goes through Good Friday and ends with Resurrection Sunday (known in some circles as "Easter.")

These two holidays are not in competition with each other, just like the Old Testament is not in competition with the New Testament. They are two parts of the same story, written by the same Author and serving the same purpose, which is to bring reconciliation and peace between God and the Human Race, which He created.

Beyond that, these occasions all have something in common, and it's not just that they are all about setting people free from bondage and the blood of a lamb covering us and all the rest. On a more basic level, they all have in common that on the first Passover in Egypt, and then later on as we move through the Exodus story and then again on the first Palm Sunday and the first Good Friday and above all on that first Resurrection Sunday, these were all occasions when God was very visibly moving in human history my performing miracles.

Now, before we move on, we need to ask ourselves what a "miracle" is.

A "miracle" is, simply put, an incident in which something happens in the natural world that should not be naturally possible.

The Ten Plagues of Egypt were all examples of this, as were the events that followed it with God appearing as a pillar of cloud over the people of Israel by day as they walked through the desert and as a pillar of fire by night to give them heat and warmth. Then of course, there's the parting of the Red Sea and the Children of Israel walking through it on dry land and then the Pharoah and his army following them and being killed when God stopped holding back the waters so they came down and destroyed them.

As tfe story continues, God does more miracles, including bringing the Israelites Manna and quail to eat, providing water from rocks, and much later, splitting the Jordan River so the people can pass through, just as He split the Red Sea.

Still later, God did more miracles, including my personal favorite from Joshua chapter 10 where He made the Sun stand still over Gibeon in the Valley of Aijalon so that Joshua and his soldiers could finish the battle. With all due respect to parting the Red Sea, this miracle would have involved changing a lot more things going on in this physical universe, including the motion of the entire galaxy, and maybe more than just our galaxy. All throughout the Book of Judges there are more stories about God giving Israel the victory in battle after battle, often against much more powerful and well-organized armies.

As we continue reading through the Bible, God continues to move in human history and there continue to be miracles but they are seldom as highly visible and dramatic as what we read about in the Books of Exodus and Joshua. Think about the victory of David over Goliath and Ballem's donkey speaking to him audibly.

But these miracles, while still being examples of events occurring in the natural world that would seem to be naturally impossible, do not seem to be as big of a deal as the parting of the Red Sea. Keep this in mind, it's important for what comes later.

Skipping ahead to the New Testament, Jesus' being born of a virgin was a pretty dramatic miracle, but only a small handful of people knew about it, probably just Mary and Joseph and of course Jesus Himself. When He grew up and began His earthly ministry, it was accompanied by many miracles, starting with turning ordinary water into wine and then moving to healing people of various diseases simply by touching them, casting demons out of people and even bringing people back from the dead.

Once again, these were miracles that only a few people would have personally witnessed and even to those few people, they might not have compared to the stories they knew about from their ancestors who saw the Red Sea parting.

Nevertheless, in John 10:37-38, Jesus says "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

Also of relevance is Luke 7:18-23; Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ ” And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

In both of these passages, Jesus is saying that if the people hearing His teachings weren't impressed by their supernaturally brilliant logic and undeniable truth, they should at least be impressed by the fact that He was doing things that would be impossible for Him to do if He wasn't acting in the power of God.

My favorite scene in Cecille B. DeMille's classic movie "The Ten Commandments" is when Pharoah Ramses II (played by Yul Brenner) returns from seeing his army destroyed by the Red Sea and his wife asks him for proof that he defeated Moses, but all he can say in reply is "his God, IS God."

Of course, this was a Hollywood scene, not a Biblical scene. The Bible tells us that Pharaoh died with his soldiers in the Red Sea. But nonetheless, I think it's powerful because it's a demonstration of the fact that seeing great miracles SHOULD be enough to convince someone that they're dealing with a very real God. It's not a "fairy tale" or a delusion or anything else like that. 

As a sidenote to this, the story of the golden calf is such a heartbreaker. These people who had seen the Red Sea parting with their own eyes, witnessing the power of God first hand in such a dramatic way, nonetheless believed that a statue made with human hands, our of gold they themselves had given Aaron for the purpose, was as he said to them in Exodus 32:4 "“This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

Scholars and ordinary people have been asking the question of how these people could have been so foolish for hundreds of years, but maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge.

In my own short lifetime, I've seen many events that fit the definition of a "miracle," including seeing personal friends of mine healed from diseases, injuries and other medical conditions that  the doctors had said there was no hope for them being healed from. That's a kind of small-scale miracle like most of the miracles Jesus performed in the Gospels. But I've seen other things that were bigger and more dramatic.

A year ago this month, the Iranians launched a large barrage of drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles at Israel. When the sirens went off, my family and I ran down into the bomb shelters, but even as we were running, I knew the attack wouldn't be successful. Some of my neighbors who live upstairs in the building ran down into the shelter with me and my family. They were scared, but they saw me not scared and asked me why. I replied that I had no doubt that God would do a miracle and prevent this attack from doing any serious damage. One of them told me later that he had gone from being an atheist to an agnostic that evening and I encouraged him to keep going.

A few months later, in October, the Iranians tried again with a much larger barrage of ballistic missiles. Once again, they didn't do any serious damage.

Now the Iranians are threatening to try once more and, according to them, this time they REALLY mean it! This time, they're serious and they're going to launch a serious attack that will do serious damage.

If the Iranian leadership were to ask me if I'm scared of this threat, I would remind them of Proverbs 16:9 "A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps" and the Yiddish saying which is derived from this, which simply says "Man plans and God laughs."

But all laughing aside, when Jesus said we should believe the miracles He does even if we don't believe what He says I commend to everyone the history of the modern State of Israel. As we approach Israeli Independence Day in a few weeks, many people take Israel for granted. But the truth is, this country is a miracle of God. 

The story of how this country came into existence on May 15th, 1948, is long and complicated and involves hundreds of people doing all kinds of different things in dozens of countries all over the world over many years leading up to that event. If a mathematician were asked to calculate the odds against all of these things happening, the mathematician would be forced to admit that there's no natural way it could have happened.

When Israel advocates try to make the case for the modern State of Israel being worthy of Christian support, we often do so by showing the prophecies in the Bible that point to it. This is good to do and I've seen more than a few people convinced by this. But I've also encountered people, including people who emphatically declare themselves to be "Bible-believing Christians" who are not convinced by the hopelessly unambiguous words of prophetic Scripture. To these people, I think we can and should point out the miracles that accompanied (and still accompany) the formation and the continuation of this country. There might still be some "stiff-necked" and/or hard-hearted people who won't get it, but there are some who might.

The New Christian Antisemitism


There's a growing fringe segment of Christianity that hates Jews.

I've long known this, but I saw it first-hand again yesterday. Owen Strachan, a Christian leader who runs the James Dobson Culture Center, wrote a short note on antisemitism within the fringes of Christianity. He wrote,

I replied, thanking him for speaking out. I said,

Thanks for posting this. 

Too many believers are falling into the delusion of antisemitism: a hatred of Jesus' own family, a hatred of the race of the apostles and all 12 disciples, a hatred of the heritage of nearly all the writers of the New Testament.

Read again Romans 11.

I am reminding fellow Christians that the New Testament says that even if unbelieving Jews oppose the Gospel, they are still loved by God (Romans 11:28-29). And, that they will one day return to their own Messiah (Romans 11:25-26).

But the 200+ replies to all this reveal the poisoned state of many Christian hearts towards Jews. Let me show you a few.

As if to prove Owen's point on Christian antisemitism. Notice how the phrase 'Christ is King' is being misused: not a declaration of Jesus as Messiah, but as a political and racial taunt.

Yet another great example of how "Christ is King" phrase is being misused as racist political chant.

Only Jews hate Jesus, says great internet philosopher Dog Tongue.

"We're not hating Jesus' family, we're just hating the Jews! What's that? The New Testament begins with Jesus' Jewish genealogy? I don't care, I hate the Jews more than I care about the Bible!"

Now here's something different. A claim that Jesus (sorry, Yahusha 😱) isn't white. My psychic powers are revealing to me what he's trying to say: "Jews are white, Jesus isn't white, therefore Jesus isn't Jewish." This is likely a Black Hebrew Israelite cult follower who claim Jews aren't Israelites.

This seemingly innocuous statement is yet another antisemitic threat: The time of the Jews is almost up, and we're coming for you. Tik tock, tick tock.

Jesus' people aren't Jews. Only those who believe in Jesus are his people. Nevermind that the New Testament calls Jews "God's people whom he foreknew" (Rom 11).

"Jews aren't allies of Christians unless you convert! Also, stop murdering people, you evil Jews!"


This is the old antisemitic conspiracy theory that European Jews (Ashkenazi) have no blood relation to ancient Israelites. This theory has been widely disproven, but racists keep repeating it anyways.

If certain Christians in history hated Jews, we should too, right? No way they'd ever make mistakes!

Also, we have green skin. Don't forget that part.

Certainly not enough to read this hot garbage!

You know who "says they are Jews but are not"? Jew-hating Gentiles who believe they are the true Israel.

He did the meme. Shlomo, shut it down! The goyim know!

There is a great deal of brokenness in Christian hearts about Jewish people. 

I could dismiss these replies as random internet weirdos. But something like 95% of the 200+ replies were racist garbage like these. 

Truth is, antisemitism is being mainstreamed in both the progressive left where it is disguised as anti-Zionism, and the conservative right where it is championed an America-first banner alongside all the groypers, Nazis, and Nutzis. With antisemitism increasing on both political sides, many Christians are now falling into the demonic delusion. God help us. 

The Bible warns that all nations will turn against Jerusalem. It is falling into place now, even in the church.

I have newfound respect for those bold Christians who continue to stand up for Israel and the Jewish people. I suspect it will become more difficult to do so in the future.