Implications of the Big Bang
matter and energy all came into existence at once
Stephen Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose extended the equations for general relativity to include space and time.1 Not only space, but also time has a beginning - at the moment of creation. Studies in particle physics have shown that our dimension of time is really only half a dimension, since time can only move forward2 (forget the time travel movies - this is scientifically impossible). If God existed in only one dimension of time, then He would have had to have been created at one point. The Bible says God was not created, but has existed from eternity past to eternity future. The Bible also suggests God created time and was acting before time began,3 confirming that God exists in at least two dimensions of time. In addition, the Bible states God can compress or expand our time line,4 based upon what He wants to do. For God to turn a day into 1000 years and 1000 years into a day requires that He exist in at least two dimensions of time.
Later, Hawking tried to get around the concept of two dimensions of time by appealing to "imaginary time." Like imaginary numbers, imaginary time has not comparable physical reality, and so, could not explain what was happening before the creation of the universe. A real, second dimension of time would accomplish the same purpose as imaginary time, but could at least be theoretically possible. In his later book, The Nature of Space and Time, Hawking stated, "Today virtually everyone agrees that the universe and time itself had a beginning at the Big Bang."5
Last Modified October 4, 2004