Could the entire universe come into existence from nothing like quantum mechanics says subatomic particles do?
Question:
My question is one to do with the Big Bang. The creationist argument is that everything that has a beginning needs a cause and since the Universe had a beginning it need a cause- God. Since God did not have a beginning he did not need a cause. However, quantum electrodynamics claims that subatomic particles can come into existence through a vacuum fluctuation. These particles have a beginning in time, but they have no cause because vacuum fluctuations are purely random events. Couldn’t the universe have been created in a similar way?
Answer;
Could the universe be created out of nothing like quantum particles? To be honest, this requires a lot of speculation. We really do not know from a physical point of view "why" the universe came into existence. However, to compare the random quantum fluctuations in an already existing universe to an entire universe coming into existence from literally nothing, is to stretch the analogy to ridiculously great extent. It is true that physicists believe that elementary particles can be generated from the vacuum of space. However, these elementary particles are created in an already existent universe which has the properties which allow these infinitesimally small particles to exist. To extrapolate from the random fluctuations in an already existent universe creating a particle with a mass of ten to the minus thirty-one kilograms out to the creation of an entire universe with ten to the plus 31 kilograms of matter, and the simultaneous creation of four dimensional space from nothing is something which cannot be done by a reasonable person. This is utter speculation, with not a shred of scientific experimental support.
John Oakes, PhD
