---
title: "Religious interpretations of the Big Bang theory"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_interpretations_of_the_Big_Bang_theory"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:33:54.549734+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Bakongo Spirituality ==
In Kongo spiritual tradition, the Bakongo people of the Congo River basin believe that in the beginning there was only a circular void, which they refer to as Mbungi. The Supreme god Nzambi (female counterpart: Nzambici) then summoned a spark of fire, called Kalûnga, which filled the void and burned and grew and hardened. The heat created so much energy that pieces of burning mbungi were cast far and wide. When the fires eventually burned out, the hardened pieces cooled and became planets, forming the universe. They also believe that the earth underwent four stages of creation that included: the emergence of fire, the burning, the cooling, and the emergence of life. Philosopher Molefi Kete Asante and theologist Kiatezua Lubanzadio Luyaluka both cited these similarities that they believe show a compatibility between Bakongo cosmology and the Big Bang theory.

== Baháʼí Faith ==

Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, has taught that the universe has "neither beginning nor ending". In the Tablet of Wisdom ("Lawh-i-Hikmat", written 1873–1874). Bahá'u'lláh states: "That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today. The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different." The terminology used here refers to ancient Greek and Islamic philosophy (al-Kindi, Avicenna, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Shaykh Ahmad). In an early text, Bahá’u’lláh describes the successive creation of the four natures heat and cold (the active force), dryness and moisture (the recipients), and the four elements fire, air, water and earth. About the phrase "That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today," 'Abdu'l-Bahá has stated that it means that the universe is evolving. He also states that "the substance and primary matter of contingent beings is the ethereal power, which is invisible and only known through its effects... Ethereal matter is itself both the active force and the recipient... it is the sign of the Primal Will in the phenomenal world... The ethereal matter is, therefore, the cause, since light, heat, and electricity appear from it. It is also the effect, for as vibrations take place in it, they become visible...".
Jean-Marc Lepain, Robin Mihrshahi, Dale E. Lehman and Julio Savi suggest a possible relation of this statement with the Big Bang theory.

== Islam ==

Writing for the Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, Haslin Hasan and Ab. Hafiz Mat Tuah wrote that modern scientific ideas on cosmology are creating new ideas on how to interpret the Quran's cosmogonical terms. In particular, some modern-day Muslim groups have advocated for interpreting the term al-sama, traditionally believed to be a reference to both the sky and the seven heavens, as instead referring to the universe as a whole.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad, head of the Ahmadiyya community, asserted in his book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth that the Big Bang theory was foretold in the Quran. He referenced the verse 30 of the Sūrat al-Anbiyāʼ, which says that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity:

 Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?
 
This view that the Qu'ran references the initial singularity of the Big Bang is also accepted by many Muslim scholars outside of the Ahmadiyya community such as Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, who is a Sufi scholar, and Muhammad Asad, who was a nondenominational Muslim scholar. Further, some scholars such as Faheem Ashraf of the Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. and Sheikh Omar Suleiman of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research argue that the scientific theory of an expanding universe is described in Sūrat adh-Dhāriyāt:

 And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander.
 However, not all Muslim scholars agree that the Qu'ran supports the Big Bang theory. Using a different interpretation of the Qur'an 21:30, physicist Abdul Mabud asserts that there was no gap between Earth's joint separation from the heavens and Earth's subsequent formation. Therefore, Mabud rejects the notion that Earth was formed from cosmic dust which spawned from the Big Bang.

== Judaism ==
"That the universe had a definite starting point" was addressed in a 2014 article with the title "New Big Bang evidence supports Biblical creation, says Orthodox physicist." Harvard's John Kovac called it a "smoking-gun signature."
BBC asked and answered "Is the Big Bang theory compatible with Judaism." Chabad/Lubavitch's website writes that it is science that caught up to the Torah's teachings regarding what today is called the Big Bang.
A Jewish doctor named David W. Weiss believes that the Big Bang theory is compatible with traditional Jewish cosmology given that repeatable experiments cannot be applied to materials far out of reach. Therefore, Weiss believes that a true scientist should  be of the belief that a Creator was responsible for the Big Bang.

== References ==

== Further reading ==
Leeming, David Adams, and Margaret Adams Leeming, A Dictionary of Creation Myths. Oxford University Press (1995), ISBN 0-19-510275-4.
Pius XII (1952), "Modern Science and the Existence of God," The Catholic Mind 49:182–192.
Ahmad, Mirza Tahir, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth Islam International Publications Ltd (1987), ISBN 1-85372-640-0. The Quran and Cosmology
Wickman, Leslie, "God of the Big Bang: How Modern Science Affirms the Creator," Worthy Publishing (2015), ISBN 978-1617954252.

== External links ==
God and the Big Bang: featuring Professors Peter Bussey, Gerald Gabrielse, Owen Gingerich, Nick Saunders, and Jennifer Wiseman. It discusses the connection between the Big Bang and God from a Christian perspective
Big Bang Theory and Religion, by Ron Kurtis, Physicist Archived 2023-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
Cosmic Controversy: The Big Bang and Genesis 1 published by the American Scientific Affiliation, an organisation of Christians in the sciences
Oliver, Simon. "Creation and Science". Bibledex Verses. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.