Jurors What Say Ye

By Pat and Pat Jefferys

A thorough and fascinating resource that tackles questions about faith and Christianity through an analytical lens that uses facts, archaeology, science, philosophy, and the Bible to delve deeper into life, faith, and the universe. Hugh Patrick Jefferys provides an ideal resource for those seeking more, questioning their belief, and searching for answers regarding their questions about Christianity and the Bible. Within this book, you'll find several theories and evidence, biblical verses and facts, historical and analytical studies from renowned names. Philosophical theories are also included throughout which show their influences on morality and mankind in the form of rationalism, empiricism, and naturalism. The tone is educational and conversational which allows Jefferys to explain facts and theories with ease. Jurors What Say Ye is a scientific and philosophical approach to understanding the accuracy and truth of the Bible and answers your questions regarding Christianity

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pat
• Release date: Jun 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781990968235

Book preview

JURORS WHAT SAY YE?

Achallenge to atheists as also a journey for Christian to Christianity - a search on the veracity of the Christian faith and the effect of postmodernism and relativism in Western culture.

PAT JEFFERYS

Copyright in this work vests in Hugh Patrick Jefferys

The right of Hugh Patrick Jefferys to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Edition 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although raised as a Christian and attending Christian schools, amongst others, once a teenager the idea of attending church on a Sunday seemed to be all but forgotten. Upon marrying church attendance was re-instated but not a regular occurrence. That, too, fell away in the course of time. Some years later, yet again, I was re-introduced to regular church attendance and in addition a Bible Study group. Initially I was quite bored by the Bible study group and attended merely to enjoy the company. This lack of initial interest changed over time and I came to develop an interest in the history of the church and the Bible itself.

As my interest developed I sought answers to those questions Christians, and atheists, raise. Questions such as, how it was possible for Noah to board two of every living creature into his Ark, let alone feed them. I slowly came to learn that although I professed to be Christian I was hardly that. I had simply carried on my life without much thought to the tenets of the religion, as most Christians do, simply thinking a belief in God was sufficient. I was quite unaware that Jesus taught that Christians are obliged to not only lead a life in accordance with the scriptures but are also constrained through our lifestyle to lead others to the faith and, further, when opportunity presents itself, to teach the word of God. This came to me rather slowly. I eventually commenced researching areas of interest and recording notes on subject matter that interested me. The notes proliferated until it ultimately crossed my mind I may well be in a position to relate to others that which I had learned. After some five years I finally put pen to paper, as it were.

I make no pretension as to whether this work may be of interest to others. However, if it enlightens but a single person the effort would have been worthwhile.

I have reached this stage of my faith due to the efforts of others, to whom I am deeply indebted. Firstly, my parents gave me a good grounding in catholic schools, not that I agree with all the tenants of the Roman Catholic Church, some of which I quite frankly regard as quite wrong. Secondly, my former wife, Erica, now passed away, was the most selfless person I have ever come across and is responsible for the wonderful children we have. She sought nothing in life other than her family and was an example as to how a Christian should lead one’s life. Thirdly, Jenny Ridgeway who through her innocent, subtle persistence persuaded me to return to the church and ultimately to attend a Bible study group. Were it not for her I would not be where I am today. Then there are the members of the Bible study group for whom I have the greatest admiration, who are not only wonderful people but who are also very knowledgeable on the tenets of the faith and who selflessly imparted their knowledge to me. I rather think it must have been quite an onerous task. My thanks to Di and Arthur Caswell, Arthur-now with the Lord, Heather and Graham Cairns, Malcom & Joan Windom, Ian and Barbara Stewart, in particular.

Finally, my thanks go to my brother Michael for labouring through the drafts and providing me with his advice on content and substance.

PREFACE

Jurors what say ye ? Why Christianity? Why not Islam, Buddhism or any other religion for that matter. The reason Christianity is that verifiable fact exists which proves beyond all reasonable doubt the Christian God is the one and only God, whereas other religions are simply not based on verifiable fact, rather faith alone.

This book is intended to challenge the atheist and those of other beliefs into a consideration of the Christian belief and inspire discussion of the metaphysical.

As far as the Christian is concerned a knowledge of these facts is essential. I have yet to hear an in-depth sermon from the pulpit which presents an analysis of the facts which prove the Bible to be completely reliable. These facts are extremely important as we all have questions concerning the veracity of the Bible. We need to know them not only for reason they assist us in answering our own questions but also to enlighten those who are critical of Christ. Most Christians appear to be nominal in faith, so often with a disregard for the actual tenets of the faith.

An absence of teaching the facts which clearly emerge from science, archaeology and history and which irrefutably prove the accuracy of the Bible and the life of Christ has the inevitable result that most Christians are often unable to respond to questions directed at them.

The most important decision we will ever make is the decision whether we accept or reject God. The Bible tells us our spirit lives forever, for eternity. Yet, so many cannot be bothered to investigate and determine whether the Bible does in fact disclose the one and only true God. Rather, we will spend time playing games with our computers and cellular telephones, reading books and magazines and generally carry on our lives too bothered to determine this all-important issue which will dictate our lives for eternity once we shuffle off this mortal coil.

So, take up the challenge, criticise if you will but adopt an objective approach and decide for yourself.

Contents

Page

Introduction   10

PART 1: Considering the Evidence

Chapter I

Science and the Origin of the Universe     18

The theories of Darwin; Neo-Darwinism       20

The big bang 25

Steady-State & Quasi-Steady State Theories    28

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation  Theory    30

Intelligent Design Theory  31

The Bible 35

CHAPTER II 

The Incredible Universe     43

Finely tuned for life       51

CHAPTER III      

The Human Body 63

The complexity of the body; eye’s design 64

The DNA; Bacterial Flagellum 68

The skin; the human circulatory system; lungs; brain 74

Sexual reproduction 77

CHAPTER IV      

The Reliability of the Old

and New Testaments  78

The bibliographic test  79

Internal evidence test          80

External evidence test 81

Accuracy and veracity  82

CHAPTER V

Archaeology: The First Segment   98

The Tablets         105

The Steles 117

The Walls   118

The Annals, Reliefs and Ration Records  119

CHAPTER VI

Archaeology: The Second Segment     122

Cities and towns:

Gaza, Ashkelon & Ekron  122

Ashdod    126 

Edom          127

Jericho   131

Sodom and Gomorrah 134

Bethlehem 136

Nazareth 138

Jerusalem: The Pools of Bethesda and Siloam 141

Bethany: The Tomb of Lazarus 144

Nineveh         145

Shechem (Sychar); Susa      149

Korazin, Capernaum and Bethsaida       150

Dan  155

Ephesus         156

Jaffa (Joppa)  157

Babylon           158

Memphis and Thebes   163

Tel Arad, Bethel  165

Gezer, Hazor, Heshbon      165

The Temple Courtyard, Jerusalem; Sea of Galilee  167

CHAPTER VII

Archaeology: The Third Segment 

People referred to in the Bible:  169

Herod the Great  169

Herod Antipas,  170

Erastus, Gallio  171

Tiberius Caesar 172

Pontius Pilate 173

Lysanias 174

Caiaphas 175

John the Baptist 176

Alexander of Cyrene 176

The Barsabbas Family 177

James, son of Joseph 178

CHAPTER VIII

Attempts to Discredit the Authenticity of the Bible 180

CHAPTER IX

The Probability of Accurate 185

Old Testament Prophecy 

Tyre 187

Samaria 189

Gaza and Ashkelon 190

Jericho 192

The Golden Gate 193

Zion ploughed 194

Jerusalem enlarged 195

Palestine 197

Moab and Ammon 199

Edom 200

Babylon 201

Summary 203

CHAPTER X 

Christ the Man 205

Meldau, Mill, Schaff, Napoleon, Lewis, Schultz,

Einstein, Lucian, Josephus, Tacitus, Thallus, Justin, Pliny

Peter and John 206

CHAPTER XI

The Prophecy and Life of Christ 217

Prophecy of the coming of Jesus 219

John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus 232

The miracles and preaching of Jesus 234

The death of Jesus prophesied 237

Jesus’ trial 245

Crucifixion  251

Chapter XII

The Resurrection 265

The attempt to discredit the resurrection 276

CHAPTER XIII

Peter Stoner on Accuracy of Prophecy 281

PART 2: Western Morality in the 21ST Century

Chapter XIV

Western Morals and Worldviews 292

Communism and Socialism 305

The Educators 309

The Family 313

Chapter XV

Philosophical Theories on Morality 323

Secularization 324

Pluralization, Privatization 325

Rationalism 326

Empiricism 328

Naturalism 329

Existentialism 330

Nihilism 331

Modernism 332

Post-Modernism 333

Relativism, Moral Relativism 335

Truth Relativism 341

The Theonomous, Heteronomous

and Autonomous Culture   346

CHAPTER XVI

Moral Questions of the Day 355

Abortion 355

Political Correctness 358

Homosexuality and LBGTQ 362

Immigration 368

Tattoos  370

Syncretism 371

CHAPTER XVII

Contrary Religions 373

Atheism 373

Islam 406

Jehovah’s Witness 429

Mormonism 431

Hinduism 434

Buddhism 435

INTRODUCTION

Well, here you are . If you are reading this you have been conscripted to sit as a juror on the jury panel and determine the question as to whether the Almighty God exists or not. In reaching this decision you will have to determine the following issues:

whether the Old Testament is accurate and true, after taking into account the opinions of palaeographers on the accuracy of the Bible, scientific fact, prophecies, archaeological discoveries and the impartial, even hostile, writers of antiquity;

whether the New Testament is accurate and true, after taking into account the prophecies emanating from the Old Testament concerning Jesus, the works of Jesus, the Gospels, the writers of antiquity recording the life of Jesus, and consequently;

whether, on a balance of probabilities, the Almighty God, consisting of the Trinity of God, namely: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is revealed in the Scriptures as the one and only true God.

This work is intended to expand, expound, elaborate on and determine the answer to this question, namely whether the Bible is true. It constitutes a challenge to readers to hopefully simplify the facts available to us, which assist in considering and deciding whether God exists and created the Universe and mankind with the desire we should be with Him after our sojourn upon this planet. There have been a significant  number  of  atheists,  including  internationally acclaimed persons who actively authored anti-Christian works and books, challenging the veracity of the Bible, setting out to prove it false only to end up dedicated Christians.

Included in this work is a record of some prophecies emanating from the Old and New Testaments which subsequently came to be fulfiled. Reference is made to prophecies concerning cities, towns, people and events. This record is necessary in order to demonstrate the accuracy of the Old and New Testaments.

Let us now turn to the existence of those facts which gave rise to the Christian belief and analyse them on a balance of probabilities, as is the test in our civil law. Indeed, we may even test these facts against the criminal law test being - acceptable beyond all reasonable doubt.

So let us start by outlining the Christian faith upon which the Trinity is founded.

The Christian Faith

The Christian faith is an objective faith, the object of which is, inter alia , Jesus Christ. It was not founded from philosophy, speculation, myth, an unfounded belief or a dream, but in fact. Central to the faith is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, symbolizing our spiritual resurrection after our death. If Jesus did not rise from the dead we could not claim to be Christians as the Christian faith is founded upon the risen Jesus Christ. Were it to be found that Jesus did not rise from the dead Christianity would be nothing other than a gigantic hoax.

Christianity is the only religion which claims the Messiah, the risen Jesus, has already come and has yet to come again. No other religion claims an actual personality as a God, as opposed to a philosophical proposition, as founding its religion. Christianity is a factual religion based on facts recorded in the Old Testament, eyewitness accounts of events recorded in the New Testament, archaeology, science and third-party documentation emanating from antiquity.

Interestingly, the most ardent critics of Christianity admit Jesus lived, and this includes those who murdered Him. The evidence of this, as also the evidence of what Jesus did in the course of his lifetime, is recorded not only by the writers of the New Testament but also by those who criticized him in the course of his lifetime, and shortly thereafter. Many documents and records written in antiquity have survived the ravages of time. These are particularly relevant to the enquiry.

Christianity is constantly under attack by atheists, agnostics and other religions, more particularly Islam, yet always without much knowledge of the subject they criticize. There are many former atheists, Jews, Muslims and agnostics who, after studying the Bible, converted to Christianity, many of whom have admitted to setting out to study the Bible with the specific objective of publishing a work disproving its authenticity and veracity, yet upon study were constrained to retract their criticism and convert to Christianity. Some of these have become ardent preachers. A few of these are considered in the chapters which follow.

We are instructed to search the scriptures in order to acquire knowledge of our God. John quoting Jesus said:

John 5:39-40

"These are the Scriptures which testify of me, yet you refuse to come to me, to have life."

THE WORD Scriptures in this passage refers to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we find prophecies referring directly to Christ, the Messiah. It is therefore in these prophecies, and their fulfilment we may look to if we wish to find evidence that Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, the saviour of mankind, and all that is prophesied about Him, and that which He claims to be.

If we find these prophecies fulfilled in Christ we establish, not only that Christ is the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament, but that the prophecies contained in the Bible were given by God Himself to the prophets. For if they were not given by God, no man in history would have fulfilled all these many prophesies. This is elaborated on in the chapters which follow.

THE CLICHÉ:

It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe, that’s enough.

cannot apply to the Christian faith.

A question so often asked is: "is the Bible reliable?" The reliability of the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, should be tested with reference to the same criteria that all historical documents are tested. There are over 24,000 documents of antiquity that we are able to consult in determining the veracity of the Bible.

It is not questioned, be it by Jew or Muslim, that Jesus lived. So, too, atheist and agnostic scholars accept Jesus lived, as we shall see later. 

Perhaps you agree, or will come to agree, with the sentiment of Albert Einstein, an agnostic, who when asked by a reporter if he accepted the historical existence of Jesus, responded[1]:

Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.

It is the Jews, in particular, who are regarded by historians as the most thorough recorders of ancient history. They, amongst other writers of antiquity, recorded Christ’s teachings and miracles. The same who constantly harassed Him, heard his teachings, witnessed His miracles and murdered Him. When we speak of the Jews we refer to those who, despite the coming of the Messiah, rejected Him, as opposed to the first Christians who were predominantly Jewish. The historical evidence firmly establishes that Jesus, the Jew, lived, died and rose again from the dead.

Sources of Fact

The Gospels are considered, from a statistical point of view, to constitute the greatest literature ever written. They are read by more people, quoted by more authors and translated into more languages, represented in more countries, and considered to contain more music than any other book or books written by any man in any country in any century.[2]

Not only are the Bible and documents of antiquity relevant to the probabilities of a sovereign God but, so too, facts discovered about the Universe and human life, the views of scientists and archaeologists.

Among astronomers today there is much theistic sentiment. Even though there are those who may not accept God created the Universe many have come to the very distinct conclusion the Universe was not an accident. The Big Bang was not a cosmological firecracker. As the physicist Freeman Dyson, a physicist, put it:

" . . . the universe seemed to be acting in anticipation of the appearance of mankind."[3]

Astronomical, scientific and archaeological evidence assists one in reaching a verdict. Examine the evidence, not from a subjective point of view, but from a logical and objective point of view.

New technology and the recent findings of archaeologists, scientists, the medical profession and astronomers have confirmed the prophecies of the Old Testament and the truth of the Old and New Testaments, establishing beyond all reasonable doubt that a profound intelligence is responsible for mankind, God.

Atheists have been unable to render a logical explanation for the creation of our Universe or mankind.

We argue the Christian faith is substantiated upon factual evidence. When considering the scientific facts of our Universe and the biological make-up of mankind, pause to consider how absolutely incredible all these facts are. When moving on to the veracity of the Bible, as proven by archaeologists, fulfilled prophecies, eyewitnesses and third-party documentation consider the incredible accuracy of the Old Testament written so many thousands of years ago. And lastly consider the prophecies concerning Jesus Himself, how incredibly accurate they are as well, and don’t forget to consider the character of Jesus whilst on earth as you do so. Ask yourself whether any human being would ever consider doing what Jesus did, all the time knowing and predicting the worst form of torture and death that awaited Him.

Despite the numerous attempts to drive Christianity out of existence, particularly at the hands of the Jews and the Romans who crucified them, tortured them, burned them to death and fed them to wild animals, amongst other acts, Christianity prevailed. Particularly cruel was the Roman Emperor Nero who used Christians for illumination. He had them tied to poles, tarred and ignited to create lighting in the streets, and his palace when entertaining. Yet Christianity flourished in the face of it.

The efforts by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Romans and various communistic dictators and governments throughout history to drive Christianity out of existence failed miserably with the result Christianity today is the leading religion in the world, despite all efforts to destroy it. As Jesus said:

Luke 21:33

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away.

Ravi Zacharias summed it up, opining there is no other faith,  religion or worldview that provides coherent answers to the meaning of life with logical consistency, empirical adequacy and exponential relevance.

CHAPTER 1

SCIENCE AND THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

THE GREATEST SCIENTIFIC minds for over thousands of years have advanced various theories on life and the origin of our Universe. Before we turn to the facts which give rise to the Christian beliefs it is an idea to consider a few of the more popular theories which over the years have been propagated in an attempt to define the origin of the Universe and life. These various theories have naturally, over time, been influenced by new discoveries and advancing technology.

As time passed more and more modern telescopes were invented revealing discoveries which raised new questions as to the origin of the Universe and its impact on our existence.

On the Universe Freeman Dyson passed a comment which is difficult to refute. He had this to say:

As we look out into the Universe and identify the many accidents of physics and astronomy that have worked together to our benefit, it almost seems as if the Universe must in some sense have known that we were coming.[4]

And similarly:

"I do not feel like an alien in the universe. The more I examine the Universe and study the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the Universe in some sense must have known that we were coming."[5]

The earliest evidence of life on Earth is to be found from fossilized mats of cyanobacteria (a bacteria) called stromatolites, which were discovered in Australia. They are estimated to be about 3.4 billion years old and are still in existence today. Scientists are unable to explain how the bacteria came to exist or explain the origin of human life, despite many theories on the subject.

The study of the origin of the Universe (cosmology) inescapably brings science to theology which, in turn, inevitably brings into the equation the question as to whether creation was a supernatural event.

The question mankind has asked for centuries is:

Who or what is responsible for life and how did the Universe come to exist?

There are several theories on the creation of the Universe and the existence of mankind. These include Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, the Neo-Darwinism theory, the Big Bang Theory, the Steady-State Theory, the Quasi-Steady State Theory, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Theory, and the Intelligent Design Theory, to name a few.

The theories are briefly considered below.

Darwin’s Theory

Darwin’s theory of the origin of life, expressed in his work On The Origin of Species in 1859, was predominant amongst atheists until the 1930’s when the work of Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk and geneticist, was discovered and published.

Darwin's theory excluded a belief in God and a Universe created by Him. His theory was that of evolution, believing all forms of life are related, the one to the other, and all life descended from one common ancestor which evolved into the human, animal, plant, vegetable etc. In other words all species, including humans evolved from one singular entity. The only fact upon which Darwin relied was the observable variation within particular species of plants and animals under domestication. He thought there was no limit to variation. There is consensus today that there is what is called micro-evolution on the one hand and macro-evolution on the other. Micro-evolution is what Darwin addressed. 

A report in the journal Science (210:883-87) on a macro-evolution conference held at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago summarized the views of the attending evolutionists, as follows:

"The central question of the Chicago conference was whether the mechanisms of microevolution could be extrapolated to explain the phenomenon of macroevolution. At the expense of doing violence to the positions of some people at the meeting, the answer can be given as a clear NO."[6]

Micro-evolution means there may be developmental changes within a singular specie but these changes cannot extend to alternate species. That requires macro-evolution which does not exist and has never existed, as we shall see from that which follows.  

Darwin’s philosophy was that of Natural Selection which acts to preserve and accumulate minor positive genetic mutations. Natural Selection, he theorized, takes advantage of slight successive variations to form new species.[7] Thus, if a mutated rat grew wings and learned how to fly its progeny would also grow wings and fly, sometime thereafter mutating into an entirely different species. Eventually one or other of these species would mutate into the human being.

Darwin knew very little about genetics whilst those who bred animals have always known that artificial selection has its limits. It took Gregor Mendel, a Czechoslovakian scientist, to lend some support to Darwin’s theory of evolution which is what evolutionists accept today.

The theory of macro-evolution should find no serious support today and should be rejected by our educational institutions as, despite the passage of many years, no macro-evolution of any kind has ever been found, let alone proven, and from a genetical point of view has been firmly demonstrated as wholly impossible.

The Neo-Darwinism Theory

The Neo-Darwinism theory was articulated in the 1930s, some 70 odd years after Darwin's work " On The Origin of Species," and after Gregor Mendel, had gained posthumous fame as the founder of the modern science of genetics.

Mendel discovered the theory of recessive and dominant traits in plants, demonstrating the actions of invisible factors, now known as genes. Neo-Darwinism is the modern synthesis of  Darwin’s theory applied through Natural Selection together with that of Mendel’s theory.

Darwin’s theory, as modified by Mendel, came to be known as Neo-Darwinism. The theory holds that evolution is driven by chance. Chance mutations affect one or a few nucleotides of DNA and a genetic process in which longer strands of DNA are swapped or transferred occurs. The mutation creates new DNA by lucky accidents. This, it holds, is the mechanism behind evolution.

More significant changes, it holds, come from a systematic ongoing combination of the genetic process in which longer strands of DNA are swapped, transferred, or doubled. 

Mendel’s theory also postulated that evolution involves the transmission of characteristics from parent to child through genetic transfer, rather than the blending process of one species into another, as postulated by Darwin. The theory being that individuals inherit a blend of traits from their parents, as opposed to a blending from other species.

The traditional position on evolution these days is that evolution proceeds by the slow accumulation of small changes over time, known as micro-evolution, with minor new designs to the specie, whilst macro-evolution with substantial new designs, takes millions of years.

The difficulty one has with this theory is that it has yet to be proved that any species has naturally evolved from one form to another, for example a dog into a cat, or vice versa. A Labrador dog may mate with an Alsatian bitch and produce a different breed of dog, but a dog it will be. It will not turn into a cat however gradual the mutation may be over the years, be it billions of years, according to practicing, knowledgeable, rational scientists.

One does not dispute micro-evolution but most practising geneticists reject macro-evolution[8] and those pro macro-evolution have been wholly incapable of providing any evidence whatsoever to support this wild speculation which the modern day revelation of DNA has firmly rejected.

David Coppedge, formerly employed as an information technology specialist, system administrator and team leader for the Cassini mission to Saturn, operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California under a contract with NASA, was fired from his employment during 2012 for holding the belief of an intelligent creator. He commented:

"Darwin is liked by evolutionists because he liberated science from the straitjacket of observation and opened the door to storytellers.  This gave professional evolutionists job security so they can wander through biology labs as if they belong there."[9]

And:

"You can’t win a scientific debate with a storyteller who thinks his imagination is equivalent to scientific evidence.[10]

As Bruce Charlton, a retired medical doctor and Visiting Professor of Theoretical Medicine at the University of Buckingham, put it:

"Zombie science is science that is dead but will not lie down . . .  Zombie science is supported because it is useful propaganda to be deployed in arenas such as political rhetoric, public administration, management, public relations, marketing and the mass media generally.  It persuades, it constructs taboos, it buttresses some kind of rhetorical attempt to shape mass opinion.  Indeed, zombie science often comes across in the mass media as being more plausible than real science."[11]

The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang is one of the theories atheists came to accept, very grudgingly, in an attempt to explain the beginning of the Universe, although holding a cause therefor quite different to that of Christians. The term Big Bang was first caustically coined by Sir Fred Hoyle in an interview on BBC radio's Third Programme, broadcast on 28 March 1949.

Christians have always believed in a Big Bang, as that is what Genesis teaches, but hold a very different belief on how the Big Bang occurred.

The theory propagated by atheists is that the Universe began as infinitesimally small, infinitely hot and dense something or others, unidentifiable objects of which no one is able to explain, but which collided causing an incredible explosion of immense proportion into energy and light. Other atheists simply suggest, the Universe was "always there."

According to theory our Universe came into existence approximately 13 billion years ago. The proponents of the theory do not know where these "somethings or others" came from, what they were, how or why they came to exist. Neither are the proponents, irrespective of which village they come from, able to explain where the chemicals in these something or others gained the supreme intelligence to create the Universe, its workings and everything in it.

It holds the Universe evolved over time through cooling, expansion, and the formation of structures through gravitational collapse. According to some atheists who propagate the theory, space and time existed prior to the Big Bang but they are unable to explain where space and time came from. Stephen Hawking, the acclaimed scientist, now deceased, and others, held, and hold, that time and space had a finite beginning that corresponded to the origin of matter and energy. Prior to that nothing existed.

What the Big Bang theory did