To God Be The Universe

            Have you ever wondered how the universe came to be? It is only natural to question the origin of God’s creation. But it is also very clear that as mentioned in the Bible, God created the universe in six days excluding the Sabbath. So why do scientists still allot their time doing experiments and researching more information about the origin of the universe? Do you think faith and science contradict each other, that scientists do not believe that there is a creator behind this creation? According to Father Bienvenido Nebres, former president of the Ateneo de Manila University, faith and science do not and never will contradict each other.

When I was younger, I would always wonder how I came to be and how this universe came to exist in the first place. Did the universe just pop out of nowhere and suddenly emerge? How did everything start? These are some of the questions that have been boggling my mind when I was a kid. All throughout my elementary and high school years, science has taught me that the origin of the universe centers on a cosmic cataclysm unmatched in all of history—the Big Bang. This theory was born out of the observation that other galaxies are moving away from our own at great speed in all directions as if they had all been propelled by an ancient explosive force. Scientists can't be sure exactly how the universe evolved after the Big Bang. Many believed that as time passed and matter cooled, more diverse kinds of atoms began to form, and they eventually condensed into the stars and galaxies of our present universe. But it was not until my 2^nd year high school that everything became clear to me. I started attending Bible studies near our school once a week and that really opened my eyes to the real world around me. So there is such a thing as God—omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. I learned that the universe was created especially for man’s purpose, and that it was designed in such a way as to meet man’s needs.

            If there is one reason for scientists to still continue on exploring this universe, I believe it would be due to their passion of understanding how Science can be evident behind how the universe was created. “We live in an expanding universe”, Father Ben said during his plenary lecture last March 1, 2013. Millions and billions of galaxies are moving away from each other. They say the faster they are, the faster they move away. Science has tried to explain the origin of the universe to widen our perspectives as people. But still, there are some things which we cannot figure out as of the moment. And the more we wonder and explore the origin of this universe, the more we will appreciate and value the beauty of God’s creation.

*10th blog post by Julianne Ormoc