Space and the Big Bang

Althea is passionate about finding ways to gather data to answer key questions we have about the Universe. She has worked with the world’s largest radio telescope and was part of a space mission which worked out what the sky looked like at the very beginning of the universe. She became a Christian after studying science for many years and now she also loves helping people to think about different types of big questions like “Why are we here?” and “How might astrophysics shape how we see ourselves?”

You can listen to her talking more about her science and her faith, in this 27-minute interview.

Andrew loves science and theology (the study of God and religion) so much he got a PhD in both! His studies started in the sciences before he moved into theology, and he now works with both, together!

Andrew enjoys thinking and teaching about the sorts of questions where theology, science and philosophy meet – questions like what discovering life elsewhere in the universe would mean for Christians.

David has two PhD’s, which mirror his two passions, and now he spends his time exploring how the two go together! His first PhD was in theoretical astrophysics He studied star formation, galaxies changing over time, and mass extinctions on Earth, such as the event which wiped out most of the dinosaurs. He then studied theology (the study of religion) and has served in several different churches as well as teaching about theology.

David likes to explore questions about how Christian theology relates to modern culture, including science. He teaches, speaks and writes a lot about this and other subjects. You might also hear his voice coming out of your radio as he is a regular contributor to BBC Thought for the Day.

You can hear a little more about what he thinks about science and religion through a range of short videos, each of which is less than 4 minutes long.

Deborah studied physics and music at university. She was passionate about studying the physics of the Universe she believes God made, so she entered university really excited to ‘see how she could love God with her mind, as well as her heart and soul.’

Through this journey she became interested in astrophysics, and she has now spent many years studying and teaching about physics and astronomy. She has studied far away galaxies and explored the expansion of the universe.

Her faith has always been really important to her and, as someone interested in a universe which is billions of years old, she has also been on a journey of thinking about how we bring together ideas from religion and science. She loves to think and teach about how both science and faith can help us understand the universe and our place in it, and this is something she lived out in her 10 years spend as President of BioLogos (an organisation which helps people think about how science and Christian faith go together).

“We are free to explore the universe with joyful curiosity, relying on God’s faithfulness, discovering all the wonderful ‘how’ and ‘when’ of creation, about which scripture tells us ‘who’ and ‘why’.”

You can read more about her story, here, or listen to her speaking about wonder in this 2-minute video, and about how her science and Christian faith feed into questions about human significance in this 2-minute video.

Eric loves ‘playing with equations’ every day. In his research work, he uses maths to explore how parts of the universe work, especially the Sun. He is very interested in the links between science and faith. As a Christian and a scientist, he believes the tools of science can help us worship God as we uncover some of the beautiful mysteries of the Universe, and he enjoys helping people to think about how both science and faith can help us understand the universe and our place in it.

You can hear him speaking a bit about his science and faith, in this 3-minute video for the BBC.

Galileo had a strong influence on the beginnings of modern physics and the scientific method. He studied all kinds of things including speed, gravity, and the principle of relativity. He invented and developed scientific instruments and used his developments to the telescope to find out more about our solar system.

Galileo is well known for supporting the idea that the earth moved around the sun, rather than the other way around. There were lots of groups of scientists and others who disagreed with him, as is often the case with new ideas and discoveries. Some Christians weren’t sure what to think about these ideas at the time as it meant some people had to rethink how they believed God had set up the solar system.

Galileo eventually got himself into trouble and was arrested by the Catholic church by offending the Pope at a time when the Church was already full of disagreement and uncertainty. Since his death, the Catholic church have officially stated that Galileo shouldn’t have been treated as he was. Even when he was under arrest, Galileo kept writing about how important both his science and faith were to him.

You can listen to historian Peter Harrison talk about Galileo’s work, in this 4-minute video, and his ideas about science and faith in this 2-minute video.

Hannah has been a Christian for most of their life and feels this faith is deeply tied to their love for science and exploring the Universe they believe God created. There is a particular part of that Universe Hannah feels passionate about exploring… Mars! In 2013 Hannah joined the list of 100 people signed up for a one-way mission to start a human colony on Mars.

While this mission (Mars One) is officially over, Hannah is still excited by the ideas and conversations which come up when we think about space travel and humans on Mars. As well as the science, Hannah is interested in the questions that missions like this raise which go beyond science – questions about how we create ‘good’ communities, how we think about caring for the planets we come into contact with (Earth or Mars), and what ‘taking religion into space’ might look like.

As part of an answer explaining their motivations for applying to Mars One, Hannah wrote:

“… Finally, as a Christian, I have a deep love for all creation. Mars is as much God’s work as Earth is, and I know that my faith gives me a deep respect for it, as well as a firm emotional grounding for a life-long dedication.”*

You can read more about Hannah, and their ideas about Mars colonisation, in a 2015 article, here.

When they are not thinking about moving to Mars, Hannah works as an X-ray astronomer, studying some of the hottest, brightest, and most mysterious things in the Universe – black holes, neutron stars, and supernova explosions.

*Quote source: In Search of a Martian Faith (2018) An article by Hannah Earnshaw, published by The Mars Society.

Hannah is passionate about learning more about the Universe – and sharing that passion with others. She studied physics and astronomy at University, and has mapped asteroid collisions, studied galaxies and even worked on the Mars Rover Curiosity.

Now a teacher, Hannah loves sharing her experiences and her passion for exploring the universe she believes God made. She continues to lead stargazing programs to introduce people to Wyoming’s extraordinary night skies – and the wonders beyond.

You can find out more about her story on her website, here.

James worked with electromagnetic radiation and showed, for the first time, how electricity, magnetism, and light are connected. He is also thought of as a founder of the modern field of electrical engineering. In a survey of the 100 most prominent physicists, he was voted the third greatest physicist of all time, behind only Newton and Einstein. James was an Elder of the Church of Scotland. He said that his faith often inspired his passion for science, and prayed that God would ‘teach us to study the works of Thy hands’. He thought, and wrote a lot, about how faith and science could work together.

You can explore more about his work in this 3-minute video.

Kepler is known as a key figure in the development of modern science. He’s best known for his work in thinking about how planets move, and for some of his writings, which went on to inspire many people including Newton (and inspiring Newton’s work on gravity). Kepler developed a new version of the telescope, taught maths to people training in the church, and became the official mathematician to a number of emperors and military leaders.

Kepler’s faith was very important to him and he wrote a lot about the interactions of faith and science. His science was inspired by his belief that God had created the world in a way which could be understood through exploration and reason.

In 1595, Kepler wrote letters to another professor of mathematics. One of his letters said: “I had the intention of becoming a theologian. But now I see how God is, by my endeavours, also glorified in astronomy, for “The Heavens declare the Glory of God”.

You can explore more about his work, and ‘Kepler’s Laws’ via this 7-minute NASA video, or explore the wider story of his life and work in this 24-minute video – Johannes Kepler: God’s Mathematician.

John Polkinghorne used physics and maths to explore some of the deepest levels of our physical universe. He changed from teaching physics to study to become a priest in the Anglican church and had a huge influence in the growing field of science and religion. He taught and wrote lots about the interactions of science and religion.

John loved to help people think about how both science and faith can help us to explore life’s big questions, and thought that “the question of the existence of God is the single most important question we face about the nature of reality”.*

You can explore more about what John thought about science and faith through a range of short videos, each of which is less than 4 minutes long.

* Polkinghorne (1994) The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker.

In the time and place where Katharine grew up, school for African-Americans stopped when they were 13/14 years old. But her dad drove his family 120 miles, to a place where she could continue going to school. Katharine was so clever that she ended up graduating from high school aged 14, and from college (university) aged 18, with a huge love of maths.

Katharine went to work at NASA where her maths helped put astronauts into orbit around Earth, and even onto the moon! When she started her job, she and the other women who did the same job were known as ‘computers’ – this was before electronic computers were used!

Katharine loved her work and loved asking questions so much that she wanted to know more about the projects she was working on, and she started attending meetings at NASA that, previously, only men had attended. She learned so much that she became a team member working on different space projects at NASA.

Even when NASA started using ‘machine computers’ to do their calculations, they would still ask Katharine to check that the results were correct.

Katharine lived till she was 101 years old! As well as her work, she loved her family, educating others, and being a committed member of her local church and church choir. Along with her many achievements, she received a Presidential Medal of Freedom – America’s highest civilian honour.

If you want to find out more about Katharine, you can browse her website, read NASA’s information for 10-14 year olds, here, read the autobiographies she wrote for young people here and here, watch this 2-minute video, or watch the dramatized account of her life in the feature film ‘Hidden Figures’.

Rodney moved from studying maths, to cosmology and astrophysics, then later on to theology (the study of God and religion) while training to become a minister. He is enthusiastic about both science and faith, and has spent a large part of his life exploring, talking and writing about the ways in which they overlap.

Rodney believes that science and Christian faith can work well together in these areas of overlap, if we remember what each is for, and the different types of questions they answer. He believes the Bible tells us about God the Creator, and the gift of science can help us think about how it all works.

As an astrophysicist, Rodney has spent a lot of time thinking about the start of our universe and the special way its scientific laws seem to be set up so that galaxies, stars and life arise within it. He celebrates the wonders that science helps us to uncover about the Big Bang. Rodney believes that God is the reason anything is here at all, so understanding how physical systems (like the Big Bang) work can only help us marvel at God who is the creator of it all.

You can see more of what Rodney thinks in his answer to ‘Did God create everything or was it the Big Bang?’, in our ‘Space and the Big Bang’ topic Q&A section for kids and teens.

Stephen likes to research things which make him feel excited and curious, so he has explored all sorts of different subjects. He studied zoology, before doing a masters in computer science, then a PhD in genetics, and now works in an area which pulls together different subjects and ways of knowing. Astrobiology is all about understanding life in the physical universe – its origins, where we find it, and its future – so it involves many, many different subjects!

As well as enjoying bringing different types of scientists together, Stephen also feels that positive conversations can happen when we share ideas, questions and knowledge between the sciences and religious faith.

Stephen’s father was a biology teacher before becoming a Methodist Minister, so he was always encouraged to explore faith and science, and never felt them working against one another. Stephen believes that, for people of faith, science can be a gift which helps them find out more about themselves, their relationships with the rest of nature, and with God.

You can hear Stephen chatting about his science and faith in this collection of short videos (each under 4 minutes long), or read about it, here.

Susan grew up in Arizona, under incredible night skies, so she was always ‘looking up’. At school she met Clyde Tombaugh (who discovered Pluto) and became fascinated by Pluto and the outer edges of our solar system. Susan has spent lots of time exploring objects in the Kuiper belt – a donut-shaped area around the edges of our solar system. It contains rocks, ice, comets and dwarf planets and scientists believe it may be able to tell us more about how our solar system formed.

Susan loves to teach and share her passion for exploring our solar system, and the Universe beyond – which, she believes, show us God’s creative power.

Susan’s research has even led her to work with other scientists on the New Horizons mission, which sent a spacecraft to Pluto, and beyond. It has now travelled past Pluto, through the Kuiper belt, and it is still going!*

*Written in 2024. You can explore where the New Horizons spacecraft is, here.