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Escaping the Beginning?: Confronting Challenges to the Universe's Origin
Did the universe have a beginning—or has it existed forever? If the universe began to exist, then the implications are profound. Perhaps that’s why some insist it has existed forever. In Escaping the Beginning?, astrophysicist and Christian apologist Jeff Zweerink thoughtfully examines the most prevalent eternal-universe theories—quantum gravity, the steady state model, the oscillating universe, and the increasingly popular multiverse. Using a clear and concise approach informed by the latest discoveries, Zweerink investigates the scientific viability of each theory, addresses common questions about them, and then focuses on perhaps the most pressing question for believers and skeptics If the evidence continues to affirm the beginning, what does that imply about the existence of a Beginner? “As an atheist detective investigating the existence of God, I hoped the evidence would reveal an eternal universe without a beginning because I knew the alternative would be hard to explain from my atheistic worldview. . . . Escaping the Beginning? examines the evidence for the universe’s beginning and the many ways scientists have tried to understand and explain the data. I wish I had his important book when I first examined the evidence. If I had, I would probably have become a believer much sooner.” —J. Warner Wallace Dateline-featured Cold-Case Detective Author of God’s Crime Scene
237 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 2, 2019
13 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Zweerink
16 books18 followersAstrophysicist Jeff Zweerink is a senior research scholar at Reasons to Believe (RTB). He earned a BS in physics and a PhD in astrophysics from Iowa State University with a focus on gamma rays. Postdoctoral research in gamma rays led him to the University of California, Riverside.
Zweerink still holds a part-time project scientist position at UCLA and is working on GAPS, a balloon experiment seeking to detect dark matter. He is also a coauthor of more than 30 academic papers published in peer-reviewed journals such as Astrophysical Journal, Astroparticle Physics, and Astrobiology.
Zweerink still holds a part-time project scientist position at UCLA and is working on GAPS, a balloon experiment seeking to detect dark matter. He is also a coauthor of more than 30 academic papers published in peer-reviewed journals such as Astrophysical Journal, Astroparticle Physics, and Astrobiology.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 25, 2019
There is no sure escape from the Beginning
I recently finished reading the new book, "Escaping the Beginning?", by Jeff Zweerink, and found it to be a very good overview of the state of modern cosmology. More importantly, it delves into the philosophical underpinnings and possible motivations behind theoretical models concerning the origin of our universe. Zweerink is a high-energy research physicist and also a research scholar and speaker for the science-faith thinktank, "Reasons to Believe", so he is highly qualified to tackle the philosophical, scientific, and religious questions raised about whether or not the universe had an actual beginning, and the implications thereof. He is also the author of another interesting book, "Who's Afraid of the Multiverse?"
As someone with a physics background, I appreciated the discussion of the various cosmological models developed over the last couple of centuries. While some of the information may stretch the non-technical reader, the author is able to clearly articulate and summarize the findings, and then address the implications for a beginning. Some of the topics covered include: the various kinds of Multiverse theories, definitions of time, the size and curvature of the universe, quantum gravity theories, string theory, and a universe from "nothing". Throughout the book, the various philosophical motivations and religious implications are considered. For instance, he shows that Multiverse theories were not developed simply to avoid a beginning, but rather have a sound theoretical basis, even it they are not necessarily verifiable. However, he does point out that there are philosophical and religious reasons that these proposals have been embraced or rejected by some.
While I understand that it is a mentally hard topic, I found the section on how we define time to be interesting, even if it just scratched the surface of the subject matter. The concept of time is fundamental to understanding causality and basic laws of physics, such as the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (entropy). While we can write physics equations using a time parameter (say t), letting us vary the values corresponding to the past and future, does that describe what is really happening as our perception of time moves forward? It bends the mind to think that General Relativity actually ties time and space together as separate dimensions of a unified whole. Given various theories of time, one wonders "Does the past, present, and future actually exist or is the past gone and future events not here yet?" or "Why does time only move forward, or is this just an illusion?" The book considers questions like this and even the implications of the various theories on the meaning of a beginning.
Ultimately Zweerink concludes that it appears that the best theoretical models and experimental observations lean toward a universe (or Multiverse) with an actual beginning, compatible with the biblical claim that the universe had a beginning and a Beginner. While there are several theoretical models that could possibly be interpreted as having no beginning, any experimental validation of these is either far beyond our current scientific capabilities, or may even be untestable in principle. He concludes, "That remains a reasonable and defensible position today, and my bet is that quantum gravity approaches will ultimately reveal evidence for a universe with a genuine beginning." So, at least for the foreseeable future, there is no sure escape from the Beginning!
I recently finished reading the new book, "Escaping the Beginning?", by Jeff Zweerink, and found it to be a very good overview of the state of modern cosmology. More importantly, it delves into the philosophical underpinnings and possible motivations behind theoretical models concerning the origin of our universe. Zweerink is a high-energy research physicist and also a research scholar and speaker for the science-faith thinktank, "Reasons to Believe", so he is highly qualified to tackle the philosophical, scientific, and religious questions raised about whether or not the universe had an actual beginning, and the implications thereof. He is also the author of another interesting book, "Who's Afraid of the Multiverse?"
As someone with a physics background, I appreciated the discussion of the various cosmological models developed over the last couple of centuries. While some of the information may stretch the non-technical reader, the author is able to clearly articulate and summarize the findings, and then address the implications for a beginning. Some of the topics covered include: the various kinds of Multiverse theories, definitions of time, the size and curvature of the universe, quantum gravity theories, string theory, and a universe from "nothing". Throughout the book, the various philosophical motivations and religious implications are considered. For instance, he shows that Multiverse theories were not developed simply to avoid a beginning, but rather have a sound theoretical basis, even it they are not necessarily verifiable. However, he does point out that there are philosophical and religious reasons that these proposals have been embraced or rejected by some.
While I understand that it is a mentally hard topic, I found the section on how we define time to be interesting, even if it just scratched the surface of the subject matter. The concept of time is fundamental to understanding causality and basic laws of physics, such as the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (entropy). While we can write physics equations using a time parameter (say t), letting us vary the values corresponding to the past and future, does that describe what is really happening as our perception of time moves forward? It bends the mind to think that General Relativity actually ties time and space together as separate dimensions of a unified whole. Given various theories of time, one wonders "Does the past, present, and future actually exist or is the past gone and future events not here yet?" or "Why does time only move forward, or is this just an illusion?" The book considers questions like this and even the implications of the various theories on the meaning of a beginning.
Ultimately Zweerink concludes that it appears that the best theoretical models and experimental observations lean toward a universe (or Multiverse) with an actual beginning, compatible with the biblical claim that the universe had a beginning and a Beginner. While there are several theoretical models that could possibly be interpreted as having no beginning, any experimental validation of these is either far beyond our current scientific capabilities, or may even be untestable in principle. He concludes, "That remains a reasonable and defensible position today, and my bet is that quantum gravity approaches will ultimately reveal evidence for a universe with a genuine beginning." So, at least for the foreseeable future, there is no sure escape from the Beginning!
April 24, 2020
Excellent Resource!
In this book, Dr. Jeff Zweerink explain the evidence for the beginning of the universe, and he goes over the history of the scientific discoveries that continued to mount over the decades which show that the Universe does indeed have a beginning and has not been around forever. He takes a look at various different models that scientists tried to construct over the 20th century to try to avoid and absolute beginning of the Kosmos and the obvious theological implications that that a beginning would have. In the twentieth century, he looks at the popular cyclic models and steady state model and shows how and why those theories are false. He shows the various reasons why those models are untenable and those are the reasons why scientists abandon those in favor of the standard Big Bang model. After doing this, he goes on to look at various contemporary strategies on the part of scientist to try to preserve an eternal Cosmos such as Loop quantum gravity models.
This is a great book on science but it's also a great work on Christian apologetics. I am very glad that I have read this book and I would recommend that anyone serious about wanting to know if the second premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument is true, need to pick up this book. If you're studying the Kalam Cosmological Argument, this should definitely be on your reading list.
In this book, Dr. Jeff Zweerink explain the evidence for the beginning of the universe, and he goes over the history of the scientific discoveries that continued to mount over the decades which show that the Universe does indeed have a beginning and has not been around forever. He takes a look at various different models that scientists tried to construct over the 20th century to try to avoid and absolute beginning of the Kosmos and the obvious theological implications that that a beginning would have. In the twentieth century, he looks at the popular cyclic models and steady state model and shows how and why those theories are false. He shows the various reasons why those models are untenable and those are the reasons why scientists abandon those in favor of the standard Big Bang model. After doing this, he goes on to look at various contemporary strategies on the part of scientist to try to preserve an eternal Cosmos such as Loop quantum gravity models.
This is a great book on science but it's also a great work on Christian apologetics. I am very glad that I have read this book and I would recommend that anyone serious about wanting to know if the second premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument is true, need to pick up this book. If you're studying the Kalam Cosmological Argument, this should definitely be on your reading list.
March 17, 2020
In this book, Zweerink outlines the scientific discoveries behind the prevailing cosmological models. The most popular model to most readers is the Big Bang Theory, which posits that the universe had a beginning approximately 14 billion years ago. Zweerink goes into detail on the many scientific discoveries that support this model.
But much of the book is also spent engaging with alternative models. Some of these models involve a cyclical universe. Others involve bubble universes within a vast multiverse. Ultimately, these alternatives have one goal in mind: eliminating an absolute beginning. Zweerink is quite charitable in his assessments of these theories and is surprisingly willing to admit when each model has merits, even if they go against what he personally believes is true.
If you're at all interested in the different models out there describing the origin (or lack of origin) of the universe, this is an excellent book. It is thorough, but it is also accessible to those with little to no background in physics.
But much of the book is also spent engaging with alternative models. Some of these models involve a cyclical universe. Others involve bubble universes within a vast multiverse. Ultimately, these alternatives have one goal in mind: eliminating an absolute beginning. Zweerink is quite charitable in his assessments of these theories and is surprisingly willing to admit when each model has merits, even if they go against what he personally believes is true.
If you're at all interested in the different models out there describing the origin (or lack of origin) of the universe, this is an excellent book. It is thorough, but it is also accessible to those with little to no background in physics.
July 18, 2020
A lot of good stuff organized quite well. It has a little of everything from science, philosophy, theology, history. All blended together in a complimentary way.
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