The Big Bang theory by a priest; see curiosities

Did you know that there is a Big Bang theory made by a priest? So, if your answer was no, keep reading this text, because throughout it we will present several curiosities about this subject. Check it out!

The Big Bang theory by a priest

First of all, know that it was the Belgian Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, who was born on July 17, 1894 that helped in the formulation of the Big Bang theory. The astonishment of many upon discovering this story is due to Lemaître having been a priest, after all, we are used to knowing that Christians do not believe in the theory of evolution.

But, to the surprise of some people, you should know that the theory had the contribution of a priest. Throughout this article you will better understand what Lemaître's contribution was and why a priest would be interested in the origin of the universe.

So, read on and find out more details about this subject. The following are five curiosities about this subject. Enjoy your reading!

The Vatican approved the idea

First of all, you need to know that at the time the Vatican accepted the fact that Father Lemaître had formulated this theory. Pope Pius XII in 1952 when he heard about it declared:

"It seems that modern science, with a sweep through the centuries, has succeeded in witnessing the august instant of the primordial Fiat Lux, when, along with matter, a sea of light and radiation explodes out of nothingness, the elements split, churn, and form millions of galaxies. Thus, with the concrete characteristics of the physical evidence, science has confirmed the contingency of the Universe and is also well grounded as to when the world arose from the hands of the Creator. Therefore, Creation occurred. 

We say, 'Therefore, there is a Creator. Therefore, God exists.'"

In other words, Father Lemaître was not expelled from the church by giving up his right to practice celibacy. On the contrary, years later, in 1960, he became an advisor to Pope Pius XII. 

The priest liked the science area

Even before becoming a priest, Lemaître graduated in civil engineering and even completed a doctorate in mathematics. In addition, before entering the seminary in 1923, he served in the Belgian army during the First World War.

His interest in science and religious life have always gone hand in hand, for Lemaître, while still in high school, became interested in being a priest and in science while studying at a Jesuit college. It is worth mentioning that the priest went on to study astronomy at Harvard University and at MIT.

Became a university professor

With a rich resume, it did not take long and the priest began teaching at universities. Of course, before that he had already contributed to the Big Bang theory, as early as 1927 Lemaître published his own conclusions, that is, calculations in relation to those of Albert Einstein.

What the priest proposed is what we know today as the "red shift". This means that the farther away a galaxy is, the redder the wave of light it will emit, proving the expansion of the universe.

He did not receive the merits

After the publication of his theory, the priest went on with his life, although he had frequent contact with Einstein. But Lemaître was not given credit for his discovery because at the time his publication had not gained that much fame.

So this fact later led to his "red-shift" theory being recognized by the scientist Hubble, that is, the theory was named after another scientist, and became known as Hubble's Law.

The church took advantage of the theory

Pope Pius XII took advantage of the fact that the theory proposed by Lemaître was well accepted in scientific circles years later and said that the theory proved the passage from the book of Genesis. 

However, the priest did not like the pope's attitude and told him not to use his theory as a justification for the existence of God. Because of this attitude of Father Lemaître, many people believe him to be an atheist.