Problems with the Big Bang Theory?

Problems with the Big Bang Theory?

No important theory is without problems of some kind, simply because of the richness of our
universe in which new phenomena continue to challenge our understanding, ensuring that
science remains an actively growing and changing enterprise. But that doesn’t mean that
established laws and principles get thrown out the window. Usually, a more general principle is
found which makes the old one just a special case of the new one. That is certainly true of
Einstein’s theory of relativity, which agrees with Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravity in
most cases quite well. It was only when problems were found, giving rise to suspicions that it
was an incomplete theory, that a more general theory was sought. That may be the case with the
Big Bang theory, since it presently rests on known laws and principles of physics. There may
well be new physics that remains to be discovered, which would require the Big Bang theory to
be modified. Indeed there already have been numerous apparent problems explaining some of
our observations with the Big Bang theory. Some have taken this as an opportunity to denounce
the Big Bang theory’s validity as a whole [10].
But it must be emphasized, that no other scientific theory has been offered yet which has
explained so much of what we observe in the large-scale universe. Also important is that the Big
Bang theory was not proposed as a complete explanation of the origins and development of the
universe. It arises from applying the same principles we find to hold true in our realm of the
universe to the development of the entire universe. The observed problems have actually led to
further advances in the Big Bang theory, which helps us understand the very early universe and
its subsequent development even better. These problems include the “uniformity” problem, the
“flatness” problem, the “missing matter” problem, the “age” problem, and the recently observed
accelerating expansion of the universe. There is, of course, also a theological difficulty that
some see in the Big Bang theory. But let us defer that discussion to the next chapter. Here, we
briefly describe each scientific problem and how each has been resolved and has further
strengthened the case for the Big Bang theory.