Ham's Big Bang
Cheryl Capra and John Stear

KEN HAM ON EDUCATION! -- The "big bang" -- it's just a dud!
(February 15, 2002)

Ken Ham:   Question:  What is now being said regarding the "big bang" idea about the origin of the universe?

Ken Ham:   Answer:  A popular and expensive documentary appeared in Australia in 2000.  It portrayed the "big bang" as a fact.

Ken Ham:    Answers in Genesis rejects the "big bang" not only because it is wrong scientifically, but also (and most importantly) because the Bible teaches against it.   One example is that the Bible reveals that the Earth was created before the Sun, while the "big bang" says that the Sun was created before the Earth - a direct contradiction!

Ken Ham is a raving Bibliot and is totally delusional as well. Big Bang cosmology says absolutely nothing regarding the development of our particular solar system. It is in fact the best scientifically and mathematically supported contender for an explanation of the development of this Universe.

The theory applicable to the development of solar systems relates to the gravitational collapse of nebulae which, as it is currently understood, leads to the concurrent development of a star (or stars) and gravitationally bound planets should there be enough rubble and gas in the solar nebula for planetary formation to take place. (Hence the Sun and Earth would have formed at much the same time, although the completion of the modern solar system had quite a way to go even after our star began nuclear fusion.)

I know 12 and 13 year olds who have a better understanding of the relevant theories than Ken Ham. You'd have to wonder if he's ever read any data on the topic at all. He seems to have spent his time refuting a half-baked Ham version of the Big Bang. Talk about straw-men!!

Ken Ham:    Furthermore, there are even evolutionary scientists who don't accept this idea - not just creationists.

How many and names please Mr Ham.  And what is their science?  Unless it is astronomy, astrophysics or cosmology they wouldn't necessarily know any more about the structure and origin of the Universe than you Mr Ham – and that's a pretty minute amount.

Ken Ham:    Also in this documentary (called "Universe") the question of extraterrestrial life was brought up.  The narrator confidently declared that there is intelligent life in outer space.  Why haven't we found it yet?  "So far", he said, "the aliens have been coy!"

This has absolutely nothing to do with the veracity or otherwise of Big Bang cosmology.

Ken Ham:    The creation account in the Bible is logical when it comes to the question of the origins of life and the universe.  Psalm 19:1 says that the heavens declare the glory of God; they certainly don't show any evidence of being created by a "big bang" explosion!

No evidence? Ken Ham is the typical creationist.  Even if he sees something occurring with his own eyes and it contradicts the Bible he won't believe it.   The fact is, we can actually see the Big Bang! Every time we switch on a television we see evidence of the background radiation left from the Big Bang.

According to Ken Ham's biography he has "... a bachelor's degree in applied science (with an emphasis on environmental biology) [which] was awarded by the Queensland Institute of Technology. He also holds a Diploma of Education (equivalent to a master's degree in America) from the University of Queensland." It would be a fair to assume therefore that he is aware of some basic cosmology. For example, he should know that light travels at an enormous but finite speed.   He should know that when we look at the sun we see it as it was eight minutes ago. Similarly he should know that we see the moon as it was a few seconds ago. He should know that it takes over four years for the light from the next closest star to reach Earth. He should know that the nearest spiral galaxy is about 2.2 million light years (ly) away (a light year is the distance light travels in a year); others are a good deal further.   He should know that many of the stars we see in the sky may not exist at this moment but we can't know because the light of their supernovas won't reach us for quite a while.  

One would expect that having set himself up as an expert in cosmological science (albeit Biblical cosmology) Mr Ham would be aware of the latest findings concerning Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR).  CMBR permeates the whole cosmos, arriving at Earth from all directions in our sky. Its two discoverers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, received the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering it in 1965. That has allowed a fair time for any attacks on the veracity of what it represents to be successful, as evidence for the Big Bang is well substantiated. The CMBR is not the BIG Bang but rather the afterglow or embers of the seething sea of radiation which was the Big Bang. On its journey through space-time (over 12 billion years) it has been shifted along the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum to the microwave radiation band. Similarly, light from distant stars and galaxies is shifted into the red band of the EM spectrum's visible light band.  

If Mr Ham is not aware of these findings (and he probably isn't) then his anti science crusade becomes even more despicable. Armed with little more than ignorance and the Bible he proclaims there is no evidence for the Big Bang.  Anyone who wilfully disregards the scientific evidence and teaches that the Earth was created before the Sun deserves the highest condemnation.

It's interesting to note that Mr Ham and Answers in Genesis, in declaring the Big Bang to be "wrong scientifically", are not only casting aspersions on science and scientists (in this case, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson who, by dint of their hard work and extraordinary scholarship, received the Nobel Prize) but on the Nobel Foundation itself.   

Mr Ham doesn't teach science, he teaches ignorance.  If the children Ken Ham influences through his home schooling programs succumb to his anti science they will be ill equipped indeed to deal with life in the 21st century.