Nothing
The concept of nothing is very interesting. Words have meaning; often, words are used, and their meanings or definitions are not defined. Cults often give words meanings other than the standard ones. Even in science, words can be used and not defined. The idea of nothing is one of those words with many meanings and is sometimes not well-defined.
The question for Atheists and Agnostics is, why is there something (such as the universe and you) as opposed to nothing? That is nothing, and what is something?
Different kinds of Nothing:
1) A jar with a vacuum, a jar that has had the air removed, is sometimes called a jar with nothing. But the jar still has dimensions of Space and Time. So it is not completly nothing. Quantum actions are also still in the vacuum also.
2) Outing space is often described as having nothing. But outer space has things in it, so it is not really nothing. Outer space as the dimensions of Space and Time (see the Dimensions page). Light is most likely traveling through that point in space; other solar radiation is passed through that point in outspace. Quantum actions are also still in the vacuum of outer space.
3) Lawrence Krauss wrote a book, A Universe from Nothing. The claim is that everything we see came from empty space. Laws of quantum mechanics and special relativity, empty space consisted of a bubbling brew of virtual particles spontaneously popping in and out of existence on timescales too small to notice. The book has two major logical flaws. 1) Quantum mechanics is a fine-tuned feature of this universe. This violates the Law of Cause and Effect. The universe can not create itself. 2) The book claims that the universe has matter and antimatter, and the two cancel each other out to make nothing. This is a logical error. Matter and antimatter are not nothing; both are something. The book does not address the origins of matter and antimatter. This is becoming more common, that scientists are willing to repart logic, reason, and Law of Cause and Effect. Why? The Space-time theorem has proven the universe had a beginning of space, time, energy, and matter. Very laws of nature that Krauss describes had to come from somewhere. See Space-Time Page
4) In Eastern cultures, there is "nothingness". Nothingness is considered to be a state of mind in some forms of Buddhism (see Nirvana. Hinduism has something similar). Achieving "nothing" as a state of mind in this tradition. Nothingness is an egoless state of being. These are metaphysical nothings, but the mind (brain and person-individual) is something; this, too, is not completely nothing.
5) The Bible states the universe came from nothing (Gen:1:1). The nothing is described is that which is not "visible". "The universe was formed at God's command, so that what was seen was not made out of what was visible." (Hebrews 11:3). The Bible describes God operating before time was created, and that time had a beginning. (Titus 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:9). This is true nothing: no space, no time, no energy, no matter. Christian Theology has, for a long time, called this Creation Ex Nihilo. A central feature of how Christians have understood God’s initial role in creation involves the expression creation ex nihilo: creation out of or from nothing. Historical theologian Richard Muller defines the Latin term ex nihilo as a reference to “the divine creation of the world not of preexistent, and therefore eternal, materials, but out of nothing.” The doctrine of creation ex nihilo is derived from various biblical passages (Genesis 1:1; Romans 4:17; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 11:3). The cosmos was not made of preexisting materials, such as matter. Creatio ex nihilo is Latin for “creation out of nothing.” It refers to the belief that space, time, matter, and energy are not eternal but were created by a supernatural act of the God of the Bible. Since the Bible teaches that all of the universe (Space, time, energy, matter, laws of physics, and everything in the universe) had a beginning in a finite time in the past, the universe from nothing means complete nothing. (see age of earth :Note only a day-age reading of the Bible passes Bible testing and all other fail. There is no conflict between Christianity and Science. We now know that the creation event occurred 13.813 billion years ago. see Wordviews page and Gen 1 page)
See Creeds page:
Historic Christianity has always maintained a belief in Creation ex nihilo as expressed in the ancient Nicene Creed: “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” Scripture teaches that there was nothing but God, and that God by means of his incalculable wisdom and infinite power alone brought the universe (all matter, energy, time, and space) into existence from nothing. There was no preexistent physical reality; therefore nothing should not be understood as an actual something. It is important to underscore that when God created the universe He made no use of preexisting materials, nor did He make the world out of His own being. Christian theism rejects the view that identifies the world with God’s being or essence (either pantheism or panentheism).
Eastern cultures teach pantheism or panentheism or both. Panentheism: the belief that god is in all things. Pantheism is the belief that god and the universe are one, viewing everything—nature, humanity, and the cosmos—as an interconnected, divine whole, rather than holding a belief in a personal creator separate from creation. Polytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple gods or deities.
Modern scientific cosmology supports the doctrine of Creation ex nihilo. The scientific theory, the universe had a singular beginning nearly 113.7 billion years ago. All matter, energy, time, and space exploded (in a carefully designed event) into existence from nothing. This basic big bang cosmological model, which is embraced by the vast majority of research scientists because it has withstood extensive scientific testing, uniquely corresponds to the biblical teaching concerning Creation. It is nothing less than strikingly probative that a book written so long ago (3,500 to 2,000 years ago) contains a view of cosmology that matches so closely the latest and best scientific findings.
Looking for loopholes (those unhappy with the science creation model match the Bible's creation mode):
Those upset that science confirms the Bible's record of the origins of the universe have been looking for a way out the Space-time theorem and the Bible's origins of the universe connection.
1) Some have gone to the Multiverse. This is metaphysical, as there is no evidence and there never will be any for the model. A failed model. This also just moves the question, that is, where did the Multiverse come from? Only the God of the Bible is all-powerful and could create these Multiverses, so one should still accept God's offer of forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. See Multiverse page
2) New bouncing universe model (reincarnation-Cosmic Crunch) is founded on the equivalent of anti-thermodynamics, and gives up on the law of cause and effect. This is the eastern religion model repacked for science. This violates the Laws of thermodynamics. A failed model. See the Hindu page and Law of Physics page.
3) Cosmic negative pressure universe models that call for the operation of fundamental forces along higher spatial dimensional surfaces, in which pressure, energy, or matter “become negative” might make for some entertaining mathematics, but such models do not pertain to physical reality. A failed model. Therefore, they pose no threat to the biblical doctrine of a transcendent creation event for matter, energy, space, and time. This is an appeal to quantum effects, but quantum effects are a fine-tuned subatomic feature of the universe. The universe can not create itself. If the quantum effects were any greater or any less, there would be no life anywhere in the universe. For us to digest food, the quantum effects must be the value they are, a fine-tuned feature of the universe.
4) The universe product of the observer, is this against the law of causality, the design and creation of the universe existed long before any humans found the Anthropic Principle. A failed model. Egocentrism is the cognitive inability to distinguish between one's own perspective and that of the reality of the universe. See Anthropic Principle page.
5) An appeal to the early universe cosmic inflation. Dark energy is a mystery to atheists, since it is exquisitely fine-tuned at 1 in 10 to the 120 power, thus making up nearly three-quarters of all the "stuff" in the universe. See Why so Dark page. Roger Penrose, in considering all the possible configurations of the inflaton and gravitational fields, found that obtaining a flat universe without inflation is much more likely than those that produce inflation—by a factor of (10x 10power )to 10 to the 100 power. So, instead of solving Stenger's fine-tuning problem, inflation actually makes it much worse. (Steinhardt, Paul J. 2011. The inflation debate: Is the theory at the heart of modern cosmology deeply flawed? Scientific American, April, 2011) Stenger's approach to the evidence for the fine-tuning of dark energy is amazingly backward, from a scientific perspective. In science, one is supposed to accept the data and modify one's hypothesis based upon it. However, Stenger rejects the data and keeps his failed hypothesis (and the appeal to the unknown as an answer). A failed model.
Interesting note: In the past, atheists were always decrying "that is just the God of the gaps". Now that science has proven and found the Space-Time theorem and the Anthropic Principle , the atheists are appealing to the unknown as a way to get around the origins (space-time) and design (anthropic principle) of the universe. So now there is the Science of the gaps" (or naturalism of the gaps).
End Note:
Atheists say they have the answer to why there is something rather than nothing—the nothing created it! However, their explanation takes science and turns it on its head—performing miracles of creation through unknown physics or mechanisms that are extremely unlikely to occur. The simplest explanation for the existence of all the something we see is that an extremely intelligent being, God, willed it to happen for His own purposes, and left evidence of that purpose in the nature of His creation and His communication with the creatures He created. The important things in life are not derived from the stuff we can see, but from the One who created it. See God of the Bible page.
The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory. (Psalms 97:6)
Ref:
"Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:18-20)
For further study of creation ex nihilo, see Kenneth Richard Samples, 7 Truths That Changed the World (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), chapters 5 and 6.
For an understanding of science and Christianity, see Kenneth Richard Samples, Christianity Cross-Examined (Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2021), chapters 1 and 2.
Brandon Carter, “Energy Dominance and the Hawking Ellis Vacuum Conservation Theorem,” a contribution to Stephen Hawking’s 60th birthday workshop on the Future of Theoretical Physics and Cosmology, Cambridge, UK, January 2002, arXiv:gr-qc/0205010v1, May 2, 20902.
The following verses suggest that God created the universe through an expanding universe - what science has called the Big Bang. In many cases the Hebrew text indicates present tense - a process still continuing.
Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea; (Job 9:8)
Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. (Psalm 104:2)
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)
Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk in it, (Isaiah 42:5)
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone" (Isaiah 44:24)
"It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands, And I ordained all their host." (Isaiah 45:12)
"Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together." (Isaiah 48:13)
That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens, And laid the foundations of the earth; That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, As he makes ready to destroy? But where is the fury of the oppressor? (Isaiah 51:13)
It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. (Jeremiah 10:12)
It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens. (Jeremiah 51:15)
The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, (Zechariah 12:1)
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3)