I don't believe I have to have a definitive answer. I lean towards the "Big Bang", but knowing or not knowing how the universe came to be really has no effect and wont' have any effect on my day to day life.

I latched onto the concept of the universe as infinite in both space and time, back when I was a teenager, and have never found a better model so far. The Big Bang, or something very similar, began the sequence of events that led to our present state, and residual vibrations from whatever lies outside/before our observable universe initiated the first splitting particles that became the Big Bang. All matter and energy are essentially vibrations at different frequencies and scales, and the interference patterns from all those nested and overlaid vibrations build up the emergent properties of matter and energy as we experience them.

Big Bang resulting in several stages of creation of particles eventually uniting to form all types of bodies in the Universe

the big bang theory, as long as it goes with logic

The Big Bang Theory is the best thing going, as far as ideas that are supported by evidence. Scientists can literally detect the leftovers of the Big Bang in the background radiation.

Quantum fluctuation leading to great expansion. I'll defer to Professor Lawrence Krauss on the details. See

That is still unknown.I accept the Big Bang Theory,but the "how and why" of that event is the ultimate question.

big bang

Big bang theory

Approaching it from the standpoint of logic, the big bang seems to hold more water than anything else.

Big bang theory

I have read all of your comments and the consensus seams to be the big bang theory. For lack of any other thoughts which make any sense, I lean to this side. However, I have way too many questions, as do many of you, to be satisfied with this theory alone. What precipitated the initial bang? Whatever matter gathered together to cause the combustion? How and where and from what, did this matter arise in a total void? You see where I am going with this?

Technically, the Big Bang Theory is the only "theory" about the beginning of the universe because it is the only one supported by a substantial amount of evidence. There are many of hypotheses about the beginning of the universe, but the Big Bang is the only one that counts as a theory.

Mythologies are fun and pleasant reading but they're all full of holes. I'd go for the Big Bang Theory. But then, again, the question remains: how did it all began?
The great physicist Stephen Hawking explained how it's going to end.
But I still have to be satisfied with an answer to the nagging questions of "what caused the first particle, what caused the first vibration, what caused those causes, etc, etc . . . and so down the gutter to my favorite drunk pedestrian question; the chicken or the egg?

I like the answer, we don't know yet, but we won't stop trying to figure it out. I accept that science has strong evidence for a sudden expansion, but what caused it, that is the root of the question and I'm not sure we can ever answer that question. If that day ever comes, I would love to be around to look at the faces of people like Kent Hovind and Ken Ham.

Big Bang Model, although I prefer 'expansion'

It's kind of an redundant question insofar as causality and knowability due to physical constraints of our observational techniques.
Having said this, I found this video was extremely informative.

I have my own, I think there has always been a universe and the ;Big Bang ' was just an off shoot that are telescopes and radio telescopes can't see or reach yet

I kind of always liked the idea of an endless series of big bangs and big crunches...possibly bc the idea was first suggested to me through an awesome episode of Futurama...

I believe that before the known universe there was a tiny (like universally speaking), scorching mass of matter and antimatter constantly crashing. Chain reactions like this allowed simple atoms (hydrogen) to come into existence. From there things are pretty simple. Masses of hydrogen gas gather into a super-star until they are under so much pressure they explode into the largest supernova ever. Smaller masses of hydrogen called stars form. They fuse hydrogen molecules into helium to generate light. When these stars die the explode and create even more complex elements in small amounts (for how big the star is at least) Solids like iron and silicon and carbon and oxygen are made. Some of these form masses of rock and whatever elements aren't present on these rock balls are imported on frequent deliveries of giant asteroids full of strange elements only a few million years out of a supernova. Fusion and Fission processes make all the elements necessary for biological life. In humans that's mostly Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and trace amounts of other stuff like phosphorus and calcium. As an atheist I believe in evolution so that is pretty self explanatory for how humans and other animals came about. I sort of expanded my opinion into life on earth. I don't expect you to if you don't want to