What is the Atheist view of how the world began?

Answer 1

First it is important to note that Atheism is not an organized doctrine that formulates any speculative "explanations" for things we cannot explain otherwise. Atheism is simply a lack of belief in gods. People who are atheists generally look to science to explain the world around us.

Opinions from contributors:

Opinion

Life was created simultaneously with the earth, and universe. It is impossible for someone to wave their fingers and create people. The first life was definitely not the result of Adam and Eve inbreeding to create our race and other animals.

Opinion

Religionists try to explain the world based on faith in their religious beliefs. Atheists do not. Atheists rely on science to tell us how life evolved. You must remember that not too long ago Galileo was punished by religious authorities for writing that the earth revolved around the sun when the prevailing religious doctrine held that the earth was at the center of the universe. Religion does not explain anything. Religious belief is the unquestioning acceptance of something as true in the absence of proof.

Opinion

People who do not believe in Divine intervention, for the first existence of life, explain it, by the chance mixing of amino acids during the earth's formation. The proof is that you can simulate the early atmosphere of the Earth in a jar and see these same amino acids form.

Amino acids form the DNA chains that are the blueprints for living organisms.

The jury is still out on 'how the acids linked to form the first rudimentary life', but one explanation is an incoming comet, which being a dirty snowball, had all the ingredients.

This need not be a purely atheist view. It mostly upsets 'creationists'.

God can be brought back into the equation, by declaring that 'Evolution is the tool that God uses, in order to create things.' And 'who threw that snowball at us?'

Atheists explain the creation of earth and the universe the same way theists explain the creation of God. They DON'T. Atheism doesn't imply that followers know how the world was created.

Answer 2

An atheist does not need to explain the origin of the universe. When asked "How did the universe come to be?" the simple answer "I dont know" is perfectly acceptable.

The sciences of astronomy and physics have come a long way in telling us what the universe used to be like, even back to the point of the big bang, but we may never know exactly how it all came to be.

Answer 3

There is no "Atheist" view on how the world began as there is no standardized atheist belief system beyond the fact that there is no god(s).

The scientific viewpoint is held by almost all of the world's scientists independent of their philosophic or religious beliefs.

The scientific viewpoint is that the Universe began some 14 Billion years ago. The data has some variability depending on the exact math used. Matter created at that time eventually became the elements we know today by nuclear interactions and collected due to gravitation to form the Earth some 4.5 Billion years ago.

In the past 4.5 Billion years life developed initiated from a process of abiogenesis, eventually evolving to its present forms.

Answer 4

Atheism isn't a belief system - it doesn't attempt to "explain" things; it is the absence of belief in gods.

Most atheists believe humans evolved from some other species. However, atheism and the Theory of Evolution are not mutually dependent. One does not necessitate the other.

Answer 5

Buddhism has no creation story like many religions do. The present universe may be part of a larger multiverse or a successor to previous universes or unique. It does not matter. Buddha himself indicated that time spent pondering irresolvable questions is better spent in following the Eightfold Path.

Answer 6

According to Hindu Philosophy, the universe (or multiverse) never came to be at some particular point, but always has been, always will be, but is perpetually in flux. Space and time are of cyclical nature. This universe is simply the current one, which is in flux and constantly changing, when it finally ceases to manifest, a new one will arise. An interesting parallel to these ideas can be found in the ekpyrotic model of the universe. This concept is also accepted by Buddhist Dharma.

This is similar to the Cyclical Universe Theory in physical cosmology. The Big Bang is described as the birth of the universe (Brahma), the life of the universe then follows (Vishnu), and the Big Crunch would be described as the destruction of the universe (Shiva).

In a number of stories from the Puranas the continual creation and destruction of the universe is equated to the outwards and inwards breaths of the gigantic cosmic Maha Vishnu.