Cosmology

Cosmology is the study of the Universe as a whole. While astronomy studies individual celestial objects such as stars, planets, and galaxies, cosmology focuses on the big picture: How the Universe works, how it came into being, and how it might end. It studies the structure of galaxies and the structure of space-time (warpage via black holes etc), the nature of time itself, mass and energy, string theory, and whether there are actually other Universes, in a 'neverending multiverse' or omniverse.

Cosmology differs from Astronomy. Astronomy seems to concentrate on the naming of stars and the description of Earth's solar system. Cosmology concentrates more on the physiology of the Universe as it were.

Big Bang

The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain what happened at the very beginning of our universe. Discoveries in astronomy and physics have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that our universe did in fact have a beginning. Prior to that moment there was nothing; during and after that moment there was something: our universe. The big bang theory is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment.

According to the standard theory, our universe sprang into existence as "singularity" around 13.7 billion years ago. What is a "singularity" and where does it come from? Well, to be honest, we don't know for sure. Singularities are zones which defy our current understanding of physics. They are thought to exist at the core of "black holes." Black holes are areas of intense gravitational pressure. The pressure is thought to be so intense that finite matter is actually squished into infinite density (a mathematical concept which truly boggles the mind). These zones of infinite density are called "singularities." Our universe is thought to have begun as an infinitesimally small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense, something - a singularity. Where did it come from? We don't know. Why did it appear? We don't know.

After its initial appearance, it apparently inflated (the "Big Bang"), expanded and cooled, going from very, very small and very, very hot, to the size and temperature of our current universe. It continues to expand and cool to this day and we are inside of it: incredible creatures living on a unique planet, circling a beautiful star clustered together with several hundred billion other stars in a galaxy soaring through the cosmos, all of which is inside of an expanding universe that began as an infinitesimal singularity which appeared out of nowhere for reasons unknown. This is the Big Bang theory. Big Bang Theory - Common Misconceptions

There are many misconceptions surrounding the Big Bang theory. For example, we tend to imagine a giant explosion. Experts however say that there was no explosion; there was (and continues to be) an expansion. Rather than imagining a balloon popping and releasing its contents, imagine a balloon expanding: an infinitesimally small balloon expanding to the size of our current universe.

Another misconception is that we tend to image the singularity as a little fireball appearing somewhere in space. According to the many experts however, space didn't exist prior to the Big Bang. Back in the late '60s and early '70s, when men first walked upon the moon, "three British astrophysicists, Steven Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose turned their attention to the Theory of Relativity and its implications regarding our notions of time. In 1968 and 1970, they published papers in which they extended Einstein's Theory of General Relativity to include measurements of time and space.1, 2 According to their calculations, time and space had a finite beginning that corresponded to the origin of matter and energy."3 The singularity didn't appear in space; rather, space began inside of the singularity. Prior to the singularity, nothing existed, not space, time, matter, or energy - nothing. So where and in what did the singularity appear if not in space? We don't know. We don't know where it came from, why it's here, or even where it is. All we really know is that we are inside of it and at one time it didn't exist and neither did we.

Big Bang Theory - Evidence for the Theory

What are the major evidences which support the Big Bang theory?

* First of all, we are reasonably certain that the universe had a beginning.

* Second, galaxies appear to be moving away from us at speeds proportional to their distance. This is called "Hubble's Law," named after Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) who discovered this phenomenon in 1929. This observation supports the expansion of the universe and suggests that the universe was once compacted.

* Third, if the universe was initially very, very hot as the Big Bang suggests, we should be able to find some remnant of this heat. In 1965, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered a 2.725 degree Kelvin (-454.765 degree Fahrenheit, -270.425 degree Celsius) Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) which pervades the observable universe. This is thought to be the remnant which scientists were looking for. Penzias and Wilson shared in the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery.

* Finally, the abundance of the "light elements" Hydrogen and Helium found in the observable universe are thought to support the Big Bang model of origins. Answer

It is difficult to "look back into time" and answer a question like this. There are several different ideas floating among astrophysicists. The idea of strings as a source for the Big Bang is one hypothesis, but is currently untestable. The lion's share of the ideas we have concerning the origin of the universe at time zero are all based in mathematical models. Multi-dimensional manifolds set out what happened the instant space and time began to be created here and spacetime unfolded into the universe we know today.

Answer

For all the tap dancing, posturing and brilliant calculations being put forth, the short answer in that no one has the faintest idea. Something does not suddenly appear from nothing. Either the universe has always been here or it had a beginning. If it had a beginning than a split second before this there had to be nothing. Some say it must have been God others, particularly scientists, avoid the question rather doggedly. What we do know is that something can not suddenly appear where there is nothing, at least not with our current knowledge.

Answer

I've become very religious as a result of studying the universe.

Answer

It could be anything that caused this singularity (and how it came to be), even beyond our wildest imagination (may be or may not be a God/Gods, could be something else that we don't even know yet for sure, no one will know unless maybe you time travel back to the origin or bend the laws of Physics and travel even before that and return back to present time safely in one piece or find a way to communicate with present time across time and space)

Not since the Big Bang.

Your question seems to suggest that you accept the idea of a Big Bang, since you use the term 'Big Bang' as a reference to time.

The concept of infinity also is used in reference to time. unending time.

Time as we perceive it began at the instant of the Big Bang. Along with space. The space we see out there that we call the universe, with all the energy and matter contained in it, which seems to be fated to expanding ever faster with time. Time as we know it.

We think of time as time forward or time back. We seem to think of infinity as time forward. Knowing what we believe to be true of the universe, today, during our time, makes it difficult to think of an infinite time in the past because of our concept of the Big Bang. It is an indelible reference point in our mind when we try to conceive of the universe and its beginning, in time. Time back. But to a point. Not infinitely back. An infinite future time is not so difficult to imagine.

If this time is the only one we can perceive, and we can see that at this time ( a manifestation of space-time), there is all this expanding space with all its energy and mass (again, two manifestations of the same thing), then we must accept the notion that there is something, not nothing. At least since the Big Bang.

The instant of the Big Bang, the beginning of time and space, ended the possibility of an "infinity of nothing". All of a sudden, there is something.

In any discussion of infinity-eternity-everything-nothing one should research the concepts of "dimensionality and branes". Try looking up M-theory.

___________

It does, or it can, suggest an infinity past. It is no less reasonable to theorize a past infinity as it is to theorize a future infinity. We convince ourselves that a future infinity is meaningful while a past infinity is not, but this comes more from the limitations of our minds than anything else. Either way you are talking about an infinitely long stretch of time, with one terminus in time.

___________

True. Any further discussion must surely include the possibility that our universe was born in the 'Big Bang' event, and that the 'Big Bang' itself occurred when two 'branes' collided in a larger 'multiverse' of eleven dimensions. But if you go into that particular discussion, you must discuss gravity and it's strength relative to the other known physical forces, and perhaps the idea that gravity is a force acting within and throughout the 'multiverse' and distributed in some way between all the universes that exist within said 'multiverse. The other thing we don't wanna' discuss here then is the concept of 'time' as it relates to the 'multiverse'. Makes me shudder.

Islamic answer:

Per Islam teachings and per the God holy book of Quran, Allah (or God and same God worshiped in Christianity and Judaism) is the first before any first we know or we don't know and the last after any last we know or we don't know.

َQuran says (meaning English translation) (57:3):

"He is the First and the Last, the Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing."

The updating below may provide more views of other religion followers.

• God is a Spirit, not Matter: He created all the universe, subsequently there was matter. The short answer: God existed before and he existed after the Big Bang. God is Eternal, always existing. The question remains how he created the universe. An individual cannot understand or believe in creation or God without the gift of faith (being sure of things hoped for, and certain of things unseen). As you trust the word of God evolution is seen as false. God explains throughout the Old and New Testaments about these conflicts of man's opinions vs. His revealed truth. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. From the time of Abraham God declared that there was one God and had chosen a people to follow Him and demonstrate that He was the only true God. And, as it also is today, there were then many gods, whom people worshiped. This is what distinguished the Judea-Christian God from false gods. This information is preparatory as to why creation is the only way that we exist and the universe appeared. The fact is that evolution sets up a supposed escape for man. It's an illusion, yet it seems to allow man to decide that the world is millions of years old and matter created itself somehow. This provides the "escape" that man supposedly will never have to answer to God. This is to avoid the declaration of God: "the wages of sin is death", a punishment not to be ignored. To an unbeliever and to even many in churches, evolution is an escape, but God refutes all of this in the Bible's entirety from the book of Genesis to the last book of Revelation. Again, it is by faith one accepts this truth. The Bible is God's true word, because "holy men of old spoke [wrote] as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20. So the Bible's original text is infallible. Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning God created...". The first five words God gave to man, they weren't the topics of salvation, love, hope, death, or any similar topics. In the Hebrew the fifth word is "created". Now throughout time, it is inconsequential how individuals perceived certain truths. For example, looking back at perceptions, we know without question the world was and is not flat. Similarly, we have electricity, which the old world didn't use, but this doesn't mean it didn't exist. The best way to explain creation is simple, whereas mankind makes it hard. Concisely, using only the Bible's instruction, God created the heavens and the earth, God created all that is on the earth, including creating man in His image. The same is true for the stars, light, heavens and all things on earth. We know today that it takes millions of years for the light from some stars to reach earth. Without needing to have great training to observe, this shows that the past can appear older than it is. When God created the trees and stars that means the light was here within its creation and the trees were of full stature as were man and the animals. So the appearance of the heavens and the stars seem to be old, but the fact is, through God's sudden creation, the world and the heavens are young. The Bible explains all this in complete detail even saying in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." In 2 Peter 3:5-6,"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the Heavens were of old, and the Earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was was being overflowed with water, perished (The Noachian flood and including the partitioning of the earth in Genesis created sediments, which were not in evolutionary order.) Carbon dating can make elements appear older than they are. One should be able to see what the Biblical position maintains. There are many verses that explain all of this repeatedly, assuring these truths to the end of time.

• God is outside the stream of time: If I understand correctly, then Einstein's relativity theory states that nothing going slower than the speed of light can go faster than the speed of light (and vice-versa). By implication, time traveling would be a problem. Regarding this, there is a neat agreement between Einstein and the references in the book of Matthew 24:3 and 24:36 which helps us to understand creation itself. From this time related question and answer it can be derived that the whole creation is in the stream of time whereas only God is outside the stream of time. God is therefore at least one dimension (the dimension of time) above all of his creation. (Aptly the opening words of the book of Revelation is an example on how time related knowledge is passed on.) If this is the case, then it can be reasoned that God is the architect of time in our universe along with all the other physical laws that are interwoven with time. Only thereafter the rest of the creation (heavens and earth) would follow. We as "Flatlanders" would never have the ability to comprehend a being which is probably many dimensions higher than our own plane of existence. He is a being who existed even before time itself existed.

• A Philosophical/Theological Opinion: All matter has always existed, there has never been a time when it has not. God has always existed, and there has never been a time when God has not existed. As all matter has intelligence, and as God is the Supreme Intelligence, is All Powerful, All-Knowing and has command over all things, then for Him to organize matter into worlds he only had to command and it was done. There was no need for a Big Bang. (It would seem an untidy way of doing things). Although the Big Bang theory is an explanation for the fact that we live in a rapidly expanding universe, it is not the end-all and be-all explanation for the existence of everything. The existence (or non-existence) of God is a religious, philosophical or theological issue that has little to do with examining Him in the light of the Big Bang. Some people probably believe a god existed before the Big Bang, some doubtless believe that gods evolved like we did afterwards. Neither is scientifically verifiable.

• A Thought Regarding Time & Infinity: We have to define God before we can argue/ talk about whether or not God existed before the Big Bang. If we define God as infinite and define infinite as something that doesn't depend on time, space and matter, then, yes God existed before the big bang. Now, one may say that how can something exist without time, space and matter? We can think of infinity as a form that can have physical representation but it doesn't have to. The closest example of that would be thinking itself. If we think of a walking tree, it exists in our minds but it doesn't have a physical reality. In other words, form can exist without the physical objects. Mathematics is representation of forms which holds true regardless of whether or not the physical representation exists. A believer would consider terms rationality, logic and common sense are overused. They should be used carefully.

• An Opinion That the Two Can't Coexist: Religious people believe in God. Do they believe in the Big Bang? Yes, some religious people do believe in the Big Bang. How can that be? Well, you see it is very easy for them to explain: God made the Big Bang happen, or God always existed, before and after the Big Bang. Where was he? in what space? in what place? If the Big Bang created the universe, what was there before the Big Bang? God must have been there... Notice that Science came up with the Big Bang... The Bible doesn't mention it, nor does any other religion mention it. So you see, religion eventually had to accept Big Bang, so to not defeat themselves, they had to create another idea and Big Bang had to be in it. So this is actually religion moving around with its beliefs. How can one religious person say he believes in God, in Christianity and in the Bible, and then study evolution, the creation of the universe, the Big Bang and actually agree with it? That person must be confused... You have Adam and Eve on one hand and evolution on another... oops... Maybe that's why they created the intelligent design. Isn't it crazy to come up with crazy ideas like God intended us to discover the Big Bang or evolution, he created them, he made them happen. So like that, I understand that all God wants us to do is to be messed up, confused, angry, and actually all this makes people get where we know they get... Be rational. You either believe in Big Bang or in God. You can't believe in both according to common sense and to rationality.

• A Multidimensional View: Emerging theories like Membrane Theory (sometimes called Brane Theory-- a development of super string theory) will become more and more popular with different groups of believers for various reasons. As a non-physicist I can give only a layman's basic view, but Membrane Theory comes out of the fact that some interesting problems are solved if we view the world as 11-dimensional. Another amazing possibility is that inside the 11th dimension there are countless Membranes, of many possible shapes and configurations, each one being a complete parallel universe (Our universe is one of these Membranes). One possibility currently being studied is that when 2 Membranes collide, the result of the collision is a Big Bang, and the initiation of another universe. If this theory holds up, it will readily, and with almost breathless ease, account for lots and lots of dynamic activity before our humdrum Big Bang took place. A little bit of our wired-in human myopia will be cured. So it is altogether possible that believers would be able to claim existence of the deity before our Big Bang, and even have a coherent model of physics that does not contradict the belief.

• An Opinion That Definitely Says No Big Bang: This would be one of those questions that was meant to find a contradiction. God created the Earth. There was no Big Bang. He spoke life into being... If you find a Christian that believes in the Big Bang Theory or any type of Evolution- you will find a Christian that has not read the beginning of Genesis (in the Bible).... So, this question is not one that can be answered really... He didn't exist before it or after it... because it never happened.

• An Opinion That They (creationist theory & evolution) Could Be Compatible: The Bible does mention the Big Bang, as well as evolution, in Genesis... "In the beginning, there was darkness, then God created light." Big Bang = shapeless void, then huge explosion. Compatible. It also states that God created the beasts of the sea before animals, and after animals were humans. Evolution = life originated in the primordial oceans, and animals evolved into humans. Also compatible. As for God's existence in relation with the Big Bang... My personal belief is that God exists in an alternate universe, where time does not flow in a straight line, but rather in a circle, with no beginning or end. The alternate universe is the "spirit world" - Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell.

• A Transcendent Opinion: Regardless of the fact that we don't know for sure if there was a Big Bang, creationists view God as the primary cause (the one thing that simply exists, outside time and space) -- God transcends the universe and does not have a "beginning." If God showed up after the Big Bang, then He is not God. God, by definition, is more complex than us. He exists in a world outside the universe - call it a Godiverse where He can create all the infinite universes he wishes. Time space and matter don't exist in the Godiverse, but the Godiverse exists. But then you have to ask how that came into being and the only answer of course is that the Godiverse exists outside of time as well. An alternate approach would be that God exists in the far off future. Maybe time is backwards and God won't exist until the end of time - during the big crunch - at which time He can control the formation of the next big bang.......(or this already happened)

• A View That The Two Can Indeed Co-Exist: There are a few people in the world who are truly brilliant. Among them are non-creationist scientists, and creationist scientists as well. There are some bone-headed, intellectually mediocre, self-serving and deceitful folks, creationists and non-creationists among them. Frankly, the dividing line between these groups can blur. It matters little. Not every brilliant advancement in knowledge is given to us by PhD's, and more than a few have been made by people who believed in creation. The challenge for scientists and people in general who are not faith-based is to listen objectively to clear-thinking creationists when they make legitimate claims that current theories do not match well with the observed data, possibly requiring a re-thinking of standard models. No scientist should ever conclude: "That [scientifically approachable proposal] is being offered by a creationist and so it is not worth study."It should be of no concern to scientists that people of faith will take a different approach to old questions, and that they will consider their knowledge superior to science. The challenge for creationists, creationist scientists and people of faith is to look fearlessly at the verifiable data and to remember that ultimately (from their point of view) no correctly derived and honestly reported evidence can ever successfully refute or disprove creation, even if some of the evidence may lead to a re-working of how science is done. As Grissom always says: "What is the evidence telling you?" No informed creationist should ever conclude: "That evidence must be wrong, and the reason it must be dismissed is because I believe there is a creator." The only reason to dismiss scientific evidence is because it is successfully demonstrated to be improperly gathered, incorrectly interpreted or presented or refuted by more reliable information gathered scientifically. As noted above, faith-based convictions belong to the realm of faith, and believers should have no argument with people who are exploring other avenues knowing that faith will (from their point of view) win the day. Science is a heuristic, a useful problem solving system. No heuristic is independently verifiable, but continues to be used only as it produces useful results. All scientists, independent of faith, approach their work with a set of assumptions. Some scientists are working on deeply held convictions (assumptions) that the natural world will provide all the answers we will ever need regarding natural physical reality. Other scientists are starting from the faith position (an assumption, after all) that the natural world could not have come about without creative agency. However, it seems that nothing should stand in the way of simply doing science, whatever you believe. If we are thinking clearly the question will be: "What is the evidence telling you?" No scientist and no person seeking truth fears this question.

• Theological Views vs. Biblical Teaching: There is a difference between someone's words about god(s), "Theology," and honoring the Biblical account. Theos = God (god); logos = word, discourse. There can be a theological base that is Biblical, but just as the Bible warns, Christ had also indicated that man is quite capable of corrupting thoughts about the true God of the Bible. Yet Christ and the Bible show that God promises to keep and preserve His words and that he is is capable of doing so. Psalm 12:6,7; Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35. So, some of the thoughts expressed on this topic are not in accordance to what God said in the Bible. Paul told the young pastor, Timothy: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2Timothy 2:15. If it can be rightly studied, compared and categorized, then it also can be misrepresented and given corrupt meaning. Paul also warned Timothy about false science (L., sciens = to know) that would be placed in opposition against the truth. 1Tmothy 6:20.

Therefore God, who created the heavens and the earth, with all that is in them, obviously existed before them, according to Scriptures. In Colossians 1:14-17 and in other Scriptures, it is maintained that Jesus, as eternal God, created all things. John says in his Gospel that there wasn't anything made without Christ. John 1:3.

However, most cosmologists do not see a need for God in their theories of how the earth and the heavens came to be. There is a discrepancy to consider oneself a Christian and then deny the clear teaching of Scriptures in favor of evolution. This should be seen as a conflict with and contrary to that which Christ taught. A Christ follower (a Christian) would want to agree with His teachings regarding creation and other matters. Besides His earthly ministry, Revelation 19:10 says: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," making Christ central to all the teaching of the Bible.

Therefore, if we consider the Bible in the answer to this Question, we find that there is no "Big Bang," but eternal God creating all.

• A Skeptical Criticism for God Being Eternal: To know the timing of god's existence you would at first need more evidence as to whether he exists at all. The easy answer to this is that god existed before the Big Bang and has always existed because that allows the avoidance of answering the questions of where god came from and who or what created him since he is the easy end-all answer to where the earth and humans came from.

• No Such Thing as the 'Big Bang' Opinion: The first point to keep in mind is, there is no such thing called 'Big Bang'. It is the Word of God which created Universe and all things. Some scientists have theorized that an event that was like having a big explosion and thus expanding proposed a theory called "the Big Bang Theory." The energy, which was produced while God spoke, is the key for all kinds of forces that are working on planets, stars, comets and all things which exist in the universe. So there is no point of considering whether God existed before or after a Big Bang.

As it is the creation of God, even you can find details about the coming days, end of the world and new earth. If you read the Holy Word of God, the Bible, truly having a desire to seek the Lord, the Holy Spirit will guide you to understand what is His overall plan for you and the universe. You may wonder at this, but the Bible speaks about atomic power, nuclear missiles, and much more advanced arms or weapons which shall appear in World War III.

• The universe is a great act of God. It is His creation. It was not formed out of something having blown up and expanding.
• Placing the Question as Dubious: There has never been evidence of God or of gods, therefore the question is moot.
• Giving God's Existence Credence Regarding the Question:Since the existence of Jesus Christ is a well-founded fact of history, it is up to the individual to decide whether His claim and the support of the entirety of the Scriptures for Himself to be God come in the flesh is valid. To say, "There has never been evidence of God or of gods," is a very shaky statement, due to the carefully kept history of the Jewish people and the same of the Scriptures of Christianity, which agree with it.

To deny God's existence then is an opinion, however popular or unpopular, which is not shared by the testimony of the Scriptures, nor has been shared by multitudes throughout the ages, including many brilliant scientists.

· The Big Bang Theory vs Creation: There was no "Big Bang". God was there, here, now, then, and will always be.He created the Universe, not some "big explosion". Science cannot solve everything, this is just a theory.

· Big Bang Misconception: The term Big Bang was actually started as a derogatory phrase, jokingly, first used by the astronomer Fred Hoyle. He supported the Steady State Theory of the Universe and refused to accept the more popular theory that the Universe is expanding. The Big Bang Theory proposes that the Universe started from a single point which was thought to be an explosion. But more recently, the newer version of the theory of the Big Bang has it starting out from a small point that rapidly expanded uniformly until all four physical forces separated from the primordial atom. The four forces are the force of gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force. When this expansion stopped, all the stars and galaxies formed much as they are today only closer together. Since we do not have evidence of what existed before this event, it is possible that God used this process to create the Universe since there was no explosion, only an expansion that preceded creation. If there was a 'Big Bang' explosion, there would not be such uniformity that we observe in the Universe.

Timeless View: The bottom line is that God is outside Time because, believe it or not, Time is a physical dimension This means God is Timeless, and so Eternity means nothing to God. Because we human beings are physical we cannot really understand Eternity Past or Eternity Future. [Some believe there are 10, or more, dimensions, according to String Theory].

Among other things, the Big Bang cannot explain where Matter, Energy, and Laws came from: it does not exist except in the minds of its adherents.

Concept of God: It really depends on the concept or definition of God, or gods. If we approach it from a traditional perspective, as those ascribed by the major religions, then we may be quite limited in our ability to account for all that now know is in the observable universe. If we put aside everything that is being currently debated about Creation or the Big Bang and all the theories about other dimensions and just take a look outside on a clear night, only one thing comes to my mind and that is if the God of Judaism-Christianity-Islam had really created the Earth, why did he choose such a provincial little spot and only a handful of people in such a small instance of eternity to give what they say is the most important news of the Universe? If that concept of God really did those things, then it would, by their definition, have required God to be before the Big Bang. If those two concepts do not seem congruous with each other, than maybe we need another definition of the Big Bang or a new definition and perspective of what God may be.

Answer B

Concluding discussions above; from the Islamic point of view that coincides generally with the other two God religions (Christianity and Judaism), it could be stated that God (the Creator) is beyond the human known limits of dimensions (distance, time, ... etc) and imagination. God is existing before the universe and before anything we know or don't know. God is eternal and is existing after the end of the universe and the end of anything we know or we don't know. I wonder that some still in doubt of God existence although they know that God is the creator otherwise how they come to existence. Those; who deny God existence; do so by their brain that is created by God.

Accordingly, the answer is that God exist before the Big Bang (if the theory is valid) and exist after the Big Bang and God is eternal and exist before anything and remain existing after everything.

Simple Answer:

Relative age dating is usually in the domain of geology, archeology and paleontology. Relative age dating alone does not give the age of an object or the date of an even, just the relative ordering in time.

More:

The principles of relative age dating can, however, be applied to cosmology. The basic principle is that one uses characteristics of objects to identify whether one object is is older than another, and then arranging them in chronological order.

Alone, relative age dating can not be used to determine the age of the universe or anything else, but with some knowledge of absolute age one can arrive at statements like, event B must have come after event A and event A is a known date, so event B must be at an earlier date.

For instance, the universe must be older than the Earth. The Earth can be dated to about 4.5 billion years in age, therefore the Universe must be older than 4.5 billion Years. If, one adds to that the one knows that the light from a distant galaxy takes a 10 billion years to reach Earth, then the galaxy, and hence the Universe must be more than 10 billion years old.