Baptist Spirituality

I’m excited to be giving my first “lecture” based on some of my sabbatical studies on cosmology — specifically on Belgian astrophysicist and priest, Georges LeMaître — at the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society at the end of March 2026. It is a nerve-racking endeavor because it will be the first time I am teaching on something that I know very little about. This doesn’t come as easily as a sermon or Bible study; and — as the picture above portrays — I’ve spent a lot of time editing and re-writing the material.

I’m chose Georges LeMaître as my subject because of his Christian faith and commitment as a scientist. He theorized that if the universe is expanding, then there must be a single point at which it began. Thus, he surmised an explosive beginning (what will eventually come to be known as the “Big Bang”) in which all of the matter and energy in the universe came into being.

Though religious, he was quite modest and worked hard to downplay his faith so that his theories would be taken seriously. He once stated, “God is essentially hidden and may be glad to see how present physics provides a veil hiding the creation” (Nature, 1931). He even censured Pope Pius XII when the pope gave a talk on the cosmos in 1951, citing LeMaître’s work as a basis for the existence of God and the truth of biblical creation.

The lesson, slated to be about 20 minutes, will take place on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at 7:30 PM at the next Treasure Coast Astronomical Society meeting. The TCAS meets at the Ft. Pierce campus of the Indian River State College Planetarium and Sciences building, 3209 Virginia Avenue, Ft. Pierce, 34981. All are welcome, and there is no cost to attend.

Source:
Jonathon Lunine, “Monsignor Georges LeMaître, Originator of the Big Bang Theory,” online (accessed March 14, 2026): https://catholicscientists.org/articles/monsignor-georges-lemaitre-originator-of-big-bang-theory/.

David Schultz, The Andromeda Galaxy and the Rise of Modern Astronomy (New York: Springer, 2012).