[adorno]

Before the BIG BANG, how did all of the material for the VAST universe get together in a miniscule ball?

Gravity.

Did you say gravity?

We're talking about events before the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang there was no universe or gravity. To say that gravity brought all of the material of the universe together into a tiny ball before the Big Bang is to say that before that tiny ball there was a different kind of universe with all kinds of material scattered about, and therefore the universe didn't begin with the Big Bang.

[FostersExport]

"To say that gravity brought all of the material of the universe together into a tiny ball before the Big Bang is to say that before that tiny ball there was a different kind of universe with all kinds of material scattered about, and therefore the universe didn't begin with the Big Bang."

Correct me if I’m wrong, but that isn’t necessarily out of the question is it? The Big Bang only really accounts for our 'current' universe.

[general_re]

We're talking about events before the Big Bang.

"Before the Big Bang" is a meaningless construct - time started with the Big Bang. There is no "before".

[CarrotAndStick]

One of the theories was precisely that- an essentially cyclic universe- the Big Bang followed by the Big Crunch- followed by the Big Bang- and so on. Something to do with String Theory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillatory_universe

The theory has been revived in brane cosmology as the cyclic model, which evades most of arguments levelled against the oscillatory universe in the sixties. Despite some success, the theory is still controversial, largely because there is no satisfactory string theoretic description of the bounce in this model.

Look, I am not a physicist, and am in no way capable of defending what I don't know. I am of the opinion that Creationists are envious of the scientists, and are all out to prove them wrong, especially in subjects where they have no scratching knowledge of the proposed scientific explanations and arguments. Outright rejection without proper study is their motto, and it was popular in the Dark Ages too. I'd believe a creationist who can explain to me what the 'String Theory' is all about, and how gravity attracts mass, and how mass develops gravity.