The simplest answer

For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes Harrell's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and blog content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.

As we know, “let there be light” were the first words out of the Lord’s mouth in the beginning. However, few people have taken this literally since, like the Lord, the universe is thought to be infinite with no definite beginning.

But then along came Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble, who theorized and confirmed how galaxies were receding away from each other over time. The universe was actually expanding. What this meant was that if you were to run the clock backwards far enough, you’d get to a point in time when all matter, energy and space itself condensed into a single spot.