Is this one thing that Atheists and Christians can agree on?

something can come from nothing.

quantum fluctuations can result in matter arising from a void (nothing), but this does require energy... hmmm

the universe expanded out from a singularity during an event called the "Big Bang"

the singularity would have contained all the mass of the universe in a one dimensional plane

either, time didnt exist on that plane

or we can theoretically assume conditions and physics could be different to mean time didnt exist when the universe was a singularity

or that the singularity had a mass that was an asymptote with infinity resulting in gravity at that point being infinity and using einsteins relativity, time would have come to a relative "stop" there and thus there was no time.

so if the universe is timeless and its beginning was merely the expansion and when "Time" actually began. then it could come from nothing as there was nothing before something and there was something before nothing.

theoretical physics is lame.

Sorry, the article lost me when Wong said that still act as if there was an invisible ultimate law maker. No. The concepts of justice, fairness, etc. were very well developed before Christianity came on the scene. We have those concepts because back when we lived in small tribes, it was important that you did not kill or mistreat other tribe members because (a) killing adults or children would reduce the numbers of the tribe and weaken its ability to survive; and (b) if you stole from someone or broke their stuff or insulted them then the anger and social,friction would threaten the tribe's ability to work together for everyone's survival, which might mean everyone's death. Even before that, his Christian bias was annoying. I won't go into picky details, but when talking of Christians and how if their transmission burned out they would see a mechanic, etc. and not rely on prayer to fix their car, he failed to mention that there are Christians out there who have murdered their children by refusing to get them medical care, and instead relied on prayer. That made me kind of angry. So, with apologies, the article only made me angry. I will add that I do wholeheartedly believe that the average Christan and the average atheist do have a lot in common. And there are probably lots of things we would agree on. I don't question that. And I accept that Wong had good intentions - but the way he presented his ideas and his lack of research into some areas was disappointing.

Our concept of time, and our understanding of it is based on experience which is limited. The very concept of time is integrated into space. The idea that there was a 'before' the big bang may be meaningless. Without time there is no 'before'.

It is also possible that our universe emitted as a result of two so-called membranes (see string theory) colliding and forming ours. As for where THAT came from it may be the wrong question just as it may be the wrong questio to ask 'what happened before the big bang.'

Saying God did it explains nothing, of course, because God having physical properties (he has to have them otherwise he can't interact with our universe) makes him subject to needing to be brought into existence himself. You can't redefine God into existence either.

What if something CAN come from nothing, though? Just because it seems nonsensical doesn't mean there isn't an explanation that fits with a non-supernatural universe. Which isn't to say there cannot be a supernatural explanation but we have to go with the natural explanation before we go supernatural.

So to answer your question: some quantum physicists think that matter may have emerged from a quantum event. Something from 'nothing' but we gotta define what we mean by 'nothing'.

It's a complicated question even though it sounds easy. Our language isn't equipped to deal with it.

Actually that is what we a both trying to overcome...

Christians - Trying to find how a god would pop up out of nowhere

Atheists (assuming follow science through the big bang) - Trying to find out how a ball of matter formed out of nowhere

They are both mind-boggling and YES oversimplified so don't give me some scientifically incorrect rant

No -Atheist.

I'm not sure that the Universe has a beginning or end.

edit:

gee, so far your batting zero. Not too good.

I don't know if something can or cannot come from nothing. There are things in nature that go against what we intuitively think are true.

... I think most atheists believe the opposite. It's the same concept as black holes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHtxnIkzros

He has 100,000 subscribers - one of the most watched on youtube. I think he represents atheist ideas pretty well.

The video is a little long, but it addresses this idea specifically...

Yep

To this Universe yes, there clearly was a beginning. To whatever the overlying structure is, probably not.

Something cannot come from nothing. Space is apparently nothing,but it is filled with ether. But if you to remove the ether,who is to say that there would not be something even more tenuous than ether?

I believe it, but I don't know if this is something all can agree upon.