The tendency to fit the data to support a pre-conceived idea is strong; so, strong that it can even affect core science. The redshift of distant galaxies provides an example of this. It was interpreted in a manner which endorsed the creationist view of cosmology. An alternative explanation is based on attenuation of the energy of light which supports the belief that the cosmos is infinite and eternal. Philosophers have debated these options for millennia and provided guidance for choosing between them.
To start with, the modern version of the creationist view of cosmology is only a century old. Edwin Hubble discovered that the Andromeda nebulae, as it was then called, was actually a galaxy in its own right, separate from the Milky Way. Soon millions more galaxies were discovered, thanks to advanced telescopes. They all had one thing in common – the light from them exhibited redshift. Hubble theorized that this was caused by their receding velocity and formulated Hubble’s Law of Cosmological Expansion. Georges Lemaitre, a cosmologist and a Catholic priest, extrapolated this to conclude that the universe was initially a single “primeval atom.” At some point it exploded to create the universe which has been expanding ever since. This is what has come to be known as the Big Bang Theory of cosmology. When Pope Pious welcomed this theory as scientific validation of the Biblical account of creation, Lamaitre was alarmed. Unwilling to contradict the Pope, he worried about appearing to conflate science with religion.
In contrast, consider a different interpretation of the redshift of light. Over cosmic distances, the energy of light attenuates; its frequency decreases while its wavelength increases. Observed data shows that the rate of this attenuation is 2.75 percent over every billion light years. In conjunction with the difference between the maximum and minimum wavelengths of visible light, this rate has been used to determine that the maximum distance which light can travel is 13.4 billion light years. Even the brightest galaxies located beyond this range cannot be seen because the light they emit falls below the low red end of the visible spectrum by the time it reaches us. This is the radius of the observable universe. While it might be tempting to believe that we are at the center of the universe, there is no reason to support this. No matter where an observer is located, the visual universe is always a sphere of this radius, and the observer is at its center. This is because the universe is infinite. And since matter can neither be created nor destroyed, it can be inferred that it is also eternal.
Finally, the task of choosing between competing theories can sometimes be helped by the Law of Parsimony, also known as Occam’s Razor. This principle states that the simplest explanation is more likely to be true. Applying this to the Big Bang Theory of creation is quite informative. This is because the expansion which begins with an explosion slows down in due course. However, the redshift of distant galaxies is more pronounced than that of nearer ones. This means that the expansion is accelerating! This contradicts the explosion hypothesis. Many explanations have been proffered for this anomaly, but they all create more problems than they solve. The alternative theory based on the attenuation of the energy of light does not involve such a contradiction and is therefore preferable.
To sum up, the simplest explanation for the observed redshift of cosmic light is attenuation. This supports the view that the universe is infinite, with no beginning, and no end. In contrast, there is the Big Bang Theory which parallels ancient creationist beliefs and holds that the universe is finite and started with an enormous explosion. Applying Occam’s Razor to these two options, the former is clearly simpler.
References:
How Far Visual Light Can Travel
https://www.ospublishers.com/How-Far-Visual-Light-Can-Travel.html
Georges Lemaître, Father of the Big Bang
https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/cosmic-horizons-book/georges-lemaitre-big-bang