Religion says that God create the universe. However science says that the universe was created by the Big Bang. One can reconcile religion and science by saying that God is the big bang. The ancient theologians were correct in asserting that the universe had a sudden beginning. They brought out an important feature of our philosophy.
They were also correct in asserting that the universe will continue without end. The best present-day cosmology is in agreement with this view. There is a basic asymmetry between past and future. The past is limited, the future is endless.
Other aspects of religion are not so acceptable to science. There is a tendency to look upon God as a ruler. This may be looked upon as an attempt to justify earthly rules by showing an analogy between them and God, a point of view which is no doubt very pleasing to earthly ruler, but which does not derive any support from science. God works through mathematical laws, which have quite a different foundation from the laws formulated by earthly rulers. To understand God's law better requires deep mathematical investigation.
Does God influence present day events, by miracle or other departures from the regular scientific laws? The uncertainty of quantum mechanics does leave an unpredictability in the possible course of events, and one may believe that here is an opportunity for God to show his power. To exercise this question scientifically one should try to see whether the Big Bang still produces some consequences, at this late stage in the development of the Universe, that do not follow from the laws of nature which have appeared from averaging over the fluctuations of the early stages. The question cannot be answered at present, but with further development of cosmological theory we may be able to get affirmative answer in the future. Paul Dirac (1978-06-22)