The universe may not have come from nothing, and this is where the theory of parallel universes comes into play. It has, in effect, that same logic that ET theories have. We can't be the only life; we can't be the only universe. However, not all of these universes have stable atoms, but they do exercise the idea of infinite universes with infinite possibilities.
All of this on parallel universes is assuming that theory is true, which is probable due to other laws of science supporting it. The theory is not refined, though. Like you said, we discover new things which change what we know, and the theory would adapt accordingly. Also, you're right, energy cannot be created or destroyed in any process. From a scientific standpoint, something must have existed before our universe in order for it to exist. You cannot bring any type of god into science, though, and simply state that he created everything; science is not theology.
Now, the idea of a god in science would say that you cannot simply state that it's supernatural and therefore he can create himself from nothing. You would need concrete laws of supernature in order to prove this, as science is based on observation and conclusion. We have concrete laws in physics and cosmology, and we're breaking ground in the quantum physics that would explain how multiple universes could exist. Religion states otherwise, though, because it is based on acceptance. That is why science cannot be brought into theology; theology is not science.
My point here is that you cannot insert a theological fact into a scientific theory and say that's the truth. They must be totally separate from each other. I used to be religious, and became atheistic for my own reasons. However, when I was religious, I kept science separate from religion. My religion said that God created the universe, but science said otherwise. I believed from a religious standpoint that God made the universe, but from a scientific point of view that there was a different reason. I believed at the time that God created science for us to explain things with, and that the possibility of him creating everything could not be disregarded as false. But the problem here is that is heresy. To believe in one religion and then believe the near opposite. Science is observation and conclusion, religion is acceptance. That is why I became an atheist; my love for science overrode my beliefs in God. What I am saying to you is that you, as well as Muffinmix (seeing how my argument is relatively neutral), is that you cannot argue religion with science and you cannot argue science with religion. They are foils to each other.
The statement I quoted brought that up in my mind.
And I totally agree with you, there is too much on both sides that have to be taken as a whole truth to be able to truly believe the other side. Which is why people usually get nowhere with all of this. But you do make a lot of good points. No, a theological idea can not really exist in a scientific field which is why I've tried to point out in another argument that "god" as we may know him only has his super awesome divine powers and such as an alien or a race of aliens because of the clearly superior and advanced technology deal. Travel back in time enough with a couple of things we take for granted and voila, we appear as magical all powerful beings. Which is why I still hold the possibility that he may exist, but not in the exact mannerisms that is taught by the Bible because that was written by rather primitive and superstitious people. I'm sure the same can be said if someone from 2000 years from now appeared with god knows what to make our heads implode from the sheer awesomeness.
Then there's also the whole parallel universe theory. Who's to say that in one reality, they figured out a way to bridge two parallel universes together, screwed it up and BOOM! Big Bang. People with that kind of technology must be mind bogglingly advanced (considering they even survived the cataclysm, and maybe out of a huge sense of guilt, started putting everything back together in order to fix their wrong) Yeah, all theories and guesses, we will never know, but the possibilities are infinite and short of having a time machine to be there and see it for ourselves. But all open for grand thought and debate for sure.
