Not exactly. There was a nice discussion found in scientific american recently. One writeup is here:
The discussion over inflation is not whether or not the Big Bang Theory itself is correct or not- that is the model that describes how the universe evolved starting ~10^-15 seconds after its apparent beginning and includes successful observations/predictions of things like nucleosynthesis, the cosmic microwave background, large scale structure of galaxies, etc.
I think here’s a nice summary of the two models. Ultimately one was rejected because it failed to explain cosmological data. It didn’t matter what Fred Hoyle or Georges Lemaitre or anyone wanted to be correct. The models were dependent on the data: Errors in the Steady State and Quasi-SS Models
Yes but Georges Lemaitre got the idea from playing around with Einstein’s equations of GR and the Friedmann equations- not by filtering everything through his interpretation of Genesis. And then, some started making proclamations about the Big Bang theory and the Bible (note: the Big Bang theory doesn’t give us creation ex nihilo anyways as it cannot adequately account for the earliest moments despite what some Christians publically teach). In fact, he even warned the pope:
“Lemaître was determined to discourage the Pope from making proclamations about cosmology, partly to halt the embarrassment that was being caused to supporters of the Big Bang, but also to avoid any potential difficulties for the Church. …Lemaître contacted Daniel O’Connell, director of the Vatican Observatory and the Pope’s science advisor, and suggested that together they try to persuade the Pope to keep quiet on cosmology. The Pope was surprisingly compliant and agreed to the request–the Big Bang would no longer be a matter suitable for Papal addresses.”
If you want to see a YEC cosmologist writing on Georges Lemaitre, here’s John Hartnett who calls the theory a pagan one that also could be part of a secret Jesuit plot.
Not sacred at all. But a well tested idea that makes many predictions that we found (all but the cosmic neutrino background and cosmologists are still working on detecting the 21 cm hydrogen line from the first stars being produced). I want to separate the model from inflation which, if you’re Sean Carroll, you rate at just above 50% chance of being right. Understandable then if you personally are looking for more satisfying evidence for inflation as so are cosmologists!