my essay arguing for OEC, what are your opinions on it?

Why do people think that the Big Bang theory and Christianity contradict? Ironically, this presumption lacks a solid basis. The Big Bang and the Bible are compatible because Old Earth Creationism suggests the universe is billions of years old, acting as a biblical foundation. Specifically, redshift and cosmic microwave background serve as definitive scientific evidence. The Big Bang theory does not disprove biblical Christianity, but is rather consistent with Biblical Old Earth Creationism, and is thoroughly supported by scientific evidence.
Analyzing Old Earth Creationism (OEC) is essential to understanding how the Big Bang and Christianity are joined. Old Earth Creationists believe that the Earth is billions of years old instead of several thousand. They maintain that the creation days represent non-literal periods of time or contain gaps. This position on the creation days, combined with the scientific evidence, together support the idea that God used the Big Bang as a method for creation. OEC holds that a non-literal interpretation of the creation days, and the scientific evidence both support that God used the Big Bang as a method of creation. It allows modern scientific conclusions and the Bible to be compatible. There are differing opinions amongst Old Earth Creationists about where the billions of years fit within creation, but the main consensus is that the days of creation were not literal. In order to prove that the Big Bang and the Bible can fit together, it is not necessary to go into the specifics of which form of OEC is correct (Ungvarsky).
Although it appears that the days of creation in Genesis are literal, much evidence suggests otherwise. Genesis 1:1 says that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (New International Version). Since Christianity affirms that God created everything out of nothing, this statement must not be a title to the creation story. This is because the earth already exists in the following verses. Scripture indicates that the heavens include the sun, moon, and stars (Joel 3:15-16). Therefore, there must have been a process of creating “the heavens”. Since God hadn’t created light yet, there was no evening and morning. All of these points mean the heavens could have been created before the seven days, leaving room for the billions of years of the Big Bang. Moreover, the phrase "there was evening and there was morning" was not present on the seventh day, which also leaves room for a prolonged period of time. As for the days in between, and all of the days for that matter, the Hebrew word for day can mean an undefined, prolonged period of time. Since Genesis can be interpreted as poetry, all of these factors make it likely that the creation days of Genesis could include or make up an extended period of time, laying the foundation for the Big Bang theory (Taylor).
It is not the purpose of scripture to define the age of the earth, which is why science is an important factor in forming a conclusion. This is explained by Albert Einstein when he said, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind” (Dacey). One major piece of evidence supporting the Big Bang is redshift: the phenomenon of wavelengths of light elongating. Redshift occurs as the universe stretches out, and galaxies move away from the Earth (“Redshift” Britannica). Since light frequencies change based on motion, they are stretched when bright objects move away from the viewer. When galaxies move away from us, the frequency of their light is elongated, causing them to appear red. The phenomenon of Redshift is widely accepted as a scientific fact (“Redshift” Los Cumbres Observatory). 

Examining the redshift of the galaxies surrounding the Milky Way reveals that almost all are moving away. Additionally, it shows that distant galaxies are moving away faster than closer ones. These observations tell scientists that the universe is expanding at a uniform rate (Ciscanik). This means that the universe was once contracted and dense, the opposite of expansion. The Big Bang is the most widely accepted reason for redshift. The expansion of the universe supports the big bang theory, which in turn supports creationism. Prior to the Big Bang theory, the view that atheists held was that the universe was eternal. The Big Bang theory directly proves this wrong.  ("What Impact Does Redshift").
Since the Big Bang was extremely hot and powerful, it had to have left some heat behind. Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB) is this heat signature (Ciscanik). The Big Bang is the most widely accepted explanation for CMB. NASA has deployed two satellites to examine CMB, and they have proved the existence of the microwaves ("Cosmic Microwave Background"). The discovery of CMB was the final confirmation of the Big Bang. While Redshift was important proof, CMB had already been predicted, since the Big Bang theory would have left enormous heat signatures. CMB supports the Big Bang theory, which points to creationism ("Did God Use the 'Big Bang'”).
The opposing view to OEC is Young Earth Creationism (YEC). YEC holds the belief that the days of creation in Genesis were literal twenty-four-hour days. It believes that creation occurred 6,000 to 12,000 years ago. There are multiple arguments for young earth creationism. Firstly, some argue that the creation account must be literal, since the Hebrew word for day most commonly means a twenty-four-hour day. YEC holds that to be respectful to the bible, the creation days must be interpreted literally. Secondly, it is argued that the order of events in Genesis does not go along with those of the Big Bang. This is because Genesis suggests there were no deaths, and thus no fossils before the fall. Finally, Young Earth Creationists think that Jews and Christians believed in Young Earth Creationism in the past, so God couldn't have used godless men to correct this understanding (Mortenson).
One major roadblock for Young Earth Creationism is that, in order for it to be true, the laws of physics would need to be wildly changed. Science and Christianity are not separate; this is supported in the Old Testament, where God says he has established the laws of heaven and earth (Jer. 33:25). While it isn't out of God's power to alter the laws of physics, scripture suggests they are fixed. If the process of creation has not been unnaturally accelerated, Young Earth Creationists agree that the universe must be billions of years old. Furthermore, time is relative to God, so the length of creation is not a concern to Him. 
In order for Old Earth Creationism to be true, there must have been plant and animal death before the fall to account for the fossils. According to Young Earth Creationists, the fall introduced all death, so there was no death for animals and plants before the fall. However, in his letter to the Romans, Paul says death entered people specifically, through Adam's sin (Rom. 5:12). There is hardly enough evidence in Genesis to assume there was no plant and animal death before the fall, and especially not when Romans 5 is added. Though not common, the Hebrew meaning of day in Genesis can mean a prolonged period of time. This would make sense since Genesis is regarded by many historians as history in poetic form (Ross, “Does the Bible Affirm). The authenticity of creation and the fact that it is poetic are not at odds. Additionally, the phrase "and there was evening and there was morning" was not present on the final day, suggesting it could have been prolonged. Other aspects of the final creation day point to a long period of time (“How Long Was Creation”). 

A final problem Young Earth Creationists have with Old Earth Creationism is that the views it holds, particularly the Big Bang, were created by atheistic men. There are hundreds of thousands of scientists in the world, and pretty much all of them agree on the age of the universe. To have so many people believe the same thing because of atheistic bias is not plausible. Additionally, many astronomers and geologists who agree on the age of the universe are Christians. The fact that some scientists who discovered the Big Bang and the age of the universe were atheists does not negate that it is true. God has used non-Christians and Jews countless times in history to orchestrate his will. Scientific truth is not limited to Christians (Ross, “Does the Bible Affirm”). 

The Big Bang theory does not disprove biblical Christianity, but is rather consistent with Biblical Old Earth Creationism, and is thoroughly supported by scientific evidence. This is because it is very possible that there are gaps within or before the creation days, and that the days themselves are not literal. Also, since the Bible is not meant to tell us the age of the earth, scientific evidence supports the Big Bang theory. Ultimately, in understanding that the Big Bang and the Bible are complimentary, it is revealed that science as a whole is an instrument of God.