Hi DansChance, I think this is the first I've responded to one of your posts. This particular question you've raised I find quite interesting.
I'm an atheist. I certainly don't think the universe began by magic. Honestly I don't know how it began, but taking the secular view I can only assume that its origin was natural and not magical, or supernatural. The problem I have with the religious explanation is that it is really no explanation at all. Saying God created the universe is very nice but is not at all informative. It tells me nothing. Physicists talk about the universe beginning with a quantum singularity. They are also quite adamant that this singularity did not need God to give it a push. My saying that the universe formed by a natural event is no more informative than saying it formed by God's intervention. At least the introduction of a quantum singularity is a step to providing an actual cause and does one better than saying simply that God did it. Some may want to argue that God produced the singularity, but proving it is the hard part.
Congrats on answering to my post and sorry you are an atheist. Maybe that can change?
I used the word "magically" in sarcasm not in literal magic.
If you are looking for facts, I suggest you not search for them in a faith based forum. As I mentioned previously fact and faith are not exactly co-dependent. Still you are here at a Christian forum as an atheist discussing fact and faith.
I have had 5 semesters of physics, 3 semesters of Chemistry and math classes beyond calculus in college. That doesn't make me an expert on anything but still, I have a decent grasp of science. I have always enjoyed the sciences. I also, for a time was an atheist until God made it very clear to me that He is real. No, I can't prove it to you as you would simply label it as being anecdotal.
It is a pivotal issue how the universe was formed and here is where science leaves us in the dark. Was matter and energy always here? If they were always here then they have been here infinitely long or they have an origin. Or matter and energy has an origin. The theories about the big bang and origins of the universe are complex. I am not qualified to delve too deep into this subject as I have never studied quantum physics.
Some leading physicists do in fact believe that matter can spontaneously exist and they believe this is the case based on quantum physics. The big bang theory is that space actually stretched out along with matter. Beyound this, who knows? At some point it comes down to faith. Faith in some sort of singularity which happened by itself or that something external from our space-time continuum caused it to happen.
Keep trying to work out an answer and let me know if you ever reach one and how you came to accept it. I believe The Bible. The Hebrew suggests God stretched out the heavens. Ins't that interesting as it seems to actually fit current theory.