There was not nothing, there was energy, but space & time did not exist, so there was no *place* for the energy to be, so it was not *anywhere* from the perspective of us, who exist
in the space-time continuum. Energy is a tricky notion for many to wrap their head around. The original proposition of a big bang like theory was by a Catholic priest & scientist who
likely believed in the existence of at least one god. However, believing that a god initiated the Big Bang and created the universe, doesn't do anything to give us more details on how
it actually happened, or where to look for more discoveries. In this way, it is the same as the "Intelligent Design" theory. Were it true that a god was directing evolution or intiated
the existence of the universe, that knowledge provides no benefit or guidance in understanding these phenomena. Indeed, there is no statistical evidence of any director of evolution