What are a few of the recent thories abut the question of the Purpose
of the Universe? (I know many don't believe there is one, but I want
to know the position of those who do)

Here's the bible's answer.
Revelation 4:11
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou
hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

The Bible certainly does not ignore the constellations we see. Job
9;9..38;31,32..Amos 5;8..2 Kings 23;5..1 Samuel 13;10..And God did not
make them for no purpose. Maybe eventually He will allow us to explore
them. Once we have learned to look after the earth properly. But to
even get there, the distances are so great we would need to live
forever. And guess what? Revelation 21;4 says exactly that." And he
will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more,
neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former
things have passed away.?

42

No the purpose of the universe was to calculate the ultimate answer
which was 42. Actually that may have been the purpose of the earth????
Anyway its the Mices fault.

1- One excellent and interesting idea comes from Rupert Sheldrake. It
appears that the "Purpose" is whatever we make it. This can be
achieved through morphogenesis.

http://www.levity.com/mavericks/rupert.htm

2- Another interesting idea which ties in neatly with recent
discoveries in non-linear dynamics (popularly known as chaos theory)
is James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis. This idea is that earth is a
living organism and by extension the universe (any sufficiently
complex adaptive system). The concept of Sheldrake's morphogenesis has
a parallel called emergent behaviour in non-linear dynamical theory.
Here is a good starting point:

http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=planet06

3- It can be argued that the definitive answer to this question came
from William James and was simply stated in his 1896 address "The Will
to Believe". Where he says, "Our passional nature not only lawfully
may, but must decide upon an option between propositions, whenever it
is a genuine option that cannot by its nature be decided on
intellectual grounds, for to say, under such circumstances, 'Do not
decide, but leave the question open,' is itself a passional decision,
- just like deciding yes or no, - and is attended with the same risk
of losing the truth." This was later confirmed in other fields of
thought such as Kurt Godel (math), Karl Popper (science), and John
Lukacs (history). So, on undecidable principals such as the meaning of
existence you should base your decision on your passional will!

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~omearawm/ph101willtobelieve.html


4. I would also like to point you to Edward O. Wilson's book "On Human
Nature" where he studies humanity the way he would any other species.
He does come to a conclusion at one point in this Pulitzer Prize
winning piece that it doesn't matter what set of beliefs a society
lives by as long as the majority believes it. The system is first
codified, then sanctified and provides the cohesion that makes life
worth living.

http://www.paulagordon.com/shows/wilson/

5. Finally, what if we are just here to be the soup in which other
organisms live? These organisms are ideas or memes. Named and defined
by Richard Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene" and expanded upon and
explained in Daniel Dennette's "Consciousness Explained". Some are
very complex - like religion and will do anything to ensure their
survival. They are complex adaptive systems. ARE YOU BEGINNING TO SEE
A THEME RUNNING THROUGH THESE? I have heard that Napoleon (Bonaparte
not Dynamite! achieved his accomplishments by sheer force of will. I
know Mohandas Ghandi did, maybe Christ did too?) Anyway, start here on
the meme thing:

http://www.memecentral.com/

Sure hope this helps - these ideas have given me a lot of pleasure and
helped me feel I'm on the right track when I'm confronted with the
"big" question.

Deegeejay, thanks for your generosity in sharing these insights! This
sort of thing is EXACLY what I was looking for, and I am glad I am not
the only out there trying to find out (as opposed to only worry-or not
worry-) what interesting theories exist about "THE BIG QUESTION". I
have not have time to look onto them as patiently as I need to, but
when I do, if you want, I'll let you know. Otherwise just thanks
again.

Wow goodinquirer, that makes me really happy - it is great to find
like minded people. I sure would be interested in your insights and
the other ideas you encounter. Good searching! deegeejay@gmail.com

I see the purpose of the universe as being much greater than the
purpose of our species.  Let us not forget that we are only one (of
many) conscious forms on the planet, and the universe surely existed
before our little planet came into being (and I have no doubt it will
outlive us).

What if you consider the Universe itself as you would a conscious
being?  The fact that there are any conscious entities within it (and
from this discussion I'm pretty sure there are) would make the entire
universe conscious to some degree.  At the moment the brain is unable
to do more than move tiny cells around, but perhaps in a few millennia
we will have the ability to change larger and larger parts of the
being we're living in.  Once the mind is able to control the body I
would assume the universe would take on the same purpose of any living
being.  It would try its damndest not to die.

Perhaps it would find a way to save itself from a 'big crunch' (or any
other fate); perhaps it will discover a way to reproduce.  Perhaps the
universe will evolve further.  This all depends on what (if anything)
lies past the outermost parts of the known universe.

I suppose another way to think of it is that the Universe can only
have a purpose if there's something beyond it.  Surviving is not a
real purpose, but rather a means to accomplish one.  To use the phrase
from The Hitchhikers Guide, I see the purpose of "Life, the Universe,
and Everything" as such:

* Life - Life seeks conciousness, and evolutionary perfection
* the Universe - Seeks to become 'Everything'
* Everything - Seeks nothing.  If everything is truely 'everything'
there's nothing more it could possibly wish to accomplish.

In the end it requires stricter definitions.  What is 'the Universe'? 
Everything, or just everything within the event horizon from the big
bang? What is a 'purpose'? A consious goal, a fate, or an evolutionary
end?

This is a fun question to play with, and I may have gotten a
brain-cramp trying to consider something larger than everything. 
Thanks for the headache, it was most enjoyable.

Can offer answer based on The Course in Miracles according to Dr
Kenneth Wapnick and Gary Renard's 'The Disappearance of the Universe'
book.

1. The Universe, like time and space does not exist. It is an illusion
appearing to be 'outside' of us, where we appear to be seperate
bodies.

2. In truth, we are within a state of unity, outside of time and space. 

3. The Universe was created as a means to keep us from 'remembering'
our true nature, maintaining an experience of seperation.

4. There is an alternative purpose of the 'universe', which is to
gently awaken us from our 'dream', reminding us of our 'oneness'
within Love.