Here are some links that sum things up:

http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Cosmos/InTheBeginning.html

http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni/uni_101bb2.html

As the Nasa site linked to above says: That region of space that is within our present horizon was indeed no bigger than a point in the past. Nevertheless, if all of space both inside and outside our horizon is infinite now, it was born infinite. If it is closed and finite, then it was born with zero volume and grew from that.

My point in the earlier post that (as stated) assumed that the universe was 'closed' was that even this theory implies an eternal/infinite universe that existed "before" this one came into being.

If there "was" an infinite universe, then by neccesity there must still "be" an infinite universe permeating the one we live in.

Does it matter if space is 'open' or 'closed' if time is uni-directional, or do you have reason to believe that time is multi-directional?