Are scientists changing how they think about the early universe?

It's often wrong, but we pretend it's right.

I remember as a child being told that evolution can't be true because X. Also, that scientists have no idea how the universe came to be.

Of course it's easier to point out flaws that to come up with corrections, but that's not the point.

The point was, science is hubristic and makes untrue claims all the time. They only appear true because we see or hear about them in a small time period where they represent the "most correct" version of reality as we know it, even if we know it's a total crock of shit, like the big bang.