Stretching the Heavens

ALL4J3SUS · #1 24th December 2003, 05:27 AM

I posted these on the Science, Creation & Science forum, but people complained against them and it got deleted.

The Nature of Cosmic Reality:
Stretching the Heavens
by By Chuck Missler

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Do you understand the universe to be over 15 billion years old? Or that it was created in 6 days less than 10,000 years ago? If you believe the latter, was the light that appears to have traveled millions of light-years created in transit? Were aging factors "built-in"? Were the "days" of Genesis actually geologic ages?

The Nature of Time

The age of the universe hangs on the very nature of the dimension of time, which we are just beginning to understand. Einstein's Theory of General Relativity states that we exist in more than three dimensions; time itself is a physical property and actually varies with mass, acceleration, and gravity.1

There are atomic clocks installed at both the National Bureau of Standards at Boulder, Colorado, and at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England. Both are considered accurate to better than one-millionth of a second per year. However, the clock at Boulder ticks five microseconds faster per year than the one at Greenwich, England. Which one is correct? They both are! The one at Boulder is at an altitude of 5400 ft. above sea level. The one at Greenwich is only 80 ft. above sea level. The difference is caused by the fact that time is different due to the change in gravity. In 1971, J. C. Hafele and Richard Keating sent four cesium clocks around the world. The clocks on the eastward trip returned 59 nanoseconds behind the ones remaining at rest at the U.S. Naval Observatory. The clocks on the westward trip were 273 nanoseconds ahead. Accounting for the Earth's rotation and other gravitational effects, this was precisely what Einstein's formulas predicted.

Six Days?

Our problem with the "six days" of creation is not confined to Genesis Chapter 1. (Many have tried to manipulate the translation of yom to accommodate our understanding of modern astrophysical perspectives.) Our real problem is highlighted in Exodus 20:11:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Clearly, the Lord intends us to understand the Creation Week to be comprised of six days as we understand them. The Scripture is very explicit on its forthrightness:

All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. - Proverbs 8:8, 9

The word translated "plain" is nakoach, which means straightforward.

The Stretch Factor

Cosmologists readily acknowledge that the universe had a beginning: a "singularity" from which matter, energy, time, and space all had their beginning. The various mathematical models attempting to compile what we think we know about physical laws are assembled under the various Big Bang theories: "First there was nothing - and then it exploded."

It is the incredible expanse that leads to the difficulties in reconciling the astronomical distances with time as we know it here on the earth. Gerald Schroeder2 has suggested that the expansion factor is well known from a number of quantum physics considerations 3 as approximately 1012. Sixteen billion years (a commonly suggested age of the universe) is about 6,000,000,000,000 days: applying the 1012 expansion factor results in about 6 days! 4 It all depends on whose clock you're looking at! (There are increasing difficulties with the traditional "Big Bang" theories. Some of these will be explored in subsequent articles.)

The Laws of Thermodynamics

The 1st Law, the Law of Conservation of matter and energy, is alluded to in Scripture.5 It is the 2nd Law, the Law of Entropy, which is especially profound since it, among other things, establishes the direction of time. It also appears to pervade the Scriptures. 6 It is also evidence that the universe had a definite beginning. Heat always flows from hot bodies to cold bodies. If the universe was infinitely old, the temperature throughout the universe would be uniform. It isn't; therefore, it isn't infinitely old. It had a beginning. And it is destined for an ending.

It is interesting that the "evening and the morning" are said to bracket each day.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. - Genesis 1:5.

The term erev fundamentally depicts chaos or disorder. Since our ability to discern order tends to diminish as darkness approaches, this becomes a synonym for evening in present usage; boker depicts the emergence of order, and since our ability to discern the order of things increases at dawn, it has become synonymous with morning. It would seem that each day is characterized by a specific decrease in entropy. It is distinctive that there was no decrease in entropy on the seventh day; yet, it certainly must have had an "evening and a morning" in the sense that we think of it. There is also a distinctive construction in the designation of the days themselves. Yom echad, "Day One," is distinct as an absolute, standing on its own. It was here that time was created. The rest of the days are designated in relative designations: "Second day," "Third day," etc.

Stretching the Heavens

There are, of course, many other provocative issues. Is the vacuum of space really empty? What is the firmness of the "firmament"?

The term "stretching the heavens" appears at least 17 times in the Bible.7 According to the Scriptures, the heavens can be "torn,"8 "worn out" like a garment,9 "shaken,"10 "burnt up,"11 "split apart" like a scroll, 12 and "rolled up" like a mantle13 or a scroll.14 The concept of being "rolled up" carries some additional insights. There must be some dimension in which space is "thin." If space can be "bent," there must be a direction it can be bent toward . Thus, this tells us that there must be additional dimensions beyond those of space itself. And what about the velocity of light-is it really a constant as most physicists have been taught to presume? Or has it, too, been changing as a result of Genesis 3? (The properties of free space-an "absolute vacuum"-will be explored in next month's article, along with some startling discoveries which may alter our perceptions of this universe in which we live and move and have our being.)

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Notes:

1. No longer just a theory: It has been confirmed 12 different ways to a precision of 14 decimals.

2. Gerry is an internationally known nuclear physicist residing in Jerusalem and a good friend. He is also the author of Genesis and the Big Bang , Bantam Books, New York 1990.

3. The temperature of quark confinement when matter freezes out energy = 10.9 x 1012 Ko, divided by the temperature of the universe today, 2.l73 Ko, is but one example.

4. It is actually an exponential expansion: Day One, 8 billion years; Day Two, 4 billion years; Day Three, 2 billion years; Day Four, 1 billion years; Day Five, ½ billion years; Day Six, ¼ billion years, totaling 15 ¾ billion years.

5. Gen 2:2-3; Heb 4:3-4; Neh 9:6, et al.

6. Ps 103:25, 26; Isa 51:6; Mt 24:25; Rom 8:21.

7. 2 Sam 22:10; Job 9:8; 26:7; 37:18; Ps 18:9; 104:2; 144:5; Isa 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; 48:13; 51:13; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Eze 1:22; Zech 12:1.
8. Isa 64:1.

9. Ps 102:25.

10. Heb 12:26, Hag 2:6, Isa 13:13.

11. 2 Pet 3:12.

12. Rev 6:14.

13. Heb 1:12.

14. Isa 34:4.

Karl - Liberal Backslider · #2 24th December 2003, 05:49 AM

This looks rather familiar. How about engaging in debate instead of spamming?

And what makes you think it won't get deleted here? Take deletion as a hint. If moderators delete a thread as inappropriate, there are not too many steps to deleting your account.

MatthewDiscipleofGod · #3 24th December 2003, 09:28 AM

Karl, your insulting on this thread as well. People can share articles if they like here if they are on topic. You seem to be threatened by a 14 year old girl posting. If anyones posts should be deleted it's yoursbecause I take your posts as a form of harrassment. If you here to have dicussion lets discuss the articles and not complain about people posting articles that are on topic.

Karl - Liberal Backslider · #4 24th December 2003, 09:40 AM

Project86 - this particular poster spammed the other forum and had her posts deleted. Coming and doing the same here may be acceptable in your eyes, but it is not good manners.

If you find my posts harrassing then report them.

Moreover, she does not have the right to post entire articles in this manner because of this little thing called copyright law. It is CF who could be subject to legal action.

TheBear · #5 24th December 2003, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by ALL4J3SUS

I posted these on the Science, Creation & Science forum, but people complained against them and it got deleted.

Perhaps it got deleted because you merely cut and paste an article, dumped it in a forum, and left without discussing it.

These are discussion forums. And, even though there is nothing wrong with incorporating a related article into a discussion, these forums are not dumping grounds for articles. Also, this article has multiple discussion points, each of which should be discussed in a separate thread for each point. Lumping several discussion points in a single thread lends itself to confusion, and is difficult to discuss in a logical manner.

I will not delete this thread. I will merely close it so that you can refer to it and start other threads for any of the discussion points in the OP.