How do most Christian deal with objects millions or billions of light years away from Earth?

[Richard.20.12]

Now one could say that God has the ability to create light on its way to Earth and it is possible. Its unlikely but it is possible and would account for a young Earth. But we all know God is rather straight forward and doesn't trick us by bending the rules of physics and nature to do something He could have designed from the start. So that is unlikely.

Another option is the Earth is young but the universe is old.

Another option is Genesis describes not Creation from the start of the universe, rather rejuvenation of this world. But when you read Genesis 2 it sure doesn't sound like that:

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth,and there was not a man to till the ground.

That sounds like a brand new Earth. But I'm not reading it in the original language of course.

So what do you think? Are we really looking at the Andromeda Galaxy as it was 2.5 million years ago? And that's the closest galaxy. And I'm pretty sure there is no debate on the accuracy of these distances since they can be checked and checked by the finest mathematics minds in the world.

 

[timothyu]

Wonder how many light years before Jesus' birth the Christmas Star flared? Well synchronised.

 

[jacks]

These distances boggle my mind. (Not to quibble but there are closer galaxies. The nearest being a mere 25,000 light years away. ) I have a hard time imagining something that is so far away it would take 25 thousand years to get there, if you were traveling at the speed of light. If the universe is really as vast as we think it is, then I think our whole ideas of space and time are inadequate to explain it. I know this doesn't answer your question; my only answer is a firm "I don't know".

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

Have you considered the fact that God created light on the first day and stars on the fourth day? It doesn't seem unlikely to me that God created the light on its way to Earth.
This is also supported by the fact that God explicitely created the stars for calculating the time (Genesis 1:14). If the light even of the closer stars took years and decades to reach the Earth and the sky was completely black until then that makes little sense to me.

 

[timothyu]

Have you considered the fact that God created light on the first day and stars on the fourth day?

The sun and moon on the 4th day. The light on the first day was a different light as in later spoken of as the light of the world, I am the light, etc.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

The sun and moon on the 4th day. The light on the first day was a different light as in later spoken of as the light of the world, I am the light, etc.

Are you implying that Jesus was created?

 

[HTacianas]

Now one could say that God has the ability to create light on its way to Earth and it is possible. Its unlikely but it is possible and would account for a young Earth. But we all know God is rather straight forward and doesn't trick us by bending the rules of physics and nature to do something He could have designed from the start. So that is unlikely.

Another option is the Earth is young but the universe is old.

Another option is Genesis describes not Creation from the start of the universe, rather rejuvenation of this world. But when you read Genesis 2 it sure doesn't sound like that:

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth,and there was not a man to till the ground.

That sounds like a brand new Earth. But I'm not reading it in the original language of course.

So what do you think? Are we really looking at the Andromeda Galaxy as it was 2.5 million years ago? And that's the closest galaxy. And I'm pretty sure there is no debate on the accuracy of these distances since they can be checked and checked by the finest mathematics minds in the world.

Most Christians simply accept the scientific consensus.

 

[timothyu]

Are you implying that Jesus was created?

No, the light of the first day was God.

 

[timothyu]

Most Christians simply accept the scientific consensus.

Most shouldn't care one way or the other. This world is our prison and we should be looking to another Kingdom instead of getting so hung up on this one.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

No, the light of the first day was God.

Sorry, I fail to see how that would make any sense. It says that God separated the light from the dark and called the light "day" and the dark "night". That sounds like literal light to me.

 

[timothyu]

That sounds like literal light to me.

Yet day four was creation of sun and moon. Go figure.

No idea how many light years before the birth of Jesus the Cmas star flared? Shows how far behind the times we really are when it comes to God's actions. His Kingdom came and His will in earth probably occurred thousands and thousands of years ago but hasn't got here yet.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

Yet day four was creation of sun and moon. Go figure.

No idea how many light years before the birth of Jesus the Cmas star flared? Shows how far behind the times we really are when it comes to God's actions. His Kingdom came and His will in earth probably occurred thousands and thousands of years ago but hasn't got here yet.

 

[Sophrosyne]

I think one could consider "how old is God" in this thinking. If one was to say God the Father one can conclude he is ageless or rather his age is beyond defining by our universe because he existed prior to it existing. If one considers Jesus age..... well that is another problem because Christians (most of us) believe Jesus is God and man and the man part lived to be about 33 but the God part was an equal part of the trinity and therefor also ageless. How can something have an age and be ageless?
With that thinking would it be also easy to create stars and have the light from them appearing to be old? If one considers the Big bang as the method of creating the universe then not knowing how fast the universe expanded at the start from a singular point in time and matter the light from the stars expanding out of it could exist and possibly be expanding at the speed of light. It is possible that light itself spread out from the big bang and slowed down somehow to become stars and planets and so on and thus the light from these created stars would actually in a sense be part of the stars. If this idea of creation has things coming out at the speed of light and slowing down to normal time we could possibly think that a lot less time occurred if it were all matter that stayed light till the light itself arrived here took less time than though. One could even consider that Jesus was seen to have warped around visiting many people in the days after his resurrection if one considers this as a miracle then warping other matter items such as stars and planets by the same effort could arrange things to appear where by the laws of the universe... shouldn't be.

 

[timothyu]

How can something have an age and be ageless?

Consider that old '57 Buick. It lasted about ten years yet it was made up of ageless matter and remains so. But that is inhouse matter, not matter within and outside time.

 

[Sophrosyne]

Consider that old '57 Buick. It lasted about ten years yet it was made up of ageless matter and remains so. But that is inhouse matter, not matter within and outside time.

One could also consider how solid matter is but when we get down to looking at it at atomic levels it is mostly empty space.

 

[timothyu]

One could also consider how solid matter is but when we get down to looking at it at atomic levels it is mostly empty space

As is our universe. We could be God's toenail.

 

[Sophrosyne]

As is our universe. We could be God's toenail.

or his heart

 

[timothyu]

or his heart

Well, if that's the case, we gave Him heartburn.

 

[Petros2015]

I try to keep my distance.

 

[Sophrosyne]

Well, if that's the case, we gave Him heartburn.

or Atherosclerosis