Stardust

[FaithT]

I was in a really good mood Easter Sunday but then I came home to the program 60 minutes where they had a segment on the WEBB telescope. Among other things they said something you may have already heard before…that people, animals and everything is made in part out of stardust. Now, I know Catholicism allows for the belief in evolution and scientific discovery, but what about this in particular?
Does Catholicism allow Catholics to believe we came from star material?

 

[FaithT]

NASA's Webb telescope captures new views of stars, galaxies and the early universe

As NASA's Webb telescope scours the universe to find light from the first stars and galaxies, it is also capturing the universe like never before. Scott Pelley got an inside look at Webb's new discoveries.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[FaithT]

Anyone?

 

[Michie]

Anyone?

I found this:

The atoms in your body were created at the start of our universe during the Big Bang. So if you look at it this way, then you’re about 13.7 billion years old.

But your body also has heavier elements like copper and zinc. These atoms were created in the dying stage of an exploding star called a supernova.

These elements were flung into space as dust and gas (stardust). Eventually, they coalesced to become part of a new forming solar system and our planet Earth.

Because you are made from matter from the Earth, you are made of stardust from old supernovas. So turns out, you are bits and pieces of star and cosmic dust.

It seems to make sense as far as the dawn of creation.

 

[FaithT]

I found this:

The atoms in your body were created at the start of our universe during the Big Bang. So if you look at it this way, then you’re about 13.7 billion years old.

But your body also has heavier elements like copper and zinc. These atoms were created in the dying stage of an exploding star called a supernova.

These elements were flung into space as dust and gas (stardust). Eventually, they coalesced to become part of a new forming solar system and our planet Earth.

Because you are made from matter from the Earth, you are made of stardust from old supernovas. So turns out, you are bits and pieces of star and cosmic dust.

It seems to make sense as far as the dawn of creation.

Thanks!

 

[FaithT]

Hi @FaithT ,

Interesting question!

Frankly, I do not know if the Catholic Church has one mandatory accepted interpretation of the book of Genesis.
(I tend to think not???)

But if you believe in a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis, as I do, you will find that the Bible answers your question this way:

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
(Genesis 2:7)

If you look up the word "dust" in the Strong's Greek Hebrew Dictionary, the Hebrew root word for "dust" in this verse is "aphar" meaning
dust (as powdered or gray); hence clay, earth, mud.

Thanks for your reply….but how do you reconcile that with what astronomers say? That we‘re made of stardust or star-stuff? At first I thought that the earth is probably also made of stardust and if we were made from the earth, that would explain things, but wasnt man created before the stars, sun and moon?

 

[FaithT]

I posted something about stardust before, a year or two ago, elsewhere on this site, but tonight I was seeking a Catholic perspective.

 

[mourningdove~]

Thanks for your reply….but how do you reconcile that with what astronomers say? That we‘re made of stardust or star-stuff? At first I thought that the earth is probably also made of stardust and if we were made from the earth, that would explain things, but wasnt man created before the stars, sun and moon?

Please accept my apologies, Faith. I am not a registered Catholic member of this forum, and so I should not have responded to your question.

If you will go back up into the thread, you will see that I deleted my post ... but I guess you got to quote and respond to it before I got it deleted.

With regards to your question, I personally wouldn't bother taking the time to reconcile the Bible with what astronomers say because I've never had questions about what man is 'made from'. The Bible says man was made from the dust of the ground ... and that's been a good enough answer for me. But if I were to try and reconcile it? What the Bible says would win with me every time!


Again, my apologies.
( ... and now I need to pull out of this thread, cuz you were seeking a Catholic response. )

 

[Bob Crowley]

One of the things that intrigues me about planet earth is how many different elements we have on earth, when the universe as a whole is almost entirely hydrogen and helium.

how many different elements are there on earth? - Google Search

The elements vary widely in abundance. In the universe as a whole, the most common element is hydrogen (about 90% of atoms), followed by helium (most of the remaining 10%). All other elements are present in relatively minuscule amounts, as far as we can detect.

On the planet Earth, however, the situation is rather different. Oxygen makes up 46.1% of the mass of Earth’s crust (the relatively thin layer of rock forming Earth’s surface), mostly in combination with other elements, while silicon makes up 28.5%. Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, makes up only 0.14% of Earth’s crust. Table 2.1 "Elemental Composition of Earth" lists the relative abundances of elements on Earth as a whole and in Earth’s crust. Table 2.2 "Elemental Composition of a Human Body" lists the relative abundances of elements in the human body. If you compare Table 2.1 "Elemental Composition of Earth" and Table 2.2 "Elemental Composition of a Human Body", you will find disparities between the percentage of each element in the human body and on Earth. Oxygen has the highest percentage in both cases, but carbon, the element with the second highest percentage in the body, is relatively rare on Earth and does not even appear as a separate entry in Table 2.1 "Elemental Composition of Earth"; carbon is part of the 0.174% representing “other” elements. How does the human body concentrate so many apparently rare elements?

There are about 90 naturally occurring elements on earth, out of 118 in the periodic table. Of the missing 28, 24 at least have been created by humans, for example in nuclear reactors, nuclear explosions or particle accelerators.

Then of course there is the coincidental mass of fossil fuels which just happened to be around to give industrial man a leg-up; a moon which is just at the right distance to give a perfect solar eclipse, and provides a handy first stage for our stellar explorers.

We have an oxygen-nitrogen mantle which we need to live, a magnetic field which protects us from the sun, a planetary tilt which means we have relatively equitable seasons all over the earth, oceans which transport and control the heat in a helpful manner, and a whole bunch of othere things which are not present in the universe as a whole.

But if we dare to say that the whole thing was planned, we'll be accused of being anti-science. What a bunch of hypocrites!

 

[mourningdove~]

But if we dare to say that the whole thing was planned, we'll be accused of being anti-science. What a bunch of hypocrites!

One does not need to be Catholic, to know that Catholics as a group are not a bunch of "science deniers".

I really enjoy watching 'Fr. Spitzer's Universe' on EWTN.
Fr. Robert Spitzer appears to be a brilliant man, has written many very good books.
(His book on suffering - The Light Shines in the Darkness - is tremendous.)

While my interests don't generally lean towards the sciences, it does seem that Fr. Spitzer has also done quite abit of work on the subject of 'science, reason, and faith' over at the Magis Center.

Magis Center | Science, Reason, and Faith

Discover the intersection of science, reason and faith. Learn from Fr. Robert Spitzer on happiness, suffering, and evidence of God from science and reason.

www.magiscenter.com

 

[FaithT]

Please accept my apologies, Faith. I am not a registered Catholic member of this forum, and so I should not have responded to your question.

If you will go back up into the thread, you will see that I deleted my post ... but I guess you got to quote and respond to it before I got it deleted.

With regards to your question, I personally wouldn't bother taking the time to reconcile the Bible with what astronomers say because I've never had questions about what man is 'made from'. The Bible says man was made from the dust of the ground ... and that's been a good enough answer for me. But if I were to try and reconcile it? What the Bible says would win with me every time!


Again, my apologies.
( ... and now I need to pull out of this thread, cuz you were seeking a Catholic response. )

No need to apologize. Post away!!!!! Even though you’re not Catholic, I appreciated your response. I was raised Catholic, left the Church, returned, left again, became Lutheran LCMS and still occasionally go visit the RCC.I guess I’m having a hard time deciding because I like things and dislike things about both churches So now I just identify as Christian on this forum, but Lutheran off this forum and on a different one.

 

[tz620q]

Thanks for your reply….but how do you reconcile that with what astronomers say? That we‘re made of stardust or star-stuff? At first I thought that the earth is probably also made of stardust and if we were made from the earth, that would explain things, but wasnt man created before the stars, sun and moon?

The astronomer might tell you the what and the how; but they do not answer the why? How does elements blown out in a supernova coalesce and form an intelligent being with a soul, without God? God says that before he formed us in the womb he conceived of our existence. The eternity of the universe seems long to us; but is not to a timeless God.

 

[FaithT]

The astronomer might tell you the what and the how; but they do not answer the why? How does elements blown out in a supernova coalesce and form an intelligent being with a soul, without God? God says that before he formed us in the womb he conceived of our existence. The eternity of the universe seems long to us; but is not to a timeless God.

Thanks for your reply.