The purpose of the lights in the sky?

JohnClay

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Genesis 1:14-16

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
That is what Adam and Eve might have used the stars for. God doesn't talk about what stars could be used for in a more sophisticated society - such as being able to navigate enormous oceans. Many stars also have their own planets which humans might start colonizing one day...

BTW
How Many Stars Are There in the Sky?
There are only about 5,000 stars visible to the naked, average, human eye

Though there are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy alone...

Genesis 15:5
Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”​

It seems God is talking about the number of stars that people believe are there rather than the trillions of stars that are actually there....
 

JohnClay

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One of the big reasons for the Stars as far as Christianity goes.

Astrology? Yeah it seems the "wise men" who found Jesus were using astrology.... that also involves a primitive society.... I think ships navigating the seas using the stars is a more important reason.
 
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Quid est Veritas?

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Psalm 19. The Heavens declare the Glory of God.

In the old way of thinking, God would have the outermost Heavenly Sphere incline toward him, as all the others do by it, as the Prime Mover, and thus everything is set in motion as an attempt at the dance of the Trinity, the Perichoresis.

 
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JohnClay

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Psalm 19. The Heavens declare the Glory of God....
Humans would originally be impressed by the 5000 stars they can see....
How Many Stars Are There in the Sky?

Then why did God create around 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that's 1 billion trillion) stars in the observable universe....? (perhaps to amaze modern day people - though the Bible doesn't seem to be very aware of modern day technologies, etc)

Also:
Astronomers Want to Know about Habitable Planets
Extrapolating out to the rest of the galaxy, scientists estimate that the Milky Way could contain upwards of 50 billion planets, 500 million of which could be in their stars' habitable zones
Having lots of other habitable planets kind of makes Earth less special....

Your post is a bit like:
The Gospel Message—Written in the Stars?

Same with Pavel Mosko in post #2....
 
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Quid est Veritas?

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Humans would originally be impressed by the 5000 stars they can see....
How Many Stars Are There in the Sky?

Then why did God create around 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that's 1 billion trillion) stars in the observable universe....? (perhaps to amaze modern day people - though the Bible doesn't seem to be very aware of modern day technologies, etc)

Also:
Astronomers Want to Know about Habitable Planets
Extrapolating out to the rest of the galaxy, scientists estimate that the Milky Way could contain upwards of 50 billion planets, 500 million of which could be in their stars' habitable zones
Having lots of other habitable planets kind of makes Earth less special....

Your post is a bit like:
The Gospel Message—Written in the Stars?

Same with Pavel Mosko in post #2....
You are aware that the ancients did know that the earth was an insignificant mathematical point against the Stellatum? The Almagest makes this point, of great distance and the like. To ancient man we were not the important bits, but the Heavenly spheres were. We were the 'suburbs' in CS Lewis' phrase, and as such, reading that the Heavens exist for us is a very modern way of looking at things. Even then, the idea creates humility; and expresses the love of God, that He cares for such insignificant creatures as we are in such a cosmos. Why on earth should the Earth be so special then? Only from the Incarnation, and that because we Fell, not from something innately valuable to the Earth - and this is straight-up lifted from Milton. "Distance inexpressable in numbers that have name".

You try and make some juxtaposition between how many stars the Ancients saw versus Us, but it really means nothing. The Ancients thought the numbers conceptually high too, since after a point a large number means nothing more than another impossibly high number. Look, even the Bible says as many descendants as the stars of the sky or the sand of the shore to Abraham - they certainly aren't counting this as 5000. I really don't understand what you are trying to get at.
 
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JohnClay

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You are aware that the ancients did know that the earth was an insignificant mathematical point against the Stellatum? The Almagest makes this point, of great distance and the like.
I thought the Biblical belief was that the Earth was the center of the universe... after all it was created at the start and the Sun was only created on day 4. The church also believed this.

To ancient man we were not the important bits, but the Heavenly spheres were.
Are those "spheres" centered on the Earth though?

We were the 'suburbs' in CS Lewis' phrase, and as such, reading that the Heavens exist for us is a very modern way of looking at things.
Genesis 1 seems to say that the heavens existed for reasons relating the humans....

Even then, the idea creates humility; and expresses the love of God, that He cares for such insignificant creatures as we are in such a cosmos.
It seems to be saying that Abraham's descendents and the number of stars are both big numbers.

Why on earth should the Earth be so special then?
Well so far it appears to be the only planet with intelligent life.... or any life at all... also it seemed to exist before the Sun, Moon or stars....

Only from the Incarnation, and that because we Fell, not from something innately valuable to the Earth - and this is straight-up lifted from Milton. "Distance inexpressable in numbers that have name".
Modern astronomers have estimates (hard numbers) for the number of stars in the known universe. (though they used to belief that the universe is literally infinite).

You try and make some juxtaposition between how many stars the Ancients saw versus Us, but it really means nothing.
It shows the author of Genesis 1 had a very primitive point of view and shows it had no insight into the modern world (and God supposedly knows the future)

The Ancients thought the numbers conceptually high too, since after a point a large number means nothing more than another impossibly high number. Look, even the Bible says as many descendants as the stars of the sky or the sand of the shore to Abraham - they certainly aren't counting this as 5000. I really don't understand what you are trying to get at.
Well I'm talking about lots of different things but the main topic is about the purpose of the lights in the sky.... and Genesis 1 says they do have purposes... and I talked about other reasons that stars are useful to humans. And astrology is a purpose too.... like the "wise men" using it to find Jesus, etc.
 
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Humans would originally be impressed by the 5000 stars they can see....

Don't see why that would matter if at some point it would be known humans could peer into the depths of space. Do you believe in prophecy? Well, this could be something that was true in some sense for them at the time as well as true for us now to a greater degree. You could even say it is more true today then it was when it was said.
 
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Kylie

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Genesis 1:14-16

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
That is what Adam and Eve might have used the stars for. God doesn't talk about what stars could be used for in a more sophisticated society - such as being able to navigate enormous oceans. Many stars also have their own planets which humans might start colonizing one day...

BTW
How Many Stars Are There in the Sky?
There are only about 5,000 stars visible to the naked, average, human eye

Though there are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy alone...

Genesis 15:5
Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”​

It seems God is talking about the number of stars that people believe are there rather than the trillions of stars that are actually there....

To ask what the purpose is suggests that they were placed there by some intelligent entity that had a purpose in mind for them. This is an unsupported premise, and must be shown if this discussion is to be anything more than a hypothetical.
 
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JohnClay

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To ask what the purpose is suggests that they were placed there by some intelligent entity that had a purpose in mind for them. This is an unsupported premise, and must be shown if this discussion is to be anything more than a hypothetical.
I'm saying according to the Bible (or your beliefs about God), what is the purpose of the stars....
 
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Kylie

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I'm saying according to the Bible (or your beliefs about God), what is the purpose of the stars....

I'm an atheist, so my personal beliefs about God don't provide an answer. As for what the Bible says they are for, Genesis 1:14 answers it quite clearly.
 
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JohnClay

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I'm an atheist, so my personal beliefs about God don't provide an answer.
Sorry I was implying that this thread is addressed to Christians.
As for what the Bible says they are for, Genesis 1:14 answers it quite clearly.
Yeah I mentioned that in the opening post... but I don't think Genesis 1:14 is a complete answer... there is also astrology..... (e.g. the Wise men being led to Jesus by a star)
 
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Kylie

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Yeah I mentioned that in the opening post... but I don't think Genesis 1:14 is a complete answer... there is also astrology..... (e.g. the Wise men being led to Jesus by a star)

Wouldn't that come under the "signs" function?
 
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The plan of salvation is "written" in the stars; specifically the constellations.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
 
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Then why did God create around 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that's 1 billion trillion) stars in the observable universe....?
Some believe, as do I, that the stars are "heavenly homes" for the angels.

Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
 
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JohnClay

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Kylie

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The plan of salvation is "written" in the stars; specifically the constellations.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

How do you read "Plan for Salvation" into that?

Some believe, as do I, that the stars are "heavenly homes" for the angels.

Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

How do you read "Homes for Angels" into that?
 
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JohnClay

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The plan of salvation is "written" in the stars; specifically the constellations.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Hi I was wondering what you meant.... do you mean things like the Virgo stars being related to the Virgin birth, etc?
 
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