Discovering God's Fingerprints                                                           Dr.Robert C. Newman

Hershey Ev Free Ch, 20 Sept 97                                                       BiblicalTheol Seminary

 

                                    WORKSHOPON ASTRONOMY IN THE BIBLE

 

INTRODUCTION

 

            Isreligion, like music or food, a matter of taste?

            Eachreligion claims to tell us how things really are.

            OnlyChristianity offers much evidenceto support its claims.

            Herewe compare Biblical statements in several areas of astronomy with those ofvarious ancient writers and with modern science.

 

THE UNIVERSE HAD A BEGINNING

 

            Bible:

                        Genesis1; Ps 19:1-4; Rom 1:18-20; Col 1:15-16; Heb 11:3

            OtherAncient Sources:

                        Nearlyall see the universe with a beginning (except some Greek philosophers).

                        Butnearly all see matter as having always existed.

            ModernScience:

                        Thehistory of cosmology in the past century has been a struggle to avoid themounting evidence that the universe had a beginning.

            Howdid the Bible get it right, and why do so many scientists want to avoid thisconclusion?

 

THE UNIVERSE IS DESIGNED

 

            Bible:

                        Genesis1-2; Job 38; Proverbs 8; Jer 10:12

            AncientSources:

                        Somehave personal beings involved in some aspects of creation, but for otherscreation seems to be just there.

                        Someof the Greek philosophers saw a Designer behind nature; others thought ourCosmos was an accidental product of Chaos.

            ModernScience;

                        Thephenomena related to the recent discussions of the "anthropicprinciple" point strongly to a Designer behind nature.

            Thenatural reading of the data is that there is a Designer responsible for the"fine tuning" in nature.

 

THE UNIVERSE IS RUNNING DOWN

 

            Bible:

                        Psa102:25-27; Hebrew 1; poss 2 Pet 3:10-13

            AncientSources:

                        Variousviews:  universe degrading(mythical ages of mankind), recycling (Hindu), eternal (Aristotle)

            ModernScience:

                        Entropy,etc., point to running down universe.

                        Disagreementon whether it will end with a bang or a whimper.

 

THE SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE

 

            Bible:

                        Ps8:3‑4: amazing to Psalmist that God cares about man

                        Jer31:37: heavens immeasurable

            Koran:

                        Sura2: earth a bed, sky a dome

                        Sura22: holds sky from falling down

                        Sura34: let a part fall

            Anaximander,About Nature:

                        sunmost distant object, about 28x size of earth away

                        souniverse about 28x size of earth

            ModernScience:

                        objectsapparently 10 billion light years away

                                    (1light year = 6 trillion miles)

                        noend in sight

 

THE NUMBER OF STARS

 

            Bible:

                        Gen15:5: large number

                        Jer33:22, Gen 22:17: uncountable, like sand

            Hipparchus,Ptolemy:

                        ancientcatalogues, about 1000 stars

                                    (onlyabout 6000 visible without telescope)

            Democritus:

                        speculatedthere are an infinite number of worlds

            ModernScience:

                        100sof billions of stars in each of billions of galaxies

                        SirJames Jeans, The Stars in Their Courses, 137:

                                    no.of stars like no. of grains of sand in all oceans of earth

 

THE EARTH'S SUPPORT

 

            Bible:

                        Job26:7: earth hangs on nothing

            HinduVedas:

                        earthflat & triangular

                        7stages: honey, sugar, butter, wine, etc.

                        supportedby elephants

            Greekmythology:

                        Atlasholds the earth up

            Greekphilosophers: earth supported by

                        water(Thales)

                        air(Anaxagoras)

                        nothing(Anaximander, contra Aristotle)

            ModernScience:

                        supportis by non‑material, invisible forces

                        abalance of gravity and inertia

 

THE EARTH'S SHAPE

 

            Bible:

                        Job26:10: boundary between light and darkness on earth's surface is a circle

                        Luke17:34‑36: different times of day in different places

            Greekphilosophers:

                        flat(Hecataios)

                        pillar‑shaped(Anaximander)

                        round(Pythagoras)

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

            Haveto postulate very lucky guesses to avoid Biblical evidence

 

            Didthe Jews have some innate ability to pre-know science? 

            Hardly!  Consider ancient Jewish attempts towrite Scripture:

                        1Enoch 72:3‑7: sun's chariot, gates, winds

                        3Baruch 3:6‑8: bore thru heaven's dome

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 

Barfield,Kenny.  Why the Bible is Number1:  The World's Sacred Writings inthe Light of Science.  Grand Rapids, MI:  Baker, 1988.  This is the most detailed book I have seen on this subject.  Consists of three parts:  (1) The Body Inside:  Sacred Revelations and Medicine; (2)The Sky Above:  Sacred Revelationsand Astronomy; (3) The Earth Beneath: Sacred Revelations and Earth Science.  Each part has a parallel scheme of treatment:  1st chapter sketches ancient"secular science"; 2nd chapter gives extra-biblical religious views;3rd and following chapters give biblical materials.  Total of 25 chapters.

 

Bossard,David C.  "Sharp Points:  God's Conspiracy to Evangelize theInquiring Mind."  IBRIResearch Report 46 (1997).  A survey of some of the "goad hardto kick against" placed by God in the way of "progress" toremind a doggedly secular world of his presence, his active interest in hisCreation, and the truth of biblical claims about humanity and the Creationorder.

 

Campbell,William.  The Qur'an and theBible in the Light of History and Science.  Middle EastResources, 1992.  Best book to datecomparting the relative merits of the Qur'an and the Bible to be revelationfrom God.  A response to MauriceBucaille's book in favor of the Qur'an.

 


Heeren,Fred.  Show Me God:  What the Message from Space Is TellingUs About God.  Wheeling, IL:  Searchlight Publications, 1995.  Evidence for God from cosmology.  Very readable; interviews with major researchers.

 

Morton,Jean S.  Science in the Bible. Chicago:  Moody Press,1980.  A large collection of shortpieces that are easy to understand.

 

Newman,Robert C.  "A CriticalExamination of Modern Cosmological Theories."  IBRI Research Report 15 (1982).  The basicscientific data relevant to the nature of the universe indicates that it iscreated.

 

Newman,Robert C. and Herman J. Eckelmann, Jr. Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1977; reprint Hatfield, PA:  IBRI, 1991.  Asuggested harmonization between the Genesis account and the best current modelfor the origin of the sun, earth and solar system.

 

Newman,Robert C. "Scientific Problems for Scientism."  Presbyterion 21 (1995): 73-88; reprinted as chapter 11 in EvangelicalApologetics ed. by MichaelBauman, David Hall and Robert Newman (Camp Hill, PA:  Christian Publications, 1996), 245-268.

 

Ross,Hugh.  The Fingerprint ofGod:  Recent Scientific DiscoveriesReveal the Unmistakable Identity of the Creator. 2nd ed. Orange, CA:  PromisePress, 1991.  The best availabletour of modern cosmology from an evangelical perspective.  Part three covers biblical cosmology.

 

Ross,Hugh.  The Creator and theCosmos:  How the GreatestScientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God. 2nd ed. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1995.  Evidencefor a Creator who carefully designed the Cosmos.

 

Ross,Hugh.  Beyond the Cosmos:  What Recent Discoveries in Astronomyand Physics Reveal About the Nature of God.  Colorado Springs,CO:  NavPress, 1996.  How recent evidences ofextra-dimensionality in the universe can help us understand a number oftheological puzzles about God's nature.

 

Waller,Lynn.  How Do We Know the Bibleis True?  Reasons a Kid Can BelieveIt.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991.  A nicetreatment of Christian evidences for kids (upper elementary and junior high, Iwould judge), with a chapter on science in the Bible.