Beginning of time - Part 1 Continued

It is very important as we discuss the beginning of time that we do not err in relegating the word (Jesus) as a created being.  The word was not only present in the beginning but the word was also with God and he was also God.  The word, begotten of the father, was the very image of and essence of God and the member of the triune God that bridged the gap from eternity into our realm at the moment of creation.  The word, translated from the original text (Logos) means a spoken or uttered command or decree.  Just like the decree or command of an earthly king in ancient times carried the authority of the king so God the Father bestowed his authority through his word.  It is amazing to see that the very penalty for sin had to be paid by the very one that created it all.  The bible goes on to say in Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill".   

Beginning of time - Part 1

Returning back to an idea presented in an earlier blog, I see a parallel in how science proposes how time began from a scientific point of view and what the bible states about the beginning.

A conclusion drawn by the author states:  "My new analysis of the relationship between the electron's power requirements and the ARENA OF SPACE, and all the latest HiTech findings allows me to:

Put all the evidence together in one logical analysis and the conclusion must be a Big Bang Thermonuclear Conversion of Energy found in the pre-existing huge energy-filled arena of space.
And this puts the very slow moving Earth virtually right in the Center of our 27.4 billion year old Universe.

Again, Science finds the Tools; Philosophy seeks the Craftsman".

By Charles J. Sven

Discoverer of the Center of the Universe
Author: The 21st Century's All New Cosmology
@ http://www.allnewuniverse.com/

It appears that the arena of space was filled with energy (The Spirit of God) before time began and at some point which science calls it the point of singularity, energy was converted into matter by a thermonuclear conversion which science calls it the Big Bang.  I believe that at that point when time began, the Eternal God, spoke the Word into the Spirit realm and as He begets the Son, He then becomes the Everlasting Father and creator.  Coincidentally the bible says that "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. " - John 1:3.    The word beginning implies the point in time or space at which something starts.  The Son of God is the very essence of God the Father but He is the one that represents the Godhead in our realm or reality (His very image).  Time and space began with the Word (Jesus) and it is amazing enough to see that even recent recorded history is referenced by BC or AD again making reference to Christ.
More to come....
.

Is the Universe infinite? Is space infinite?

Many scientists had originally thought that the universe might be infinite and eternal. However, there was a major problem with the theory. If the universe were infinite, the amount of light falling on the earth would also be infinite (assuming an approximately uniform density of galaxies throughout the universe. The reason for this is that the volume of the universe increases 8-fold with doubling of distance, while the decrease of light is only 4-fold with the doubling of the distance. The result is that the amount of light falling in the earth would double every time the size of the universe is doubled. Therefore, if the universe were infinite, we would not expect the sky to be dark at night. Since the night sky is dark, we know that the universe could not be infinite (Rich Deem - http://www.godandscience.org/slideshow/sld001.html.)

So if the universe is finite and there is evidence of darkness beyond the farthest known galaxy (approximately 13.7 billion light years away - edge of the universe) then at least for now, we can hypothesize that space continues and appears to be infinite.

This indicates a point of origin (science calls it singularity, more on this later) where the Creator decided to create time and matter and set the universe in motion into empty space.  In other words, this is the dimension we humans live in.  (I would like to add that I believe that the Eternal God at this point became also the Everlasting Father, more on this later.)  If the universe was infinite and the observation of the amount of light falling on the earth is correct, it would not be possible for us to distinguish the celestial lights and bodies and therefore would have no reference point of time and space. 
Coincidentally, God states a purpose for this phenomenon in Genesis 1:14 - God said "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as signs to mark seasons, and days and years....

Faith and Reason

It has been a while.  Life sometimes is very demanding and time is a precious comodity. 
As the Bible states:  Time must be redeemed which makes it a form of currency and Faith must be tested as gold which makes it precious.  I will try to be more diligent with my time and my faith and make good purchases with them.

The believer does not need science to prove the existance of God, we just come to Him by faith. Although I am convinced more and more each day that the laws that God has placed in this universe, if we are honest enough to search, and diligent enough to discover eventually point back to the Creator of it all.

This quote expresses that thought very eloquently:
For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. (Robert Jastrow)

Our God Reigns

1)  I came across this high quality youtube video and song which coincidentally express what I feel inside.

God You Reign by Lincoln Brewster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-zZ9oxuUw

Thanks to:
Awesome video by youtube user diamy00, lyrics added by youtube user dinakar407,
Song by Lincoln Brewster.

And another beautiful expression by Delirious:

2) Our God Reigns - Delirious
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G7AKpKayac

Big-Bang (Thermonuclear conversion) - How old is our Universe? Does it conflict with the Genesis account?

This is an excerpt from the book "The 21st century's all new cosmology." In this book the author hypothesizes the idea that space, filled with energy before the Big-Bang, at some point converged to a single point exploding outwardly and stretching out our universe.  Coincidentally, some of the author's thoughts are in direct contrast to previous widely held beliefs.  The question that can be raised then is: Where did this energy come from, what caused it to converge at one point in time ions ago and why is it that the universe appears to still be expanding today? 

Thoughts on the CMB (cosmic microwave background) temperature uniformity that cosmologists ponder with disbelief over:



1. To deny the ability for the CMB's ions to lose motion uniformly in different locations of space is for scientists to deny the replication of experimental outcomes.

2. If a thousand scientists performed the same experiment using identical equipment, they should get identical results. The same with nature. A field of growing wheat produces identical results when all elements are alike. Same with the CMB's identical temperature in every direction.

[Note: an explosion IN SPACE is by far the simplest explanation that can explain this equality and Earth's central location vis-à-vis the CMB and quasar graphs.]


3. So, the Big Bang's Thermonuclear Conversion of Energy found in the Arena of Space shoots out the equivalent of a cannon's smoke ring when fired. Except that instead of a smoke ring it is a spherical smoke ring of outrushing matter, going out at 95-99% of the speed of light, now some 13.7 billion light years away in EVERY direction. With equal distance we have equal temperature. We have equal distance because Earth is moving so slow, relative to all celestial objects.
[Consequently, we Earthlings are in a very unique location - right next to the epicenter of the Big Bang explosion - the Center of our Universe.]

Timing = Age of the Universe:


Time for the spherical smoke ring to reach this viewed location requires a minimum of 13.7 billion years and another 13.7 for the radiation to return to us the very slow moving Earth. That equals a round trip of 27.4 billion years minimum - the minimum age of our Universe.
Earth's view of the CMB's radiation is like seeing a family photo of a 13.7 year old child that took 13.7 years to deliver to us Earthlings a 27.4 year old recipient.


[Plenty of time now for structures to form. The youngest object in the Universe that we see, cannot be younger than the 13.7 billion year old CMB, thereby giving the force of gravity billions of years of unhurried construction to form galaxies.]

Conclusion:


My new analysis of the relationship between the electron's power requirements and the ARENA OF SPACE, and all the latest HiTech findings allows me to:
Put all the above evidence together in one logical analysis and the conclusion must be a Big Bang Thermonuclear Conversion of Energy found in the pre-existing huge energy-filled arena of space.
And this puts the very slow moving Earth virtually right in the Center of our 27.4 billion year old Universe.

All evidence presented is documented by the likes of NASA or equivalent source.

Again, Science finds the Tools; Philosophy seeks the Craftsman.


By Charles J. Sven
Discoverer of the Center of the Universe
Author: The 21st Century's All New Cosmology
@ http://www.allnewuniverse.com/

______________________________________________________________________________
Science is obviously bringing us new discoveries everyday and what continues to amaze me is that each new discovery somehow further supports what the bible claimed all along.  For the skeptics, agnostics and atheists out there, just because we may not necessarily have all the pieces of the puzzle together, we should not rush to dismiss what the bible has said.  In time, what some of us have already come to accept by faith, God may choose to reveal openly by scientific findings.  Whatever means God might have chosen to create the universe and however long it might have taken, in my opinion, is not at all in conflict with the word of God.  To this end, I would like to quote a simple scripture that takes us back to the beginning of time.  Having said that, we must keep in mind that God created the universe, the earth, everything in it and on it for mankind.  The main focus of His creation has always been "man."

Genesis 1: 1-2
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(What happened between these two verses and how much time lapsed before God worked on the formless and empty earth?  The Bible does not say.)
2 Now the earth was a formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Why are we here? Does life have a purpose?

Sometimes a simple expression in the language of music and pictures is sufficient
to release a conviction that would otherwise remain locked within ourselves.
U2 releases their message in a song with imagery all of their own and based on
their own experience.  The video is an interpretation by "daveg656" (a youtube member)
that adds further images to an already awesome song.

The message is evident and so, I decided to share it with my friends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI7SD_WXd7g

Our universe - Naturalistic cause or supernatural intelligent design?

Atheists believe that all cause and effect in the universe has a naturalistic origin. Observational data lead us to the conclusion that the universe first began to exist approx. 13.7 billion years ago. Since all things that begin to exist must have a cause, this means that the universe has a cause. However, a naturalistic cause for the origin of the universe cannot be confirmed observationally. Therefore, atheists believe the tenet that all phenomena have a naturalistic cause based solely upon faith in naturalism.


The nature of the universe reveals that a purely naturalistic (nature is all there is and all basic truths are found in nature) cause for the universe is extremely unlikely and, therefore, illogical. One cannot say that a miraculous naturalistic event is a scientific explanation. Miracles are only possible when an immensely powerful Being intervenes to cause them. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and that He created the universe. When a model doesn't work, scientists must be willing to give up their model for a model that fits the facts better. In this case, the supernatural design model fits the available data much better than the naturalistic random chance model (Rich Deem).

The following are quotes from some prominent scientists in their field about the level of fine tuning that could not have happened by random chance:

George Ellis (British astrophysicist): "Amazing fine tuning occurs in the laws that make this [complexity] possible. Realization of the complexity of what is accomplished makes it very difficult not to use the word 'miraculous' without taking a stand as to the ontological status of the word." (1)


Paul Davies (British astrophysicist): "There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all....It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe....The impression of design is overwhelming". (2)

Paul Davies: "The laws [of physics] ... seem to be the product of exceedingly ingenious design... The universe must have a purpose". (3)

Alan Sandage (winner of the Crawford prize in astronomy): "I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing." (4)



Scientific evidence has also shown that scientific laws have been so finely tuned to such an extent not possible by pure human engineering.

Skeptics like to say that fine tuning cannot be proven by science, since we have only one universe to study. However, the discovery and quantification of dark energy has puzzled a number of scientists, who realize that its extremely small value requires that the initial conditions of the universe must have been extremely fine tuned in order that even matter would exist in our universe. By chance, our universe would have been expected to consist of merely some thermal radiation (Rich Deem). http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/cosmoconstant.html 

References:

1.  Ellis, G.F.R. 1993. The Anthropic Principle: Laws and Environments. The Anthropic Principle, F. Bertola and U.Curi, ed. New York, Cambridge University Press, p. 30.


2.  Davies, P. 1988. The Cosmic Blueprint: New Discoveries in Nature's Creative Ability To Order the Universe. New York: Simon and Schuster, p.203.

3.  Davies, P. 1984. Superforce: The Search for a Grand Unified Theory of Nature. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984), p. 243.

4.  Willford, J.N. March 12, 1991. Sizing up the Cosmos: An Astronomers Quest. New York Times, p. B9.

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In my own opinion and based on the overwhelming evidence, it would actually require more faith to believe that our universe and everything in it happened by random chance than to believe that it is all a creation of a master designer.

God's face reflecting in his creation

A beautiful song and video about God's beauty reflected in his creation:

"You're Beautiful" - Phil Wickham
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGlTzH9xkXQ

I see Your face in every sunrise

The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say

You're beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It's all proclaiming who You are

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

...............

Entropy - Reconciling how order was produced from disorder

It is evident by our current understanding of the universe that the Universe exhibits some sort of order.  For us to begin to grasp the idea of this order, we must first make reference to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, a fundamental universal law of physics which is also referred to or associated with the Law of Entropy.

This law states that, without external intervention organized systems will become unstable and less organized as time advances. It also states that nature tends to go from order to disorder in isolated systems.
As time advances, and if you could take a snapshot of the isolated system at different times, one may be able to observe the two snapshots and determine by their respective level of entropy which photo came first.
In essence, entropy refers to the level of disorder in a system.

Sir Isaac Newton saw in the order of the universe a magnificent evidence of divine creation. Einstein observed this order and called it a miracle.  German physicist Max Plank stated "A certain order prevails in our universe. This order can be formulated in terms of purposeful activity", thus interpreting this as an intelligent order or design in the observed universe.

A simplistic approach  to understanding the Law of Entropy as it is viewed in a time line could be the analogy of the fact that you may make an omelet from eggs but you cannot turn an omelet back into eggs.  So the question goes something like this:  How can all the raw material exist together just before the Big Bang and subsequent to the Big Bang, all of this material moves from homogeneous disorder toward order in the formation of stars, constellations, galaxies, planets, orbits etc.

Ultimately, this is what the bible tells us:

Isaiah 45:18 - For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. "I am the LORD," he says, "and there is no other.


  

Does science truly negate the hand of God in the origins of our Universe? (Part 2)

It is my belief that science in and of itself may never prove or disprove the very existance of God.
If anything evident could prove the existance of God than arriving at this very conclusion would only be reserved for the elite or extreme intellectuals.  Subsequently, only those individuals able of making distinctive observations and capable of decifering specific conclusions would be able to deduce that what was observed might be the product of an intelligent design. 

Having said that, this does not mean that one who has come to the knowledge of God should categorically dismiss what science has discovered.  As a matter of fact, when discoveries are made, hypothesis tested, theories developed or scientific laws discovered we may eventually arrive at some conclusions that may in many cases even confirm what the bible may have been stating all along.  As new discoveries are made and new research tools invented, sometimes certain theories or beliefs are even replaced by newer and more accurate ones.

Here is what some of these terms mean to a scientist:


Scientific Law: This is a statement of fact meant to describe, in concise terms, an action or set of actions. It is generally accepted to be true and universal, and can sometimes be expressed in terms of a single mathematical equation. Scientific laws are similar to mathematical postulates. They don’t really need any complex external proofs; they are accepted at face value based upon the fact that they have always been observed to be true.
Specifically, scientific laws must be simple, true, universal, and absolute. They represent the cornerstone of scientific discovery, because if a law ever did not apply, then all science based upon that law would collapse.
Some scientific laws, or laws of nature, include the law of gravity, Newton's laws of motion, the laws of thermodynamics, Boyle's law of gases, the law of conservation of mass and energy, and Hook’s law of elasticity.

Hypothesis: This is an educated guess based upon observation. It is a rational explanation of a single event or phenomenon based upon what is observed, but which has not been proved. Most hypotheses can be supported or refuted by experimentation or continued observation.

Theory: A theory is more like a scientific law than a hypothesis. A theory is an explanation of a set of related observations or events based upon proven hypotheses and verified multiple times by detached groups of researchers. One scientist cannot create a theory; he can only create a hypothesis.

In general, both a scientific theory and a scientific law are accepted to be true by the scientific community as a whole. Both are used to make predictions of events. Both are used to advance technology. (http://wilstar.com/theories.htm)


So....in contrast, what does the bible say about faith?

Hebrews 11:1 -
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not yet seen.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is (exists), and that he is a rewarder to them that diligently seek him.

Does science truly negate the hand of God in the origins of our Universe?

This is another excerpt from the book "the 21st century's all new cosmology" by Charles J. Sven.  The author sums up its conclusion this way:

"My new analysis of the relationship between the electron's power requirements and the ARENA OF SPACE, and all the latest HiTech findings allows me to:

Put all the above evidence together in one logical analysis and the conclusion must be a Big Bang Thermonuclear Conversion of Energy found in the pre-existing huge energy-filled arena of space.
And this puts the very slow moving Earth virtually right in the Center of our 27.4 billion year old Universe.
All evidence presented is documented by the likes of NASA or equivalent source.

Science finds the Tools; Philosophy seeks the Craftsman."

Some key points to observe:

1.  The universe itself or better the objects (Stars, Galaxies etc.) composing the universe appear to be expanding at various rates away from the center of the universe but space appears to be flat as far as our modern tools allow us to observe.
2.  The same energy that filled the empty space before the point of origin of our universe appears to still be operational today.  It is the very same energy that fuels everything in the Universe.  Scientifically speaking, it appears that this massive energy appeared before matter was formed.
One can just reflect on where did that energy originate from?
3.  Relatively speaking, the earth appears to be slowest moving object away from the center of the Universe implying a unique position in the universe and also implying that it must have been one of the last to form out of the original explosion.  This is a very interesting and sobering thought about the uniqueness of mankind on this unique sphere.

I do like the author's statement:
"Science finds the Tools; Philosophy seeks the Craftsman"

Here is what the bible says about the Craftsman:
Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Isaiah 42:5 - God, the LORD, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it.

Hebrews 11:3 - By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Starry Night - God's Handywork

A beautiful song and equally awesome picture video by Chris August.  Enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKdQ6U6dsT4

Light

In Genesis Chapter 1, we read that God created the heavens and the earth.  If the verses in this passage are meant to be set in a chronological order or if they are just written in the culturally acceptable writing style of the era, it may not necessarily matter in the understanding of how light was created.  Just like an incandescent bulb is not a light in and of itself and does not glow until electricity is applied to the circuit, the circuit is completed and electrons proceed to flow through the filament, so similarly a question may be raised in regards to visible light.  Was something else created by God that allows stars to emanate their radiance which reaches earth in various forms, one of them being visible light?  The interesting aspect of visible light is that it travels at a constant 186,000 mile/second  (approximately).  Once the conditions for light are there (ie. the circuit is made and the light bulb lights up) then light emanates from the light producing object and instantaneously travels at that speed without degradation.  New scientific observations and discoveries may lead to new understanding about "light" and regarding this subject I recently came across some pretty interesting concepts in the book "the 21st century's all new cosmology" by Charles J. Sven http://www.allnewuniverse.com/.  Although I have only read excerpts of this book, the concepts supported by the author may indicate new views of the forces at work in the production of light (Read "Space and the Speed of light explained" in the link above).

What light does the bible refer to before the sun was created? (Genesis 1:3-4,14-19)

(I have been contemplating this question for quite some time and I recently came across this answer by
Dave Philp at http://bibleq.info/answer/2251/comment-page-1/#comment-570 )

"There are (at least) two ways to think about this question. The first is to look for a simple, scientific explanation: does science tell us about any lights that were created before the sun? The second is to look for a different interpretation of the passage: is it definitely the case that we should be looking for a scientific interpretation of Genesis 1, or does it have a different meaning? We should look for answers to both questions.

Is there a simple scientific answer? Physicists distinguish light itself from objects that create light (like the sun). Verse 3 may refer to the creation of the laws that govern light itself, to the light that filled the universe after the big bang, and to the countless millions of stars that fill the galaxies throughout the universe. In contrast, verse 14 describes the sun, which sheds light on the earth and is a clear sign for all people."______________

My thoughts: It is interesting to note that although I believe the earth and our galaxy as we know it may be approximately 6,000 years old, the fact that we are able to observe today distant stars that are billions of light years away implies that the image received on earth today was projected into space ions ago http://www.cosmotography.com/.  The fact that the universe is still expanding means that whatever God spoke when He said "let there be light" and whatever force He established then at the dawn of creation is still active today.  He has never retracted His word.

A problem we often experience is that many of us are at times stuck in a "either or" mindset and not necessarily in a possible dual perspective of our physical and/or spiritual realities. If my understanding of the word of God is correct, it is very possible that while God created the heavens and the earth (the universe) as we know it, the verses in Genesis might also refer to other layers of realities that are not relegated strictly to our physical universe.  The word “stars” in the bible sometimes refers to angelic being and sometimes to the luminaries in our universe. The “light of the world” can obviously be interpreted in two distinct ways. What holds matter together?  A force found only at the sub-protonic level but nowhere else in the universe and completely opposite of that of electro-magnetism while spiritually Christ is what holds us together (Acts 17:28 - For in Him we live, we move and we have our being.) And so on!

As we observe our temporal physical world in light of eternal spiritual truths and realities we can then begin to observe how these two realities appear to intersect each other at various levels with a signature that is consistently one of the same author.  When you contemplate scientific laws in light of spiritual laws the analogies are simply incredible. My pastor refers to this duality as us “being spiritual beings having an earthly experience.”


Back to the original question, where did light originate from?  Was it actually created by God, released by God, is it the resultant of his creation or is it a physical expression of a spiritual reality?

More on the subject later!