Places of God

Darwin made monkeys of us, for evidence points to a deliberate act of creation

2010-09-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

Commenting on recent evidence that Darwin's theories on competition drove the survival of species may be wrong, Jesuit scholar, Fr. Robert Spitzer, also argued that the new evidence is nore compatable with the biblical account of creation than classical evolution theories.

News channels have been awash with new evidence by a PHD research group from Bristol University, that the drive for living space – not competition, as Darwin believed – drove the survival of species.

Working with fossils, to study evolutionary patterns over 400 million years of history, they found that the biggest evolutionary changes happened when animals moved into empty, not crowded or competitive areas.

That is at odds with Darwin's widely held views about survival of the fittest. Indeed, a survival of the fittest model would have resulted in entropy or devolution to fewer, dominant species limited to a smaller, more favorable habitat – consistent with the laws of thermodynamics.

I have often wondered how the same architect could design a very ugly, brutal lizard species and later design the diverse and pleasant to the eye species we now have on earth. It seems contradictory, but not so if one follows the new patterns of thinking.

Lizards are leather-skinned, still able in this age to withstand extremely hostile environments: scorching deserts and remote islands. They do not cope with very cold conditions. In the ages of lizards, conditions on earth were hot and humid. The fact that Eden was watered by a mist confirms the point. In those conditions, lizards thrived.

Alongside them lived large herbivores which, by virtue of size and diet, yearned for space. The lizards would have pushed them towards open spaces, to open up and seed new biospheres. Like bulldozers, the giants cleared and cultivated new ground so that the earth could be populated by diverse species.

When their work was done, God sent an ice-age to replace the prevailing species with new species, which were better suited to coexistence with other species and, more importantly, with man.

The ice-ages were arguably triggered by the development of biospheres, which would have changed the gas composition of the atmosphere and accelerated condensation of suspended water vapor, which in turn probably accounts for the great flood.

So, the instinct to seek space and shift away from threats rather than compete against the meat-eating lizards, if that is what has been observed in the study referred to above, would have served the will of the creator rather than the whim of random evolution. It reveals a more deliberate approach to the evolution of our world, driven by deeper, God-given instincts, not by the crudeness of mere one-upmanship.

The result is a model that is far more consistent with the bible and the Genesis account of the discrete phases or epochs of creation.

Image source: http://bfi-internal.org/dsnews/v10_no1/evolution.jpg

Footprints of dinosaurs proved their existence, but the footprints of God ...

2010-09-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

How do you know I am writing this right now? I could be a robot or ghost-writer, or this could even be plagiarized material. However, over time enough of the persona of the writer does start to emerge for us to be convinced of their presence and authenticity.

That line of thinking was prompted by something Doctor House said last night when faced with a patient who had a mystery illness. In counseling his colleagues he said, “If we cannot find the root cause we must be guided by effect.” What he meant was that they had to deduce, in this case that there was a small tumor, without the benefit of evidence.

That same logic was applied to black holes. No one can see a black hole. By implication it will always be invisible and intangible, because its gravity is powerful enough to suck in light and matter, leaving a void. But, we know its there, because of effects.

There was a time when science could not observe sub-atomic particles, but scientists were able to predict what was subsequently proved to be so, because they could observe the footprints of particles based on specific behaviors.

The famous case of a student who asked an audience if they had ever seen their professor’s brain is another case in point. Clearly no one had seen his brain, but on balance of evidence or effects, they could safely conclude that he had a brain.

So now, Stephen Hawking, a theoretical-physicist who devoted his lifework to the observation of black holes and the implications that held for science, has decided to buck his own trend. Rather than follow respected scientific reasoning to come to the reasonable conclusion that Einstein came to about the existence of an intelligent designer of the universe, Hawking has concluded that God did not make the universe.

It seems he could not make the point without conceding to the existence of God, thus stumbling over the phase, “God did not make the universe”. However, in making his sweeping statement he also subverted the principles that guided his search for black holes by refuting the existence of a dynamic that revealed its existence without revealing itself.

The bible confirms the point in Hebrews 11, stating that the invisible things of God are “clearly” seen and “understood” in that which was made. The idea is supported by the third law of thermodynamics which effectively argues that nothing can move to a higher state of order or matter without the influence of an external factor or force. Thus Newton also refuted an atheistic position, arguing that order can devolve from chaos.

So, we can stand in violation of all reason and subjectively follow Hawking down a dark road into the black hole of skepticism, to arrive at a kind of retro dark age, or we can apply all reasonable logic and come to the irrefutable conclusion that God is the unseen creator. But whether we accept that or not, will never alter the fact that it is so.

Hawking's grand design evidently lacks grandeur or design

2010-09-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

The great man has spoken. Stephen Hawking, the world’s leading intellectual, unilaterally proclaimed in his latest book, the Grand Design, that “the universe was not made by God, but is a consequence of all known physics”. So there we have it. Why did we make it so difficult for ourselves. The master has spoken and he must be right.

One can’t help feeling a little sorry for a man so trapped in his own frailty, condemned to a lifetime of immobility, but does he have to vent his bitterness against God by discounting the same?

I am not ready to stoop to his level. Sir Isaac Newton, arguably the greatest of the big three, affirmed that the universe could not have evolved out of chaos. He held a remarkably theistic view of creation, despite his secret alliance to Arianism.

Einstein the second of the big three, also conceded to the notion of a created universe, but stopped short of acceding to a personal God. That is pretty hefty company to tangle with, but Hawking, unfazed by all that yet dares to boldly go where few would dare to go.

In the process he also discredits eons of established theistic thinking and a mountain of evidence in support of creation, to somewhat arrogantly state his view that we got it all wrong, as though he is the only one who can march in time.

What really surprises me is that the same school of thought that Hawking attended, when he was not playing truant or getting up to no good, is of the view that theists are glib and arrogant in their confession of a creator God.

They have gone to extraordinary lengths to discredit exhaustive commentaries in support of the creationist viewpoint. They have so gagged on the idea of creation, that we can only thank the creator for ensuring the durability of our frames, without which such enlightenment would never have endured.

So six thousand years of human thought and the contributions of eminent intellectuals adds up to glib and sweeping judgments, when it suits the detractors, but its okay for them to glibly sweep aside all that has gone before.

Well if that is good for your career Mt Hawking, good for you, but will it hold water in the courts of God or man? I doubt it.

It is no wonder that top scientists are already predicting that, in this latest argument, science is likely to be the biggest loser. Indeed, as Hawking’s argument now reduces the entire debate to a choice between religion or science, many will doubtless opt for religion, leaving science in a kind of wilderness.

To me the greatest travesty in Hawking’s own logic, is his statement: "If we discover a complete theory (of the formation of the universe), it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason ... for then we should know the mind of God."

I agree, for different reasons, that when we unlock the last mystery of the universe, we will find ourselves face to face with God, but if Hawking already concedes that fact, he is either confused or glib enough to try and impose his original thinking on that creator.

Can we ever understand creation without understanding what motivates its creator?

2010-08-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

It is impossible to understand our universe without first understanding the motives behind its formation.

My last past argued that objects like an Italian sports car or a new building or a house, reflect a combination of functional and aesthetic design. It reminds me of a general rule of thumb in aeronautics, which simply states that “if it looks good, chances are it will fly well”.

The fact that our universe is both functionally and aesthetically remarkable, speaks volumes about its maker and His heartbeat. Had we been solely a product of evolution, diversity of species and the preservation of their specificity, would not have happened.

The third law of thermodynamics confirms the point, arguing that, without the benefit of an external agent, the universe would not evolve any more than water will spontaneously go uphill. Rather, the law of entropy argues that all states of existence devolve to a state of natural harmony and rest.

Hebrews 11 confirms that the invisible things of God are clearly seen and understood by that which is made, a point that was succinctly made to an atheistic professor. A believer challenged his position by asking if anyone had seen the professor’s brain, which led to the simple deduction that just because it can’t be seen doesn’t make it non-existent, any more than not being able to see God renders Him non-existent.

Substantial aspects of our created world are not evident except through indirect observation. You can’t see gravity, but you do see evidence of its existence. The same is true of electricity and nuclear power.

Accordingly, we can also observe that this remarkable world reflects genius of design and flair. Though I have never seen or heard God, I cannot refute His existence because the evidence shouts for itself everyday and everywhere.

However, that still doesn’t tell us WHY He made it. Was it on a whim? If so, then it is not surprising that some would interpret every aspect of the created universe to be mere happenchance. The same line of argument reduces creationism and evolution to variations on a common theme, to which our best response must be, “So what?”

However, if we can discern a deliberate motive behind it all, we can also defuse any notions about randomness, even when the evidence looks like an act of whim – heck, some offbeat creatures, like the Zebra, the stick-insect or the bumble bee, will always seem like random acts of unreason, unless we understand what motivated the Creator.

I close by saying that the governing laws and principles of science are consistent across the universe. Whatever we perceive as randomness, still obeys those laws and principles. Those laws not only provide the required latitude for evolutionary progress and adaptation, but the laws of God also give the universe the external agent it needs to evolve uphill, not devolve downhill. Maybe it is also the key to dark matter.

However, it then means that the unseen hand of a rational mind and an infinitely creative heart, is the real force behind the creation and continuity of this universe.

Balancing Creationism against Intelligent Design, always brings us back to Jesus

2010-08-21T01:29:00.000-07:00

It is a reflection on how sensitive the issues I now stand betwee Creationist and Intelligent Design postures.

I agree that a literal interpretation of Genesis is over simplistic.

I find it hard to believe that the worlds as we know them were created in seven calendar days. More than that I don't think the bible makes that point - so much for literalism. We read elsewhere that a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day, so we could then argue for a seven thousand year period of creative wonder, but that still doesn't fit the evidence.

The bible also refers to a week as a period of seven years and alludes to the tribulation as a time, times and half a time. In all that there is enough to question whether a literal interpretation was ever intended, because the bible is so multi-layered andmulti-faceted that it simply refuses to bow to simplistic interpretation.

A more balanced position, which fits both biblical and empirical arguments, is that the creation happened over seven discrete epochs. That would have followed the environmental conditions necessary for each phase to reach stability, whilst in turn creating a sufficiently stable basis for subsequent phases. For example, the earth had to cool before it could support the genesis of life and evidence of a high degree of water vapor in the garden confirms that it was so.

I also agree with the Creationists.

Aside from technical disputes about what day-measure was implied by Genesis 1, I still believe that Genesis offers a remarkeably accurate record of the formation of the universe. The Big Bang model agrees with what Genesis describes as a burst of light that flooded a dark void. The same model also tells that the initial second of radiant energy introduced all the vital laws that were the building blocks for the rest of creation. How Moses knew all that is a miracle in its own right. Maybe his access to the libraries of Egypt and their relatively sophisticated ways, helped to inform Moses' perspectives.

Moses also got two other things right. As evolutionists also argue, there had to be an order of events. That in itself suggests a longer time period for creation, for God clearly chose to outwork the creation in discrete phases. However, more remarkeable is the fact that he got the order right. Even evolutionists agree that sea life preceded land life and that land life preceded human life. Scientists have also confirmed that cooling of the earth would have resulted in the separation of land and seas.

However, too much of a swing away from a literal posture is problematic for many reasons. Firstly it risks displacing the role of the creator, which then makes the garden rebellion and the interactions between God and man of little consequence, even though it is the key to the entire creation event. God confirmed that knowledge of sin preceded creation, which then tells us that sin had already polluted His domain. The creation was, therefore, triggered by sin or at least by God's need to resolve sin. Thus Christ was set aside from before the foundations of the the world, to underwrite that creation whilst using the platform so created to free this world and the entire domain of God, from the stench of sin.

It also worries me that, having already discounted a literal interpretation of Genesis, as such, alternative schools of thought are now seeking to extend that rationale further. For example, now that many theistic scientists have accepted the Big Bang and old earth arguments, some now want to dispute the flood. The same people want to bundle that and who knows what else inside an old earth model, which risks distancing the bible from its original raison détre, which would ultimately invalidate Christ.

So, my position is clear. I believe the worlds were created. I accept that the creation event was phased over billions of years and I further accept that the Big Bang event is what Genesis 1:1-2 meant when it referred to the dawning light of creation. But I still hold to the point that God's Word is altogether Holy that Jesus is the key to every door, the lamb who has prevailed to open the seals of history. He is the key to all logic, to all higher reason, to every dilemma. By Him all things consist and without Him nothing was made.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ http://www.4u2live.net/

Isn't it wonderful that we have acquired little ears to hang our specs on?

2010-08-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Intelligent Design is a legitimate initiative aimed as bringing the concept of an original universe into the classroom. Its advocates are at pains to distance themselves from a theological posture, arguing, for the sake of scientific rigor and to ensure wide acceptance, that the concept of a personal God is by the way.

Most, if not all, ID proponents have a personal witness of God, but they need to legitimize their opposition to evolution, which is widely taught in most western schools. The fact that evolution in its purest form is more theoretical than empirical, is for most educators, as by the way.

The ID debate has to distance itself from a theological position else it will be labeled as theology in disguise. As such they rightfully refute a literal interpretation of Genesis, because the argument lacks substance ... and I agree with that. Thus, they describe intelligence in abstract terms, devoid of spiritual perspectives.

Okay, I get all that. I am also inclined to support what they are doing, because what is still a fledgling philosophy will eventually push through the normal scientific resistance lines to establish its own support base. After all, I have to agree that the universe has far more evidence of deliberate design than randomness, an angle that needs to inform classroom debates, less than get lost in vain philosophy.

Jan Smuts, one of the founding fathers of the league of nations, put it all quite elegantly when asked about his book, "Evolution and Holism". His reply to a woman who prematurely praised his evolutionary thinking, was, "yes, isn't it wonderful how God made little ears to hang our spectacles on".

All is fair in love and war when it comes to scientific argument. Nothing is sacred, per se, but it would be errant to assume that scientists are fundamentally irreverent. Many have made their peace with God as a person and have also moved beyond the creation debate. Dissenting views range through a full spectrum of isms. Even Einstein was a relatively benign skeptic, for he acknowledged a deliberately creative force. If ID persists through the scientific rigor of opposition, it will acquire stature and legtimacy.

Evolutionists and atheists have all significantly strengthened the case for creation. Thanks to such dissenting views, creationists resisted what would otherwise have darkened the minds of humanity. However, Intelligent Design has still distanced itself from Creationism, which I am not quite prepared to do.

Consequently, Intelligent Design has a potential flaw, for ignoring the motives of the designer will not account for the aesthetics of the resulting design, by which I refer to the spectrum of flowers, trees, birds, animals and other wonders. By implication, evolution would have naturally selected function over form, because that is all that is needed for survival, but the universe far exceeds mere functionality.

Evolutionary and design models are challenged by aesthetics, because that always points to a higher order and a creative mind that reflects both motive and feeling. By implication then, they potentially relegate the designer to the detached, unfeeling posture of a machine (which in itself would need a creator).

When we look at the red tones and sensual lines of a Ferrari, we acknowledge a designer but see much more than design. We see passion, feelings, emotions. I actually met the chief designer of Alfa Romeo and can safely say that love for his cars exceeded the love of women.

Accordingly, our attempts to counter evolution, risk painting us into a corner that will possess every attribute of God except the heart that moved Him to breathe His own life into us or to make us in His own image. And in doing that we would negate the fundamental raison détre of creation. I won't go deeper into that here, but I will state that my position is unambiguous. I may not be a literal creationist, but I will always be a theist.

Image source: http://ih2.redbubble.net/work.347331.13.flat,550x550,075,f.let-there-be-light.jpg

So how long is a piece of string really - its so random hey?

2010-08-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

In 1735 a group of scientists from the French Royal Academy of Sciences ventured off to Peru, to reach a stretch of earth, measuring about 300 kilometers, that ran from Yarouqui to Quito. Their idea was to use the line, part of a meridian, as a basis for triangulating earth distances, in order to derive the circumference of the earth.

Well the entire expedition was a nightmare. People went missing, some died and others ran away, whilst sceptics sat back in places like Paris and London to ponder why its was all so necessary when any meridian would do.

Anyway, scientists did eventually establish the circumference of the earth. Just to top it all the French Academy then had the brightest of ideas - they derived the metric system.

Originally the meter was to be 1/10millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole, although the true measure has been subject to some variations through the years. Nowadays they have a purer measure based on the speed of light through a vacuum, which is a constant (ask Einstein, he will agree I am sure) 299,792,458 meters per second. The reciprocal gives us the time it would take to travel a distance of one meter, thus enabling us to use that time interval to precisely measure 1 meter.

Once they had the basic unit of distance worked out, they then got to the real elegance of metrication - they aligned the basic measure to multiples of ten, to derive the centimeter (1/100th), millimeter (1/1000th) and the kilometer (1000x), etc. Of course it didn't stop there. They also derived the kilogram, being the mass of 1 litre of water at sea level and they derived cubic capacity, or liters, based on the meter.

The need for standards goes back to antiquity. Goliath was so many cubits high and it was useful for scribes to record that, although they could have just said he was flipping big. During the great diamond rushes, the Karob seed was used as a standard weight, but it was not so perfect (resulting in arbitrary manipulation of values), so they developed the Carat as the standard unit of weight (Carat is a derivation of Karob). The nautical speed of ships at sea was also derived by measuring how quickly the wash of a ship would swallow up a rope comprising equally spaced knots, resulting in the nautical term we now know as knots.

Okay so life would not work too well without yardsticks and measures. We would never have achieved what we have achieved in science without such measures. We all agree that a standard is vital, except of course when it comes to measuring the value of a human life - then we get all arbitrary. Someone even developed the philosphy of relativism, a root of modern humanism, which describes human ethos and value systems in relative, not absolute terms. It also dispenses with a need for God or any accountability to such an absolute and it thus reduces human norms and values to, well how long is a piece of string?

How can that be sound thinking? The entire universe is mathematically and empirically constant and robust in its design, suggesting a very ordered, logical designer. Sadly, by virtue of the lapse of wisdom that humanity has unfortunately suffered, all such rationality is suspended when it comes to people. So righteousness is just a feeling and the ten commandments are but ten suggestions, whilst heaven and hell are just classes within the continuum of human consciousness. Wow, what a muddled set of ideas - methinks I would far rather know where I stand and what is required of my life, because humanism simply lacks any definition or backbone. Most notably, in watering down the absolutes of God it denies the need for divine grace and thus robs humanity of God's greatest gift - absolutely, unmerited favor, or grace.

Signs in the heavens: the most important tells that time is running out

2010-08-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have a dilemma. I had a desire to explore the signs of God in the heavens, but then I felt a deep check in my spirit. Many years ago I sat through a presentation by a Christian speaker who revealed how even the astrological constellations reveal the hand of God and foretell the destiny of the world. It was fascinating, but not pleasing to God.

The three wise men used star signs to accurately foretell the advent of Christ, so perhaps the bible does acknowledge that there is something in what is far from science. Genesis 1 and other scriptures also confirm that God set signs in the heavens. Luke 21: 11 says, "... and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven."

Unfortunately, astrology is a very unscientific philosphy. What we perceive as patterns in the sky, and which we refer to as constellations, is indeed not so. Beyond the two dimensions available to an earth observer, we will find that the stars that seem so related, are not related at all. Some are near us, others further away and some very far away. There just is no relationship there. However, more damning is that the signs derived from the supposed connections between stars, is so arbitrary or should I say, "imaginative".

It really takes quite a stretch of mind to find the patterns that the superstitious take so seriously. Apart from maybe Scorpio, which adequately describes the outline of a scorpion, the rest is somewhat vague. Oh, of course we can all find Orion's belt or the North Star or the Southern Cross, but support for Astrology is hardly a logy at all - it is arbitrary and steeped in the dark practices of the occult.

So I went searching for God's heart on the signs out there and found a few verses, notably Jeremiah 10:2, which confirms: "Thus saith the LORD, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them".

Although some Christians are now actively exploring astrological signs as a line of theological argument and are also making active presentations on the subject, I feel that we are offending God. Divination of any form and for any cause is an abomination to God and we do well to stay well clear of the edge.

A firm was advertising for truck drivers. They asked the first applicant how close he would drive his truck to the edge of a pass. He offered to go within a foot, but the next driver vowed to drive on the edge, whilst the third dared to go beyond the edge. However, the fourth driver, when asked the big question, simply said, "I would stay as far from the edge as possible" - he got the job. I too prefer to stay away from the edge.

I will always enjoy and celebrate the natural wonders of astronomy and the glories that great observers of old, like Abraham and Job also marvelled at. But I choose to stop there, yet in so doing may I warn all readers - there are spirits of seduction at work even in the church. Jesus warns that, in the last days, false prophets and seducing spirits will even deceive the elect (Matthew 24:24). Paul also warns that a spirit of great delusion is coming on the earth (2 Th 2:8-12).

I appeal to you, therefore, to stay away from the edge and avoid the thin ice. Your salvation is infinitely precious. We have enough fish to fry in just getting from here to glory, not to have to complicate our lives with dark distractions. Very tough times are coming and our faith will be deeply tried, so we must keep the gates and defend against anything that can compromise our own faith or those entrusted to our care.

As the hourglass Nebula suggests, time is running out and the end is nearer than when we first believed. Therefore number your days and keep your accounts short. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Image source: Hour glass Nebula, Hubble

A profound atronomical image portends a coming storm

2010-08-05T02:13:00.000-07:00

The outstretched hand of the Lamb of God and the great coal of fire that is in His hands, portends a coming age of great struggle on earth. Thanks to Hubble there is a growing gallery of profound images emerging from space and this image is right up there with the best of them.

Actually one of the most amazing discoveries of late is a dark chasm in space, spanning billions of light years, which contains nothing - no stars, no gas, no matter, nothing. It is a dark void.

All of the signs currently visible and yet to become visible, predict a coming world crisis followed by the return of the King.

Genesis confirms that God created the sun and the moon "for SIGNS and for seasons"

(Gen 1:14), saying "I shall show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath." In Acts 2:19, we also read that such signs wll be particularly true of the Last Days. Jesus also warned of this 'End-time' period, declaring, "And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places. Famines, pestilences and fearful sights. GREAT SIGNS shall there be from heaven and there shall be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars" (Mt 21:11,25).

The Bible even talks of the moon being "turned to blood" as a sign that we are nearing the very end of the age. (Joel 2:31, Rev 6:12). The moon has always been used a reference marker for the Jews (also Muslims). The Jewish calendar is calibrated to the moon as are their festivals. Prophetically the march of the ages is also calibrated to the moon, as Daniel described in his propehecy of seventy weeks.

Significantly, there have already been BLOOD-RED and SACK-CLOTH MOONS (caused by lunar eclipses) over Jerusalem in 1996 and 1997, falling precisely on major feast-days of the Jewish calendar. The first of them came on the evening of 3 April 1996, which was the beginning of the Feast of Passover. The second came on the evening of 26-27 September 1996, which was 'Erev Hag HaSuccoth' (the Eve of the Feast of Tabernacles). And there were also two such eclipses in 1997, falling precisely on the feast-day of 'Purim' (23 March 1997 - a 90% eclipse). Another occured in the middle of the 'Days of Teshuva (Repentance)' on 16 September 1997.

The next string of eclipses will occur between 2014 and 2015, when four blood moons will be seen around the Passover and the feast of Tabernacles. Blood moons, by the way, result from a full eclipse and the residue of light that highlights the peripehery of an eclispe.

God is no longer whispering about a coming apocalypse - He is shouting it out aloud. The plastic trumpet played at the FIFA world Cup, called the Vuvuzela, proved to be profoundly noisy, unhealthy and irritating, but a greater chorus of trumpets is sounding out over the earth. Great upheavels have already started. Pakistan and China are facing huge floods, the far east is in the grip of a major heatwave, Russia and California are experiencing massive fires that have devastated forests and living areas, the massive eruption of an Icelandic Volcano, the largest ever earthquake occured in Chile earlier this year, the worst earthquake disaster of all time occured just before that in Haiti ... and so on.

We are also in the eye of an economic storm - and by that I mean we are in the quiet lull that happens at the heart of a great storm, beyond which lies a further, potentially more devastating tempest. Yesterday the Chinese government even stress-tested its banks against the scenario of a 60% drop in house prices - a scenario that will only happen in the wake of massive unemployment. Europe has reached 10% unemployment and the world bank now believes we are heading into a phase of deflation, but it will be driven by declining economies and falling disposable incomes.

Believers, hear me, you are facing tough times. Do not bury your heads and deny it. We have the advantage of prophetic warnings and God will look after His own, but to survive we will have to change our lifestyles to achieve far higher levels of coexistence and mutuality. Islands will be blown away, ovewhelmed by the coming tide, but, like the ark of Noah, the church as a collective will prevail - not even the gates of hell will change that fact. Already, as I speak, the world economy is stumbling and unemployment is rising.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net

Image Source: Hubble, Nebula NGC2392

Awesome power

2010-07-29T00:42:00.000-07:00

My firstborn son is an amateur scientist. Having blown up all he could find, whilst burning house and home and shaking foundations or launching surface to surface missiles against neighbours, he also found time for the academic side of science. As far as he is concerned, if he spent all day at shool just doing science, he couldn't be happier. Isn't there a specialist science school out there? I suppose not. Sadly a not so good mathematics teacher has caused him to lose confidence in that vital link to a future engineering qualification, but its all coming back - a little bit of encouragement and support is doing wonders.

In the process of helping him I took him out for some coffee. On the way, he pointed towards a red indicator light and said, "Dad there is enough energy in that small red dot to light a city". The point he was making related to Einstein's groundbreaking energy formula.

Tim went on to explain that the collision of discrete protons in the large hadron accelerator had generated temperates many times hotter than the core of the sun. He is right. Indeed, thanks to two complementary principles, the sun also uses E = MC2 to initiate fission reactions that split helium into hydrogen, which releases enough energy to bring about a subsequent fusion reaction, resulting a new helium atom that is lighter than the original atoms. The difference in mass releases more energy into the system. Thus that mighty ball of fire out there fuels itself almost perpetually, thanks to the continuous interaction of small, atomic particles. Unfortunately, every now and then the system surges into a solar flare that releases significant quantities of fuel into space, predicting, for that and other reasons, the eventual collapse of our star. Unfortunately, when it does collapse it will first expand enough to swallow our orb and then collapse again.

Now consider that somewhere in the past Jesus cradled a grain of sand in His palm, with a mass equivelent to our total universe. I believe Him to be the elusive God particle, that great mystery that shrouds our greatest minds in darkness. For it is in His power to create and destroy. I would go so far as to say that He invested a principle in every atom that will bring about the dematerialisation of the universe, when a simple utterance by the Word of God will conclude this age and fold up the heavens like a garment.

Okay, so my theory is not science, yet it is scientific. There is no doubt that a singularity of immense power and mass triggered the creation as we know it. The first experience of that event was light. As we see in Genesis 1, light illuminated the dark void - and it was indeed a void of absolute nothingness, a vast black hole centered around a massive core, from which light could not escape until the light of the world released it.

What power is in His hands? He holds the worlds in His hands yet knows the hairs on our heads. He alone has prevailed to order the epochs and ages of history. He alone formed the worlds. Without was nothing made that was made. He is before all things and by Him all thing consist. Glory to God.

Image source: http://www.helenawrites.blogspot.com/

Is anybody out there?

2010-07-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

I was watching a bit of an old Toy Story movie, when I saw Buzz Lightyear land on planet Zurg. He immediately logged a report through his voice log (space term for Blog), saying, "the planet is deserted. There does not appear to be any intelligent life here".

Intelligent life? What's that.

If we have not reached trillions, we have certainly spent our billions of dollars, euros and roubles in a, as yet fruitless, seach for intelligent life in the distant litter of space. Some of found satisfaction in looking for plant life, as it props up the supposition that if there are viable conditions for life anywhere other than on earth, then intelligent life must also exist beyond our planet.

We would like intelligent life, but resent intelligent design.

Without spending much more than a bit of knee-time, many souls have transcended the human plain and found intelligent life out there. They have touched the hem of God's garment and walked with him in wilderness places, finding that He is not only intelligent but also accessible and loving. But science would rather probe the darkness of space for other intelligent life, for what its worth, whilst ingnoring the only life that ever had the capacity to give and sustain life on our own planet.

Would they find intelligent life here?

Hmm. The only known "beings" (by that I refer to a created life form), beyond the humans on the face of this orb, are angels ... and they daily drool over the profound opportunities presented to us. They also scratch their heads when not drooling, over the profoundly unintelligent, thoughtless things we are doing with what we have. Most of all they weep over our dismissive attitude towards a relationship that they can only ever covet. We have what they can never have, yet neglect what they would prize above everything else.

Is there an ulterior motive for our quest?

Our need to find alternative life forms has a dark intrigue. It is not about science at all, but an act of counter-science. If satisfied we could make some exceedingly rash judgements about God and our need for Him, thereby vindicating a non-faith position. It would also vindicate the thin argument that we were spontaneously made and are simply part of a random event that occurs elsewhere in the universe. Would that make us wiser? I doubt it. Would such arguments help us when God comes to judge us? Not likely. Would our speculations save this planet from self-destruction? I think not. Have we got more important issues to worry about? Yes, but who cares.

The fingerprints of God

2010-07-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

The peculiar way in which Jesus created the universe, is consistent with the nature of God and the mandate that the Father gave to His son. God’s nature can be described in many ways, the most notable attributes being omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and Holy.

There are, however, certain attributes of the universe that inform us on the more practical sides of His nature. It intrigues me that all or almost all of the created universe can be explained in terms of natural phenomena. To also conclude that it was also driven by a natural force is a contradiction of science, for the second law of thermodynamics dictates that energy can only low from a high energy source to a low energy object, not the other way round. In other words things can’t spontaneously go uphill unless they are pushed.

To me, the fact that we can attribute natural explanations to the creation, is simply a case of God being very methodical. Scientists record their experiments so that they have a chain of evidence and methodology, to help them logically progress to an objective. God did the same, leaving an empirical record of everything He did from the initiation of creation until now. He left his finger prints so that we could understand and marvel.

Indeed, rather than an instantaneous event, the preferred explanation of creation of history, He logically built layers, the way the days of creation are described in Genesis 1 and 2. It was necessary to first create the light that was the fundamental building block of the universe and which also introduced the basic forces of matter. That light was probably the result of the Big Bang, the first light that illuminated the void of space. The same light was the visible expression of an immense center of energy, the kind of Petri dish that the great chemist needed to blend and mix atomic particles into the exquisite matter we now take for granted.

The energy source of the sun is fusion power, where hydrogen atoms fuse together to form helium. In so doing they release large amounts of energy, consistent with E = MC2. Such fusions can only take place in the context of the very high temperatures that exist inside the sun. If that energy is sufficient to transform hydrogen, the most common substance in the universe, into helium, then imagine what was made in that initial big bang environment – it was trillions of times hotter than the sun.

Having made the essential elements, God was able to create material stars, the next vital building block of creation as it brought about the stable conditions that allowed for planet formation. As our planets stabilized into fixed orbits, the heat of our sun and the mixture of elements trapped in the gravitational field of the earth, resulted in the formation of compounds, including organic or carbon based compounds and water vapor. As the earth cooled, the water vapor condensed to form oceans.

The land and seas created an initial hothouse that allowed new organic life to form, in the patterns described by Genesis 1 and 2. As the environment changed, and with the help of a few disruptive nudges here and there, the species that were initially used to aggressively propagate plant species, died out and yielded to a more stable environment. Into that environment stepped man, the pinnacle of God’s creation, uniquely instilled with the breath of His nostrils and the Spirit of God. How fearfully and wonderfully are we made?

Image source: http://www.carolgood.com/

Now you see me ... now you don't

2010-06-29T23:35:00.001-07:00

The CERN laboratory that traverses Switzerland and France, hosts the largest particle accelerator in the world: The Large Hadron Collider. A series of 5,000 powerful electro-magnets accelerate bunches of charged nuclear particles (protons) along a circular track, which has a 27km radius. The resulting collisions will generate heat many times the surface temperature of the sun.

Some feared that this multi-billion-dollar global participation project would lead to an earth-bound black hole or some other wild catastrophe. That was speculative given the vast power required to recreate a black hole, although the insides of the accelerator equate to a controlled bomb, equivalent to 160kg of TNT.

Fortunately, the complex assembly of the LHC is designed to contain all expected energy surges.

One of the greatest objectives of the LHC experiment relates to the so-called “Higgs Bosun”. Higgs observed that mass-less particles like neutrinos acquire mass, which doesn’t make sense. An example to make the point describes how a party of people will gravitate towards a celebrity and then follow her across space, giving her “mass” and “momentum”. The mechanism that gives mass to otherwise mass-less matter is the Higgs Bosun, or so they theorize.

I am in no position to argue, except to say that it is not an elusive particle or undiscovered phenomenon that contributed to the formation of matter. Rather, the bible says, “All things were made by and consist through, Jesus Christ.”

That is a powerful idea contained in economical language. In X-Men 3, Jean is resurrected by her immense powers, to be called, “The Phoenix”. Her power is then co-opted by a dark megalomaniac, Magnetron, who focuses her destructive force. At full tilt, her power literally dematerialized people and things, causing their atomic consistency to dissolve into nothingness – a bit like what happens when you put Aspirin into water.

The movie captured something of the power that holds the whole universe together. It will not take power to destroy all matter. Rather, the removal of the power which sustains the universe and by which it consists, will result in the dematerialization of everything as we know it. That is what the bible means when it says, “All things consist (are held together), by Him”. This idea is consistent with the second law of thermodynamics, which defines that without sustaining energy, all matter would regress to disorder.

Paul’s words in Colossians, introduce further thoughts relating to Christ’s preexistence and His role as the agent of creation, but suffice to say that, “because He lives we can face tomorrow”.

The very fact of His existence is what keeps the universe intact and that energy is being expended all day, every day until it be taken away - at which point a dematerializing universe will be reduced to a cloud of particles that He will fold up as one would fold up a garment (Hebrews 1:10-12) – and in heaven another day will simply end with that cloudy sky catching the golden hue of glory.

Over the edge

2010-06-24T06:02:00.001-07:00

If you go out tonight and take the hand of your beloved to gaze up lovingly at the sky, it will be dark. That may seem like an obvious statement, but it is proof that the universe is limited – it has a boundary. It may be big but it is still finite.

For every doubling of distance between you and a light source, such as a star, the light intensity reaching you will decrease by four times. However, in the context of the universe, each doubling of distance will increase the volume of space between you and the light source, by eight times. That would enable more stars to occupy the same space, increasing the cumulative light intensity by a greater degree than is lost to distance.

The density of the universe is such that the volume of space does not expose us to a vast amount of cumulative light, yet, if the universe was eternal, the cumulative light would be infinite and we would never have nighttime.

I am reluctant to get into heavy discussions from a deeply scientific perspective, for I am not qualified to engage at that level. However, the theological and philosophical perspectives of the universe will always intrigue me.

The idea that the universe is finite presents suggests that someone standing outside the universe would perceive it as a discrete sphere. It may be vastly complex, yet it is still just a variation of our own atom with its many random and complex electron orbits revolving around a common nucleus together with other more exotic, sub-atomic particles. Maybe we are a mere atom in the infinity that lies beyond our universe.

I recently argued that Jesus stands theologically at the confluence of time and eternity, namely at the edge of the universe, which we now know to be a defined state of existence. Job could not have known that when He said, “He stands on the circle of the heavens”. Evidently heaven is also at the northern edge of the universe, because we read about mount Zion being on the sides of the north.

Some scientists tried to argue for a static universe model, saying that it just is. However, there is ample evidence that it is expanding from a central point, confirming that it also had a finite beginning. Indeed, time, as we know it, was initiated at the ultimate trigger moment of the Big Bang event. Scientists claim to be able to look back, physically or theoretically, to within 10-43 seconds after the start of Big Bang started. However, small as that time lapse was, it was an eon in its own right, during which every dimension of life (length, breadth, depth and time) and the four basic forces of all matter were initiated.

So what do you think? How old is this universe and how did it evolve from its small, explosive beginning to the vast, complex system we now know as the universe? Does God dwell inside it or just beyond its fringe? If it has a beginning, will it also end?

Was the world created in seven days?

2010-06-15T06:59:00.001-07:00

Was the earth formed in seven days? Was Genesis intended to be taken literally, as many scriptures indeed are, or is the language symbolic? Can we reconcile the Genesis account with what we know or presume to know about the universe?

Scientists claim to be able to see as far back as 10-43 seconds after the Big Bang started. That is a very small fraction of one second, but in astronomical terms it was an age in itself for about halfway through that first second God had time enough to create the four fundamental laws of all physics. He left an indelible imprint or signature, locked away for centuries to confirm that He stamped His authority and invested His divine nature on creation, from the outset. God rules the universe through the same laws that autonomously balance day and night and adjust weather patterns every day of our lives. The same laws also enable, as Jesus said, “the winds to blow where they want to”.

Recently I speculated around the dinosaurs and wondered how the same God, who made all things so beautiful, could have made such a bunch of violent and brainless uglies? Well I can only answer that, if we concede that the creation happened in discrete epochs, not in seven days – for a biblical day is as a thousand years.

So, if God did create dinosaurs, with their thick, leathery, reptilian skins and other features, then why did He do so? We know from Genesis that the original state of the garden was misty, so we can surmise that the earth was very warm. That may explain the flood, which was probably triggered when suspended water vapor reached the precipitation threshold that opened the heavens, as Moses poignantly described it.

So if it was that humid during the formative era of early man, at least such humid conditions provided an ideal hot house for the rapid growth of vegetation. However, we must assume that the earth habitat was more hostile prior to the advent of man. Maybe that is why it was populated by very tough creatures.

Maybe the giants were designed to consume vast amounts of vegetation and store their intake for fuel, so that the distances traveled, whilst fleeing the voracious likes of T-Rex and other predators, could seed the earth. Maybe their skins were also thick enough to withstand solar radiation, the way lizards of today adapt to their own harsh environments.

There were evidently a number of ice-ages, at least one of which was caused by a massive meteor. Others were triggered by changes in climate and sea currents, which thawed ice walls and flooded low lying plains. Indeed, the great flood may have been the last of a few, all triggered by the settling of the earth. The earth was at one time very warm. Then it over-cooled due to a lack of greenhouse gasses until it steadily warmed and stabilized, which presented very hostile periods to normal life.

I have always believed that God bound Himself to His own laws, probably because those laws express of His nature. So maybe He worked within the laws of the universe, without resorting to wild, quantum leaps of disruption, to steadily craft the universe.

It’s an interesting topic. I would really love to know what you think though. Share your thoughts and let’s see what comes of it all.

All will be revealed

2010-05-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 11 tells us that the invisible things of God are clearly seen and understood in that which can be seen.

That is a very telling scripture. The more I read about the different philosophical and theological positions of astronomists, the more I feel that they are dancing around the truth. The theologians of the world tried to reconcile their perceptions of God and creation to the scriptures, until they realized that their interpretations needed to change. The created universe reconciles with the scriptures and always has, despite times when misguided theologians believed that the world was flat and at the centre of the universe, or that the sun orbited earth not the other way round.

Since then, dissident views have tried very hard to shrug off the compelling truths of the observable universe and its scriptural implications, by coming up with science that is at times even more creative than God has been. Quantum mechanics is a case in point, which tries to resolve all dilemmas by pointing to random, unexplained events.

Sadly, that will not work, because God reveals all through what is visible and makes no room for speculative theories built around that which is not visible or known.

That brings us to a very important point. Hebrews states that “all” (implied) the “invisible aspects of God” are clearly seen and understood by that which is visible. That has a number of implications.

It means that God can be deduced from the visible creation and we can comprehend Him from our physical perspectives. It also means that knowledge will progress with science until we know all there is to know. I predict that even dark matter (the other 75% of the mass of the universe that is as yet unknown to science) will reveal itself, but when it does it will be like a Pandora’s box – it will leave science staring into the face of God and having to face up to the kind of conclusions they would prefer never to have known.

It also implies that God subjected Himself to the consistent laws of His created universe – or better yet, that the laws of the universe give expression to what He has always been. He does not keep His hands on the levers or run the universe, rather He enshrines whatever He makes within a set of self-regulating laws, which, if broken, will invoke other laws to either correct or self-destroy the result. Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wants to”, implying that God does not subjectively rule the winds. The wind and everything else in our created sphere is governed by God’s predetermined laws. It so happens that end time judgments will all be self-imposed, as man brings his own woe upon himself to destroy what he was given to steward.

I will explore some of the hidden mysteries of God in subsequent blogs.

Image courtesy of : www.orourkeart.ie/artworks.html

He stands upon the circle of the heavens

2010-05-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

Einstein argued that space-time can be warped. At the time the theory could not be proved, but subsequent observation of black holes confirms that he was right.

Similar to the error of parallax whereby light bends when we observe something under water, so space-time distorts our observations of reality.

When a black hole passes between us and a distant massive object, the extreme gravitational influences bend the light passing between the object and us, so we see the object in a different place from where it is or should be.

In the movie “Next”, scientists reproduce a supposed warping of space-time, enabling them to blend the past or future into the present. Think in terms of space-time being a continuous ribbon, which is then bent so that earlier or future scenes are wrapped back to coincide with the present. Einstein would concede that the plot was theoretically possible, but practically very far from feasible.

Now our galaxy is spiral shaped - because it has or at least had a spinning core. However, as we move further from the core, we get an effect called gravitational braking, which argues that matter cannot approach or reach the speed of light. Thus, the arms of the spirals start to bend into their familiar spiral shape because matter along the spiral cannot move around the core at the same speeds as matter nearer the core.

Now, as a very amateur scientist or, preferably, a rank amateur, let me ask, could the universe be a super-spiral, with a common core? Arguably yes. It had a common starting point, the moment of the big bang, and because the massive energy in the system could not be expressed only as an explosion, the core would have started to spin.

Okay, so theoretically we are all caught up in a massive spiral. Well then, could it be that gravitational braking also slows down the speed of orbit for matter further and further from the core? Again we could surmise that it be so.

Well then, is it possible that space-time, at a universal level, overlaps, so that yesterday is infinitely close to today? If so, then if universal time is a function of the core, the way our own solar time references the sun, can we argue that the fringes of the universe approach infinity in line with Einstein space-time theorem?

Now here is the real poser. Jesus is referred to as the “ancient of days”. That implies that He has aged, that He is subject to time. We could concede that, as He emerged some “time” after the infinite beginning of His Father. Accordingly, where Job 22:14 said. “He walks in the circle of the heaven”, did He imply that Jesus stands at the edge of time and eternity? Theologically, He mediated between time and eternity, but if He physically also stands at the edge of the universe, would we find Him seated in a state near-eternity, whilst still being part of the times and seasons of this universe?

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net

Does God live in a present-continuous tense?

2010-05-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

I was freshly challenged by the view held by most believers, including, until recently, myself, that God dwells in a present-continuous tense. It presupposes that when Christ was “slain from the foundations of the earth”, in God’s mind the event had already happened, would yet happen and by implication is still happening. Another scripture in Ecclesiastes 3 adds to that view, saying, “Whatever is, has already been and what will be, has been before”.

“Slain before the foundations of the earth”, refers to a provision or guarantee that God made to underwrite project earth, not to predetermine its fall. It was a divine insurance policy. If God had been so predeterministic, He would be in no position to judge us. The scripture in Ecclesiastes is also moot, referring more to the continuity of life and the fact that nothing is really new – our issues today reflect issues of bygone eras.

Taking the points further, we now need to ask if God continually relives the cross. Perhaps the Father is independent of time, but Jesus is called “the ancient of days”. By implication He lives within some concept of time and mathematically He had a beginning = e + t or eternity plus the time it took for Him to become a son of His eternal Father.

God’s laws are universal and He dwells within them. However, time in heaven is not as we know it here – it is more of an Einsteinian, event horizon. It is not referenced to a sun or moon, but to the throne of God, but it is still a form of time. It has an event sunrise, a beginning of a major cycle or season, and a sunset, when the event ends. We see that reflected in the book of Revelations, where seasons are introduced with trumpets or vials. By that argument, the cross is a fixed-time event that marks the end of an era of unchallenged rebellion and the beginning of a season of divine restoration.

It is wrong to assume that the cross only liberated humans. Rebellion and corruption happened in heaven when Satan rebelled, to taint God’s entire domain – thus Christ was already under sentence of death way back then. The creation was God’s reply to that dilemma and the cross its ultimate objective. God agonized over sin until Calvary, but when Jesus died he resolved the issue for us below and for heaven above.

Now, rather than me deducting from your faith, I hope this has added to it. What was resolved, remains resolved. God has marked a moment when sin and Satan were judged – that is not a present continuous event, but a past perfect event. It is finished, it is done. Our sins are forgiven and Satan has lost, forever, the keys to death and hell. Be comforted – it is so – heaven is now living in the post-cross era of grace. When God says He remembers our sins no more, believe Him to mean he really has moved on.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.vaughnsphotoart.com/uploads/images/catalog_src/the-eternity-of-morning_src_1.jpg

Where is heaven?

2010-05-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

I attended a seminar where the speaker argued that heaven is not above us, but amongst us. That is partly supportable because Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is amongst us”.

The argument extended to a view that the church will mature to become a heavenly place or light amongst men and, as such, when darkness does cover the earth at the end of this age, the light of the world will be reflected through the church, not through the glory of Christ as He appears in the skies. There is some support for that too, as the Psalmist said, “Arise, shine, thy light has come, and the glory of God has risen upon you”.

Some of the issues I have with this line of argument are the fact that Jesus “ascended to heaven”, that the creation separated the heavens above from the heavens below, the Talmud describes seven dimensions of heaven, Zion is a place, above us and on the sides of the North, Ezekiel 28 showed a covetous cherub seeking to “ascend” to the throne or above it, and Paul saw us seated with Christ in heavenly places. I could go on.

I have been toying with this debate from a logical perspective. Jesus always stood between God and men and between heaven and earth: as the great mediator. That may place heaven and Jesus at some cross-over point between the physical universe and whatever is beyond. That said, some would argue in terms of so-called “string theory”, that what we don’t see is merely composed of an atomic structure that enables other dimensions to live alongside us yet beyond our experience – a kind of parallel universe.

That argument is not outrageous. There are wavelengths of light that are real enough and measurable enough, but still remain beyond the visible spectrum. We could say that of the spirit of God too – real enough, measurable enough, yet invisible to our humanity. That respects a higher order of life, but spares us from speculating about quantum theories, exotic matter or parallel universes. However, it still does not describe spiritual life, which is able to transcend physical laws (Jesus walked through walls) and yet live within us as a palpable reality.

Question: I won’t go further now, suffice to ask what your own perspective is – where is heaven and where does Christ rule?

A God for all seasons

2010-04-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

God is eternal. He also became a man. He transcended and transcends time and space to relate to us. The all seeing, all present God is not only able to become a relevant observer of the broad physical context of the universe, or the galaxies and systems within the universe. He is consistently the same, warm, loving, pure, unchanging God across all of the created universe and no creature will ever be able to step away from Him.

David confirmed this in Psalm 139, where he concedes that even if he made his bed in hell God would be there. He would be as real on the highest mountain, in the deepest sea and on the remotest object of our universe. His spirit fill all of the universe and He is everywhere at all times, divinely bending space-time to be universally relevant and always accessible.

I mentioned in an earlier article that all time is defined by Him, including heavenly time. I described heavenly time as “event horizons”, great epochs that come and go in the onward advance of God’s eternal domain.

But here is a wonder. We are also subject to seasons (event horizons), despite also being subject to measured time (days, hours, seconds). We are not only partakers of God’s divine nature, but we also live within the continuum of divine time. Indeed, physical time is merely a measured, discrete subset of divine time.

Now consider this that the God who defines all our seasons, who causes things to come to pass in our lives, is also uniquely relative to those seasons and able to experience all that we go through, to give us a unique time and place experience. He not only knows the hairs on your head, but He bends time and space to place Himself right in the heart and essence of your personal struggles. Not only does He mark the timing of our seasons, by which means He is the sole determinant of when our seasons will end, but the combination of God and Time gives us a unique perspective of God.

Let me explain. The moon orbits the earth and to someone standing on Jupiter that is all so clear and understandable. But to you and me down here, we merely have a more discrete time and space concept of the moon – we see it there, now, and marvel at its beauty – the big picture is lost to us. Well, in the same way, God, a function of a far bigger context, presents Himself uniquely and personally to us within the personal seasons that He specifically defines for our lives – it is a perspective that is so unique to that no one else will ever see Him or know Him in the same way.

Image of Nebula, by Hubble

The consistency of creation reflects God's character

2010-04-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

The laws of the universe do not make a convenient Quantum leap, to explain for the mysteries of God.

God is the ultimate absolute, the only ultimate constant in all the universe. All things are relative to Him and yet that principle still does not violate Einstein’s relativity principles. God is not a quantum particle, an aberration that conveniently violates the laws of the universe that explains away everything that is otherwise too hard for us to understand.

The dark ages resolved troubling mysteries, by burning dissidents on the pretext of heresy, such that many subsequently disproved theories were just accepted in spite of contradictory evidence. Well God is not a blanket explanation for all that cannot be explained, because the laws that define the universe is ruled are never violated by Him, but upheld by Him. He is not an abstract idea but an empirical fact.

God is not bound by time and space but is in all places at all times and is therefore able to be relative to all moments of time and space. Einstein accepted that time is fixed and light is absolute, but he introduce the notion that space-time could be warped or bent, a phenomenon that has been observed for distant objects that lie beyond a black hole. The light from the object is bent by gravitational forces inside the black hole leading to misinterpretations about the location and movement of the observed object – it basically is not where it should be, giving rise to distortions that are not unlike the phenomenon we see when a stick is pushed into water – the light passing through the water travels slower and makes the stick appear bent.

Although God is independent of His creation, He remains constant through all the twists and turns of our complex universe. He is simply constant, but He is never some form of divine exception to the laws of the universe. It is not that he has become the servant of such laws. Rather it is because the created universe became subject to His pre-existent laws or the objective and consistent principles by which He rules all things – it is just the way He is. We are merely a subset of an eternal dimension, but physical laws remain constant across both dimensions, because God is constant across both dimensions.

As such, all things are judged to be relative to Him. The function of the Son of God was to reconcile us back to the unmoving, unchanging absolute value of a righteous God. God cannot move to accommodate us, but through His Son He has enabled us to shift our posture or position from a place of condemnation and spiritual bankruptcy to a divinely assured position of acceptance and reconciliation.

Time and eternity

2010-04-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

Time is limited to created things that all have defined beginnings. The creator is the only truly independent variable and everythings stands or falls by Him, so all things that we made must be relative to Him and subject to Him. Thus the entire universe is a subset of His absolute constancy. Time and Space are also relative to Him and exist by and for Him. So far so good, but by that logic is there time in heaven? Whilst we about it, can did Jesus have a beginning?

Jesus, though also eternal, is a sub-set of His (Eternal) Father. He had a defined beginning (Eternity + n). He will also continue (reign) within the context of this universe, until He has restored all things and put God’s enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25-28). Beyond that, we understand Him to be the heir of all things, so by implication He stands to inherit His Father's estate and continue His dynasty. This is challenging theology, but Paul confirmed these ideas in that same scripture, when He said, "Then God shall be all in all".

Jesus was mandated from before the foundations of the earth, to restore order to a universe that had been corrupted by the rebellion of Satan. The process of restoration fulfils Newton’s laws, by which all things must revert to a rest state.

Project earth was God’s response to sin, but to explain that will take much more space than this article can afford – indeed there is not enough space in the universe to describe the depth and power of God’s eternal wisdom. Suffice to say, that God needed to set a precedent for the judgment of sin and so made His spotless Son subject to the law and its supreme penalty, so that He might subject Satan to the same laws.

So what we have is a time horizon involving Jesus and the earth, which has a discrete beginning and a defined conclusion: an end. Within that season are many bit-parts and sub-plots, each with seasons that involve specific people or peoples. The key plumb-line, for all that happens on the earth, was the cross, which coincidentally also defines time before and time after. The cross is the sundial of God that cast its shadow on the past and became the fulfilment of all that went before. But it also cast a shadow on the future, thereby defining its ultimate conclusion.

Human time has been set relative to Calvary. Recently we started speaking of BCE (Before the Current Era) and CE. But that merely removed references to Christ from the notations “BC” and “AD”. It did not alter the fact that the climax of history was when Christ hung on a cruel Roman cross for the atonement of sin and the judgment of Satan.

The outstretched arms of the saviour reached into all the past and all the future and embraced all space, as far west and east as space will go. The vertical of the cross took the cross beyond dimensions of time and space into the physical-spiritual dimension, for after he died, Paul declares in Ephesians 6: “He descended to the lowest parts of the earth and then ascended to the highest heaven, so that He might fill all things”.

Thus He stooped as low as humanity can stoop to take us to the greatest of all heights, but in doing so He reached all people of all time and in every culture and creed, for He is the King. He is the only true potentate, the saviour of the world and the light that shone in darkness to bring light and hope to those who live in the shadows.

Light and Dark

2010-04-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Dark matter makes up the bulk of our universe, but what is it and why do we struggle to quantify it?

Mass is a function of a few variables, but can be derived by dividing density into volume. It is self-evident that matter of low density (feathers) in a given volume (a pillow case) would have less mass (lower weight) than a similar volume filled with high density lead balls.

Following the same logic we can reasonably estimate the mass of the universe. We do understand its mean volume (of the observable universe) from astronomical observations, which results in a diameter of 14billion light years. We can also detect the mean density thereof through sample observations across the universe (3 x 10-30 g/cm3 or 300 billion, billion, billion times less dense than water).

So we really do have a good idea of the mass of our universe and scientists will declare with reliability that it equals 3 x 10e55g.

Okay, so far so good.

What we can also determine is the mean mass of observable matter and we can also determine how much energy is in the system and convert that, using Einstein’s theory on mass-energy equivalence, into mass. When we tally all of that up, we find that we can only really account for 30% of the predicted mass of the universe. That is not a big error if you are still in a junior grade (I once bewailed a teacher who marked my nine-year old son down for getting a linear measurement wrong by a mere millimeter). But a 70% difference is very big for big people and scientists.

So we now have a new astronomical concept. Out there is just under 1 x 1055 of luminescent or detectable matter/energy. There are also bucket loads of undetectable matter. That matter has been called dark matter (because we can’t detect it, not because it is dark as such), but others have called it the “God Particle”.

2008 saw the beginnings of an elaborate laboratory analysis of dark matter, pursuant to some kind of clarification of what is out there.

I prayed about it. I am not sure I have a definitive answer, but I do know that “all things consist and are held together by Jesus” (Colossians 1:17). The bible has been proved to be a sound predictor of universal phenomena – it correctly initiates the big bag with radiant light and it also accurately tracks the metamorphosis of the earth through six distinct phases. So can we look to the scriptures to predict the “God Particle” and have the scientists inadvertently named it for what it is – could spirituality have mass?

Hey, I don’t know the answers here, I am just musing over the wonder of His creation and meditating on something that is truly taxing the great minds of our world. What I do know is that there is some mechanism that enable Jesus to literally hold it all together and when he releases that the universe will be folded up like a garment and cease to be (Hebrews 1:12).

The span of His hand

2010-04-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

It is now given that the universe was originally of infinite density, meaning it had infinite mass embraced within a very small volume, analogous to a grain of sand.

The bible says that God spans the universe with His right hand. Whilst I have no doubt that at one dimension God’s spirit does embrace the entire universe, for we were made by Him and for Him. However, there are other recorded manifestations of God that reveal Him in the form of men and here I specifically refer to an incident where Moses was caught in the cleft of a rock on Mount Sinai, as God walked by. Moses only saw the back of God, but what he saw was a man, for we are indeed created in His image.

We could deduce from many other scriptures that God has eyes, ears, a mind, nostrils, hands, feet and a heart. So we are a realistic depiction of the composition, certainly not the size or complexity, of the Great God who made the earth His footstool.

As such it is not improbable that when the creation was initiated, that the Father stooped, picked up a grain of sand and placed it in the right hand of His son, saying, “I hereby reserve you, from before the creation, to be savior of all” (Hebrews 13:8). Thus the creator (Jesus is specifically identified as the agent of creation in John 1), also became the guarantor of that creation, entrusted by God to use the created world to restore divine order and redeem the souls of all who fear Him.

Jesus, the light of the world then breathed over that grain and His glory filled the void to bring about the immense, immeasurable energy that resulted in our created universe. He is not only its guarantor, but is also the unseen force that holds it all together (Colossians 1:17).

By implication then, He also holds the power to remove the sustaining force of the universe and to then fold it all up as one would fold up a garment. 1 Corinthians 15 clearly declares that He will prevail until He has restored all things (a term also used by Newton to describe how all things return to a state of rest). When He has restored all things, “God will be all in all” and the season that described the 14-18billion years of this universe will be concluded, for God would have concluded His works.

A small aside here is that Romans 8 suggests that the power of the King, the same power that raised Him from the dead, already indwells us. Thus, He who fills the heavens and holds all things together, also dwells in us and when the angel sounds the trumpet, Jesus will merely call us and so shall we ever be with our God.

And then there was light

2010-04-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Einstein shed some light on physics, but divine light transformed a void, into a wondrous universe.

When Einstein first proposed the mass-energy equivalence, defined in the formula E=MC2, he had what was called an Annus Mirabilis, a great year, releasing a string of hugely significant papers, one of which earned him a Nobel prize. Unfortunately, he was so ahead of his time, that some of his thinking has only been fully validated in recent years, notably through the development of the Hubble telescope and radio astronomy.

Although there was a prevailing consensus about the relationship between energy and matter, there were too many gaps in prevailing theories to quantify the relationship. It was only when Einstein determined light to be a universal constant that he was able to unlock the mysteries of mass-energy equivalence. That resulted in two of the greatest strides in science and it revolutionized our understanding of the universe.

Yet Genesis 1:1 had it all. Light was the first phenomenon of creation. The brightness of the Big Bang radiated across the dark void that we know as space. It exploded with life, introducing the four forces of the universe within the first second of that cataclysmic event. Light was the multiplier (C2 or 186,000 mi/s2) that converted the infinite mass of the universe into the vast energy that now defines our universe. Unfortunately, there is a concept of dark matter that makes up 70% of our universe, but it is only dark in the sense of being un-quantified, so we cannot make anything of that at this stage.

Light was used by John to describe Jesus, when he paralleled the words of Genesis 1 with “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. This speaks of revelation light or truth and is actually more fundamental to the creation than physical light, for as we see from events in the first second of creation, the big bang was bound by the laws of the universe, laws that were defined before it all began. The laws were necessary to ensure an ordered universe rather than an uncontrolled, perpetual explosion of energy that would never have produced the viable conditions of a self-sustaining universe. It is that simple fact that defined the difference between intelligent design and random coincidence.

The light of God’s truth is the also what turns the void of our hearts into something wonderful and life-giving. When we allow His light into our lives, it transforms empty vessels into instruments of righteousness. No longer are we coincidence of the random events and selection of life, but we are now purpose-made, a people whom God has separated unto Himself for His own glory.