If the Bible is historically true as it is
written in Genesis 1-11 then the (universal) Flood provides the mechanism for
the geology that is seen around the world.In
fact, uniformitarianists have had to back down from their view of
non-catastrophic geology.Fossilization
requires water, and with the vast majority of fossils being marine it forces the
conclusion that water was involved.Then
add the problem of fossils would not fossilize if they are not buried
quickly--they would quickly decay.Geologists
now suggest many small catastrophic events around the world are required to
explain the burial of large animals, polystrate fossils, huge broad and deep
coal reserves as in the
Powder
River Basin
not to mention fossils in general.Couldn't
a world-wide flood account for the fossils and geologic layers?You may say no.I say yes and
can provide more evidence.
Some
people would say our finely tuned universe with its elegant yet simple laws are
here because of determinism. This means: since the laws exist they are
inevitable consequences.
Do you
think it is rational to have effects without causes? Is it scientific to get all
the universe’s structure, organization and complexity from nothing--as William
Dembski would say, "a free lunch"? In contrast, it is logical that if
the universal laws are elegant and orderly so is the Law Giver.
No. To believe in the universal effect without a
cause is absurd. It is completely nonscientific.Yet some people deny that it takes faith to do this.
I find that to be denial itself. I believe that God,
being outside of all of creation, is the cause.This is a position of faith.It
is logical, it is not absurd.
Granted theoretically evidence for abiogenesis
could exist some day in the future.And
theoretically it could someday be found that there really is a Santa Claus or a
Tooth Fairy.Anything is possible,
right?
But when one honestly examines what is involved
for life to arise by natural causes the person who is not committed to material
causes gives that line of reasoning up.It
is in fact not rational to think that a cell which requires DNA, RNA, proteins,
usable energy etc. and the ability to reproduce could arrive by natural causes.
In reality the requirements for a living-reproducing cell is a very long
list, especially as one gets into the details.
The following is a brief summary of Dr. Humphreys’ theory
that solves this problem.The book
and video (the new DVD includes two additional hours of discussions between Dr.
Humphreys and Dr. John Baumgardner), is much better at explaining this than I
am.But here is my attempt to
summarize this complex subject.
Russell Humphreys, who holds a Ph.D. in physics, wrote the revolutionary
book, Starlight and Time.This book
(and a DVD by the same name) addresses this profound issue that is a stumbling
block for many people.Humphreys’
theory can be summarized as follows:
1. Most people are unaware that evolutionists assume the
universe has no boundary and no center.Humphreys
postulates that the universe has a boundary and Earth is near the center.The Earth-near-the-center idea is based on the biblical creation account,
which is backed up by observation that distant galaxies, from Earth, are visible
in all directions.As the
probabilities of Earth being near the center are so small, evolutionary
cosmologists automatically rule this option out.However, it fits nicely with a universe that was designed.
2. Einstein’s theory of general relativity reveals that
time is distorted by gravitational force.If
the current mass of the universe once existed in a space just 50 times smaller
than it is today, the resulting gravity would be so powerful that it would
radically distort time. Humphreys
says there is strong evidence that the universe has expanded as much as a
thousand times from its beginning.
3. Humphreys shows that time is relative to one’s frame of reference.Scientists have showed this theory is correct by using two atomic clocks
which differed by 1 mile of altitude.This
experiment revealed a factual difference in time.Though the difference of time on Earth is small it reveals that time is
in fact affected by gravity as the theory of relativity predicts.
4. Humphreys theory predicts that during creation week
Earth was in the center of a bounded universe.He suggests that the universe could have been a thousand times smaller
than our current universe which would have resulted in massive gravitational
forces in the center.The first day
of creation may have been like a giant black hole.Black holes not only pull matter toward the center, the gravity is so
fantastically intense that it also pulls light into it, bending the light
backwards.
5. So imagine the Lord created on Day 1 the heavens
and Earth, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the
surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the
waters. Genesis 1:2. Humphreys says, Earth on Day 1 is formless and
in undefined region within the deep, empty of inhabitant or feature. And the
deep is about 2 light years in diameter.
Then on Day 2, Gen 1:6 God said, "Let there be an expanse in the
midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." Humphreys
suggests that there was a rapid stretching out of space not limited by the speed
of light, on Day 2. And God called the expanse "heavens." These
heavens are interstellar space.
Humphreys says, “Since God has not yet created the sun by this point, the
Spirit of God continues to be the light source for the waters below the
expanse.” Humphreys illustrates the Day 2 separation of waters with
a picture of Earth, then a stretch of 20 billion light years which is the
expanse of interstellar space which includes galaxies, stars and our solar
system. Above the 20 billion light years of interstellar space is another layer
of water. This is obviously a very different view of Day 2 of creation
over the conventional canopy model. Humphreys says, "The importance of
the waters above the expanse is that they represent a boundary for the matter of
the created universe."
For Day 3, Dr. Humphreys says, "At sometime during the expansion,
probably on the third day, the waters above the heavens [interstellar space]
reach the event horizon and pass beyond. The event horizon begins rapidly
shrinking toward the earth.”
On Day 4, Humphreys proposes, "The event horizon reaches Earth
early in the morning of the fourth day. During that ordinary day as measured on
Earth, billions of years worth of physical processes take place in the distant
cosmos. . . During the fourth day the distant stars age billions of years, while
their light also has billions of years to travel here. While the light from the
more distant galaxies is traveling to Earth, space continues to expand,
stretching the wavelengths of light and thus shifting them to the red side of
the spectrum."
So at the end of Day 3 Earth passes through the Event Horizon and enters
the cosmic black hole. Meanwhile out of the Timeless Zone our moon and sun were
formed along with galaxies forming, spinning and time is ticking by. If one
could look at a clock on an outer galaxy from Earth (via a very powerful
telescope) the clock would appear to be moving extremely fast. Meanwhile on Day
4 the Earth was in the Timeless Zone and thus in a state of "frozen
animation". While in the Timeless Zone on Day 4 the universe as we
see it was forming over billions of years. At the end of Day 4 Earth
reached the event horizon and time began to proceed again. There was evening and
morning and God called it a good day.
Humphreys makes his own summary statement:
“At the event horizon, clocks would be momentarily stopped relative to clocks
further out.At one critical moment
of the expansion, the event horizon would reach the earth, and clocks would also
momentarily stop.I propose that the
critical moment arrived on earth during the fourth day of creation.During that day, billions of years would elapse in the distant sky,
allowing light from galaxies to reach the earth within one ordinary day of
earth’s time.This theory also
explains the red shifts of galaxies and the cosmic microwave background.As measured by clocks on earth, the age of the universe today could be as
small as the face-value biblical age of about 6000 years.”
This theory provides a cosmological explanation that is
consistent with a plain reading of Genesis chapter 1 and is also scientifically
sound and consistent with the general theory of relativity.Humphreys' theory helps to explain far off galaxies and features as
real and not artificially placed into space by God.This is a very exciting theory that people need to become familiar with
(even if they disagree with the theory) because it provides so much
understandable information about the cosmos.
Secularists have been pushing Earth away from the center of
the universe till finally saying there is no center at all. They take this
position not based on observations but based on materialistic necessity. For
them there cannot be a center and there cannot be a boundary. In fact, their
view of the Big Bang explosion is not from a single place but it exploded from
everywhere at once--thus nullifying a center. So once again we see the honesty
of Richard Lewontin’s words, “We take the side of science [religion] in
spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its
failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite
of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so
stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.”
Evidence for Earth in the center of the universe:
1. Uniform Galaxies. Galaxies are spread out uniformly around us through out the
universe. There appears to about the same number of galaxies in all directions.
2. Quantized Red Shift. Galaxies are bunch up into what is called Quantized Red
Shift. More specifically the galaxies are bunched into groups and the groups are
arranged into concentric circles around the Earth. According to Hubble’s Law,
the distance interval is about 3 million light years between clusters. The
mathematics are such that if you move Earth out 2 million light years away from
our present central position, the red shift disappears into a random pattern.
Quantized Red Shift has been observed for many years now and was identified by
William Tifft. By 1997 the data was so strong it is no longer questioned.
3. Rotating universe around an axis. Dr. Humphreys has
noted that there is evidence that the entire universe is revolving around a
central axis and Earth is near the central axis. The evidence includes: A
polarization plane of the radio waves from distant galaxies display an angle.
The angle getsEvidence Press Products bigger further out into the universe. The angles can be explained
by a magneto effect and the universe is moving around a central access. (I
likely have some of these details wrong.) There is more to it so I recommend the
Starlight and Time DVD where Dr. Humphreys himself explains the evidence.
Some additional information that is pertinent to the subject:
An article from John Hartnett in TJ (Technical Journal -- An Answers in Genesis
Journal) vol 19(1) 2005 states, "This is what Edwin Hubble concluded;
his observations of the galaxies' red shifts indicated to him that we are at the
center of a symmetric matter distribution. But Hubble rejected his own
conclusion -- that we are in a very special place -- on philosophical grounds.
And Hubble wasn't alone in realizing the situation: "people need to be
aware that there is a range of models that could explain the observations,"
Ellis argues. "For instance, I can construct you a spherically symmetrical
universe with Earth at its center, and you cannot disprove it based on
observations." Ellis has published a paper on this. "You can only
excluded on philosophical grounds. In my view there is actually nothing wrong in
that. What I want to bring into the open is the fact that we are using
philosophical criteria in choosing our models. A lot of cosmology tries to hide
that."
Keep in mind that the Big Bang advocates cannot tolerate a center because it
would statistically place us in a very special place.
Carl Sagan said, “. . . the delusion that we have some privileged position in
the cosmos . . .” From Sagan's book, Pale Blue Dot His point was to say
that we are meaningless and have no significance in the universe.
On the contrary, with Earth in the center of the universe is a message to modern
humans that God considers us to be very special.
