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Powerful Message from Space

How the message convinced Einstein

Powerful Message from Space

By Ike Amorin - Notes from my readings and study

Introduction

In the last few decades or so there have been great discoveries that are pointing skeptics to the God of the Bible. Lately scientists are discussing the “Fine Tuning Event” versus the “Chaotic Event.” Many astronomers believe now that the Universe was finely tuned and that it did not happen by accident. It has been proven that Time and Space had a beginning, what some call “a point of creation.” The latest discoveries in astronomy and in cosmology point to the question “Is there now evidence for God?” And, “Is the message from space telling us about God?”

What Astronomers are Finding

What astronomers and cosmologists are finding today is truly astounding. Its headline stuff, if only the media knew how to translate it and put it into simple language. Most people believe the universe began by a cosmic accident. But now many scientists are saying that the universe was created by a highly ordered event rather than a cosmic accident. Science does not have an answer as to how the universe originated but continues in its research and quest.

Here is what some astronomers and cosmologists are saying:

• Dr. Eric Carlson (Astronomer):

"The universe was started by a highly ordered event rather than a chaotic event."

• Dr. Mark Davis (Astronomer, Berkeley University):

"Fine tuning is a remarkable statement and that the universe is on a knife edge."

• Dr. George Smoot (Astronomer, from NASA):

"Cosmologists are very tempted to think someone had a design or plan for the universe."

• Dr. Robert Jastrow (founder of NASA’s Goddard Institute, director of the Mt. Wilson Institute and its observatories):

"For a scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance he is about to conquer the highest peak as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."

Fine Tuned Universe

Lately astronomers have discovered primeval galaxies and they give a clue to the beginning of the universe. In those primeval galaxies there are cosmic micro waves in the background. This micro wave radiation is the closest astrophysicists have gone to the beginning of the universe. In micro radiation there are wrinkles.

The fine precision balance of the wrinkles in the radiation is crucial for life as we know it today. The balance of precision of these wrinkles has to be 10 to the power of 60, that's 1 followed by 60 zeros. The fine tuning of energy expansion and gravitational traction has to be absolutely finely balanced. If the expansion rate was faster, galaxies would form too fast for life to exist and if it was slower the universe would collapse. But someone or something set the fine tuned balance for the universe to exist today.

The universe is a fine tuned environment; there is a foundational constancy in nature. The primal mystery is who or what fine tuned the universe? This is the glaring mystery which astronomers and cosmologists don't have an answer for.

The Expanding Universe

Edwin Hubble made the greatest discovery in astronomy by proving that the universe is expanding and that it had a beginning. His evidence convinced Einstein. Eventually Einstein came to believe that there is a God. Einstein said, “The scientist is possessed by the sense of the universe causation...his religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.”

Einstein, who for years was a leading advocate of the Steady State theory, strongly opposed those holding to a beginning for the Universe. Finally, faced with overwhelming evidence for a beginning, Einstein wrote of his desire “To know how God created this world… I am not interested in this or that phenomenon....I want to know His thought, the rest are details.”

In his book on Albert Einstein, author Walter Isaacson told of a dinner party in Berlin where everybody assumed Einstein was an atheist. Everyone was stunned when Einstein responded in the flowing way: “No, I have a deep feeling of faith, a deep religiosity that comes from my appreciation of the way the Lord made the universe.” He continued and said, “I was like a child walking into a library, and you see the books and you know somebody must have written them, and you see them ordered and you know somebody must have ordered them, and there’s a sense of awe that’s manifest in that, where you kind of understand that there’s an order underlying everything and the more you appreciate it, the more humble you become in the fact of it…”

All of today's evidence shows that the universe is constantly expanding. And if it's expanding, it must have had a beginning. In Scripture we read, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in” (Isaiah 40:21-22). Interesting to read that God had stretched and spread out the heavens long ago before science discovered it.

The Limits of Science

Science has no laws or observations to show how something could have come from nothing. It doesn't even have a theory to propose such an event. Science can observe only what is in existence and study the formations but origins are outside of its domain. The ultimate origin of the universe is impossible for science to study, as Milton Rothman (physicist) states, “there is no way of obtaining evidence concerning a prior existence” (i.e., before the big bang).

Robert Jastrow writes: "Consider the enormity of the problem. Science has proven that the Universe exploded into being at a certain moment. It asks, ‘what cause produced this effect?’ ‘Who or what put the matter and energy into the universe?’ And science cannot answer these questions, because, according to the astronomers, in the first moments of its existence the Universe was compressed to an extraordinary degree, and consumed by heat of fire beyond human imagination."

Jastrow also said, "There is no doubt that a parallel exists between the big bang as an event and the Christian notion of creation from nothing." Ex Nilho! (Something created out of nothing).

So what we understand from these scientists is that it is most likely impossible for science ever to fathom how the universe began and how matter and energy came into existence in order to start the universe. As science continues its research into the twenty first century it has yet to come up with a natural explanation for the universe's origin. It would seem that the supernatural explanation found in Hebrews 11:3 is the best one we have: "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." This kind of faith is very reasonable.

The Best Explanation for the Cause of the Universe

Cosmology faces the universe's greatest mystery, who or what began the universe. Was it an outside job! The renowned philosopher Baruch Spinoza logically deduced that the First Cause had to be not only independent of its creation, but infinite as well. The First Cause had to be unlimited, because if it were limited, it would have to be limited by some other thing (it couldn't be limited by nothing), and it wouldn't be completely independent any longer. So this entity which requires nothing else for its existence must be without limits - infinite. Therefore the First Cause must be eternal, transcending time and space.

In the Hebrew Bible God describes Himself as “I AM” and “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). This succinctly implies God’s timelessness, His unique divinity, and causeless existence. He is the necessary One who owes His existence to no one and nothing else. In Psalm 90:2 we read, “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

Since the origin of the universe is unknown to science, Isaiah tells us that no one can fathom the understanding of the Creator. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?...Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator...” (Isaiah 40:26, 28).

What About the Evolution Theory?

Many scientists are now questioning the viability of the Evolution theory. With the latest discoveries in the areas of astronomy, and astrophysics, scientists are seeing more and more that the evolution theory does not hold very well. Here are a few quotes from some famous scientists:

• Sir Fred Hoyle (British astronomer) quoted, “The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way [Evolution] is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.”

• Pierre-Paul Grassé (French Acadmie des Sciences) says, “To insist, even with Olympian assurance, that life appeared quite by chance and evolved in this fashion, is an unfounded supposition which I believe to be wrong and not in accordance with the facts.”

• Dr. Stephen J. Gould (Professor of geology and Paleontology, Harvard University) writes, “Paleontologists (and evolutionary biologists in general) are famous for their facility in devising plausible stores but they often forget that plausible stories need not be true.”

There are many more who could be quoted but for the purpose of space I have confined this booklet to a short read.

Cosmology

Cosmology is the study of the universe as a whole - its structure, origin, and development. Cosmology is not just for PhD’s but for everyone. Dr. George Roche (a historian) said that cosmology “really does matter, and matter very much, how we think about the cosmos.” What Roche is saying is that our concept of the universe shapes our world view, our philosophy of life and the decisions and actions that we make.

Let’s say that for some the universe was not created and came about by accident. This would mean then that the universe has no meaning and human life has no purpose because we are accidents by random processes. Therefore a mechanical chain of events determines everything and the “Universe” is the only ultimate reality. This would also mean that morality, ethics, and the sense of being and worth may be temporarily useful but ultimately irrelevant and meaningless.

On the flip side, if the universe was created then there must be reality beyond the confines of the universe and the Creator is the ultimate reality. Therefore the Creator is the source of life and establishes its purpose and meaning. It is the Creator’s personality which defines personality and the Creator’s character which defines morality.

The point is this – to study the origin and development of the universe is to pursue the meaning and purpose of life. Why was I born? What is the ultimate purpose of my life? I believe that we cannot deny that cosmology has deep philosophical and theological consequence. But there are those who do not make this connection or acknowledge this relationship.

Dr. Francis Collins (director of the Human Genome Project) made that connection. He said, “I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" "Why does mathematics work, anyway?" "If the universe had a beginning, who created it?" "Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms?" "Why do humans have a moral sense?" "What happens after we die?"” He continues, “But reason alone cannot prove the existence of God. Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind. You have to hear the music, not just read the notes on the page. Ultimately, a leap of faith is required.” Collins was an atheist who became a believer in God later in life.

Powerful Message from Space

In Psalm 19:1-4 we read, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…”

What this passage is saying is that the heavens – space and the universe – are communicating a constant powerful message. Day after day and night after night they are displaying knowledge and speaking volumes of the glory of its Creator. Because one can learn something about an artist or an architect by their work, we can know something about God by studying His creation. Scriptures plainly teach that the universe was created by God: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). There is abundant evidence of God’s glory in creation. If people choose to ignore God’s revelation in his creation, it is not because of a lack of evidence: “Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…” (Psalm 19:4).

The message extends everywhere. In nature and in the universe there is a clear message about the Creator who brought everything into existence. The reason people do not see the evidence is primarily moral, and not just intellectual. We read in Romans that they “…suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools…” (Romans 1:18-22).

The evidence is there but the problem is that people do not want to submit to God primarily because of their moral condition. There is no need for great education to grasp the evidence.

It is a silent witness. It speaks with unwritten words to everyone alike (Psalm 19:3). In fact, being educated in the speculations of proud people may hinder one from grasping the simplicity of God’s revelation of himself in creation.

The Magi who went to see Jesus after he was born saw the message up in space. They followed a particular bright star and were aware of its meaning, and it pointed to the Scriptures. The Hebrew priests searched the Scriptures and found where the Messiah, Jesus would be born. Then the Magi went and were guided by that star and worshiped Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12).

Yes, the heavens are always declaring the glory of God and pointing to him and revealing his invisible qualities; his eternal power and divine nature.

Astronomers and God

In the last decade astronomers have made the greatest discoveries of all time concerning the universe. No other generation has witnessed so many discoveries about the universe as ours. With new instruments and probes like the COBE satellite, the Hubble telescope and in the new measurements and observations of the universe, we are discovering some characteristics of the Creator who fashioned it all.

Sir Fred Hoyle (British astrophysicist) says,

“A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”

A good number of astronomers are becoming deists, meaning that they believe in a Creator, Designer or Supreme Intelligent Being. But some do not necessarily believe in a personal God such as the God of the Bible. There are those that are on the periphery. Then there are those who hold to the God of the Bible, the Judea-Christian God and faith.

The discovery of design in the universe is having a profound theological impact on astronomers.

Paul Davies (author of God & The New Physics) has moved from promoting atheism to conceding that “the laws [of physics]... seem themselves to be the product of exceedingly ingenious design.” He further testifies: “There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all...It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature's numbers to make the universe...The impression of design is overwhelming.”

George Greenstein (astronomer, book: The Symbiotic Universe) “As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency - or, rather, Agency - must be involved. Is it possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific proof of the existence of a Supreme Being? Was it God who stepped in and so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?”

Tony Rothman (theoretical physicist) concluded his recent essay with these words:

“The medieval theologian who gazed at the night sky through the eyes of Aristotle and saw angels moving the spheres in harmony has become the modern cosmologist who gazes at the same sky through the eyes of Einstein and sees the hand of God not in angels but in the constants of nature...When confronted with the order and beauty of the universe and the strange coincidences of nature, it's very tempting to take a leap of faith from science into religion. I am sure many physicists want to. I only wish they would admit it.”

Arno Penzias (astronomer who won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of cosmic background radiation) he remarked:

“Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life, and one which has an underlying (one might say "supernatural") plan.”

Edward Harrison (cosmologist) makes this deduction: “Here is the cosmological proof of the existence of God - the design argument of Paley - updated and refurbished. The fine-tuning of the universe provides prima facie evidence of deistic design. Take your choice: blind chance that requires multitudes of universes or design that requires only one. . . Many scientists, when they admit their views, incline toward the theological or design argument.”

Words and expressions used by scientists:

Somebody fine tuned nature, super intellect, monkeyed, overwhelming design, miraculous, hand of God, ultimate purpose, God's mind, exquisite order, very delicate balance, exceeding ingenious, supernatural Agency, supernatural plan, tailor-made, Supreme being, and providentially crafted. Obviously these words and expressions apply to a Person.

Dr. Francis Collins admitted, “As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.”

The evidence is there not only in space but even in our own bodies. Nature attests clearly to a Creator God who planned it all.

God – the Creator of the Universe

The Cosmic Creator must exist outside of time. Nothing in the universe can go back before the creation event, but the Creator must, if he started the process. This Creator has to be timeless and boundless or simply be outside of time and space.

The God of the Bible fits so perfectly this Creator. He declared Himself as a non-created Being and as a causeless existence: "I AM WHO I AM". He is the necessary One who owes His existence to no one. He is timeless and infinite, He has no beginning - He just purely exists, absolutely independent of the universe.

No other religious books tell of a deity who fits the picture of a timeless God as well as the Scriptures (Psalm 90:2). The religions during the Old Testament times were worshiping anthropomorphic deities like the harvest gods, war gods, sun gods, moon gods and fertility gods and goddesses. But the God of the Bible is not limited to the harvest, the sun, moon or whatever inside the universe. He is not limited to what exists in the universe, He is beyond it. Even the present day religions do not view time as such a relative thing. Most of them have gods who are restricted to place as well as time, tribal deities who could help their people on the hills but not on the plains.

Archaeologist John Romer pointed out that the God of the Hebrews was unique among all other gods because He had the ability to move through time and space, transcending them and leading his people over geographical distances and over many generations. Sir Fred Hoyle too recognizes “the Judaeo-Christian idea of a deity outside the Universe as a unique concept among the world's early religions.” Solomon admitted that the temple he had built was incapable of holding Him, and that even heaven and the heaven of heavens could not contain Him (1 Kings 8:27).

Finally some scientists who are true to science are admitting that the evolution theory does not square up with the constant development of scientific research and discoveries. The more humanity probes into the universe the more it will tell that someone had to fine tune the whole thing! Psalm 19 says that, “The heavens [universe] declare the glory of God the skies [space] proclaim the work of His hands.”

Yes, there is a powerful message from space and it’s telling us about God. “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

Humanity cannot ignore this message. It is loud and clear since the beginning of time and space. The Creator has not left His creation alone to grapple in the dark and find the one responsible for the universe. He has communicated to His creation from the very beginning (the Scriptures). And in these last days or epoch He has revealed Himself supremely, in flesh, through His Son Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14 Colossians 1:15-20).

How about you? What is your cosmology, your world view? Where do you stand in light of what has been said? The evidence is there. I encourage you to read Jeremiah 29:11-13.

Bibliography

Show Me God, by Fred Heeren, 1995 Searchlight Publications, Wheeling, Illinois.

The Creator and the Cosmos, by Hugh Ross, 1995 Navpress Publishing Group, Colorado Springs.

The Fingerprint of God, by Hugh Ross, 1991 Promise Publishing Co. Orange, California.

Einstein – the Life of a Genius, by Walter Isaacson, 2009 Collins Design, New York.

The Purpose Guided Universe, by Bernard Haisch, 2010 New Page Books, New Jersey.

The Truth Behind the New Atheism, by David Marshall, 2007, Harvest House, Oregon.

Darwin’s Leap of Faith, by John Ankerberg & John Weldon, 1998 Harvest House Publishers, Oregon.

The Case for the Creator, by Lee Strobel, 2004 Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Language of God, by Francis Collins, 2006 Free Press, New York.

A Skeptics Guide to Faith, by Philip Yancey, 2009 Zondervan, Michigan.

Beyond Opinion, General Editor Ravi Zacharias, 2007 Thomas Nelson, Dallas.

Various articles from scientific periodicals on astronomy were used.

Copyrighted 2011, Amardeus Canada Inc. Cambridge, Ontario. All rights reserved.

Email: amardeus@

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