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![Biblical Cosmology
By Hendrik Goltzius (after) (Holland, Mülbracht, 1558-1617), Hendrik Goltzius (Holland,
Mülbracht [now Bracht-am-Niederrhein], 1558-1617) - Image:
http://collections.lacma.org/sites/default/files/remote_images/piction/ma-31875301-
O3.jpgGallery: http://collections.lacma.org/node/688294 archive copy at the Wayback Machine,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27350575](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1430biblicalcosmology-250114133236-8ceebab9/75/A-Biblical-Cosmology-Physical-Science-1430-1-2048.jpg)
![Cosmic Order: A Comprehensible Universe
The 2nd
Law of Thermodynamics Revealed
Of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Even they will perish, but You will remain;
And all of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they
will be changed.
Psalm 102: 25-26 LSB
[emphasis added]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1430biblicalcosmology-250114133236-8ceebab9/75/A-Biblical-Cosmology-Physical-Science-1430-9-2048.jpg)
![Multiverse or Single Universe
• God created a single universe [Genesis 1]
• God will bring this universe to an end [2Peter 3]
• God will create a “new heavens and new earth”[Revelation
21]
• God tells us he created to bring Himself glory and reveals
Himself in His creation [Romans 1]
• This requires that a multiverse would be understandable
and perceptible
It isn’t](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1430biblicalcosmology-250114133236-8ceebab9/75/A-Biblical-Cosmology-Physical-Science-1430-16-2048.jpg)
![Growth and Change
Foundational statement: God Created of Heaven and Earth (Gen
1:1)
• Creation in 6 Days [Genesis 1,2]
• Day of Rest established [Genesis 2, Exodus 20]
• Antediluvian World [Genesis 3-6]
• Catastrophe [Genesis 6, 7, 8]
• Postdiluvial World [Genesis 8 – Revelation 22]
• The Great Tribulation [Matthew 24:21]
• Return of Christ [Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Peter,
Revelation]
• Millennial Kingdom [Revelation 20]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1430biblicalcosmology-250114133236-8ceebab9/75/A-Biblical-Cosmology-Physical-Science-1430-17-2048.jpg)
A Biblical Cosmology, Physical Science 1430
- 1. Biblical Cosmology By HendrikGoltzius (after) (Holland, Mülbracht, 1558-1617), Hendrik Goltzius (Holland, Mülbracht [now Bracht-am-Niederrhein], 1558-1617) - Image: http://collections.lacma.org/sites/default/files/remote_images/piction/ma-31875301- O3.jpgGallery: http://collections.lacma.org/node/688294 archive copy at the Wayback Machine, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27350575
- 2. Cosmology κόσμος (cosmos) = world(complete) λογία (logia) = study of = study of that which exists (existence, universe) = The branch of astronomy that is the study of the structure and evolution of the universe. Cosmogony κοσμογονία (cosmogonia) = Astrophysical study of the origin and history of the universe = Distinguished from cosmology by limiting to the narrative of beginning and formation • May be represented by a specific model of the origin and evolution of the universe
- 3. A complete cosmology •CreationNarrative (the cosmogony) •Cosmic Order •Cosmic Entities •Temporal Framework •Growth and Change •Ending
- 4. Creation Narrative In thebeginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- 5.
- 6. Common Models ofthe Narrative • No literal Adam • No global flood • Genesis and Gospel Genealogies only allegorical / figurative • Grand Theory of Evolution explanation • God exits, but is not active in the ongoing world Old Earth Creation • May have literal or non- literal Adam • Separate creation event • No global flood , possibly local and limited. • Evolutionary geologic ages • Evolutionary biological processes explanatory • Genesis 1 Days limited to descriptive • Literal Adam • Global Flood • Genealogies are meaningful and trustworthy • Spontaneous creation • Genesis 1 Days sequence and content literal/meaningful
- 7. Cosmic Order: Comprehensible Understanda ble Humanscan interact with and study it Real It exists and can be experienced Definable Humans can measure and describe it Material It is composed of real matter The Cosmos Can Be Known
- 8. Cosmic Order: AComprehensible Universe The 1st Law of Thermodynamics Revealed Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Genesis 1:3 LSB Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. And on the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Genesis 2:1-2 LSB (emphasis added) Energy/ Matter Create d By God Stoppe d Creatin g Energy/ Matter No Longer Created Matter/Energy is Neither Created nor Destroyed
- 9. Cosmic Order: AComprehensible Universe The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics Revealed Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You will remain; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. Psalm 102: 25-26 LSB [emphasis added]
- 10. Cosmic Order: AComprehensible Universe Thermodynamic Laws 1st Law: Energy/matter constant and conserved 2nd Law: Natural process from high order to low Low Entropy time High Entropy
- 11. Cosmic Order: LowEntropy Universe • 2nd Law of Thermodynamics = Entropy of the Universe is Increasing • Our Universe currently has lower entropy (high order) Low Entropy time High Entropy time Further back in time = even lower entropy
- 12. Cosmic Entities It isHe who inhabits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; Isaiah 40:22a LSB
- 13. Cosmic Entities: TheCircle of the Earth and Kepler’s Laws
- 14. Cosmic Entities It isHe who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to inhabit. Isaiah 40:22b LSB
- 15. Cosmic Order: Fine-TunedConstants • Gravitational G = 6.674 30(15) x 10-11 • Electrostatic ke = 8.987 551 786 2(14) x 109 • Sommerfeld (alpha) α = 0.007 297 352 564 3(11) • Cosmological constant Λ = 2.888 x 10-122
- 16. Multiverse or SingleUniverse • God created a single universe [Genesis 1] • God will bring this universe to an end [2Peter 3] • God will create a “new heavens and new earth”[Revelation 21] • God tells us he created to bring Himself glory and reveals Himself in His creation [Romans 1] • This requires that a multiverse would be understandable and perceptible It isn’t
- 17. Growth and Change Foundationalstatement: God Created of Heaven and Earth (Gen 1:1) • Creation in 6 Days [Genesis 1,2] • Day of Rest established [Genesis 2, Exodus 20] • Antediluvian World [Genesis 3-6] • Catastrophe [Genesis 6, 7, 8] • Postdiluvial World [Genesis 8 – Revelation 22] • The Great Tribulation [Matthew 24:21] • Return of Christ [Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Peter, Revelation] • Millennial Kingdom [Revelation 20]
- 18.
- 19. EVENT/ERA STAGE DURATIONPHASE ROCK-SCALE Postdiluvial Era 4000 years Modern ~300 years Residual The Deluge Recessive ~220 days Dispersive Abative Inundatory ~110 days Zenethic Ascending 40 days Eruptive Antediluvian Era 1700 years Antediluvial Creation Event Formative 2 days Biotic 2 days Derivative Foundationa l 2 days Ensuing 0 Days Primordial TIME-SCALE Postdiluvial Era (4,300 years) The Deluge Antediluvian Era Creation Restyled from Tas Walker, Biblical Geology, http://biblicalgeology.net/images/stories/model/figure1.jpg Time-Rock Transformation Biblical “Geologic Column”
- 20.
- 21. But the dayof the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be found out. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 2 Peter 3:10-11 LSB (emphasis added)
- 22. 173,880 days 7 heptads= 49 years (a Jubilee) 62 heptads = 434 years Messiah the Prince “Cut Off” 1 heptad = 7 years The Great Tribulation Time of the Gentiles Millennial Reign 457 BC 30 AD When? How Long? From the going forth of the decree: Artexerxes I
- 23. The Age ofthe Earth Temporal Framework
- 24. Geologic Time (Ussher)Scaled to a Calendar Formation of Earth - 6,028 y Noah’s Flood - 4,370 y Tower of Babel - 4,268 y Abraham - 4,018 y Moses and the Exodus - 3,513 y Jesus’ First Advent - 2,026 y Reformatio n - 505 y
- 25. From Adam toJacob The lifetimes of the Patriarchs The Flood
- 26. • Archbishop ofArmagh (Church of Ireland) • Primate of all Ireland 1625– 1656. • Prolific scholar • Published Chronology of the Earth Creation occurred the night preceding 23 October 4004 BC Archbishop James Ussher 1581 - 1656
- 27. • German astronomer, mathematician •Imperial Mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II • Considered to be Founder of Modern Astronomy • Considered to be Founder of Modern Optics • Known for his laws of planetary motion Creation occurred 3992 BC Johannes Kepler 1571 - 1630
- 28. • English churchman •Rabbinical scholar • Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge • Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Creation as the autumnal equinox, 3929 BC John Lightfoot 1602 - 1675 By Robert Cooper - National Portrait Gallery: NPG D29602, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.ph p?curid=37038712
- 29. • Fellow ofthe Royal Society • Mathematician, Physicist, Astronomer, Alchemist, Theologian • Designed and built first reflecting telescope • First theoretical calculation of speed of sound • Fellow of Trinity College • Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at University of Cambridge 4000 BC Isaac Newton 1642 – 1726/27
- 30. Cosmology Comparison Biblical Cosmology •AllCreation in 6 Days •Christ was raised from the dead •Lazarus was raised from the dead •Sin is an offense against God Evolution Cosmology •Billions of Years •There is no resurrection of the dead •There is no resurrection of the dead •There is no sin
- 31. Marriage Trinity Substitutionary Atonement Sin andDeath Man Distinct from Animals Judgment of Sin Biblical Cosmology
Editor's Notes
- #1 The Creation of the Four Elements as published by Holland in 1589 from Ovid's book: Metamorphoses
- #2 from Ancient Greek κόσμος (cosmos) 'the universe, the world' and λογία (logia) 'study of’ Every worldview has essential components to answer the fundamental questions of life: who am I? why am I here? An essential part of that system is an understanding of where everything else came from. That is your cosmogony. The narrative (story) of history leading up to the present (from the beginning), and from the present into the future (end).
- #5 God has given details in the creation record. In those details, He has clearly defined individual periods of time, each bracketed by words and description that indicates these are normal days. Each of these are easily, clearly understood as meaning what we know as a 24-hour day. Cycles of light and darkness. Our God does not tell stories just to tell a good story. He didn’t place these details here just to identify function and form. He is a greater God than either of those views acknowledges. The detail in the words reveals sequence. You could say the days are clearly sequenced. This may seem trivial, but stay with me… There is a first day. It was the first. There can never be another first day of all of creation. There is a second day which is also unique in being the only ever second day of all of creation. It follows the first day, and comes before the third day. And so on… It may seem trivial. But, understanding and studying this timing – first, and only first day – is an important component of our young-earth creation theology. The sequencing, the use of the words “first, second, third, etc” clearly mark these as what we today understand as a normal twenty-four hour day. These are clearly designated in the text as normal cycles of light and dark, clearly identified for a reader to understand the meaning. These are normal days. Note: on Day Four, with the creation of the stars and planets, there is no statement regarding any formation of life on those objects. This does not mean life was not created on extraterrestrial planets. However, it is interesting that it is not stated if there were life created.
- #6 All Christians would most likely recognize Evolution is a Theological View. That it is distinct and different from the theological view of Creationism. Atheistic Evolution makes a theological statement. It is based in a theological statement – that statement that there is no supernatural involvement in the origin of the universe. This is why evolution is not compatible with a Biblical view of Genesis. Old Earth Creation is a theological position, as is a Young-Earth Creation view. Old Earth Genesis 1 days: the meaning is only to show a purposeful God. There was purpose to the meaning, but not to any actual events. Young Earth Genesis 1 days: God is purposed in what He is doing on each day, and in the sequence of events on each day. If the stories in God’s Word are only there for analogy, only there as examples or types, then we can pull truth from any similar “story”. Use an example of trying to establish truth: for example, imagine a courtroom. The lawyer asks the witness, “Where were you when these events happened?” “When was this?” Or a scientist conducting research. This scientist will perform an experiment. They are careful to note the place and time along with the observations. When reporting on this later, they have the real event to “reach back too” as having actually occurred in real space and time. To defend any conclusions they draw from the experiment, they understand the necessity of establishing the place and time the data was collected. Being able to place the data in a real time and at a real location is essential to the value of the data. We celebrate birthday and wedding anniversaries because they remind us of a real event that occurred in real location at a known real time. The truth of God’s Word are valid for many reasons. One of those is that for us they are based in real events in real locations that occurred in real time. Jesus lived as a physical being - he could be touched. People watched Him eat real food. Humans watched Him get tired, sleep, wakeup – just like any other human does. They watched Him die. They witnessed and saw Him alive after being dead. We can place these events on a real timeline and in real space or location – we know how long ago this all occurred and we can identify the places where these occurred. We visit and celebrate these locations because they are real locations associated with important events. If the genealogies in Genesis are figurative only, then the genealogies in Matthew and Luke are figurative only also. Therefore, Gospel claims of the Kingship of Jesus are false. The Bible is a real written account. It isn’t just good stories that teach us important life lessons. Clive Staples Lewis’ Space Trilogy and Narnia Novels, or Tolkien’s Novels of Middle Earth all have great life lessons in them. But, they aren’t real. They are fantasy. If both Lewis’ and Tolkien’s novels and the Bible all contain great life lessons, does it matter if any of it is real? The answer is, “Of course”. First, we know that Lewis and Tolkien and others have drawn on truth from God’s Word in weaving their stories of fantasy. But, they are still fantasy. Without the location-time anchor, we could use any story. The Bible stands apart because it is history. It is real. The events did happen. And they happened at a time we can establish and in locations we can recognize. A real physical David slew a real physical Goliath. A real physical Daniel was thrown into a real physical lion’s den. So, what about Adam and Eve?
- #13 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22 [NASB])
- #15 Sommerfeld constant - quantifies the strength of the electromagnetic interaction between elementary charged particles.
- #19 When the earth was created on Day one, the rocks would be all igneous, if God didn’t create other rock types (and, we cannot preclude that He did or didn’t). On Day Three of creation, there is clear statements of events that would have produced sediment and sedimentary rocks, as well as metamorphic rocks. And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:9-10 ESV
- #22 69 x 7 = 483 years 483 years of 360 days each = 173,880 days
- #24 16.49 years / day 0.687 years / hour 8,555.78 years / minute 142.6 years / second
- #26 Archbishop of Armagh is the Anglican ecclesiastical head of the church of Ireland Primate of All Ireland means he was the senior churchman on the island of Ireland “Primate is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in the Middle Ages there was an intense rivalry between the two archbishoprics as to seniority. Since 1353 the Archbishop of Armagh has been titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that they are the senior churchmen in the island of Ireland, the Primate of All Ireland being the more senior.” proleptic Julian calendar is produced by extending the Julian calendar to dates preceding AD 4 when its quadrennial leap year stabilized. The leap years actually observed between its official implementation in 45 BC and AD 4 were erratic, see the Julian calendar article for details.
- #28 The Following is from Wikipedia: The precise time often cited as Lightfoot's moment of Creation, 9 a.m., and the erroneous belief that he placed his Creation on the same date as Ussher are both due to a partially fabricated 'quote' given by Andrew Dickson White in A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896):[11] [I]n the seventeenth century, in his great work, Dr. John Lightfoot, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and one of the most eminent Hebrew scholars of his time, declared, as the result of his most profound and exhaustive study of the Scriptures, that "heaven and earth, centre and circumference, were created all together, in the same instant, and clouds full of water," and that "this work took place and man was created by the Trinity on October 23, 4004 B.C., at nine of the clock in the morning."[12] The phrases "this work took place" and "on October 23, 4004 B.C." were added by White. Lightfoot's actual words are on the first and third pages of A few and new Observations upon the Book of Genesis (1642). All of the following quotes are from The Whole Works of the Rev. John Lightfoot, D. D. (13 vols., 1822-25). Heaven and earth, center and circumference, were created together in the same instant; and clouds full of water … were created in the same instant with them, ver. 2 [of Genesis, chapter 1]. … Twelve hours did the heavens thus move in darkness; and then God commanded, and there appeared, light to this upper horizon,—namely, to that where Eden should be planted.[13] Ver. 26 [of Genesis, chapter 1].—Man created by the Trinity about the third hour of the day, or nine of the clock in the morning.[14] Thus Lightfoot's instant of Creation was nightfall, the beginning of the first twelve hours of darkness of the first day of Creation. His "nine of the clock in the morning" referred to the creation of man. That Lightfoot's day of Creation occurred during 3929 BC can be deduced from the last page of the "Prolegomena" of The Harmony of the Four Evangelists, among themselves, and with the Old Testament (1644). The quoted year of 1644 must be subtracted from 5573, not 5572, to obtain 3929 BC, during which year 1 of the world began at the (autumnal) equinox. And now, he that desireth to know the year of the world, which is now passing over us,—this year, 1644,—will find it to be 5572 years just finished since the creation; and the year 5573 of the world's age, now newly begun, this September, at equinox.[15] The only date for the equinox given by Lightfoot was in a 'private' undated sermon entitled "The Sabbath Hallowed": That the world was made at equinox, all grant,—but differ at which, whether about the eleventh of March, or twelfth of September; to me in September, without all doubt.[16] September 12 in the Julian calendar is only applicable near 1644, not 3929 BC. Apparently Lightfoot did not realize that the excessive length of the average Julian year would substantially shift the date of the equinox in a year millennia earlier. If Lightfoot had attempted to calculate the autumnal equinox of 3929 BC, he, like Ussher, would have used the Rudolphine Tables, which placed the equinox on October 25, versus October 22 using modern equations.
- #30 When we choose – and we are choosing – whether we hold to an old earth or a young earth or we ignore the issue assuming it doesn’t matter. But, those choices have consequences. Let’s be clear on this issue. Let’s be honest with one another. Today, to choose and age of the earth of 4.5 billion years is to acknowledge the scientific claims as authoritative. To choose an age of the earth of 6,000 years is to acknowledge revealed truth as authoritative. Some will disagree, and claim we can hold to a 4.5 billion age of the earth and still do so under an authoritative word of God. They invoke a hermeneutic of scripture which claims the times and events in Genesis 5 are incomplete. Or, in some way not to be used as literal times. The ages of the Patriarch’s listed in Genesis 5 must in some way or another not be meant to represent real times. This hermeneutic requires that God incorporated these dates with some other purpose than to represent dates. He was not clear. Therefore, we can look to human reason for clarity. <CLICK> Yet, when science also claims there is no resurrection from the dead, the old-earth hermeneutic shifts. Now, we can accept God’s word as authoritative. Science, however, doesn’t agree. Science doesn’t turn to the old-earth position and say, “Oh, OK. As long as you are now talking about resurrection from the dead, we’ll agree that could happen.” No. There is a clear disagreement. We are faced with deciding which to choose. Which to believe. Will we challenge the authority of God and state we can decide? <CLICK> We read of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Science will again claim this does not, cannot, did not occur. We have a choice of making ourselves the authority for truth or confessing revealed truth for what it is. By the way – why did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead? He didn’t have to from any human standpoint. There wasn’t some kind of Biblical law Jesus was upholding. In actuality, Jesus was superseding the physical, natural “laws” or more properly, physical natural processes. Why did He do this? In both John 11 (the account of the resurrection of Lazarus) and John 12 (the Pharisees planning to kill Lazarus because his resurrection was causing people to follow Jesus) show the purpose was to reveal Who Jesus Was – so that we would believe. <CLICK> Science tells us there is no such thing as sin. Moral right and wrong are constructs of culture and individuals. It can shift and change to whatever whim we desire. Because, after all, we are the highest authority. Science challenged and, in their minds, threw down the authority of God, and stepped into that place. Why is science correct regarding the age of the universe, yet not correct regarding resurrection from the dead? Or regarding the existence of something called “sin”? You know - Sin – “is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation.”