And God Said ...

A spooky bit of Science.

That's Felix Whatshisname's balloon; the man who jumped out 24 miles up. Don't tell me that's got something to do with the Bible?

I said this was a spooky bit of science and you'll probably think it's even more far fetched but ...

... do you remember this?

Er, possibly? It's a map of the sky showing radiation stuff that proves that we had a big bang ...

Big inflation!

... OK big inflation; a beginning, something from nothing, just like the Bible says.

Absolutely, but why is it speckled.

I guess because it's got lumpy bits in it.

And those lumpy bits of matter sort of clumped together to form stars and, eventually, planet Earth. Remember, stuff condensed like steam on a cold window.

So it's lumpy - so what?

Well it shouldn't be lumpy. All the calculations, all the clever maths, points to a nice smooth inflation.

But if there weren't lumps we wouldn't be here talking about it! Now that is spooky.

But it gets even spookier. To investigate the lumps, they sent a balloon up ...

click on the picture to see it enlarged

... and they did even more tricky calculations ...

..and found that the lumpiness was caused by sound waves!

Sound? Where from? Space is empty!

Go on, what does the bible say?

Surely not? That's really weird!

Then God said, “Let there be light”

Then God said, “Let there be a dome ..."

Then God said, “Let the water come together ..."

Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky ... "

Then God said, “Let the water be filled ..."

Then God said, “And now we will make human beings"

Are you telling me that the lumpiness is scientifically proved to be the Voice of God?

I couldn't claim that; not yet at least. BUT, yet again, it shows that the people who wrote the Bible down seemed to have a pretty good idea about things which would not be discovered for another 4000 years. If nothing else it IS spooky.

Can we have something nice and simple please. My brain is hurting even more!

Yes. On Tuesday a simple little poem!

Cool!

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 23rd October 

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Six Days or 13.7 billion years?

What a difference a day makes
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be nought

And so the whole universe was completed. By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working. He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working. And that is how the universe was created.

Well, you said you'd try to get out of this one.

I've got a questions for you.

Do I see a trick question coming?

Not at all; a very factual question. When Mrs Armitage next door had her baby girl last year what did you pop through the letter box?

A card, of course.

A what was the picture on the card?

It was a stork, carrying a baby.

Why?

You wouldn't send a picture of mum in the delivery room, would you? Best wishes, Mrs Armitage, glad to see you successfully had sex with Mr Armitrage! Its just a simple baby-ish picture to show where kids come from without the messy bit.

So how would you explain the hugeness of the origin of the universe to people who knew nothing of modern cosmology? You would use a simple picture.

Six days?

And another question: how long is a day?

I'm sure that '24 hours' must be the WRONG answer!

The planet Venus rotates slowly, so a "day" there is about 243 days on earth! Plenty of time each day, then, for homework!"

Plenty of time for playing MP3 tracks!

Out in the universe a "day" could be any length you could imagine.and certainly any length that an infinite God might choose! Even the bible says:-

A thousand years is like a day in God's sight

There's no reason for "God days" to be the same as "earth days". If there is a God then he is outside of space and time. That's what "God" means. So God could, in theory, have created everything instantly. That's what it would seem like to us. God doesn't need days!

I'm beginning to understand.

And one last thing. What does the Bible actually say? And not what you think it says.

"On day one God created light", doesn't it?

Evening passed and morning came—that was the first day.

Evening passed and morning came—that was the second day.

Evening passed and morning came—that was the third day.

O K, I get the point. But I never really noticed. From evening to morning is one night, not even 24 hours. Now I am confused. I never realised ...

And those are the words used in ancient Hebrew as well. There is not the slightest reason to think that the words of Genesis Chapter 1 were ever meant to be taken literally. People in the past have chosen to take them literally, perhaps because it was easier for them to understand. Remember, time is irrelevant to an infinite God.

My brain hurts!

And how about this for a spooky thought? An infinite God could have created the whole universe right now in the last second. He could have put all history and scientific discovery in the brains of humans so we think it's old and we think we know stuff.

That's ridiculous.

How would you know if he did? And there's something even more spooky ... but that can wait until Sunday.

 Next Bible Blog : Sunday 21st October 

the Science of Creation [4]

But what about God creating humans?

But animals first, remember?

Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small”; and it was done. So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.

Go on; show me some really weird animals!

O.K. You asked for it!

Thylacine (extinct)

Aye-aye

Colugo

Glis-glis

Bilby

Dugong

Human

The wierd human is Carl von Linné [Linnaeus], born 1707, died 1778. He invented the system for naming all living creatures. In his system, the thylacine is (was!) "thylacinus cynosephalus", the glis-glis is "myoxus glis", the human is "homo sapiens"; that means "wise man".

So man is just a clever monkey, right?

In fact, that is one of the most misleading pictures that have even been drawn. As usual, various clever people don't agree completely but a simple explanation might be that man [homo sapiens] and the family of apes might, ages and ages ago; millions of years ago, have had "ancestors" in common.

The pink arrow illustrates the idea that the branch of evolution (or the branch of creation!) that leads to humans branched very very early indeed. That's the most modern theory.

After all, although we've all got some of the same bits; but a very large number of different bits!

One expert has said that humans have more bits in common with a hedgehog than with a gorilla. Remember, none of the modern theories that try to explain where we come from have ever said than man was descended from the apes!

Anyway here is a version of the man-to-ape picture as above.

 It suggests that mankind has not "evolved" very much. We have become "monkeys" sitting in front of a computer!

 Don't look at me like that - I don't spend FOR EVER on my laptop!

Anyway... Doesn't the Bible say that God created man specially?

Oh, yes!

And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.” So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.

And doesn't Darwin's evolution thing show that the Bible is all wrong anyway?

Aha! The great "evolution versus the Bible" debate! Probably the biggest and most pointless argument since the Church burnt people at the stake for saying that the earth was in orbit round the sun and was not the centre of the universe!

And this is the man at the centre of the argument!

Charles Robert Darwin, naturalist and geologist. Born 1809, Died 1882

I thought he had a huge beard?

That's typical of the problem with Darwin. So many people think they know about Darwin, what he thought and what he wrote. But so often they are repeating things that other people have said about Darwin; things that are either half-truths or often completely wrong.

Like what?

Like when Darwin published his famous book, almost all the Churches and Christian groups though it was absolutely wonderful; they didn't object at all.

That's not what I've been taught at school. So was Darwin wrong or right?

To answer that, we need to know much more bout him and the people that had similar ideas to him.

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 26th September 

the Science of Creation [3]

Life has Landed

and humans represent a very small selection of vertebrates, which in turn makes up only about one hundredth of all the living creatures on earth.

Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.” So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw. He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number. Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small" and it was done.

But surely, everything evolved. Nothing to do with God?

 1  is algae, descended from that primeval slime - the very beginnings of life.

 2  is a sea cucumber; an animal but not much more than a tube; with food in at the front and poo out at the back. It has no eyes, and some varieties live in the deepest and most inhospitable parts of our oceans.

 3  is a squid, descended from prehistoric creatures and still looking much like its ancient ancestors.

 4  is a coelacanth (pronounced 'seal-a-canth') and that is a prehistoric creature!

Ugly brute; but what's this go to do with evolution?

On December 23rd 1938 this fish was discovered. It was an unknown species and a powerful purple colour. The woman in the picture (Marjorie Courtnay-Latimer) took it to an expert who realised that it was a coelacanth which everybody thought was extinct!

In fact, fossil records suggest the the first coelacanths appeared 410 million years ago! That makes it the oldest fishy species still surviving.

It certainly looks a bit prehistoric.

The problem is that none of these creatures has "evolved" much since, well, almost for ever. Everything has not evolved!

So living animal life began in the sea. Are you telling me that a fish walked up the beach, grew legs, started to breathe air and became a land animal? That's simply not believable.

You are absolutely right, clever teenage person. The most likely explanation is that some form of life moved from sea on to land. But no-one really knows why or how or what it was It is quite hard to imagine how a fish could decide to breathe air normally and move on to land. Why would it want to? Some people have suggested that Land Animals and Sea Animals developed at the same time.

So where does all this leave us?

It shows that, although the Bible version is very simplistic, it does suggest a progession from sea to land. And that progress is under the control of God. It may not be technically right, but, astoundingly, considering when it was written, the basics are "spot on".

But that's not evolution is it? God doing it?

Unfortunately things are not that simple. As we shall begin to see next time. The fat bloke is away this weekend so you'll have to wait a bit longer.

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 25th September 

The Science of Creation [2]

That's Life!

It was a popular TV programme once; but we're looking at how science grapples with the origin of life itself.

OK so far. So where did life come from?
.
A Russian - Born 1894; Died 1980

This man came up with the idea of a primeval soup, a sort of sea of sludge. With all the heat, and great meteors crashing into the fiery hot earth, he guessed that the chemicals of life might mix and change and some sort of living slime might "appear"

Doesn't sound very much like life as we know it!

To continue ...

In 1953 a research student (in America) set up an experiment to see what would happen if he used high voltage electric sparks and high pressure to try to "stir up" certain basic chemicals. Would this home-made "primeval soup" eventually become alive? 

A bit like Frankenstein's monster creature?

Maybe, but it didn't really work. And so far no-one has been able to "create" life! Some scientists suggest that life came from "outer space" and infected the earth, like a disease! Maybe life didn't come from space but from outside our universe. That would fit in well with the idea of God.

The Bible implies that the sea comes before the start of life, although, again, it tells the tale very simply; and not al all scientifically. But it does suggest simple plant life had to come first, a bit like algae from the sea..

Yuk : Slimy

Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear”; and it was done. He named the land “Earth,” and the water which had come together he named “Sea.” And God was pleased with what he saw. Then he commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit; and it was done.

A bit like the idea of a primeval soup? Maybe possible. I'm not convinced. So what came next?

Then God made the sun to rule over the day; and the moon to rule over the night. He also made the stars. Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin; they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth"; and it was done. So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars.

Hang on a minute! God's got it in the wrong order!! Surely the earth evolved after the first stars?

Maybe. Maybe not. Time to take a ride in your imaginary spaceship again.

A question. With all the heat, and smoke, and earthquakes and volcanoes as the earth settles down and starts to become stable; what would the atmosphere be like?

I guess pretty stinky and hot with lots of fire and smoke.

So, to see the sun moon and star from your little spaceship you would need a clear atmosphere and a blue sky.

And that means oxygen! And where do we get oxygen from?"

A bit of biology? Green plants take in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.

Well done, have a merit point! There would certainly be no clear sky until plant life started covering the earth. Yet photosynthesis needs sun, first. Once the sky cleared (in your imagination, looking out from your spaceship) you could see the sun, moon and stars for the first time. From the limited point of view of a theoretical observer on a changing earth, that's when the visible heavens would be "created".

A bit simple again - but remember, the people who wrote these ideas down were not scientists!

But .. I'm confused

The first living stuff, plants and the like, make oxygen.

Correct.

But isn't living stuff partly made of oxygen?

Correct

But ... How can they make oxygen if they haven't got any in the first place? The plants won't be there to make it.

Correct again! At the moment this is one of the many problems that science cannot explain. The calculations do not work out. There isn't enough free oxygen to make the world go round. Of course, it works for God, creating stuff from outside our universe! It's another "which came first?" conundrum; the oxygen to make the plants or the oxygen made by the plants.

What about humans? Descended from the apes?

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 20th September 

The Science of Creation [1]

So, do you want the science first; or the Bible?

Of course, the science!

To help you understand, you need to buy a spaceship!

And a time machine, and set the controls to take you back to about 3 seconds after the "big bang". Well, try to imagine the impossible.

How far back must we go?

Not far! Scientists reckon about 13.7 billion years.

That's 13,700,000,000 years!

Look out of your porthole, and what will you see?

Cool!

No, very hot actually! A few seconds after the "big bang", the whole of space was filled with brilliantly glowing and very hot particles of light. (They're called "photons", if you want the scientific term.)

Photons, 13,7 billion years and what does the Bible say?

In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the waters. Then God commanded, “Let there be light"; and light appeared. God was pleased with what he saw. Evening passed and morning came; that was the first day.

So you're telling me that the guys who wrote the bible; thousands of years ago; they knew about the big bang?

Ancient people did not have the technical skill to understand cosmology. There is no logical explanation as to why the writers of the bible thought that light was the first thing "created". But, scientifically speaking, it was. Maybe God put the idea into their minds! But, from ancient writings, we know that they thought that the earth was flat; with the sky shaped like a dome over the top.

A man has found the end of the world and is poking his head out; a bit like the Truman Show.

It's a film; I'll tell you about it sometime. This diagram gives a simpler picture.

It's not a very scientific idea compared with our level of understanding today, but the words of Genesis were expressed in terms which the people understood then. Look up, and the sky does look like a dome.

There are holes in the sky, where the rain comes in. The holes are small, that's why rain is thin!" : a poem by Spike Milligan

So the bible's wrong, then?

 Maybe not wrong; maybe a bit too child-like for our modern minds. And poetic rather than scientific.

That's a galaxy!

Yes, where stars are made. The science says that all the hot "stuff" started to cool down and clog together in huge lumps; then it started spinning. After millions of years, stars "condensed" out of the hot gasses; a bit like drops of water "condense" on a cold window when mum is cooking.

I'll bet the bible folk didn't get that!

They ancient writings are surprisingly accurate, allowing for the limitations of the authors.

Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the waters and to keep it in two separate places”; and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the waters under it from the waters above it.

In the minds of an ancient Hebrew "waters" could mean "stuff". And separating is much the same as condensing.

He named the dome “Sky.” Evening passed and morning came; that was the second day.

Can't wait to see how you explain the rest of the creation story.

You won't have to wait long!

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 18th September 

Where Did We Come From ? [3]

Big Bang Proved by a Priest and Pigeons?

So, Hubble was convinced that there was a "big bang" but scientists started doing some tricky calculations to see if he was really right. And the thinking went back a bit further.

I can't do maths - so I'll never understand, will I?

Just hang on in there - it's not too hard - YET! We need to look at three men with BIG ideas!

Georges Henri Joseph Edouard Lemaitre : born 1894, died 1966, an astronomer (also a Belgian Priest) suggested that everything came from the "Primeval Atom"; not so much a big lump; but a very special small lump!

Well, he'd be biased, wouldn't he? He was believed in God before he started thinking scientifically.

But the next man didn't think that way.

George Gamow  (from Ukraine), born 1904 died 1968, calculated that all the hydrogen and helium in the universe ...

Not so fast. Explain, please...

Hydrogen and helium; they are the most common gases in the whole universe. There's amazingly huuuuge amounts of the stuff And before George Gamow did his calculations, no one could explain why there was so much in the 'recipe' for the Universe.

 O.K., go on!

 Well, it could be explained by the science of the "big bang".

Ralph Asher Alpher (an American), born 1921 died 2007,  suggested that the evidence of the "big bang" might be found by listening for a particular radio signal from space; the remains of that very first explosion! O.K. More correctly the end result of a very rapid "inflation". So more clever people started to look for this radio signal that would prove the whole theory

They looked with Radio Telescopes, which "see" radio waves, not light waves!

And did they find it?

Once they had dealt with the pigeons

What have pigeons got to do with the "big bang"? Or, is this a joke?

 In 1964, Arno Penzias ...

... was working with Robert Woodrow Wilson at the Bell Laboratories research site at Holmdel, New Jersey (in America).

But the signals from their radio telescope were being spoiled by a nasty hissing sound. First they thought it was interference from New York; then they remembered the pigeons! They climbed into the "big ear" of the telescope and cleared out the piles of pigeon poo! Then they shot the pigeons! But the mystery hissing was still there......

So, after checking their figures again and again, They realised that they had found it!

This "squashed Easter egg" is a picture of the radio signal they found; the remains of the "big bang", detectable throughout the universe!

The hissing sound was EXACTLY what Ralph Alpher's calculations had predicted!

It is called the COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND with a wavelength of approximately 1.9 millimetres. A splendid fact to drop into the conversation at parties!

So the theories were right? Everything did start from...

...NOTHING! Wow!

And this is what Arno Penzias wrote, soon after his discoveries:-

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

Of course, the rules of science cannot explain "something from nothing". That's where faith and religion have something to say. That's where the idea of God comes in.

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 13th September