Asign Observatory Christian Astronomy Blog

Feeble minded?

I recently had a contact from a fellow astronomer, who thanked me for encouragement in Christianity whilst observing the cosmos. He mentioned that a lot of us Christians are percieved as "Feeble minded" among the scientific community.

If any of you have felt this, then may I offer you reassurement? It takes a measured degree of inner strength and courage to stand up and publicly profess your faith in Christ, especially in circles where the science of hard physical proof and evidence is the limit of a lot of participants.

Stand tall and say aloud, I am a believer! Show the world how strong you are by not denying your faith.

God bless you all!

Barry.

Expelled

2:51 PM, 24/3/2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

Along these lines, Ben Stein has created a documentary that will hit movie theaters soon. Take a look at this link:

http://www.expelledthemovie.com/

May the Lord's scientists prevail!

Always ask questions-never think you know it all.

11:04 PM, 14/4/2008 .. Posted by AsignBaz

That looks like it could be an interesting movie...without seeing the whole thing, I can't say if it will be truthful as it seems it may be a touch satirical. That being said, the preview seems to support creationism, so I'll give it a look anyway.

I know I have replied to you on another forum, but I would like to share it here.

The problem with a 6000 year old created universe versus a 15 billion year old (or so) universe.

One good explanation is in gravity induced time-dilation. Scientific study has shown that clocks run slower near sources of mass and gravity, while running faster further away from gravitational sources.

The atomic clocks at sea level on earth, are slower that the same atomic clock on the International Space Station. Here is a shameless cut and paste from a NASA website.

"According to Einstein's theory of gravity and space-time -- called "general relativity" -- clocks in strong gravity tick slower than clocks in weak gravity. Because gravity is weaker on the ISS than at Earth's surface, PARCS should accumulate an extra second every 10,000 years compared to clocks ticking on the planet below. PARCS won't be there that long, but the clock is so stable that it will reveal this effect in less than one year. (Strayer notes that clocks on GPS satellites experience this relativistic phenomenon, too, and that onboard systems must correct for it.)"

So the gist of it is....If we take the bible literally and God created the earth first, then the sun, moon and stars etc, then it logically follows that earth and its immediate spacial neighbourhood would be the centre of the created universe in the beginning. That being so, it would also be the centre of gravity, a "Gravity well". When Einsteins GR is applied, 6 days of creation in earth time is slow, compared to fast running time out on the edge of the universe, with ample time for starlight to get here.

We can't call it "Gods time" because God is not bounded by time. He is eternal and therefore timeless. Even science admits that time had a beginning.

None of us can really say we KNOW for sure, but I am positive that the Lord WANTS us to find out. I bet He loves it when we explore and enquire and get it right.

I have faith in the truth of the bible, and I am sure in time, we will one day put all the pieces together and see how this universe fits in the Lords plan.

Edited by AsignBaz on 19/8/2008 at 11:39 PM