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Index___________________
"...the problem of
epistemological authority - whether the truth of cosmological claims was to be
determined by exercise of the human capacities of sense and reason, by appeal to
biblical revelation, or by some combination of the two...was the central
methodological issue in the Galileo affair. We must also recognize that the
issue of epistemological authority in areas of overlap (actual or potential)
remains unresolved for some Christians to this day, as we see in contemporary
battles between "creationists" and "evolutionists." This lack of resolution
means that the tension and the potential for conflict will continue to hover
over the relationship between Christianity and science."
David C. Lindberg,
| Books | Christian Astronomers Site | Galileo Affair | Home | Introduction | Modern Challenges |Recent News | Web Sites |
Astronomy & Cosmology...the big picture
The words "The heavens declare the glory of God.. ." (Ps.19:1)
resonate for the Christian today as they did for the Hebrew Psalmist.
The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth - was voted best picture taken by the Hubble telescope. The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its appearance It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.
Cosmology is the scientific study of the large scale properties of
the Universe as a whole.
It endeavors to use the scientific method to understand the origin,
evolution and ultimate fate of the entire Universe - ultimately a
"theory of everything".
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This page examine ways that Christians have sought to relate their faith and scientific investigation of the sky and offers links to current scientific studies.
" The peoples of ancient times brought to their study of the heavens the entire range of human emotions -- fear, religious awe, humor, and artistry underlie the many sky tales and creation stories of the world. To fully appreciate the skies as seen by the ancients we need to feel the emotional climate in which our ancestors operated. As many of us live in bright, light-polluted cities, and spend much of our time indoors at night, it is difficult to fully appreciate the majesty of the night sky, and the important role it played in ancient times. We need to try to remember the rush of emotions we felt the first time we looked at a dark night sky, and clearly saw the Milky Way crossing the sky amidst a sea of countless stars. In such times, logical and scientific explanations of the stars and the [origin of the universe] are lost in our overwhelming appreciation of our smallness in the vast darkness of space. "--from pomona.edu.
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The arrangement of the heavens Video (10 minutes)
Biblical references to the heavens need to be examined in the literary context of the ancient near east to gain a fuller understanding of their meaning to the writer and to modern times. Clearly pre-scientific, these accounts often offered praise to God for what could be viewed in the night sky. They are found in the creation accounts and in the warnings of the Jewish prophets against against the worship of pagan gods related to heavenly bodies. Other references are incidental mention of the planets Venus and Saturn and clusters of stars.
Scholars differ widely on the actual heavenly bodies referred to by the biblical authors. The prime importance was the meaning attached to the reference. A more complete story and other resources are found here.
Early Astronomy
One of the most powerful creations of Greek
science was the mathematical astronomy created by
Hipparchus in the second century B.C. and given
final form by
Ptolemy in the second century A.D. Ptolemy's
work was known in the Middle Ages through imperfect Latin versions.
The geocentric system of Ptolemy
In the Syntaxis (or) Almagest), Ptolemy synthesized mathematical astronomy into a coherent whole which rendered his predecessors obsolete. His ideas would dominate Western and Islamic thought until the sixteenth century.
The thirteenth-century Franciscan Friar Roger Bacon wrote three treatises on the reform of learning based on the natural science found in newly available works of the classical Greek tradition at the request of Pope Clement IV. One of his goals was to show the value of the science to theology and practical church life - science seen as a handmaiden to theology. He devoted many pages to describe the importance of astronomy to theology, to developing a chronology of a sacred history of the world, and the timing of church rituals.
Clerks
studying astronomy and geometry. France, early 15th century.
Thus, the ideas largely originating with pagan Greek philosophers were baptized into the Roman Catholic church and eventually assumed the power of religious dogma. To challenge this view of the Universe was not merely a scientific issue; it became a theological one as well, and subjected dissenters to the considerable and not always benevolent power of the Church.
The most famous challenge was that of heliocentrism which moved the earth and humankind out of center stage. In 1543 church official and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus published his On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs which offered mathematical models capable of predicting planetary positions and offered it as a true description of the universe - appealing more to professionals rather than the general public. He was convinced to publish the work by friends who included churchmen and dedicated his work to the Pope. There was hardly a ripple. Certainly, no cries of heresy.
Seventy years later the discovery of the telescope stimulated Galileo Galei to revisit the cosmology question using a home made instrument to collect data. His struggle with church leadership over his affirmation of heliocentrism has reverberated for 500 years and become a touchstone for those who would pit science against religion.
Two articles on this piviotol episode follow
Owen Gingerich, "Truth
in Science: Proof, Persuasion, and the Galileo Affair,"
PSCF
55.2:80-87 (6/2003).
In 1616 in
a letter destined for Galileo, Cardinal Roberto Bellarmine (the
leading Catholic theologian of his day) expressed his doubts about
finding evidence for a moving earth. Would the annual stellar
parallax or the Foucault pendulum have convinced him? The historical
setting explored in this essay suggests that the cardinal would not
have been swayed by these modern “proofs” of the heliocentric
cosmology, even though they are convincing to us today because in
the meantime, we have the advantage of a Newtonian framework. What
passes today for truth in science is a comprehensive system of
coherencies supported more by persuasion than “proofs.”
T. H. Leith,
"Galileo and the Church: Tensions with
a Message for Today," PSCF 25.3:
111-113 (9/1973)
In
1609, the year when Kepler's elliptical orbits were presented to the
public, Galileo Galilei was a respected but rather obscure professor
in Padua actively seeking, after 17 years in the post an improvement
in his position. In that summer he first heard of a Dutch device
being exhibited there (it was likely modeled upon an Italian
instrument of 1590 about which he had been equally uninformed) and
in haste experimented until he had discovered its secret.
Constructing a telescope of some ten diameters magnification he
proceeded to employ it both intensively for astronomical purposes
and to help him secure the position of Chief Mathematician at the
University of Pisa (though he agreed that this would be without
teaching duties and that he would not settle there) and Philosopher
to Cosimo Medici, the Duke of Tuscany, in Florence. This move from
Padua, under the protection of the independent Venetian state, he
was later to regret for it probably placed him more readily into the
hands of the Inquisition.
Historian David Lindberg's account of the incident
notes:
"...the problem of epistemological authority - whether the truth of cosmological claims was to be determined by exercise of the human capacities of sense and reason, by appeal to biblical revelation, or by some combination of the two...was the central methodological issue in the Galileo affair. We must also recognize that the issue of epistemological authority in areas of overlap (actual or potential) remains unresolved for some Christians to this day, as we see in contemporary battles between "creationists" and "evolutionists." This lack of resolution means that the tension and the potential for conflict will continue to hover over the relationship between Christianity and science."--David C. Lindberg, "Galileo, the Church, and the Cosmos," in Lindberg and Numbers, eds. When Science and Christianity Meet (2003), p. 58.
Today's technology affords opportunities for space travel, telescopes of incredibly high resolution and the ease of accumulation of space-time data that give a better scientific picture of when and how our cosmos was formed in addition to an enormous and ever expanding size. .
Modern times have seen new concepts added to those of an earlier era.. Relativity, string theory, black holes, dark matter, and big bang discussions have taken center stage. Questions of when, how, and why provide new modes of science - faith interaction and controversy.
We offer a few articles from PSCF that open up these topics.
Robert B. Mann, “Inconstant
Multiverse,” PSCF 57:4, 302, (December 2005)
Explaining why there is something rather than nothing is one of theology’s
primary tasks. Recent scientific findings in cosmology have suggested a new
theological task: explaining why there is something rather than everything. This
task arises because of the conjunction of two intriguing properties of our
universe: its strong biophilic selection effects and its apparent
causal-connectedness on its largest scales. Current explanatory
paradigms—respectively the anthropic principle and the inflationary
universe—have suggested to many that our observable universe is a small part of
a much larger structure called the multiverse. A multiverse presents us with a
containment problem, since its logical extension suggests that anything that can
exist, does exist. I argue such a perspective is incompatible with the
foundations of both science and theology. As an antidote, I propose the
altiverse: a set of possible alternatives that logically exist but are not
physically realized.
Ben M.. Carter, "The Problem of Epistemology and Cosmic Models," PSCF 54.2:114-118 (6/2002). Cosmic models are themselves not accurate depictions of the universe but humanizations of it.
Rikki E. Watts, "Making Sense of Genesis 1" (2002). Used by Permission.
Schneider, Robert J. "Does the Bible Teach a Spherical Earth ?," PSCF 53 (September 2001): 159-169.
Murphy, George L. "Chiasmic Cosmology and Creation's Functional Integrity," PSCF 53 (March 2001): 7.
Murphy, George L., "From the Small Catechism to the Big Bang," Glaube und Denken (10. Jahrgang 1997), pp.29-45.
Philippidis, Alex, "Cosmic Controversy: The Big Bang and Genesis 1"PSCF 47.3:190-194 (9/1995)
Cramer, John "Adler's Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God," PSCF 47 (March 1995): 32-42.
Two Views of the Star of Bethlehem
-
Colin Humphreys, "The Star of Bethlehem," Science and Christian Belief , Vol 5, (October 1995): 83-101 Used by permission.
-
Stephen Milton, "Understanding the Christmas Star," The Turning Magazine
Winter 2007, Vol. 2 #1.
Each December, stars are placed on top of Christmas trees, in remembrance of the light that shone above Bethlehem. The star only appears in Matthew’s gospel, suggesting that it wasn’t a key part of the Christ story for the other Gospel writers. So why does the star get a mention at all?
The answer lies in seeing the stars as the ancients saw them, not as we do now. We need to forget about stars as fiery nuclear furnaces, and return to a view of the stars that prevailed before science was born. As we’ll see, that star was a kind of coded signal, delivering a message that would have been clear 2000 years ago, but which we miss if we think of stars in scientific terms.
Scientific Scenario Of A Comet's Impact With Earth And The "Wormwood" Prophecy --Messianic Literary Corner (2008)
Bergman, Jerry, "Arno A. Penzias: Astrophysicist, Nobel Laureate," PSCF 46.3:183-187 (9/1994)
Mark G. McKim, "The Cosmos According to Carl Sagan: Review and Critique" PSCF 45.1:18-25 (3/1993)
Hedman, Bruce A., "Mathematics, Cosmology, and the Contingent Universe" PSCF 41.2:99-103 (6/1989.)
Phillips, Perry G., "A History and Analysis of the 15.7 Light-Year Universe" PSCF 40.1:19-23 (3/1988.)
Van Till,
Howard J., "The
Legend of the Shrinking Sun - A Case Study Comparing Professional Science and
"Creation Science" in Action," PSCF
38.3:164-174 (9/1986.)
In recent years,
advocates of the young earth hypothesis have assembled numerous lists of
"scientific evidences" for their recent creation scenario. In this paper we
critically evaluate the scientific adequacy of one such evidential claim of
"creation-science," viz., that the sun's diameter has been shrinking in such a
manner as to preclude the credibility of the standard multibillion-year
chronology for terrestrial history. Within the professional scientific
community, a preliminary report which suggested a long-term and rapid shrinkage
of the sun presented a puzzle for solar astronomers. Consequently, additional
studies were made and the credibility of the original data was re-evaluated. The
result is that secular shrinkage has not been
substantiated, but an 80-year oscillatory behavior was discovered. Within the
"creation-science" community, however, the response to the original report has
been remarkably different. The suggestion of rapid long-term shrinkage was
uncritically accepted, the evidence and conclusions drawn from subsequent
studies were generally dismissed, and extrapolations of the presumed rapid solar
shrinkage have been performed without restraint. Isolated from the corrective of
continuing professional investigation and evaluation, the "creation-science"
community continues to employ this unwarranted extrapolation of a discredited
report as a scientific evidence" for a young earth. The credibility of the
Christian witness to a scientifically knowledgeable world is thereby clouded.
Deborah Haarsma and Jennifer Wiseman, "An Evolving Cosmos," Chapter 6 in Keith B. Miller, ed. Perspectives on an Evolving Creation, Eerdmans, 2003.
Brian Greene,, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory Paperback , Vintage Books, 2000
Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes Paperback , Bantam Books, Incorporated, 1998.
Stephen W. Hawking, Roger Penrose , The Nature of Space and Time Paperback , Princeton University Press, 2000.
Norris S. Hetherington, ed., Cosmology: Historical, Literary, Philosophical, Religious, and Scientific Perspectives Paperback , Garland Publishing, Incorporated, 1996
Hugh Ross, The Fingerprint of God Paperback, Whitaker House, 2000
Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers, Paperback, Norton, June 2000Mark J. Worthing, God Creation, and Contemporary Physics, Fortress, 1996.
Howard J. Van Till, The Fourth Day: What the Bible and the Heavens are Telling Us About the Creation, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986. Remains a useful introducion to the field.
Stanley L. Jaki, Cosmos and Creator, Scottish Academic Press, 1980.
Take a look for yourself!
Explore the Sky in Google Earth
sky. The latest version (Google
Earth 4.2) brings what could've been a separate
program for rendering the sky, like
Stellarium. After launching the application, click
on the black rounded icon from the toolbar and switch to the sky
mode. Google Earth shows the sky from the current location and
becomes a virtual telescope for amateur stargazers. "This
easy-to-use tool enables all Earth users to view and navigate
through 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies.
High resolution imagery and informative overlays create a unique
playground for visualizing and learning about space," explains
the press release. The layers include a lot
of interesting information about stars, constellations,
galaxies, images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Martian Methane Reveals the Red Planet is not a Dead Planet
1/15/2009
This image shows concentrations of Methane
discovered on Mars. Credit: NASA
View streaming
video
Mars today is a world of cold and lonely deserts, apparently without
life of any kind, at least on the surface. Worse still, it looks
like Mars has been cold and dry for billions of years, with an
atmosphere so thin, any liquid water on the surface quickly boils
away while the sun's ultraviolet radiation scorches the ground.
But new research reveals there is hope for Mars yet. The first
definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars indicates
the planet is still alive, in either a biologic or geologic sense,
according to a team of NASA and university scientists.
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Planetary
scientists had reported lakes around Titan’s southern poles, but now
it looks like the northern hemisphere has liquid on the surface as
well. Of course, we’re not talking about water, that would be frozen
solid. These are seas filled with liquid methane or ethane. The seas
were turned up by Cassini’s radar instrument during a recent flyby
past Titan’s north pole. The largest of these features measures
about 100,000 square kilometres (39,000 square miles). That’s a
surface area larger than Lake Superior here on Earth.
Since Cassini used its radar instruments to image the seas,
scientists aren’t completely positive that’s what they’re looking
at. In radar, liquids appear as dark patches, indicating smooth
surfaces. Another flyby is planned for May, where Cassini will fly
directly over these dark patches and get a better look.
Neutron Star With a Tail Like a Comet
what looks like a tiny comet with a tail, but it's actually a
neutron star, moving quickly through the nebula. Neutron stars
have been seen moving away from supernova remnants before, but
in this case, it's moving perpendicular. One possibility is that
the former star was moving quickly through the galaxy before it
exploded. The gas and dust in the nebula have slowed down and
drifted away from the neutron star.Universe Today
Hubble's Detailed Look at Stellar Jets
Web Sites
Christian Astronomers the website for chr-astro, an e-mail list for professional astronomers who are Christians.
History of Astronomy: ephemeris.com NASA/JPL A very complete collection of biblical and other Jewish references to the heavens, dates of religious feasts, etc. and calendar design
A History Of Early Astronomy, Neil Taylor. The early Greeks, Stonehenge to Galileo.
Astronomy and Astrology A selection of articles and links of interest to Christians by Chris Law
Today at NASA Includes recent missions, news and information, history and launch schedules. Read the latest press releases
Women of NASA Highlights the contribution of women to NASA's development. Find profiles, forums, teaching tips, and a version of the contents in Spanish
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Center for robotic exploration of the solar system. Includes links to the many
organizational programs governed by the JPL.
NASA Academy Application, eligibility and financial assistance for
NASA's summer institute of higher learning which identifies future space program
leaders.
Astronomy for Kids A great site for things for kids and their parents to do on a clear evening.
The editor acknowledges the editorial assistance of George Murphy
Please send comments and suggestions of additional material to haas.john@comcast.net
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