On March 17th I posted a link to an article from Yahoo News entitled, “The Bible, Absolute Truth in a Scientific World.” The article was a book review of a book written by Charles L. Sanders, PhD. The name of the book is Did Jesus Believe Genesis. In my review I wrote it appeared the author took a literal view of the creation account in Genesis; six 24 hour days with creation following the sequence found in scripture. Since I had not read the book I could not say for sure what the author’s position was.

Traveling by air gives me plenty of time to read. I had a trip planned earlier this week and was able to read the entire book while traveling and my initial assumptions about the book were correct. The author holds to a literal interpretation of the creation account.

For the most part, our high schools and universities teach the evolutionary model as an explanation for the universe. They seldom offer or are even allowed to offer opposing viewpoints or lay out technical problems with the Big Bang/evolutionary model. It is taught as fact squelching any investigation as unnecessary. The author lays out several evidences from science where the observations of the universe do not fit the Big Bang/evolutionary model espoused by the scientific community. As these are laid out it becomes clear the science is settled but not as the scientific community would have you think. Literal six day creation fits the observable evidence much better than the Big Bang/evolutionary theory held by many in the scientific community. One quote in the book by evolutionist Richard Lewontin sums up the evolutionist’s thoughts on the matter:

“We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of the failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so-stories, because we have a priori commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanation, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.”

Our faith in a literal interpretation of Genesis and the bible is attacked from every angle, even from some inside the Christian community. This book should be read by every Christian high school and college student in order to withstand the onslaught they will encounter in their education. I highly recommend this book as a beginning point in your investigation of how the observable evidence in the world and universe around us point to our Holy God as the creator and sustainer of all we see and know. You can purchase it at Amazon. Here is the link.

There is a highly controversial study published which seems to indicate that the speed of light is not constant at 186,000 mph but rather has been slowing down with the passage of time. This is highly controversial since the acceptance of this theory would devastate Big Bang Cosmology and require a re-evaluation of everything accepted by science since Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was published. If the speed of light was much higher in the past than in the present, the vast distances observed in the universe would fit nicely into the creation story of Genesis rather than the evolutionary story of the Big Bang.

In 1979, an Australian undergraduate student thought it would be interesting to look at all of the measurements of the speed of light since the speed of light was first measured in the late 1600s. His name was Barry Setterfield. He acquired 163 measurements using 16 different methods over 300 years. What he discovered utterly shocked him. It appeared that the speed of light was slowing down as time progressed.Here are some of his findings:

• In 1738: 303,320 +/- 310 km/second
• In 1861: 300,050 +/- 60 km/second
• In 1877: 299,921 +/- 13 km/second
• In 2004: 299,792 km/second (accepted constant)

In order to confirm his findings he consulted with a statistician by the name of Dr. Trevor Norman. Dr. Norman found that, even allowing for the clumsiness of early experiments, and correcting for the multiple lenses of early telescopes and other factors related to technology, the speed of light was discernibly higher 100 years ago, and as much as 7 percent higher in the 1700s. Dr. Norman confirmed that the measurements were statistically significant with a confidence of more than 99 percent.

Setterfield and Norman published their results at SRI in July 1987 after extensive peer review.

Since the SRI publication in 1987, forefront researchers from Russia, Australia, Great Britain and the United States have published papers in prestigious journals questioning the constancy of the speed of light.

Within the last 24 months, Dr. Joao Magueijo, a physicist at Imperial College in London, Dr. John Barrow of Cambridge, Dr. Andy Albrecht of the University of California at Davis and Dr. John Moffat of the University of Toronto have all published work advocating their belief that light speed was much higher – as much as 10 to the 10th power faster – in the early stages of the “Big Bang” than it is today. (It’s important to note that none of these researchers have expressed any bias toward a predetermined answer, biblical or otherwise. If anything, they are antagonistic toward a biblical worldview.)

If the slowing of the speed of light is occurring it has tremendous implications for other areas of cosmology. Setterfield now believes there are at least four other major observed anomalies consistent with a slowing speed of light:

1. quantized red-shift observations from other galaxies,
2. measured changes in atomic masses over time,
3. measured changes in Planck’s Constant over time,
4. and differences between time as measured by the atomic clock, and time as measured by the orbits of the planets in our solar system.

Setterfield believes that the speed of light was initially about 10 to the 10th power faster than it is today. After the creation of the universe, light speed declined following a curve approximating the curve of the cosecant squared. He believes that light speed reached a point where it is asymptotic since the mid 1960s. Though reasonably constant, he believes the speed still varies in waves – sometimes higher and sometimes lower than the accepted standard.

Recent observations of the signals received from the aging satellites Galileo, Ulysses and Pioneer are also in the category of speed of light anomalies. A unexplained Doppler frequency shift has been detected from all of these satellites, even though the satellites’ distances from the Earth are only about 20 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun – way too close for a traditional Doppler shift to occur in the electromagnetic spectrum. NASA scientists have attempted with little success to attribute the anomalies to an unknown acceleration. Setterfield suggests that equally plausible explanations are variations in c.

Here is an article from CBS News on the topic. It is a very intriguing theory which will undoubtedly get little research as its acceptance would doom the Big Bang Theory and an evolutionary explanation for the universe.

I read on many sites that evolution is a FACT, not a theory or a hypothesis but proven scientific FACT. I assume it is said with such forcefulness to convince the writer that it is true and to prevent others from completing a thorough investigation for themselves. If it is a proven FACT, there’s no need to question a fact and if you did you’d be considered wacky. Why investigate something that’s proven? But there is extensive evidence that evolution is not a proven fact. Before considering the evidence we need to take another look at science and attempt to define it.

First, there is a difference between observational science and theoretical science. Here is a brief explanation.

The scientific approach for examining facts and determining truth is done in five steps. 1st) An observation is made. 2nd) A hypothesis is formed. 3rd) Data is gathered. 4th) The hypothesis is tested in light of the data, and 5th) if the hypothesis passes the test, it becomes a theory. However, new data is constantly being discovered and the hypothesis re-tested. This data either supports the theory or disproves it, but never proves the theory as a fact (for future data could be gathered which disproves it). That is why science can never “prove” anything, only disprove things. If there is no way of testing or falsifying the hypothesis, the theory isn’t accepted by the scientific community. George Gaylord Simpson, a notable scientist himself, has said, “It is inherent that statements which cannot be checked by observation are not really about anything, or at the very least they are not science.” (Gish 1985: 12). Usually the event in question is repeated, and these five steps are used to determine its truthfulness. Events in history cannot be repeated, so they cannot be verified by the scientific method. This alone indicates that the theory of evolution, far from being a fact, is not even a valid scientific theory.

Proof for evolution does not meet the first criterion of observational science. Neither evolution nor the Big Bang has ever been observed. Nor can it be tested. If this is indeed the starting point for observational science then evolution and the Big Bang don’t qualify. And as quoted above inherent statements which cannot be checked by observation are not really about anything!

Evidence for a Young Earth

Here’s a few observations pointing toward a young earth rather than an earth billions of years old:

Decay of the earth’s magnetic field…………………10,000 years
Influx of radiocarbon into earth system………….10,000 years
Influx of uranium into the oceans via rivers……50,000 years
Influx of carbonate into the oceans………………..100,000 years
Efflux of helium-4 into the atmosphere………….175,000 years
Accumulation of dust on the moon………………..200,000 years
Leaching of chlorine from the continents……….1,000,000 years
Erosion of sediment from continents…………….10,000,000 years

While many of these dates don’t point to a creationist model they certainly don’t confirm evolutionary and Big Bang cosmology. This list is just a small sampling of the evidence for a young earth. This link provides an EXCELLENT list of problems with an old earth. If you click on each of the items in their list it provides a brief explanation for a young earth.

Do the research on your own. Conduct a Google Search for Evidence for a Young Earth and review the evidence yourself. Don’t take the word of those with an ax to grind. Look at the evidence and then decide on your own without the influence of others. Does the preponderance of the evidence lead you to believe in an earth billions of years old or one much younger in age?

by Jeff Miller, PhD. of Apologetics Press. This and many other apologetics articles can be found here.

Some contend that science is at odds with religion. They suggest that the scientific method requires empirical testing, but God’s existence cannot be empirically verified. Science supposedly proves the Big Bang, evolutionary theory, a very old Universe, and dinosaurs that never co-existed with humans, while the Bible mistakenly contends that the Universe was created in six literal, 24-hour days only a few thousand years ago, with humans and dinosaurs being created together on day six. Supposedly, science is based on verifiable evidence, whereas religion is based on “blind faith” and ambiguous “tinglies” attributed to the Holy Spirit. For such reasons, it is claimed that science and Scripture cannot be harmonized—that they are diametrically opposed to each another.

In reality, however, true science agrees perfectly with Scripture. Though God’s existence cannot be empirically verified, it can be easily verified through deductive reasoning from the scientific evidence available to us—in the same way forensic scientists use science to investigate events that they did not personally witness. While atheists have successfully created the mirage that science supports their theories, abundant scientific evidence exists which disproves the Big Bang Theory, evolutionary theory, an old Universe, and proves that dinosaurs and humans co-existed (see www.apologeticspress.org for more information on these matters). And yet, no scientific evidence exists that contradicts the true creation model. Rather, the evidence always supports it. The concept of “blind faith,” though championed by many who call themselves Christians, is at odds with Scripture, which defines faith as choosing to believe in something, based on the evidence that has been presented for it, and responding accordingly (see Miller, 2003). Atheistic scientists are simply wrong in their sweeping accusation that science and religion are at odds.

Though some theistic beliefs contradict science, when handled accurately (2 Timothy 2:15), Scripture and science compliment each other perfectly. For instance, science has shown us that matter is not eternal, according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and could not have spontaneously generated—popping into existence from nothing—according to the First Law of Thermodynamics. This fact indicates that matter must have been placed here by an Entity outside the physical Universe (see Miller, 2007). This truth, arrived at through science and deductive reasoning, is not in harmony with atheism and much of today’s pseudo-science. But this truth is in keeping with the Bible, which says in its very first verse that God—a Being not subject to the laws of nature (i.e., a supernatural Being)—created the heavens and the Earth. Science supports Scripture.

Science has shown us that in nature, life comes only from life and that of its kind, according to the Law of Biogenesis. Again, this fact indicates that a Being outside of nature must exist Who initiated life (see Miller, 2012). This truth, arrived at through science and deductive reasoning, is not in harmony with atheism and much of today’s pseudoscientific world which must contend, without scientific support, that life popped into existence from non-life. Rather, this truth is in keeping with the Bible, which says in Genesis 1:11,24 and 2:7 that God created life.

Science—the Law of Biogenesis and the Laws of Genetics—has shown us that living beings produce other living beings of their own kind (see Thompson, 2002). There may be small changes along the way (e.g., beak size, color, size, etc.), but the offspring of a bird is still a bird. The offspring of a fish is still a fish. Therefore, since there is no common ancestor for all living beings from which all species evolved, there must be a supernatural Being Who initially created various kinds of life on Earth. This truth, arrived at through science and deductive reasoning, is not in harmony with the teachings of atheism and much of today’s pseudo-scientific world, which argues against the evidence, that various kinds of living beings can give rise to completely different kinds of living beings. But this truth is in keeping with the Bible, which says in Genesis 1:21 and 1:24-25 that God directed living beings to reproduce after their kind.

True science is in harmony with true religion. Why would science lie? It does not have a mind of its own. It has no bias or agenda. It can certainly be misrepresented or its findings misinterpreted, but science is not the enemy of true religion. In fact, according to the Bible, God, Himself, instituted the field of science. When God created human beings on day six and told them to “have dominion” over the Earth and “subdue” it (Genesis 1:28), He was commanding mankind to do something that would require extensive scientific investigation and experimentation. If God founded science, why would science be at odds with religion? When God, through His servant Paul, said in Romans 1:20 that His existence and some of His attributes could be learned from His creation, He was putting His stamp of approval on the scientific study of creation. When He said in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “[t]est all things; hold fast what is good,” He was essentially summarizing the scientific method. Bottom line: God founded science. When legitimate scientific findings are interpreted properly and fairly, science supports the Bible and Christianity. It certainly is not at odds with the Bible.

REFERENCES

Miller, Dave (2003), “Blind Faith,” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/article/444.

Miller, Jeff (2007), “God and the Laws of Thermodynamics: A Mechanical Engineer’s Perspective,” Reason & Revelation, 27[4]:25-31, April (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press), http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3293.

Miller, Jeff (2012), “The Law of Biogenesis,” Reason & Revelation, 32[1]:2-11, January (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press), http://www.apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=1&issue=1018&article=1722.

Thompson, Bert (2002), The Scientific Case for Creation (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).

On June 11, 2011 an article was posted here regarding the elusive Higgs boson particle. News had been leaked it may have been discovered at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) laboratory. There were many tests yet to run and much research to be concluded before making the declaration. The research was on-going but the declaration of its discovery never came.

What is so important about the Higgs boson particle? This excerpt from the Washington Post explains it.

It all begins with a collection of theories known as the “standard model.” The standard model answers two important and fundamental questions: What is matter made of? And why does it behave the way it does?

As to the first question, the standard model says that all matter is made of 12 particles with zany names such as the “charm quark” and the “muon-neutrino.”

The answer to the second question comes down to the four forces observed in the universe. Ordinary people are familiar with gravity and electromagnetism, but there are also the strong and weak forces, which operate on the subatomic level. Under the standard model, bosons transmit forces between particles of matter.

One of the most cherished goals of physics is a “unified field theory,” which would explain the relationships among these forces. For the most part, this theory has been elusive. However, in the 1960s, scientists came up with an idea that would unify at least two of the forces: electromagnetism and the weak force. (They called it the electroweak force, which is rather disappointing for a field that has such a knack for colorful monikers.) But there was a problem with the theory: In order for it to be true, the particles that carry the electroweak force would have to be without mass, and such particles have never been observed.

Enter English physicist Peter Higgs, who came up with a way to save the electroweak force. Higgs theorized that, in the moments after the big bang, mass didn’t exist. However, as things cooled down, a field settled over the universe. When certain particles interact with that field, they gain mass. Physicists don’t know how to observe the Higgs field, but the theory is that when the field acts on a particle, a boson particle is left behind.

The significance is in the last few words of the last paragraph. The discovery of the Higgs boson would validate the Big Bang Theory of cosmological evolution.

I would like to point out a couple of things from these paragraphs. The first comes from the third paragraph and states ‘In order to be true, the particles that carry the electroweak force would have to be without mass, and such particles have never been observed.’ The second is in the fourth paragraph and states, ‘ Physicists don’t know how to observe the Higgs field, but the theory is that when the field acts on a particle, a boson particle is left behind.’ To me it sounds as if they have the cart before the horse. How you ask?

The Scientific Method

This description of the scientific method comes from ucr.edu

What is the “scientific method”?

The scientific method is the best way yet discovered for winnowing the truth from lies and delusion. The simple version looks something like this:

• Observe some aspect of the universe.
• Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis, that is consistent with what you have observed.
• Use the hypothesis to make predictions.
• Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.
• Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation.

When consistency is obtained the hypothesis becomes a theory and provides a coherent set of propositions which explain a class of phenomena. A theory is then a framework within which observations are explained and predictions are made.

Higgs Boson

Notice the underlined portion in the description above. It says we would need to observe some aspect of the universe and then form a hypothesis and begin testing. It would appear to me the scientists looking for Higgs bosom got it backward. They admit they haven’t observed the thing they are looking for and creating a hypothesis before it is observed. And I thought the Big Bang was a fact. I guess not.

What happens if Higgs boson is not found? The Washington Post article states:

Obviously, our dominant theory for why mass exists would pretty much go out the window.

What they didn’t say but implied is the Big Bang Theory goes out the window along with the Higgs boson. I would say it’s pretty serious they find the Higgs boson.

Here’s a link to the entire Washington Post article for your review.