Oct
13
When YECs Deny the Nature of Nature and Cosmic History
This week, we come to my final post citing information from Dr. Hugh Ross’s book, A Matter of Days: Resolving a Creation Controversy, 2nd ed. (2015). I hope you have enjoyed the series. The title of this post is intentionally a bit provocative, yes, but it is meant more to raise interest than ire. Let’s go ahead and get started….
The Large Magellanic Cloud
“According to young-earth creationist leaders, the star formation that astronomers claim to see is not really happening since all stars were made during the fourth creation day. The supernova eruption astronomers see in the Large Magellanic Cloud 163,000 light-years away did not occur 163,000 years ago. Fossils do not represent ancient creatures. Coal, oil, gas, and topsoil are not the remains of thousands of previous generations of life. Nor do most of the stratified layers of Earth’s crust testify of rocks subjected to long-term pressure, erosion, and stress. Nor do coral bands and ice layers demark real years past. Nor does the erosion of craters and mountains on Earth, other planets, and moons result from real, ongoing natural processes.
All these things must be illusions, according to a young-universe creationist perspective, and ‘knowledge’ of anything apart from the Bible’s words cannot be trusted. As Henry Morris insisted, the ‘direct [written] testimony from the Creator [is] the only way to know the age of the earth.’ Consequently, such leaders say, virtually all research, including the vast scientific database, has led humanity astray.
The fear that incites such a strong denial of physical reality and cosmic history implications must be addressed. This fear runs deeper and wider than the specific case of creation timescales. Underlying the sweeping denigration of old-earth views is the fear that science research may someday uncover some ‘new fact’ about the universe, Earth, or life that clearly contradicts the Bible’s message. To the extent that this threat looms as a real possibility, it hampers a person’s ability to experience the freedom and fearlessness God made available by His Spirit. ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV).
If we take the Bible seriously and literally, no basis for such a fear exists. Since God created the cosmos, there can be no contradiction between what He has made and what He has spoken through the inspired writers of Scripture. The testimony of both will always agree, and we need never back away from facts that may appear daunting to our faith. We need only study and investigate further, checking for accuracy — the accuracy of scientific interpretations and the accuracy of biblical interpretations.
To question and challenge scientists’ interpretations of new findings may seem intimidating, but it can be done respectfully, on the basis of facts. The facts will always be on the side of truth, even if the interpretations placed on them are not. Adamantly trying to defend pseudoscientific assertions, denying demonstrably correct data from nature, or expressing arrogance and disrespect will only result in a failure to communicate powerful evidence — faith-building evidence.
Perhaps the most tragic aspect of denying nature’s scientifically established characteristics is that such a denial forces the rejection of timely, compelling evidences for the God of the Bible and for the accuracy and authority of His Word. Four examples of observations and interpretations on which the community of research astronomers and physicists agree are given as follows. Each carries enormous theological significance, which the majority of scientists also acknowledge.
1. Science says: The universe is billions of years old, but only billions, not quadrillions of years old or a near-infinite age.
Theological significance: Religious and philosophical systems depending on infinite or near-infinite age have no foundation in reality. (These include most New Age and Eastern religious as well as many atheistic, naturalistic philosophies.)
2. Science says: The universe can be traced back to a single, ultimate, simultaneous origin of matter, energy, space, and time.
Theological significance: Reincarnating universe theologies and philosophies have no foundation in reality. The cause of the universe — that is, the Entity (Creator) who brought the universe into existence — existed and created from outside (independently) of matter and energy and the 10 space-time dimensions associated with matter and energy. Among the deities described by the world’s religions, such an Entity or Creator is consistent only with the God of the Bible.3. Science says: The universe, our galaxy, and the solar system exhibit more than 500 different characteristics requiring exquisite fine-tuning for life’s possible existence (any kind of physical life, not just life as we know it). The intricacy, complexity, and precision of this fine-tuning vastly exceed the capabilities of any “force” or “being” contained within the cosmos.
Theological significance: The Entity (Creator) who brought the universe into existence must be personal, intelligent, knowledgeable, powerful, and caring to a degree far beyond any creature’s capabilities. Only a superintelligent, superpowerful, superpurposeful (in other words, supernatural) Person could design and manufacture what we see, including life. Only a supercaring Person could explain the enormous investment of creative effort, the attention to intricate detail, and the comprehensive provision for creatures’ needs.4. Science says: Life in complex forms with an optimized ecology originated on Earth suddenly, under hostile conditions without the benefit of a prebiotic soup or a prebiotic mineral substrate.
Theological significance: Only the intervention of a superpowerful, superintelligent, superpurposeful Creator can explain such origins of life.All these findings and their implications arise from research demonstrating that the earth and the universe are several billion years old. Insistence on a young universe negates this evidence. Ironically, some young-earth creationist leaders express willingness to negate it because it shows too much design. For example, they claim that the old-earth model is in trouble because the need to lower the greenhouse efficiency of Earth’s atmosphere (in a way that perfectly and continuously compensates for the gradual increase in the Sun’s luminosity over the past 3 billion years) requires too much painstaking design and too much care to create the just-right species of life at the just-right population levels at the just-right times.
The heavens have always declared the glory of God (Psalm 19:1-2). His words spoken by the heavens (verse 4) in the physical realm can be read and understood with a degree of clarity and conviction never before possible. The greatest cosmological discoveries of all time are ones that point people to the greatest spiritual discovery of all time — the God who is there and who cares, the God who planned and prepared His cosmic realm for His good purposes, which include us.
The work of secular scientists is a blessing, not a curse, to Christians. Modern astronomy, much of modern physics, and most of the earth sciences provide powerful faith-building tools. They must not be thrown away.”
I pray that my YEC friends and other readers will take Dr. Ross’s words to heart. If you are ready to seriously consider the OEC position(s), allow me to recommend several resources for you here. In addition to those discussed at the preceding link, Dr. Ross’s Improbable Planet is highly recommended (by friends of mine; I haven’t read it, yet), as is Dr. Michael Strauss’s The Creator Revealed (a slightly shorter introduction to OEC for laypersons). The “Four Views” book I review here should prove helpful, as well. And, of course, I have a few other relevant blogposts you could look up….
