In our last article we asked, among other things. “When did God call the universe into being?” We pointed out that there was some disagreement among Christians on that score and that a number of them were inclined to accept the erroneous chronology of Bishop Ussher. A careful study of Scripture bears out the fact that Ussher is wrong, as does a study of scientific discoveries. In this article we shall concentrate on the contributions which the science of astronomy has made to the solution of this problem. We shall refer only incidentally to the matter of dating the earth, since we have written several articles on this subject elsewhere. In our next article we plan to discuss the newest available method for dating fossils and its implications for us.
Have you ever looked at the stars on a clear, quiet evening—really looked at them? Contrary to some romantic notions, this can be done best when one is alone. Each pin-point of light represents a flaming sun distantly removed from us. Although we can only sec about 3,000 of these with the naked eye, astronomers have estimated that there are billions of these light-giving objects scattered throughout space.
Facts by Inference
The ancients regarded the sun, moon, and stars as gods to be feared; we see them as the handiwork of a Creator-God whom we fear. Due to the discoveries of the astronomers, men have outgrown the strange imaginations and the fascinating tales which have always been associated with the stars. When we look at the stars today we do so in the light of the facts which have been discovered. For example, we no longer believe, as the ancients did, that the stars are a few hundred feet above the earth, for we know now that their distances are immense.
We realize, of course, that we must speak with caution when we refer to the “facts of astronomy,” since almost all of the evidence is inferential. This means that we cannot travel to some star or planet to study it at first hand. We arc forced to stay on the earth and, by means of the telescope, spectroscope, and camera, examine these bodies so distant from us, to discover where they are, how they move, and the kind of matter of which they are composed. When it comes down to “actual facts,” how little we really know, for instance, of even our nearest neighbor, the moon. We must confess at the outset that when we seek an answer to the question of the origin and age of the universe, we enter a region which is full of doubt and is necessarily of a highly speculative nature. Nor are we unmindful of the fact that at times the imagination of some scientists has run riot, leading them to proclaim some rather fantastic nonsense.
It is well that we are aware of the limitations under which we study a subject. One must be careful, however, not to go to the other extreme and say that such knowledge has no real value. Newton’s law of universal gravitation is one of the greatest scientific facts ever discovered. By means of this, man is able to calculate the masses of the earth, moon, and sun and also to explain the paths along which these, and other bodies, travel through space. Newton’s laws of motion were discovered and verified in terms of movements on the earth. Later on it was discovered that the heavenly bodies move according to these same laws. No one questions the validity of these laws today if they are applied within their proper limits. There are, and have been throughout the ages, many cautious astronomers who have kept their feet on the ground. Their discoveries are worth considering.
All Evidence in One Direction
A strong argument for believing that the universe is very old is based on the fact that all scientific evidence points in this one direction. One cannot help asking the question why God would place so much evidence in the world suggesting that the universe is old if that were not true. The size of the answer is the same whether one studies the earth’s crust or the stellar universe. Did God place this evidence all about us to confuse us, or to teach us something concerning his greatness? If we believe that he created a cosmos and not a chaos, let us believe it all the way through and study the beautiful steps which can be found in his plan.
One reason for believing the universe to be extremely old is that it takes such a long ti me for the light emanating from the stars to reach the earth. Astronomers photograph, as a matter of routine, stars which are millions of light-years away from us. By a light-year is meant the distance light will travel in one year. Light travels 186,000 miles per second. Since we are concerned here primarily with time and not distance, we shall not stray afield to wonder at the distances the stars are away from us.
How can we settle the problem we face here? What picture do we have of creation if it took place only some thousands of years ago? Did God then create beams of light from billions of stars, some reaching’ the earth and others stretching out to the other stars? We must believe this if we do not want to accept the idea that it took millions of years for the light to reach the earth after God had created the stars. Some stars arc only a few light-years away, others are thousands and some are millions. Since the velocity of light is one of the few basic quantities in nature, it hardly seems reasonable to suppose that God created billions of light beams of various lengths to give the illusion of an old universe. Such a theory is difficult to fit into a picture of an orderly creation, even though we are ready to admit that an almighty God could have done so.
Attempting the Impossible
Another way to escape the dilemma is that taken by Frank L. Marsh, a Seventh-Day Adventist and a strong contender for Ussher’s chronology. He praises the work of the scientists regarding the stars, admits that they were created millions of years ago, and then has God creating our solar system some 6,000 years ago and placing it in its present position in the universe. He admits that one must accept these immense time periods for light to travel from star to star and declares the wonders of a science that has shown this to us.
It strikes us that Marsh attempts to do the impossible by his system of reasoning. The Bible does not speak of two creations separated by millions of years. And one wonders how it is possible for Christians of Reformed persuasion to accept this view, as some do. It is not unusual to receive letters with the admonition to accept the “plain teaching of Scripture” and referring to the example set by the Seventh-Day Adventists. It seems to us that those who refuse to accept the scientific evidence mentioned above should be willing, and able, to prove that such astronomical measurements are in error and, further, offer some evidence which would point to a much younger universe. The length of time it takes for the light from the distant stars to reach the earth is one reason, then, for believing that they were created ages ago.
Various Methods One Answer
The remainder of the evidence from astronomy is difficult to present to those having a limited background in science. It may be well to say a few words about each one, however, so that the reader can sense that there are several different methods, all of which give answers of the same order of magnitude.
The work which has been done on the age of the moon also leads us to believe that the universe is old. The age of the moon is estimated to be four billion years, an age compatible with that suggested for the earth. You may say, but how is it possible to compute the age of the moon when we can’t even get there to study it? This is done on the basis of the tidal forces acting between the earth and the moon. These forces tend to slow down the motion of both bodies. This results in an increase in the distance between them. The assumption on which these age calculations are based is that at one time the moon was very close to the earth. Although we do not know how close this was at the beginning, the maximum age of the moon is suggested by these calculations.
A similar value is obtained from the eccentricity of the orbit of the planet Mercury. This method is also based on the tidal hypothesis of the origin of the earth. The man who developed this theory estimated the age of the solar system to be about five billion years. We may add, parenthetically, that the solar system is considered to be younger than some of the other stellar systems.
What the Spectrum Tells Us
Scientists have also examined meteorites, which fall to the earth from out of space, to determine their age. Uranium is found in some of these, and on the basis of their uranium content they are estimated to be about two billion years old.
Another method, extremely difficult to express in simple language, is based on the velocities of galaxies, or Milky Ways. We all know that ordinary white light can be divided into the colors of the rainbow. If we pass such light through a prism it separates into these various colors because certain parts of it travel faster than do others. Nearly everyone has seen such rainbow colors at some time or other, possibly from a raindrop or a piece of ordinary glass. If we photograph this light by means of an instrument called the spectroscope, we find that it is broken up into a definite pattern of lines. This pattern varies with the source of the light. If the source of light is moving away from us the lines move farther toward the red end of the spectrum, and if it approaches us the lines are shifted toward the violet end. Nearly all spectra of galaxies have the lines shifted toward the red end of the spectrum, indicating that these bodies are moving away from us. If we assume that they originated in one place, then it would take about two or three billion years for them to reach their present position. Although an assumption is again involved, it is interesting to note that the assumptions underlying these methods are not all the same, but vary. Yet the different methods give the same type of answer.
The above may be a bit difficult for the average reader to understand. This is unavoidable since so much of scientific work involves complicated mathematics, and, if one really wishes to fully comprehend it all, he must be willing to pay the price of sweating through the mathematics involved.
We Must Use Results of Experiment!
What attitude must the average individual take toward such scientific work? He can ignore it completely or say that he refuses to believe it because scientists so often change their minds on matters. Such an attitude gets one nowhere, however. If we are really concerned with the problem of origins, we must do something with these experimental results.
One thing which the nonscientist can do is to realize that, although these methods differ in their approach to the problem, they give us answers of the same order of magnitude. This should strike us as being very significant. We have an analogy in the case of the particles present in one cubic centimeter of water, which amounts to about fifteen small drops. Scientists tell us that it would take 150,000 years to count these if all the people in the world, about 2,341,000,000 of us, were to count them at the rate of four per second and work day in and day out, twenty-four hours a day. This obviously cannot be done, but scientists accept the number since the same value is obtained by using about a dozen different and independent methods. So, too, with age determinations. All methods point to approximately the same-sized answer. The nonscientist should be willing to concede that there is some validity to such measurements.
Greater Light on Genesis
Another reason for placing some trust in these numbers is that we can explain so many features of the earth’s crust better in terms of an old earth. This in no way minimizes the fact of creation nor does it force one to compromise with the evolutionist. In fact, it enables us to interpret Genesis better, which is, of course, our chief aim.
The Bible tells us that the earth was once without form, and void, and that darkness was upon the face of the deep. This statement was challenged in times past by certain scientists, but science now has made discoveries which help us to explain the truth of this verse. Dark nebulae, or cloud-like, gaseous bodies, have been found, and no better description of them can be given than that found in Genesis 1:2. Such bodies can be very hot, although not hot enough to give off light. As our earth cooled, some of the water vapor collected to form the liquid water of our oceans and seas. This explains Genesis 1:7, where we read that God divided the waters which were under the firmament (or space) from those above it. Here we obviously have a description of the forming of the oceans and the retaining of heavy clouds higher up. This was followed by the clouds breaking up and the appearance of the sun and moon and the determining of the seasons. There is much geological evidence that the climate of the earth was once warm from pole to pole and’ that originally there were no seasons. This could have been the case when the earth was warm enough to keep a good bit of its moisture in the vapor state. As the earth cooled, the clouds cleared away, the rays of the sun were no longer diffused (scattered in all directions) but became localized, developing different temperature zones.
It is possible to continue at great length in an attempt to show how the acceptance of the theory of an old earth aids us in interpreting Genesis better. We shall have occasion to do a bit more of this in other articles which are being contemplated. A little has been presented in an attempt to show that God was active in all the creative operations. He did not set the worlds in motion and leave them to themselves, but the God who gives or withholds rain today according to his good pleasure, did the same in ages gone by. The more one learns about the beauty and orderliness of the creative processes, the more one is inclined to say, “When I consider thy heavens…what is man, that thou art mindful of him?”