Physics Show that Six Day Creation is Possible
Exodus 20:11 makes one of
the most unbelievable statements of the Bible: "In six days the Lord
made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested
the seventh day." It is hard to imagine a clearer statement defining
how long God took in creating the entire universe. However, this
simple statement has presented a seemingly impossible dilemma for
Christians. On one hand, modern cosmology teaches that the universe
has taken billions of years to form. On the other hand, if this
clear and straightforward statement of the Bible can not be trusted
to mean what it says, how can we know that any statement of the
Bible can be trusted to mean what it says?
This was the dilemma which Dr. Russell Humphreys (physicist at
Sandia National Laboratory) set out to solve as he studied what the
Bible had to say about the formation of our universe. Most people
have been taught that the universe is the result of a gigantic
explosion called the "Big Bang". During this explosive expansion,
all the matter of the universe supposedly expanded outward from a
tiny pinpoint. All modern cosmological models start with the
assumption that the universe has neither a center nor an edge. When
these assumptions are plugged into Einstein's general theory of
relativity, the result is an expanding universe which is billions of
years old at every location.
Rather than start with these arbitrary assumptions (a universe
having no center and no edge), Dr. Humphreys decided to take the
most apparent meaning of the Biblical text and see what model of the
universe developed. He reasoned that if the Bible was inspired by
God, as it claims to be, it should not have to be twisted to be
understood. It should have the same straight forward meaning for a
"man on the street", a brilliant physicist, or a theologian.
The Bible clearly indicates three things about God's formation of
the universe. First, the earth is the center of God's attention in
the universe. By implication, the earth may also be located near the
center - perhaps so man can see the glory of God's creation in every
direction. Second, the universe (both matter and space itself) has
been "stretched out"(1) Third, the universe has a boundary, and
therefore it must have a center. If these three assumptions are
plugged into the currently accepted formulas of physics, and the
mathematical crank is turned, we find that we live in a universe in
which clocks tick at different rates depending on your location.
Furthermore, the time dilation effect would be magnified
tremendously as the universe was originally expanding. As the
universe expanded, there was a point at which time was moving very
rapidly at the outer edge and essentially stopped near the center.
At this point in the expansion of the universe, only days were
passing near the center, while billions of years were passing in the
heavens. This is the inevitable conclusion based on our current
knowledge of physics and starting with Biblical assumptions instead
of arbitrary ones.
Albert Einstein rejected the idea that Bible could be literally
true. He wrote that, "Through the reading of popular scientific
books I soon reached the conviction that many of the stories in the
Bible could not be true."(2) How ironic that the most ridiculed
Biblical story (about a recent, literal, six day creation of the
universe) is exactly the story which Albert Einstein's work has
shown to be entirely possible. A comprehensive explanation of Dr.
Humphreys work, can be found in his book.(3)
1. Job 9:8, Psalm 104:2, Isaiah 40:22, Jeremiah 10:12, Zechariah
12:1, 2 Sam. 22:10, Psalm 144:5, Ezekiel 1:22, Isaiah 48:13, Job
26:7, Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 51:13, Job 37:18, Isaiah 44:24, Jer.
51:15, Psalm 18:9, Isaiah 45:12.
2. Joseph Schwartz, Einstein for Beginners, Pantheon Books, New
York, p.31.
3. Russell Humphreys, Starlight and Time, Master Books, 1994.
This Article is from Bruce Malone's book Search for the Truth.