New Star Formation And Biblical Creation

 Biblegems # 277

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Aloisi, Ford

Question: How does the evidence of new star formation hundreds of light years from earth fit in with the young universe scenario of biblical creation?

Recently, an image from the Hubble telescope was presented to the public of—

 “a dark cloud (Lupus 3) where new stars are forming along with a cluster of brilliant stars that have already emerged from their dusty stellar nursery …about 600 light-years from Earth”[i]

Astronomers then presented as fact what is only theory, that these “new” stars were actually born 600 light years ago because it took that long for the light from their birth to travel across space to earth where we could see it.

A literal interpretation of creation in Genesis has all the stars of the universe brought into existence and sent virtually instantaneously into their positions in space relative to earth in the one twenty-four hour period of day four, thousands (not billions) of years ago.

How then can we see light that has travelled hundreds of light years from “newborn” stars to earth if the universe is only thousands of years old? Visible starlight is likely the “light trail” left behind as God flung the stars out from a geographic center in space (i.e., “the deep” — Gen. 1:1-2).

The very concept of “new” star formation is based on the assumption that the universe is billions—not thousands—of years old. That assumption is based upon another assumption: that the speed of light is a universal constant—an unalterable “law” of physics.  Based upon those two assumptions, the speed of light is used as a measuring stick to go backwards in time to determine how long it took for starlight from individual stars and galaxies to come into existence from the theorized Big Bang.

The Big Bang itself is a theory based upon the assumption that the universe is billions of years old, which is built on the assumption that the speed of light as a universal constant. That is the definition of circular reasoning, no matter how convincing the complicated math required to calculate the age of stars.

So when we read an article that states—

“…the faint irregular galaxy NGC 3738…about 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major (The Great Bear)…is undergoing a violent episode of star formation, converting huge clouds of hydrogen gas — which glow red in the image — into new stars.”[ii]

—we need to keep in mind that nobody is actually watching stars being formed. No one is even watching the birth of stars 12 million light years ago. That is simply an interpretation of data filtered through a whirlpool of circular assumptions.

In contrast to complex, theoretical mathematics and computer algorithms based upon un-provable assumptions, the Creator of the stars has told us how He did it, when He did it and why He did it.

         Ps. 33:6  By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

If God chose to create stars in various stages of “maturity,” even as He created mature seed-bearing trees, which then produced more seed-bearing trees (Gen. 1:11), it all points back to Him:

         Ps. 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

        

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[i] (ESO/F. Comeron) Space.com 1/16/13

[ii] Space.com 11/6/12

Supernovas And Creation

Biblegems #245

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team

Question: According to NASA, the Veil Nebula is the debris of a supernova that occurred 8,000 years ago. How does this fit in the Genesis portrayal of a universe created in six days only thousands of years ago?

According to Genesis, stars and galaxies came into existence at once by God’s command on day four of creation (Gen. 1:14-19).

    

Furthermore, the genealogical record between Adam (created day six, year one) and Abraham (c. 2150 B.C.) covers approximately 2,000 years. That places creation week at roughly 4,000 B.C. —only 6,000+ years ago.

Current scientific theory proposes that the Veil Nebula is the vast debris field of a blue star once twenty times larger than our sun that grew old and eventually exploded. According to NASA—

         “The fast-moving blast wave from the ancient explosion is plowing into a wall of cool, denser interstellar gas, emitting light. The nebula lies along the edge of a large bubble of low-density gas that was blown into space by the dying star prior to its self-detonation.”[i]

The estimated explosion date?

         “The Veil Nebula arches into graceful loops over a large region in Cygnus. Earlier estimates of its age were in the tens of thousands of years. In 2001, however, Sky & Telescope (2/2001) reported a surprise. By comparing Hubble views with photographs taken in 1953, astronomers recalculated its age at 5,000 years.”

That fits well within the Genesis time frame of creation. But what about the billions of years required for the formation of stars out of the Big Bang before a blue star eventually turns supernova?

The belief that stars are billions of years old is based on the assumption that stars take a certain amount of time to form. What evidence is this assumption built upon?

None.

In fact, this assumption is based upon one more assumption: that the processes we see at work in nature now have always been the same and do not change. The Bible predicted that this Uniformitarian Principle would drive people in the Last Days to ridicule those who trust God’s revelation in the Scriptures:

         2Pet. 3:3   First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

When we see a thirty year-old man, we assume (logically) that he has been alive for thirty years. However, the first man (Adam) was created as a mature adult, perhaps the equivalent age of approximately thirty years old. To assume he had been alive for thirty years would be false. In the same way, to assume stars and galaxies are billions of years old because they appear (from our very limited perspective) to be in various stages of ages-long development would also be a false assumption.

Secular scientific theorizing must assume natural forces of cause and effect without any purpose or design. In contrast, the God of creation intentionally reveals that every aspect of the universe exists by design…

                  Psa. 147:4   He determines the number of the stars

         and calls them each by name.

…and for His purposes:

         Col. 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

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[i] https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/veil-nebula-supernova-remnant

Starlight And Creation

Biblegems #139

Question: If light from the closest star takes 4.3 light years to reach earth, how could the light from that star—or any other—be visible from earth on the first day of creation?

The Question. The question assumes that the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) is, and always has been, a constant. There is no proof of this assumption. Rather, it is based upon Einstein’s theory of relativity (which describes the physics of the universe as it is now) and the observation that the speed of light seems to be a constant now. Yet even that theory is under question by some physicists.

To be fair, creation of the universe according to the Genesis model is also a theory, and it is based upon the assumption that God exists and His revealed Word is true. These, then, are our two options:

1) Assumption of a universal constant based on human observation; 2) Assumption of spontaneous creation based upon God’s revelation.

Creation. Genesis 1 teaches that sun, moon and stars were created on day four of a six-day creation model, after the earth was already formed. In fact, Genesis portrays the universe as expanding outward from the relative position of earth in space. Most current astronomical theories hold that there is no central starting place for the universe.[i]

According to Genesis, God created light itself and poured it upon the earth on day one, prior to the creation of the sun, moon and stars (Gen. 1:3). This light was clearly streaming from a stationary point upon a rotating earth since the light established the pattern of day and night. God did not need to create generators of light out of matter in order to create light itself (see Rev. 22:5).

On day four of creation God created the sun, moon and stars for a specific purpose. They are to:

Gen. 1:14-15 …serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years…

God created the stars by His command (Gen. 1:14) and “set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth” (Gen. 1:17). From the vantage point of the earth, God both created and placed the stars (including galaxies, etc.) in one nearly simultaneous action so that their light would be immediately visible from earth. The stars were sent in motion to their appointed places in space at virtually instantaneous speeds, way beyond the speed of light. What remains visible from earth is the light trail left behind. By way of analogy, think of the “light trail” your eye perceives when you wave a light around in the dark, or picture the starship Enterprise as it streaks into warp speed.

This magnificent universe is a fantastic testimony to the existence of God, the Creator of all that is.

         Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

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[i]  “The Big Bang—as far as we understand it—was not an explosion like that at all.  It was an explosion of space, not an explosion in space.  According to the standard models there was no space and time before the Big Bang.  There was not even a "before" to speak of.  So, the Big Bang was very different from any explosion we are accustomed to and it does not need to have a central point.”  — Original by Philip Gibbs 1997.

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