I have a naive trust in the universe – that at some level it all makes sense, and we can get glimpses of that sense if we try. (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)
Thinking about the musings from Day 94: It Is As Easy As…31 Switches?…
I would submit to you that the Holy Bible, is filled with evidence relating to the scientific field of astronomy. I would further submit to you that there is a case to be made that the more one continues to read through the book of Genesis, the more that the scientific field of astronomy becomes evident.
In Day 90: Does Anyone Know What Astronomy Is?, I began with the first verse of the Holy Bible and how it relates to the scientific field of astronomy:
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 KJV).
In Day 93: It Is As Easy As…The Flip Of A Switch., I continued with the third verse of the Holy Bible and how it relates to the scientific field of astronomy:
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:3 KJV)
And in Day 94: It Is As Easy As…31 Switches?, 5 more verses from Genesis were presented showing the connection to the scientific field of astronomy:
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters…4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (Genesis 1:2, 4-7 KJV).
To assume that the connection between Genesis 1 and the scientific field of astronomy ends here would be folly indeed.
Let’s continue with where we left off in Genesis 1….
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. (Genesis 1:8 KJV).
I would submit to you that humanity has been aware that the concept of ‘Heaven’, although called by many different names by many different religions and cultures, is geographically up…in the sky, or firmament.
9-10 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10 KJV).
It appears, that the universe, or at least the happenings on planet Earth, are getting a little less vague and a little more detailed as on planet Earth, dry land can be seen separate from the waters. I would further submit to you that the reality regarding the world’s 4 oceans: Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific, is pretty amazing. They are ultimately all connected to each other, or I guess you could say, ‘gathered together unto one place.’
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:11-13 KJV).
I would submit to you that while you are reading this set of verses, ask yourself the following question:
Who or what, put the tree there on the land on planet Earth, in the first place?
Remember that according to William of Ockham, the simplest…tends to be right.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. (Genesis 1:14-15).
Consider the following analogy…
If you stand in a room with lots of windows during the day, and go to turn that light switch on, after say, walking past a table to get to the light switch, consider what you just did, only a more grand scale. To you it appears that you just turned on a light, in your room, just past the table. Think bigger though…think about this:
The room represents…the universe.
The light switch represents…the sun.
The table represents…planet Earth.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, (Genesis 1:16-17 KJV).
I would submit to you that the significance of how verse 16 is written was very intentional indeed: The greater light (sun), rules the day…while the lesser light (moon), rules the night. Verse 16 eliminates the need for humans to continue to worship the sun and moon as gods simply because they were created by someone or something greater than them. The someone or something greater than the sun and the moon is quickly answered in Verse 17…This verse provides compelling evidence as to why worshipping the sun and the moon as gods are no longer necessary for humanity.
And just like that, we have passed the halfway mark showing the relationship between verses 1-17 in the Book of Genesis and the scientific field of astronomy.
What about the remaining verses in the first book of Genesis?
How do they relate to the scientific field of astronomy?
I will continue with those verses next time…
Do not feel discouraged if you do not see a connection with Genesis 1:1-17 and the connection with the scientific field of astronomy. Do not feel discouraged if you still cannot see how these additional verses from the Holy Bible relate back to the scientific field of astronomy. Instead, understand that after reading the first half of the Book of Genesis, you continue to accumulate more evidence to help you to better understand the universe.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, (Genesis 1:16-17 KJV).
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 95: It Is As Easy As…Getting To The Halfway Point.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began: