Laws of PhysicsA Beginner's-and Expert's-Guide to the Big Bang: Sifting Facts from Fictions
7/1/2000 Big bang cosmology is an explosive topic. Heated reactions—and bitter resistance—have arisen from opposite directions in the last century but, ironically, for the same type of reasons: religious reasons. One group of big bang opponents includes those who understand the theory’s implications, and the other, those who misunderstand them. A Carbon-14 Coincidence
3/7/2008 Why does the Moon have almost exactly the same apparent size in the sky as the Sun, so that it perfectly blocks out the Sun in a solar eclipse? A few weeks back I mentioned the benefits to scientific discovery provided by this coincidence. A Classical Perspective on the “Physics of Sin”
By Krista Bontrager In his apologetic speaking and writing, Hugh Ross has introduced a concept referred to as the “physics of sin.” He argues that the laws of nature work in a divinely ordained way to curb the expression of humanity’s fallen nature. A Major Test for Relativity
David H Rogstad, Ph.D. It isn’t often that a scientist correctly predicts something that will occur within less than two years in a galaxy 3.5 billion light-years away. Yet that’s what Finnish physicist Mauri Valtonen did A Medical Perspective on "The Passion of the Christ"
Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ has generated more controversy in the media than any movie in recent memory. One of the main criticisms has been that the violence the movie depicts is excessive. The fact is that neither the flogging nor the crucifixion as shown was as bad or as violent as the actual event – as I will explain later. Aliens From Another World? Getting Here From There
4/1/2001 A rising challenge to Christianity, both within and beyond the borders of America, springs from the popular obsession with UFOs (unidentified flying objects) and ETI (extraterrestrial intelligent life). ANOTHER SUCCESS FOR GENERAL RELATIVITY
1/1/1999 Anyone who has read either technical or non-technical books about twentieth-century developments in physics knows the significance of general relativity. As I seek to explain in The Creator and the Cosmos and Beyond the Cosmos, general relativity establishes a cosmic beginning, hence a Beginner. General relativity affirms that the universe is a dynamic entity, not a static infinitude as several earlier generations of scientists and philosophers had come to believe it. Anthropic Principle: A Precise Plan for Humanity
1/1/2002 Human beings climb. Always have, always will. First hills, then mountains, then pinnacles so high they're called "death zones." That's as high as legs could carry them, but not high enough. So people invented balloons, blimps, airplanes, and spacecraft, the higher the better—to a point. AVOIDING A DANGEROUS TRAP
1/1/1999 Have you ever wondered why most Christian astronomers reject a young-universe interpretation of Genesis? The answer has to do with Scripture and theology, as well as with science. In my book Creation and Time (not to be confused with the book by the same title subsequently produced by Van Bebber and Taylor), I state that the rules of biblical exegesis support long creation days, an old earth, and an even older universe.' If the creation periods are interpreted as six consecutive 24-hour days, other books of the Bible and other chapters of Genesis become contradictory. Beginning and End of Cosmology
7/16/2007 The irony of modern-day astrophysics is that the more astronomers study the light of the universe the darker the universe appears. Study of the brightest galaxies in the universe persuaded astronomers that 99 percent of the matter in the universe was dark. And measurements of the brightest stars convinced astronomers that three times as much dark energy existed as did dark matter. Better Clocks, Constants Still Constant
by Jeff Zweerink One biblical message Reasons To Believe consistently echoes is the mandate to weed out false ideas by testing everything. Jeremiah 33:25 makes a testable statement about the laws which govern heaven and earth, namely that they do not change. Big Bang - The Bible Taught It First!
7/1/2000 Most science textbooks that address cosmology credit Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson with the discovery that the universe arose from a hot big bang creation event. While it is true that they were the first (1965) to detect the radiation left over from the creation event Black Holes Provide More Evidence for Strings
by Hugh Ross Arguably the most hotly debated theory in physics is string theory, the concept that at the core of every fundamental particle resides a tiny string or loop of energy that vibrates in nine different dimensions of space. Black Holes, Singularities, and Wormholes
4/1/2001 From a realistic rather than science fiction perspective, the wormhole question is moot. Since black holes are relatively rare, the probability that the singularities of two spatially distant black holes would come into contact is virtually zero, as is the probability that any possible wormhole would lie in a location useful for alien space travel. Cosmic Acceleration Narrows Life's Time Window
10/1/2000 Recent discoveries about the universes expansion rate significantly impact the case for divine design. Past research revealed that only after a certain period of expansion would the universe be ready to support physical life. The latest findings show that the expansion will soon be too great for life support. The narrowness of this life window has led some researchers to acknowledge the necessity of intelligent design.1, 2 Cosmic Brane Scans
7/1/2002 As physicians use scanning devices to view the hidden structures and activities of the brain, astronomers can now use distant supernovae and high-resolution cosmic background radiation maps to scan the structures and properties of “branes.” Defusing the Antimatter Bomb
5/19/2009 Exchanges Between Dr. Hugh Ross and Dr. Russell Humphreys
Exchanges between Dr. Hugh Ross and Dr. Russell Humphreys In response to repeated inquiries about public statements made by Dr. Russell Humphreys concerning his desire to debate Dr. Hugh Ross about differences between young-earth vs. old-earth cosmic creation models, Dr. Ross posted a general statement about the necessary parameters for such a debate in August of 2002. Exotic Life Sites: The Feasibility of Far-Out Habitats
10/1/2001 People often joke about the certainty of death and taxes. Astronomers can add another certainty to that short list: Sooner or later someone will ask, “What do you think about the possibility of life out there?” Extending the Reach of Cosmic Creation Measures
6/25/2007 Continual cosmic expansion under fixed physical laws from an actual beginning of matter, energy, space, and time is the heart and soul of the biblical cosmic creation model. Moreover, the physical constants that govern cosmic expansion, namely dark energy and the cosmic mass density, provide the most spectacular confirmed scientific evidence for the supernatural design of the universe for the benefit of humanity. Facing Up to Big Bang Challenges
1/1/2001 What danger lurks in associating big bang cosmology with biblical cosmology? Most Christian physicists, astronomers, and other scientists would say, “None.” Many Christian philosophers, theologians, pastors, and other nonscientists would say, “A big one.” Fundamental Forces Show Greater Fine-Tuning
by Hugh Ross A team of Austrian, German, and Hungarian astrophysicists has recently added evidence to the case for divine design, sweeping aside a recent challenge to the design argument I present in The Creator and the Cosmos.1 Their research focused on two of the four fundamental forces of physics: 1) electromagnetism, which governs the degree to which atomic nuclei hold on to their electrons, and 2) the strong nuclear force, which governs the degree to which protons and neutrons stick together in the nuclei of atoms. Geometric Distance to M81 Buttresses the Distance Ladder Foundation for Cosmic Creation
12/17/2007 Not until Albert Einstein produced his theory of general relativity in 1916 did scientists even consider the possibility of continual cosmic expansion. Yet, six Bible authors described this expansion in great detail over two thousand years ago.1 For centuries, the Bible stood alone as the only text making such claims about the universe. Consequently, any additional evidence in favor of continual expansion supports the reliability and predictive power of the Bible and of the Christian world view. Gravitational Lens Measurements Yield New Cosmic Creation Test
6/18/2007 The heart and soul of the biblical cosmic creation model calls for continual cosmic expansion under fixed physical laws from an actual beginning of matter, energy, space, and time. For over two thousand years the Bible stood alone as the only text making such claims about the universe. Not until Albert Einstein produced his theory of general relativity in 1916 did scientists even consider the possibility of continual cosmic expansion. Mathematics and Physical Universe
More than once, scientists and philosophers have noted how mathematics can describe, with remarkable precision, the laws that govern our universe. An example of this is found in the article, The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Eugene Wigner. Missing Solar Neutrinos Found
By Hugh Ross What makes the Sun shine? Where does Earth’s life-sustaining radiation originate? Astronomers answered these questions in part with the discovery of nuclear fusion, the same process that powers the hydrogen bomb. Most Detailed Map of Cosmic Background Radiation Confirms Biblical Creation Model
7/1/2006 A team of American and Canadian astronomers dramatically strengthened the case for a big bang creation (thoroughly biblical1) when they released the latest map of radiation left over from the cosmic origin event.2 The team made public their analysis based on three years' continuous observations of that cosmic background radiation via satellite-the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). This analysis, by far the most thorough and detailed to date, yields five independent confirmations of the hot big bang creation model.3 Multifaceted Design of the Strong Nuclear Force
By Hugh Ross Protons and neutrons are like people. There is a just-right separation distance between them to foster the best possible chemistry. Put them either too close or too far apart and their capacity to interact with one another will sharply diminish. To get the just-right interactions between protons and neutrons so that stable atoms, molecules, and chemistry are possible, it is critical that the strong nuclear force be exquisitely fine-tuned in several different ways. Only in the Movies: The Harsh Realities of Deep Space Travel
Adapted from material by Hugh Ross PHILOSOPHIA CHRISTI
JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY Volume 21:1 - Summer 1998 Primordial Helium Abundance Test of Big Bang Cosmology
Hugh Ross, Ph.D. It is hard to exaggerate the theological significance of big bang cosmology. Until the twentieth century the Bible was the only “text” explicitly describing the fundamentals of big bang cosmology—a Causal Agent beyond space and time, a beginning of space and time, a beginning of matter and energy, continuous cosmic expansion, and constant laws of physics—as well as implying other features, such as continuous cosmic cooling and the confinement of matter . . . . . . . Quantum Mechanics In Plain English
By Erica Carlson Quantum mechanics takes us into the wild and wacky world of the really small where particles are waves, waves are particles, and the physical intuition we have from our everyday life doesn't seem to work. If you and I lived in Quantumland, we could sit in three chairs at once and speed without getting a ticket. Sound like a nice place? Fasten your seatbelt for a quick tour. Quantum Mechanics, a Modern Goliath
By Hugh Ross, Ph.D. A few years ago an alarm was sounded like the one that echoed through Israel's camp in the days of King Saul. The giant, this time, is quantum mechanics, heralded by theologians as "the greatest contemporary threat to Christianity."' Physicists have proliferated popular books exploiting the esoteric nature of quantum phenomena to undermine the Christian view of origins. Scripture List on Time
1/1/1999 God, Humans, and Time: Time has a beginning, but God operates outside of time. On the other hand, humans are confined to time. Speed of Gravity Measured, Scripture Validated
4/1/2003 General relativity and the biblical creation model received yet another boost on January 8, 2003, at the 201st meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The boost came from an announcement of the first-ever measurement of the speed of gravity.1 Einstein’s theory says that gravity travels at roughly the same velocity as light. Physicist Sergei Kopeikin and astronomer Ed Fomalont verified (within 20 percent precision) that gravity moves through space at close to light’s speed.2 In other words, it’s in the range current big bang models predict. Testing Cosmic Creation Models, Part 1
4/21/2008 At two different outreach events this past month I met both atheists and young-earth creationists who expressed skepticism concerning the evidence I presented for the biblically predicted big bang creation model.1 While admitting that the evidence I presented was compelling, they claimed the fact that astronomers cannot agree on exactly what kind of big bang describes the origin and history of the universe proves that the big bang creation model resides on a shaky foundation. Testing Cosmic Creation Models, Part 2
4/28/2008 In my previous contribution to Today’s New Reason To Believe I described how Bayesian statistical analysis by two Polish researchers on the latest measurements defining the history of the universe had yielded additional scientific evidence for the biblically predicted big bang creation model. Though the model is gainsaid by atheists and young-earth creationists, researchers Aleksandra Kurek and Marek Szydlowski demonstrated that the new measurements of cosmic history established a much more specific and detailed set of big bang creation models than what was possible a decade ago The Measurability of the Universe––a Record of the Creator’s Design
10/1/2000 If the universe were not measurable, scientific study would be impossible. Astronomy, biology, chemistry, cosmology, geology, physics, and the other disciplines of science would be no less quixotic than alchemy or astrology. Science would not—could not—shed much light in the cosmic darkness. The Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics
By James Daniel Sinclair Abstract: Is the science of Quantum Mechanics the greatest threat to Christianity? Some years ago the journal Christianity Today suggested precisely that. It is true that QM is a daunting subject. This barrier is largely responsible for the fear. But when the veil is torn away, the study of QM builds a remarkably robust Christian apologetic. When pragmatic & logically invalid interpretations are removed, there remain four possibilities for the nature of reality (based on the work of philosopher Henry Stapp). The Physics of Sin
1/1/2002 "What difference does it make? As long as I'm not hurting anyone else, I should be able to live with my girlfriend." "I never loved my wife. Don't I deserve to be happy?" "I needed that money more than he did, so it's okay that I took it. Besides, he owes me for the time when…" The Unraveling of Starlight and Time
Final Revision March 22, 1999
Trying to See Dark
David H. Rogstad, Ph.D. Is dark just the absence of light, or does it have some substance? If so, how could you detect it? How dark really is dark? Is there a way to build a “dark bulb” so that when you turn it on it quenches Where Is the Cosmic Density Fine-Tuning?
7/23/2007 In addressing audiences about the fine-tuning of the cosmic expansion rate, I have used the illustration that adding or subtracting a single dime to the mass of the observable universe would be enough of a change to make physical life impossible. This word picture helps to demonstrate a number used to quantify that fine-tuning, namely 1 part in 1060. Compared to the total mass of the observable universe, 1 part in 1060 works out to about a tenth part of a dime. White Dwarfs Deliver Better Creation History
1/21/2008 Star clusters provide astronomers with an extraordinary window into the creation and history of the universe, a window that enables astronomers to rigorously test the biblically predicted big bang creation model. Thanks to a new set of measurements on burnt out stars—known as white dwarfs—that window has become much clearer and more robust. WMAP Offers Spectacular Proof of Creation Events
4/1/2003 Preliminary results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) have stirred great excitement among physicists.1 Radiometers on board the satellite are sending NASA researchers by far the most detailed maps to date of the radiation left over from the cosmic creation event—specifically of the temperature fluctuations in that radiation. Laws of PhysicsLaws of Physics |
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