“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.”
Psalm 19:1-3
I took my children to the science museum the other day. I love science museums, there is so much to touch and feel and learn. While we were there we caught the planetarium show. It was fascinating to see space unfold before us. As we watched the show, I was intrigued by the idea of light-travel-time and how the stars from the furthest regions of the universe would require that the age of the universe be billions of years old. As a creationist, this piqued my interest. This isn’t the first time I have heard that the age of the universe can be determined by the distance of far stars and how long it would take their light to reach us. The question is: “Does the distance of light really pose a problem for Christians?”
I think this question really deals with whether one believes God is bound by and must move exclusively through the limits and boundaries of science or not. It comes down to if we, as believers should try to prove Christianity based solely on the standards of science? What then happens when science and faith disagree?
First, believers need to recognize that the boundaries of science do not determine the truth of Scripture or the history of our human story. It is merely meant to be a tool that helps us better understand the world that we live in. Science is limited, subject to restrictions, and not exhaustive. There is an unknown amount of knowledge and information in the universe. Conditions like time, human error, bias, and the belief that what is real must be observable and measurable through scientific parameters also affect the extent of our knowledge. Furthermore, it hinders mankind from exploring the universe more thoroughly as we box in what’s unknown by the standards of what’s known.
As much as I would love to give an explanation for every objection and be able to prove all things found in Scripture, the realm of the divine, and to satisfy every argument, there is no way to do so. There are things that God has determined we must accept by faith. I believe, in some part, it deals with the character of God and His glory. God has told us how the heavens were laid and we either accept it in faith or reject it because we don’t know how it was done.
Second, It is true that science can’t answer important questions about our origin and the beginning of the universe, at least not without bordering on science fiction or theories incapable of being proven. We witnessed this in the museum as we saw one explanation for life on this planet arising from simple celled creatures that basically hitched a ride on a meteor and began the life process on earth. Where these creatures came from, how they survived the trip to earth, and how they didn’t burn up in our atmosphere or die on impact isn’t answered. If there is an explanation, it is one that is based on faith, not science. Life coming from some unknown outside planet is not founded on scientific knowledge but conjecture…these are the very same complaints atheists throw at Christians. To date, there have been zero meteors with evidence of life on them.
What I do know is this, mankind is given an explanation of how we came to be and in no way is it based on natural phenomena. Romans 4:17 says “…God…calls into being that which does not exist”. You cannot divorce the supernatural and the miraculous from Scripture. There will always be areas that we must believe in faith. You may reject creation and the young earth because of science but you are still left with story after story of supernatural events you must contend with. One must believe in God and His Word, in part, by faith.
As for the light-travel-time problem, trying to harmonize the birth and age of the universe and the origin of man by the limits of the natural is foolish. The creation event is one miraculous moment after another so why should we expect it to be explainable in this one area? Consider that God spoke ex nihilo (from nothing) and:
- Light was brought forth and was divided from the darkness
- The atmosphere and stellar heavens were formed
- The waters were gathered and dry land appeared
- Earth brought forth vegetation to include trees that already had fruit and seed (non-cultivated)
- Lights in the expanse for signs and seasons were created and were immediately visible to Adam upon his creation
- God made and placed the sun, moon, and stars in the universe
- Living creatures in the sea, sky, and earth were created
- Man was formed from the dust of the earth and the Spirit of life was breathed into him
- Eve was fashioned from the rib of Adam – the first and only time woman was born from man
All of the events listed above have no scientific explanation for them. They can never be explained or replicated by science. They are given to us to believe in faith no different than the virgin birth of God in the flesh and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They stand with the miraculous, not the explainable.
There is a true contention that exists in many areas between science and faith. I don’t think that we, as believers, should try to resolve an issue that is clearly supernatural, we should just proclaim it to be so. After all, the miraculous will never satisfy people who expect a scientific explanation for everything. However, I don’t need to know how or why God placed the stars to know it is possible with God. His power demands His ability. He has exclaimed that the heavens declare His glory and might and in fact, they do. Science is in awe of God’s handiwork. So if we do have a light travel time conundrum, I am at peace with that. I know God isn’t bound by the expectation to work in the natural. He said that He placed the sun, moon, and stars and gave Adam the ability to see them in spite of the distance and speed of light. Maybe He bent the universe, maybe as He spoke something far more miraculous happened. I imagine the power of God’s word is infinitely faster than the speed of light. I have read explanations from people much smarter than I who give reasonable explanations for this problem.
I have determined that what I believe will not be based on the standards of the unbeliever, it is to be based on the character and nature of the God who spoke all things into creation. His standards alone are what matter. He has always been faithful and true. The evidence of His power is on display throughout the whole universe and His goodness is beyond measure. For it is written:
The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the people see His glory.
Psalm 97:6