Why the Universe Is the Way It Is (Reasons to Believe) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Hugh Ross

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135 pages

English

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Increasingly astronomers recognize that if the cosmos had not unfolded exactly as it did, humanity would not, could not, exist. Yet these researchers--along with countless ordinary folks--resist belief in the biblical Creator. Why? They say a loving God would have made a better home for us, one without trouble and tragedy. In Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, Hugh Ross draws from his depth of study in both science and Scripture to explain how the universe's design fulfills several distinct purposes. He also reveals God's surpassing love and ultimate purposes for each individual. Why the Universe Is the Way It Is will interest anyone who wonders where and how the universe came to be, what or who is responsible for it, why we are here, or how and when the universe ends. Far from leaving the reader at this philosophical jumping-off point, Ross builds toward answering the big question of human destiny and the specific question of each reader's personal destiny.

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Philosophie et théologie

Christian theology

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 juin 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441201881
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0456€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

© 2008 by Reasons To Believe
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2013
Ebook corrections 12.15.2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-0188-1
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked ESV is taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Let’s Play “I Spy”

1. Why Ask Why Questions?
The Search for Answers
To Address Complaints and Concerns
To Embrace the Incomprehensible
2. Why Such a Vast Universe?
Visibility
Super-Sized
The Matter of Mass
An Exquisite Balance
Dark Matter
Dark Energy
Clear and Present Purposes
3. Why Such an Old Universe?
Just-Right Age to Support Humanity
Just-Right Terrestrial Age for Support of Humanity
Just-Right Age for Observing
Powerful Purposes
4. Why Such a Lonely Universe?
The Search for Answers
A Matter of Mediocrity
It’s a Jungle Out There
A Prime Location
Finding Simple Life
One Viable Option
Alone in the Cosmos
Not So Alone
5. Why Such a Dark Universe?
Dark Moon
Dark Planetary Companions
Distant Star Clusters
Dark Nebulae
Dark Galaxy Clusters
Other Kinds of Darkness
Where Does Cosmic Darkness Reside?
Signs of Design and Purpose
6. Why a Decaying Universe?
Cosmic Heat Death
No Escape Clause
Time Line of Cosmic Consequences
Going against the Grain
The Magnitude of an If
7. Why a Realm beyond This One?
Temporal and Spatial Coincidences
Providential Time Windows
Just Right for Humankind
So Much Invested for Such a Short Time
Drive for Preservation
Unique Human Drives
Greater Reasons
8. Why This Particular Planet, Star, Galaxy, and Universe?
Echoes of Goldilocks
The Case for Fine-Tuning Grows
9. Why Believe the Bible?
Cosmic Owner’s Manual
A Trustworthy Testament
10. Why Not a Perfect Universe—Now?
A Lavish Domain
Perfectly Prepared
Perfection Defined by Purpose
Triumph of Good over Evil
11. Why These Physical Laws and Dimensions?
God’s Training Program
Laws of Physics and Behavior Modification
“Curses” on Humanity
A Primary Purpose of the Physical Laws
Natural Consequences Curb Poor Choices
A Primary Purpose of Space and Time
The End of Cosmic Physics, the End of Evil and Suffering
Ideal Stage for Redemption
A Primary Purpose and Destiny for Humanity
Cosmologists’ Oversight
Two Creations
12. Why Two Creations?
An Unimaginable Realm
Distinct Differences
One Realm Makes Way for Another
Eternal Freedom
A Necessarily Arduous Process
Transformed Will
13. Why Is the New Creation Better?
Beyond Imagination
Where “Up” and “Down” Are Located
A Matter of Time
“Physical” Features and Laws
Different Dimensions
Work
Prepared by Grace
Learning without Limits
Play and Rest
Relationship Pleasures
Better Than . . .
All for Us
The Just-Right Vehicle

Appendix A: Biblical Basis for an Ancient Universe and Earth
Appendix B: Where Is the Cosmic Density Fine-Tuning?
Appendix C: Designed for Life
Appendix D: Creation Accounts in the Bible
Appendix E: Entrance to the New Creation

Notes
Index
Back Cover
List of Illustrations
Figure 1.1 . The Andromeda Galaxy as It Appeared Long Ago
Figure 2.1 . The Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Figure 2.2 . The USS John C. Stennis
Figure 3.1 . Cosmic Abundance History of Uranium and Thorium
Figure 3.2 . Flaring Activity Level for the Sun
Figure 3.3 . Luminosity History of the Sun
Figure 3.4 . Earth’s Oxygenation History
Figure 3.5 . Growth of Continental Landmasses
Figure 3.6 . When Light First Separated from Darkness
Figure 4.1 . Enrico Fermi, Winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics
Figure 4.2 . The Safe Spot within the Galactic Habitable Zone
Figure 4.3 . The Milky Way Galaxy Compared to Other Spiral Galaxies
Figure 4.4 . The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
Figure 4.5 . The Local Group of Galaxies
Figure 5.1 . The Dark Lunar Surface
Figure 5.2 . The Globular Cluster Omega Centauri
Figure 5.3 . The Tarantula Nebula
Figure 5.4 . The Orion Nebula
Figure 5.5 . The Orion and Tarantula Nebulae to Scale
Figure 6.1 . The Core of the Orion Nebula, a Region of Active Star Formation
Figure 9.1 . Spreading Apart of Galaxies
Figure 9.2 . Cosmic Temperature Measurements Compared to Biblically Predicted Rate of Cosmic Cooling
Figure 9.3 . Listening to Billions of Simultaneous Prayers
List of Tables
Table 2.1 . Inventory of All the Stuff That Makes Up the Universe
Table 8.1 . Cosmic Features That Must Be Fine-Tuned for Any Physical Life to Exist
Table 8.2 . Galactic and Terrestrial Features That Must Be Fine-Tuned to Support Permanent Simple Life
Table 8.3 . Fine-Tuned Features at Various Size Scales That Support Advanced Life
Table 8.4 . Detailed Breakdown of Evidence for Fine-Tuning (as of 2006)
Acknowledgments
This book was born from conversations with people whose names I may not know but whose faces and concerns I can easily remember. Perhaps you are among those who challenged me with a why question after hearing me speak at a university, workplace, church, conference, or some other setting. If so, thank you for thinking about God’s purposes for the way the universe is designed and crafted and for stimulating my research. My colleague Fuz Rana was the first to suggest I put these thoughts into writing. He was also the first to review my earliest chapters and offer helpful suggestions.
I’m grateful for the skills of an outstanding editorial team, including my wife, Kathy. She spent three weeks in isolation, honing my original materials into a draft. Then, armed with feedback from our friend Rachelle Gardner, Reason To Believe’s executive editor, Patti Townley-Covert, guided me through multiple drafts to enhance both the organization and the readability. Marj Harman, with the help of Linda Kloth and Maureen Bell, checked references and quotations and offered judicious feedback. Jonathan Price and Sandra Dimas gathered the figures and massaged the diagrams into finished form. In addition, Sandra, with help from our dedicated volunteer Colleen Wingenbach, did the copyediting and constructed the style sheet and index.
Several theologians and scientists reviewed the manuscript, and each contributed ideas for improving its content: Krista Bontrager, Dominic Halsmer, Craig Keener, Vern Poythress, Fuz Rana, Dave Rogstad, Kenneth Samples, Mike Strauss, and Jeff Zweerink.
My assistant Diana Carrée vastly expedited my research for this project by writing a program to organize all the materials cited in the book. She handled correspondence, sorted my stacks of papers, and aggressively protected my writing time. Her efforts along with my colleagues’ willingness to absorb extra travel and speaking assignments kept this project on track.
My wife not only helped with the editing but also served as my main sounding board for the ideas expressed in this book. Kathy helped me transform complex principles and concepts into readable prose. I’m also grateful for her willingness to fill in for me in various ways, from household chores to social functions, so I could stay focused.
Every book I write takes a team to produce, and I thank God for the team he has given me. Our dear friends at Baker are also valuable members of that team. Special thanks to Bob Hosack, Kristin Kornoelje, and Wendy Wetzel for their contributions.
Introduction
Let’s Play “I Spy”
This book is about purpose—actually purposes . Some are obvious, others veiled. Some remind me of the Where’s Waldo? books my sons used to enjoy, or the “I Spy” computer games my young nephew plays. The purposes may be difficult to see, but they’re there.
Many of the latest scientific discoveries bring these hidden purposes for the universe’s existence, structure, and history into view for the first time. Seeing them helps explain why we’re alive at this juncture in cosmic history. More importantly, it provides insights to humanity’s ultimate destiny.
The most obvious purpose now recognized by the majority of astronomers for the origin, characteristics, and history of the universe is to provide a suitable home for physical life—humanity in particular. Famed British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking described this observation in A Brief History of Time , the bestselling science book of all time:

It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us. [1]

American physicist Freeman Dyson expresses this same impression:

The more I examine the universe and study the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the universe in some sense must have known that we were coming. [2]

Hawking, Dyson, and many other distinguished physicists emphasize the realization that only in the context of human existence does the universe make any rational sense. Why this is so, however, puzzles even the greatest minds. Albert Einstein has been widely quoted as saying, “The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.” [3]
Some features of