science

Physics and the Bible

Posted on November 13, 2017November 13, 2017 by elizabethprata

Men have been yearning to learn of the mysteries of life, the universe, and our world since the beginning. Genesis 4:20-22 recounts the start of livestock husbandry, musical instrument making, and metal forging. By Genesis 11:3-4, not long after the Flood, people were building with the invention of bricks and mortar. They were also once again rejecting God and substituting their own selves for the deity as had occurred in Genesis 3.

This sinful attitude has never abated. In Romans 1:23 we read that man ‘exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.’

Man sees himself as God and as such he looks for answers within himself, using his own capabilities, never acknowledging that life itself is a gift from above, as is power (John 19:11) and even the conscience. (Isaiah 30:21, Romans 2:15).

But that doesn’t stop today’s scientists for looking for answers in all the wrong places. Or, they look for answers to the big questions of life in the right places, but fail to see or acknowledge God as the originator, author, architect, and ultimate Source.

Answers to the deep mysteries of life are not scientific, because they are supernatural, being originated from God. Science can only go so far.

I love science and I see God’s fingerprints all over it. The Bible is not a book of science, but it is a book of answers. If you have a biblical worldview, science fits right in. It’s the secular worldview that makes scientists perplexed when things don’t fit in, because they look, but do not see. (Matthew 13:13).

The BBC Documentary Atom is a multi-part series narrated by British physicist Jim al-Khalili. He makes particle physics and quantum physics understandable. Well, he makes a lot of it clear, lol, but not all of it is clear in my puny mind. That doesn’t matter, because where I fail to make connections scientifically, I can see the answers biblically. And that’s enough.

Example #1.

Here are some examples of what I’m talking about. Early in the series, the narrator is describing the scientists’ upset of discovering that everything is made up of atoms. Then they got more upset learning that atoms are (seemingly) mainly empty space.

1957 atom. Source

If you picture a football field, with the center being the nucleus, and a soccer ball rolling around the edge of it, that’s the proportional distance. How does the electron know to remain in orbit around its designated nucleus? Why doesn’t it dance off to another location, and what holds it there? These questions were posed in the documentary. There is a scientific answer. But also, there is a biblical answer.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17.

Jesus holds the electrons in their place.

Example #2.

In this section of the documentary, al-Khalili explains how genius Paul Dirac sought the unification solution before Feynman came up with it. Dirac is quoted as saying “a physical theory must have mathematical beauty”. The disparity between special relativity and quantum mechanics was not just inconvenient to Dirac, it was downright ugly.

The soul thirsts for God and not just a utilitarian God. We intuitively understand that God is orderly. His perfections include symmetry, and beauty. If the world emerged from a bang and chaos, why did it evolve to produce such beauty everywhere? The universe must be harmonious, it just seems right to believe this, as Dirac was sure of.

As RC Sproul explained in his lesson titled Recovering the Beauty of the Arts,

Will our art be beautiful or ugly? Harmonious or cacophonous? Orderly or chaotic? Once we see that God is the foundation of Beauty, since He Himself is Beauty, we shall see that God is the ultimate artist. He spoke and worlds were created. His word of order triumphed over the chaotic abyss present in Genesis 1:2. Any example of creation points to His majestic artistry.

God made the worlds beautiful and pronounced it all good. Dirac’s quest for a harmonious resolution of all things is an innate understanding that beauty comes from the Originator of it, God Himself. Not just colors and such, but even the laws of nature are beautiful, harmonious, and elegant.

Example #3.

One issue that the documentary raised is that the laws operate differently when looking at the grand things in Einstein’s special relativity and at the small world of quantum mechanics. Space and time laws operate differently than the laws at the small level as the atom. It drove Einstein crazy that the physical laws at the macro and the micro were different. Physicists try to reconcile these two in a unification theory, which they think they have reached. This unifying theory is called quantum electrodynamics (QED) “and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved.”

In a third example from Atom, Dirac sought his unification theory through his mathematical equations, and discovered something stunning. al-Khalili said, “Another universe exists where we never noticed before. There is a mirror image to our universe, where properties are reversed. For every particle that can exist, there is a corresponding antiparticle with the same mass, but exactly the same in every other way- a mirror of the universe.”

I don’t understand Dirac’s equation above, and I have a hard time understanding matter and antimatter. But biblically I do understand a parallel universe. Think of the Transfiguration. Peter, John, and James are atop Mt Olive with Jesus, and when Jesus is transfigured, He is suddenly talking with Moses and Elijah, who have appeared out of nowhere.

And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matthew 17:3).

Or of Elisha’s chariots-

Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17).

Note that as the two men appeared, they were already talking with Jesus. Jesus exists in all places at once- He is omnipresent. Heaven is that alternate universe Dirac and other scientists have discovered. It is next to us, close, somewhere in a parallel dimension. When we die, our bodies remain here, but our soul goes there. A multiverse does exist, one that’s here and one that’s there where the dead go. Who are living. Matter and antimatter? I don’t know, but I am sure the two worlds, exist, not because of an equation, but because Jesus told us there was.

In a fourth example from Atom, physicist Richard Feynman pushed the envelope further than Dirac. He played a large part in developing the next phase of quantum mechanics. Like Dirac’s antimatter equation before, the intent of Feynman’s new theory was unification. He aimed to explain how everything works, through the electromagnetic field. Once again, the theory is called quantum-electrodynamics, or QED.

Feynman diagram

QED is difficult to understand, said Feynman. Even he didn’t understand it, he said. But at root, it explains that empty space isn’t empty. Even in a vacuum, there is stuff and the stuff is heaving with activity. Atoms borrow energy from the future, and pay it back again very quickly. This exchange is repeated billions of times with many matter and antimatter particles being created and destroyed very quickly. But what it tells physicists is that ultimately the activity of these electrons popping in and out of existence, are simply leftovers of a deeper more permanent reality.

Yes. That’s called heaven. ‘Empty space’ is seething with energy we can’t feel and particles we can’t see. For example, angels both holy and unholy are spirit beings, but pop into physical existence. Somehow. The deeper, more permanent reality is the one that’s there, after death. The reality we experience in this temporary tent called a fleshly body is the impermanent one.

A final unification of these two realities that the physicists feverishly seek, will be completed after the universe is melted in a fervent heat and remade. (2 Peter 3:10). Life in heaven that’s going on now with Jesus, the angels, and dead souls, and life on earth, with living people breathing and working and consciously producing what they (we) believe is finite reality, will unite.

To conclude this journey through physics and the Bible, Physicist Hendrik Casimir discovered that in that so-called empty space, there exists a mysterious force that eventually, for example pull two inert metal plates together. Like the wind that pushes the sails of a boat, the stuff that emptiness is made of is pushing the metal plates together. This is called the Casimir Effect. al-Khalili said of the Casimir Effect,

“The fact that nothingness, real emptiness, could exert a small force, is surely one of nature’s greatest magic tricks.” ~Jim al-Khalili, Atom, part 3

The biblical view of this is not that a force that connects all things is a magic trick, but that it is the scriptures explaining God to us.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3).

The Bible is not a book of science, but it is a book of answers. Where physicists are stumped, or marvel at mysteries, or deem the foundational properties of God’s work as a magic trick, we understand that He revealed Himself to us through His creation. It is wonderful that men seek to understand through harmonies of art, music,and science, but ultimately the answers are contained in God’s mind, and insofar as He has revealed some answers to us, we can and should read them in His word. Where science fails, and it does, many times, we believers have the knowledge of Him who created all things, and is before all things. Sadly, peering into the great mysteries didn’t bring Dirac closer to God, it actually hardened him into worshiping the creature instead.

If we are honest — and scientists have to be — we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions. I can’t for the life of me see how the postulate of an Almighty God helps us in any way. ~Paul Dirac, Fifth Solvay International Conference (October 1927)

Dirac’s fundamental belief, as he answered a student’s question, was not that there is an intelligent God who made all things and upholds all things, but that

the laws of nature should be expressed in beautiful equations.

Dirac was a genius, who advanced our understanding of how the universe works in measurable and interesting ways, but he is dead now. Now he knows the truth. He has the answers, but they are not helping him in any way.

Jesus is the answer, He is before all things.

For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16)

conception, encouragement, jesus, life, science

Flash of light announces life

Posted on May 2, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

This actually happened. It happened the way the Bible records it happening. God created everything. With HIS VOICE!

Awesome.

Anyway, we read in 1 John 1:5, This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

God is light. He is unapproachable light. (1 Timothy 6:16).

I read a cute story in the Science section this week. You might have read it as well. It’s this:

Human life begins with ‘flash of light,’ claim scientists

A “flash of light” marks the beginning of life in humans, according to a study conducted by researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago. Scientists were able to capture in video the light or “fireworks” that break out when a human egg is activated by sperm, which mimics the process of conception. During fertilization, the amount of calcium in the egg increases, and the egg releases zinc. As the zinc is released, it bursts into light. This happens every time conception occurs.

It makes sense that light accompanies life, as we read in John 1:1-3

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

God is life. God is Light. God ordains all life, creates it, sustains it, numbers it, and calls it home.

Human life begins with a flash of Light. God is good.

drive by pneumatology, prophecy, science, steven lawson, the onion, todd friel, volcanoes

The Onion hilarity, bible study fellowship recipes, a scientist’s agitation, Drive By Theology, WWUTT?

Posted on June 11, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Thursday is grocery shopping day. I want to go early since it is supposed to be very hot and my car AC doesn’t work anymore. My usual routine is suspended for today, so no deep theological thoughts. 🙂 Here are a few things for your consideration.

I have Bible study in my home. Here are two recipes I enjoy making in order to have something on hand to serve the guests. My mama taught me that. She taught me manners and hospitality. It is a dying art, I think. I like these 2 recipes because they are inexpensive, use only a few ingredients, are easy to make, and are low calorie. They also cook fast, something to consider in hot Georgia during the summer.

Banana Oatmeal ‘cookies’
These are gluten free and sugar free. Though the recipe calls for a small bit of sugar, I omit it. I use banana, oatmeal, raisins, and sunflower seeds. That’s it. They are tasty and filling.

The write-up says, “I’d very loosely call these treats cookies. Why? The recipe is basically two ingredients, oats and bananas, plus a few add-ins. Also, it’s pretty healthy. Probably with my add-ins they’re only about 40 calories each, but don’t let that scare you. These “cookies” are actually very tasty, like baked banana oatmeal in portable form.”

Two-Ingredient Angel Food Pineapple Cake
This recipe uses a box angel food cake and a 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, in its own juice. That’s it. Don’t even grease the pan, the cake won’t rise. I stir the the ingredients together by hand and let sit for 2-3 minutes. It froths up. Then pour into a baking dish. I use a 13-inch glass dish. Bake for the allotted time and that is it! Top with Cook Whip if desired, or fresh fruit.

As far as beverages go, I never have any that other people enjoy on hand. I don’t drink sodas or juice because of the sugar. I do always have a jug of cold water in the fridge and usually a jug or two of chilled herb tea. Chilled green tea with lemon is refreshing to serve. I know most people down south drink ‘sweet tea’ but I just can’t serve that. It’s gross.

As a person who studies prophecy and has from the beginning of her Christian walk been interested in last things, I found this spoof-news piece from The Onion laugh out loud funny. I mean, I laughed hard from my gut.

Experts Say Best Option Now Is Keeping Nation As Comfortable As Possible Till End

WASHINGTON—Saying there were no other options remaining and that continued intervention would only prolong the nation’s suffering, experts concluded Tuesday that the best course of action is to keep the United States as comfortable as possible until the end.

According to those familiar with its condition, the country’s long, painful decline over the past several decades has made it clear that the most compassionate choice at this juncture is to do whatever is possible to ensure America is at ease during its last moments.

“We need to accept the fact that the U.S. doesn’t have long—simply helping it pass that time in comfort is the humane thing to do,” said economist Danielle Martin, speaking on behalf of a large group of experts ranging from sociologists and historians to lawmakers and environmentalists, all of whom confirmed they had “done everything [they] could.” “Attempting to stabilize the country in its current enfeebled state would not only be extremely expensive, but it would also cause unnecessary agony as it enters this final stage. With how hard the nation is struggling to perform even basic functions, letting it meet its end naturally is the merciful decision here.”

A Christian Astronomer debunks the blood moon theory from both a scientific and a biblical perspective

Posted on March 21, 2015 by elizabethprata

An internet friend named James sent me an excellent article regarding the hoopla surrounding several astronomical events due to occur this week. The article debunks any credibility whatsoever regarding blood moons related to prophecy. It is reasoned, biblical, AND scientific. The author of the article is Dr. Hugh Ross, a Christian Astronomer. Dr Ross was asked by John Hagee Ministries to participate in Hagee’s movie regarding the blood moons, knowing Ross is a skeptic, to Hagee’s credit. Thus, we have a credible insider’s view on every level to explain to us why the blood moons are not ushering in a new era. Here is the beginning of the article and I urge one and all to read it.

Blood Moons: An End-Times Sign? (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.reasons.org/articles/blood-moons-an-end-times-sign-part-1-of-2 http://www.reasons.org/articles/blood-moons-an-end-times-sign-part-1-of-2

Four Blood Moons, a theatrical one-night event scheduled for March 23, 2015, and based on Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee’s New York Times bestseller of the same name, has garnered attention. I’m featured briefly in the film as a skeptic of Hagee’s central claim that a sequence of four total lunar eclipses signifies that “world history is about to change,” bringing about the rapid fulfillment of a biblical end-times prophecy. I’m also included in a 20-minute panel discussion on the movie that was recorded at Hagee’s San Antonio headquarters.

Hagee knew in advance my views on his claims and I’m impressed that he would allow a “skeptic” of his view to participate. For that, he is to be commended.

The biblical basis for the four blood moons claim as an eschatological event appears in Joel 2:31, which states, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” The scientific basis rests on the fact that often during a total lunar eclipse, the Moon, as seen from Earth’s surface, takes on an orange or red hue (see figures 1 and 2).

My greater concern centers on biblical, rather than scientific, misinterpretations of the blood-moon sign, and I will address those in part 2. First I will address the science and history of lunar eclipses.

And to get caught up on the biblical reasons debunking the blood moon theory, go here

astronomy, Bob Ballard, creation, God, science

Star Trek-like force field protects earth from killer electrons

Posted on December 6, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I was raised an atheist. My father was in love with science, Darwin, and everything related to evolution. In our house, Darwin was God. Creationism was dismissed with a sneer and “Science” was worshiped.

In some ways I am grateful for the heavy emphasis on science, because I have an enduring love for it now. I enjoy the scientific process, scientific advances, and the interplay between ivory tower discoveries and boots on the ground impact to societies.

However, the bible is the truth, and in Romans 1 we learn that the glory of God has been revealed to all people. It has been made plain to us in His creation. Growing up, I would try to balance what I’d been taught about the Big Bang theory and evolution and other ‘science’, with what I was actually seeing about the creation.

What was I seeing? A glorious earth, mysterious, complex, delicate but sturdy. I’d see the march of the tides, regular and dependable. I’d see the stars, meteor showers, northern lights, moon phases, and occasional comets and I’d wonder how they all got there and why it was so orderly. And so beautiful.

Polar Lights. The Graphics Fairy

I was born in 1960 and I vividly remember the old black and white television set showing ticker tape parades for the early astronauts who went into space and returned alive to tell the tale. The first moon landing…I’d muse about my grandmother, born around 1900 and died around 1980. She was born when man was earth-bound and she watched us as a species leave the ground through flight and eventually leave earth and hurl ourselves into space. The twentieth century was an amazing time to be growing up.

I’d wonder, what is it about man that makes him restless, and wanting to know more, pursue frontiers, go into the dangerous and enticing starry deep?

Bob Ballard was huge too. His pursuit of knowledge from another frontier, deep ocean, captivated me. In the 1970s and 1980s he and Jacques Cousteau kept my interest with reports of yet another ‘previous unknown species’ from the deep. Who were these creatures? Why don’t we know about them? How many more are there? What’s going on down at the deepest levels of the ocean?

My childhood home in RI was not far from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) and the University of RI offered a solid course in oceanography. RI is called “The Ocean State”. Ocean stuff was all around. Therefore, I was curious about the discovery of the deepest ocean mysteries, the hydrothermal vents, discovered in 1977 by Dr Ballard in his submersible Alvin. WHOI explains,

In 1977, scientists diving in the submersible Alvin made a stunning discovery on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean: vents pouring hot, mineral-rich fluids from beneath the seafloor. In addition, they also found the vents were inhabited by previously unknown organisms that thrived in the absence of sunlight. These discoveries forever changed our understanding of Earth and life on it.

That turned my perspective upside down. Organisms that live on magnesium and sulfur and acids?? Organisms that do not need the sun nor photosynthesis? How can this be? How does a cludgy and unwieldy theory such as evolution account for such earthly variety?

It doesn’t, as I came to learn when the Lord regenerated my heart.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20).

They are without excuse because they suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18). I understand this personally and dramatically because the more I looked around me at creation, the more it was plain that God must exist.

Here is some news that shows plainly, once again, that God is showing Himself as Creator.

Earth’s Invisible ‘Star Trek’ Force Field Protects You From Killer Electrons

The Earth is surrounded by “killer electrons,” and it turns out one of the only things protecting us from them is an invisible force field of the type usually seen in sci-fi flicks.

These electrons, part of the two Van Allen radiation belts that surround the planet, can knock satellites out of commission and threaten astronauts. But in a new study in the journal Nature, scientists say they’ve discovered that these electrons suddenly stop at about 7,200 miles above the surface of the Earth.

“It’s almost like theses electrons are running into a glass wall in space,” professor Daniel Baker, director of CU-Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and lead author of the study, said in a news release. “Somewhat like the shields created by force fields on ‘Star Trek’ that were used to repel alien weapons, we are seeing an invisible shield blocking these electrons. It’s an extremely puzzling phenomenon.”

LOL, really. Earth is specifically, uniquely, and wonderfully protected by a shield. Here is an artist’s rendition of how the shield may look and how it works.

Caption: “An artist’s rendition of the Van Allen radiation belts as well as the “invisible wall” that blocks electrons from the Earth. | Andy Kale, University of Alberta“.

source

Here is how I like to imagine the same scientific scene in spiritual terms. God’s hands personally protecting us, His people, on the planet He created for us to inhabit and work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15).

The scientist said in another article, “Things we thought in the past were true simply are not correct.” (source)

Lol, really.

Science is wonderful and I am for science. Christianity and science are not mutually exclusive. Science has given us penicillin, DNA understanding, X-rays, space travel, even the internet that fuels this laptop.

However I’d like to say two other things also. The bible is not a book of science. It refers to natural history and other scientific processes, but ultimately it is not an apologetic for human science. It is a book which recounts deeds of a mighty Creator.

Secondly, the bible transcends science. It is always true. Time and again, men and women pursuing an understanding of how earth or ocean or space works, find that they must revise or even abandon their theories. While it can be said that a ride on a scientific theory is like hanging on to a tiger by its tail because it changes so often, ultimately, truth is found in God and in His Bible, and that ride is constant. It is always true. It never needs revision.

People who cling to science as exalted highest knowledge eventually become disappointed because ‘Things we thought in the past were true simply are not correct’. Ultimate truth and ultimate resting in that truth is not in science, it is in God. He never changes. (Hebrews 13:8). There is no shadow of turning in Him. (James 1:17).

The worship of Abraham to God and Jeremiah’s and Micah’s and Peter’s and Paul’s and Calvin’s and Spurgeon’s and MacArthur’s and mine is a constant because it’s toward an unchanging God. He is the same. The world around us changes, and our understanding of it lessens and deepens as we see the science advance and retreat in its hurtling through this frontier or that. However, Moses worshiped the same God I do. This is a comfort.

I never need to restlessly pursue this theory or that, only to find the scientists are changing it all again! What joy to see revelations of our Creator through men like Dr Baker who pursue knowledge of how and why our earth works as it does.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:3)

earthquakes, earthquakes are increasing, end time, God, science

The month that shook the world: Incredible time-lapse reveals planet as it was rocked by record-breaking earthquakes in April

Posted on May 4, 2014 by elizabethprata

UPDATE: Rare Earthquake Warning Issued for Oklahoma “We’ve never seen this before“
“Mile for mile, there are almost as many earthquakes rattling Oklahoma as California this year. This major increase in seismic shaking led to a rare earthquake warning today (May 5) from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Geological Survey. In a joint statement, the agencies said the risk of a damaging earthquake — one larger than magnitude 5.0 — has significantly increased in central Oklahoma.”

——————————————–

An article appearing earlier this week at NBC posed the following question:

Does it seem as if there have been more earthquakes in recent weeks? Some scientists thought so. … Ross Stein, a senior U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist who studies how quakes interact, got so excited that on April 12 he fired off an email to colleagues that started with this: “Guys, seems like a lot of big quakes have been popping off around the globe over the past week. … Experts for years have known that the seismic waves from one quake can trigger a quake somewhere else — a process known as “dynamic triggering.” … Lay’s own research has found that over the last decade the number of major quakes, those measuring 8.0 or bigger, is nearly triple the rate for the 1900s, but whether that’s just a random cluster or a sign of dynamic triggering is unclear.”

‘Dynamic triggering’ is a scenario in which the scientists who study earthquakes say that one big earthquake triggers other, smaller ones. A shaking the tree effect, where one big quake shakes out not one apple from the tree but a bunch, all over.

So even though the data says that the number of major quakes has tripled, they’re not sure if that means there are more quakes. In fact, this scientist in the discussion concluded that it’s an illusion.

“Stein, like Lay, also counted quakes but looked instead at moderate and large quakes (4.5 magnitude or greater) in the 10 days before and after the April 1 quake that struck Iquique, Chile. In his email to peers, Stein concluded: “I do not see a global increase in activity post-Iquique, at least for moderate and larger quakes — the ones that matter for hazards.”[It] seemed like a lot of big quakes” after Iquique, he later told NBC News, “but it’s largely an illusion.””

Um…Okayyy. If there are more earthquakes, there are more earthquakes. In my opinion they should study why this is happening, not get busy creating more theories as to why the data doesn’t really mean there are more earthquakes.

Still, the scientist found something else that perplexed them,

“Stein, for example, told peers in his email that he had found something “very unusual” about the Iquique [Chile 8.2] quake: The area near the epicenter saw an unusually high number of “foreshocks” to the mainshock on April 1. “Maybe only 5 percent of quakes have what, in retrospect, we would call foreshocks,” he says. It turns out that the Iquique foreshocks covered an area almost as large as the area of the Iquique aftershocks. That, Stein adds, is “extremely rare and worthy of study.”

An interesting article and video came out this week also, on the topic of whether there are more quakes, This time, the data is from the Tsunami Warning Center.

The month that shook the world: Incredible time-lapse reveals planet as it was rocked by record-breaking earthquakes in April

Earth shown as calm until April 1 when huge earthquake rocks Chile
Another huge earthquake shakes Solomon Islands in the South Pacific
The activity doesn’t let up all month with larger-than-normal quakes all in Nicaragua, Mexico, Canada, and even an unusual one in the South Atlantic
According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which issues alerts for tsunamis, there were 13 major earthquakes in April

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake that jolted parts of Indonesia today served as a reminder of just how active the seemingly-solid ground beneath us can be. And these reminders have become increasingly frequent. On average, the world only sees one or two earthquakes per month that are 6.5-magnitude or higher. But April produced a higher-than-normal number of the major seismic events, as revealed in this incredible time-lapse video.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), which issues alerts for tsunamis, there were 13 major earthquakes in April. Five were higher than 7.8, which prompted tsunami warnings. Moderate-to-large earthquakes are less common, but last month was ‘easily a record for this institution,’ according to the PTWC. The time-lapse takes you on a journey of all recorded large and medium-sized earthquakes that took place from January through to April of this year.

The video is worth watching in its entirety. The first 2 minutes show the rather regular popping of small to medium earthquakes all over the world, and mostly in the same places. You get lulled. Then when the large 8.2 in Chile happens, the screen goes pop-pop-pop and it reminded me of popcorn, when the bag in the microwave really gets going and things are popping all over the place.

The USGS people say that more earthquakes happening [despite the data showing otherwise] is just an illusion, while the Tsunami Warning Center people say that April broke a record.

I respect the work of scientists and I am a happy beneficiary of their work, but the end of the end time means that at some point, God’s work in His creation will far outstrip what science can deal with, or what scientific but unsaved minds are prepared to deal with. At the height of the Tribulation men will see what is happening, be unable to comprehend, and fear will overtake them and they will die on the spot. (Luke 21:26).

How will the scientists explain 100 lb hail? (Revelation 16:1). No wind anywhere on earth or sea? (Revelation 7:1). No rain for three years? (Revelation 11:6). A third and only a third of the earth’s grass and trees burned? (Revelation 8:1). Men who are scorched and combust with heat from the sun’s rays just by going outside? (Revelation 16:10). People who try to die, but can’t? (Revelation 9:6)

We are headed toward the time of intersection. Man believes he has made gains in understanding our world and the universe and how it works. And he has. But mans falsely believes that–

–he will continue to make gains in understanding
–once understanding, he can control what happens

Mankind will discover that he does not understand as much as he believes he does and that though he is always learning he is never able to come to knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:7) The truth is not in many of them. That truth is that God created the universe and He is in control of every dustmote and every atom. Albert Einstein came close when he said,

“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”

Not “an” invisible piper, but God, YHWH, and He is not invisible,

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:15-16).

For those people who repent of their sins and claim Him as supreme Lord of all, they will see Him, and they will finally know as they are known. For the rest, what lies ahead is a continual restlessness of mind and soul, seeking the answer to life’s mysteries, and never able to discover the glory that exists right here, in Jesus, in knowing Him, and in the security of our eternal future.

And just for fun, 90s throwback

bible, birds, physics, science, string theory

From musical birds on a wire to natural numbers controversy; string theory to theory of everything- some thoughts

Posted on March 11, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A month ago I wrote about the Music of the Spheres, the ancient concept developed by Pythagoras and promoted by Plato that there is a hidden order and musical harmony behind what we see manifested in the physical universe. Pythagoras believed that numbers were the foundational glue that ordered the worlds, and further, that as the planets and universe went about their business orbiting and just being, that they emitted an actual musical score, thrumming as strings.

If this sounds a lot like string theory, Pythagoras had the initial glimmers. If you’d like to read more, I discussed the concept of the Music of the Spheres into three parts. Part 1 begins here.

Imagine my delight when I came across this from South America. It is from 2009, so it’s not new, but isn’t this just charming:

LifeBuzz describes:

Birdsong, by Jarbas Agnelli
One morning while reading a newspaper, composer Jarbas Agnelli saw a photograph of birds on an electric wire. He cut out the photo and was inspired to make a song using the exact location of the birds as musical notes. He was curious to hear what melody the birds created.

He sent the music to the photographer, Paulo Pinto, who told his editor, who told a reporter and the story ended up as an interview in the newspaper. It ended up Winner of the YouTube Play Guggenheim Biennial Festival.

A physics controversy is erupting. It seems that a youtube video is making a splash. According to this article it has been seen by 1.5 million people as of February 4, 2014.

Two physicists explain: The sum of all positive integers equals −1/12

Whaaaa?

I read several Physics chat rooms and forums and it seems there is a huge debate over this. Two string theory scientists had recently posted in their Youtube video explaining that all the positive integers added up to infinity equals a negative number. Who knew there were that many string theory scientists & geeks. Anyway, there is huge debate over their results. The link above is a good article explaining what the string theory scientists are about.

The article opens this way-
“How far should scientists go in simplifying complexity to engage the public imagination?”

Though the scientists say they focus on the infinite, what they’re really focusing on is the eternal.

God is the infinite. Only God can simplify the eternal so that man’s finite brain can understand it. This is why unsaved people cannot understand the bible, and this is why unsaved scientists cannot understand the complex. In fact, the only people who can understand string theory are Christians.

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16)

One of the scientists saying this positive number equals a negative number thing is Tony Padilla. Padilla says,

“It’s by no means obvious, but this is the only sensible value one can attach to this divergent sum. Infinity is not a sensible value. In my opinion, as a physicist, infinity has no place in physical observables, and therefore no place in Nature.”

No, infinity does not have a sensible value. How can one put a value on the infinite (eternal)? However, if you think about it, numbers in general do not have a sensible value! It is finite man who developed counting systems with values. Though in the US we use base-10, others use base 12. This mathematician wrote,

“Humans, for the most part, count in chunks of 10 — that’s the foundation of the decimal system. Despite its near-universal adoption, however, it’s a completely arbitrary numbering system that emerged for one very simple reason: We have five fingers on each hand.“

Mayans used base 20 and Babylonians used base 60. So scientists who put all their trust (faith?) in a value of

Babylonian numerals

a number forget that assigning a value to a number, (written in what is only a man-made squiggle after all, remember XVII?), is just as arbitrary and at root, have no sensible value, either.

David Hilbert, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, described infinity as “a mathematical abstraction that does not have a physical content.”

That’s because infinity is God (eternal) and God is spirit! God does not have physical content.

Linnaeus: Table of the Animal Kingdom (Regnum Animale)
from the 1st edition of Systema Naturæ (1735)

OK, this math positive numbers equal negative numbers thing is a classic example of scientists attempting to classify the unclassifiable. Physics comes extremely close to who God is and one of His infinite qualities, omniscience. The scientists are trying to order and organize something that is impossible to order and organize without knowing God. They are UNspiritual people trying to learn spiritual things- 1 Corinthians 2:13- and with a finite mind, no less.

Some parts of our physical existence can be seen and understood, but even Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, had a difficult time with his hierarchical organization trees because new species kept cropping up that destroyed his finely created “kingdom-class-order-phylum-genus-species hierarchical taxonomy.

And physicists try to do the same, but with math. It works to a degree but just when they get close, like mercury squirting out from under their thumb, their theories collapse. Their pursuit is like Tantalus’, eternally reaching for the fruit and the water that was eternally outside his grasp. It is a classic case of 2 Timothy 3:7!

Hilbert was right, more right than he knew. Infinity IS a mathematical content that has no physical…it’s God. But they will never accept that. I watched the BBC series “Atom” a couple of summers ago, narrated by physicist Jim Al-Khalili. He showed how even this dimension we are living in is likely a hologram, AKA not real – and how right he is! Which is the ‘real’ dimension? This one or the one that appeared before the disciples’ eyes on the mount of Transfiguration, with Moses and Elijah ‘suddenly’ appearing and speaking to each other? The one that Elisha’s servant saw, or the one that Elisha asked God to reveal which was there all along? In physics this hologram universe is called the ‘holographic principle’. PBS Nova describes the holographic principle–

The holographic principle, simply put, is the idea that our three-dimensional reality is a projection of information stored on a distant, two-dimensional surface. Like the emblem on your credit card, the two-dimensional surface holds all the information you need to describe a three-dimensional object—in this case, our universe. Only when it is illuminated does it reveal a three-dimensional image. This raises a number of questions: If our universe is a holographic projection, then where is the two-dimensional surface containing all the information that describes it? What “illuminates” that surface? Is it more or less real than our universe?

So when math guys say that all positive integers added to infinity would result in a sum that is a negative number, why NOT? What is real about anything we know, except for what God revealed to us in His word? all that math is, and physics, is an arbitrary philosophical construct based on man’s interpretation of things outside of the only construct that makes sense- the bible.

Physicists seek the Theory of Everything. “A theory of everything (ToE) or final theory, ultimate theory or master theory refers to the hypothetical presence of a single, all-encompassing, coherent theoretical framework of physics that fully explains and links together all physical aspects of the universe. ToE is one of the major unsolved problems in physics.” (source)

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” (1 Timothy 6:20)

We rejoice in the Creator without succumbing to worshiping the creation. We take delight in Who God is, without attempting to overlay scientific theories that explain Him. He is eternal, infinite, expansive, majestic, and above all, holy. The Theory of Everything that scientists constantly seek, is … the bible. Best of all, it’s not a theory. It is fact.

“Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised! The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,” (Psalm 113:1-9)

repent, science

Two thoughts

Posted on October 11, 2011 by elizabethprata

“Remember, science, and scientific findings, do not make the bible true. Scripture is always true. It never needs verification. Scientific support of the scripture only means that the science is true, because we know that the scripture already is. My advice to any scientist is to always make sure that his findings coincide with God’s word.”

~From the movie Time Changer. I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Also, good movie BTW.

Jesus is coming soon to establish His kingdom. He can only accept perfect people into the kingdom, people without sin. Since none of us is perfect and without sin, no, not one, God sent His only begotten Son to come to earth and die in our place. Jesus is the sacrifice to pay the penalty for the judgment we would have gotten for our sin. All we need to do is believe in Jesus as the sacrifice, perfect and sinless, and the only One able to forgive us our sins. We will then be able to enter the kingdom and be with Jesus in joy forever.

http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#pubid=xa-4e8f22d468013109

bible, end time, god particle, gravity, science

God in a particle, gravity doesn’t exist, and the world will end soon: all say … physicists?

Posted on April 26, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Credit

Some interesting physics news this week, and I balance that news against the scientific word found in the bible.

TV Scotland reports two titans of Astronomy though having divergent views, both agree that it’s likely the earth won’t survive the next few years.
Top astronomers warn the world could end within 90 years
“Two leading astronomers will put forward their stark predictions for mankind at the finale of the Edinburgh International Science Festival. The end of the world is nigh. That’s what top astronomers will claim during a debate to end the 2011 Edinburgh International Science Festival. Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, believes civilisation has only a 50 per cent chance of surviving to 2100 without suffering a man-made catastrophe. And the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor John Brown, has an equally bleak outlook, fearing a random event from outer space is the most likely cause of our demise.”

In one sense, they are right, the world won’t survive; “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). But there is nothing man can do to cause its demise. It is God who erases the earth. All one needs to do is look in the bible to see the truth of this science.

In 2 Peter the word for ‘great roar’ is roizēdon, a word that sounds like what it is. The word ‘boom!’ is a word that evokes the sound of that the verb is doing. Roizēdon is ‘whizzz’ or a ‘rushing sound’ like a balloon being quickly deflated. I am thinking that since Jesus is before all things and in Him all things hold together, (Colossians 1:17) then at His word he collapses all the forces of the universe, including thermodnynamics, and the universe along with the earth, melts. The bible is a great book of science.

In this next piece, a top theoretical physicist muses that gravity may not really exist. Is gravity there, or it is a force that we assume is there? It is not seen, only the effects are noted. What happens when gravity is not assumed? In other words, where does gravity come from?

Brilliant Physicist Explains: Guess What? Gravity Doesn’t Exist
“[H]e was also not very happy with the fact that we should just, well, assume that these things, these planets, attract each other and without even anything in between. So if there are two masses and empty space, there’s no, nothing that really happens between them, but still, they’re attracting each other. And he thought that was kind of mysterious and that it was something he would have liked to explain in a better way.”

Mysterious is a good word for it!

In this NYT article, the question is posed, “But what if it’s [gravity’s] all an illusion, a sort of cosmic frill, or a side effect of something else going on at deeper levels of reality? “For me gravity doesn’t exist,” said Dr. Verlinde, who was recently in the United States to explain himself. Not that he can’t fall down, but Dr. Verlinde is among a number of physicists who say that science has been looking at gravity the wrong way and that there is something more basic, from which gravity “emerges,” the way stock markets emerge from the collective behavior of individual investors or that elasticity emerges from the mechanics of atoms.”

This is so intuitive it’s blindingly clear. That the notion that gravity does not exist on its own but emerges FROM something else is the big ‘aha’ moment, in my opinion. And we who accept the bible as total truth know that the something from which gravity emerges is Jesus. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:3) and “In Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17).

This next article has to do with the Higgs Boson particle and the Large Hadron Collider (particle smasher) under the Alps at Switzerland and France. The Higgs boson is a hypothesised particle which, if it exists, would give the mechanism by which particles acquire mass.

World’s Largest Atom Smasher May Have Detected ‘God Particle‘
“A rumor is floating around the physics community that the world’s largest atom smasher may have detected a long-sought subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle.” … The Higgs boson is predicted to exist by prevailing particle-physics theory, which is known as the Standard Model. Physicists think the Higgs bestows mass on all the other particles — but they have yet to confirm its existence.”

Scientists have postulated the existence of the particle as a means of resolving inconsistencies in current theoretical physics, and attempts are being made to confirm the existence of the particle by experimentation, using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and the Tevatron at Fermilab. The Higgs boson is the only Standard Model particle that has not been observed in particle physics experiments. I’ve always been curious as to a supposed metod by which scientist can’t figure out something so they make something else up and then go looking for it, to the tune of millions of dollars. Now that’s faith! But I am even more interested in why they call it the God particle, hmmm?

“One of the most brilliant simplifications I’ve ever come across is the term “the God Particle.” Physicists think this subatomic speck of matter, if it is ever found, could explain the mysterious code at the origin of the physical world. To know this would be to “know the mind of God,” as Einstein wanted to do. The Nobel Prize winning physicist Leon Lederman wrote a book with that name 15 years ago that was so interesting that even a physics klutz like myself (I almost failed it in high school…) read and enjoyed it.”

Thus it becomes really obvious that science is its own kind of faith.

“SCIENCE IS FOUNDED ON FAITH”
“Since our perspective determines what we expect to see, our physical senses are an almost worthless guide to the ultimate realities of life. This is why a person’s philosophical perspective, or more to the point, the person’s faith, is what really shapes his view of reality. This is also why science — the study of the physical creation — is always based on our spiritual or philosophical presuppositions. In other words, science is founded on faith.”

If you want to know the mind of God, read the bible. If you want to know how the universe and the earth was created, read the bible. (Genesis 1) If you want to know why it holds together, read the bible. (John 1, Colossians 1) If you want to know why it is decaying, read the bible. (Romans 8:21). If you want to know how it will end, read the bible. (Rev 21-22). It’s all there.

Friend, the God who melts the heavens and the earth with a fervent heat is the same God who holds your soul in His hand and gently awakens you to His presence. That is power! That is love! And He revealed Himself to us, through the Holy Word. All truth is there. It is a trustworthy Word. I applaud scientists in their search for understanding of how the universe works, but their search should begin with the bible. The Holy Spirit will take it from there.
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