Download Six thousand versus 14 Billion: How large and how old is the

AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Sixthousandversus14Billion:Howlargeandhowoldisthe
universe?
Version06/03/2017
HeinoFalcke
DepartmentofAstronomy,RadboudUniversity,Nijmegen
1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................2
2 Sizeandageoftheuniverse....................................................................................................3
2.1 Sizeandtime.........................................................................................................................3
2.2 Measuringreliabledistancesintheuniverse.........................................................3
2.3 ParallaxeswithVLBI..........................................................................................................7
2.4 OtherGalaxies–Millionsandbillionsoflightyears..........................................10
3 Aretherewaysout?.................................................................................................................12
3.1 Thisisallfake!...................................................................................................................13
3.2 Maybethespeedoflightisnotconstant?.............................................................13
3.2.1 Thenatureoflight...................................................................................................14
3.2.2 Measuringthespeedoflightinthelaboratory..........................................16
3.2.3 Speedoflightatdifferentdistancesandagesoftheuniverse.............18
3.2.4 Summaryofthechangingspeedoflightidea.............................................19
3.3 DoestimegofasteroutsideEarth?..........................................................................19
3.3.1 Timedilation.............................................................................................................19
3.3.2 Observingtime-dependentprocessesintheuniverse............................19
3.4 Waituntilsciencecomestonewconclusions?...................................................20
4 DidGodmaketheuniverselookoldandlarge?..........................................................22
4.1 Defendingthequestion.................................................................................................22
4.2 ThereliabilityofGod......................................................................................................24
4.3 Miracles&mystery.........................................................................................................26
4.4 Howscienceandworldviewareintertwined.....................................................27
4.5 Responsibility,accountability,andtheoriginalsin..........................................28
4.6 Creationistscience..........................................................................................................30
5 Conclusions.................................................................................................................................32
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
1
Introduction
So,howbigandoldistheuniverseactually?Isitreallybillionsofyearsold?How
canwebesosure?
Occasionally,whenIgivepubliclecturesIgetthequestion,whethertheuniverse
couldnotbemuchyounger.Howcanscientistsclaimtolookbackintime?Why
wouldyoutrustthosescientists,whenthewordofGodintheBibleclaimsthat
theuniversewiththestars,thesun,andtheearthisjust6,000yearsold?
Manyofmycolleaguesfeelabituncomfortablediscussingthisquestioninpublic.
However,alsothesepeoplepaytheirtaxes,someofwhichfinancesastronomy
research,andsotheyhavetherighttoananswer.As“publicservants”wehave
thedutytoprovidethem.So,Itry.
Myanswerwillbetwo-fold:physicalandmetaphysical.Clearly,sciencehasalot
tosayonthistopic,astheageandsizeoftheuniversehasbeenamatterof
intenseresearchduringthepasthundredyears.However,alsometaphysical–in
fact,theological–argumentscannotbeleftout:arehistoryandnatureactually
reliable,oraretheyanillusion?Thequestionsoundsstrangetomanyscientists,
butitdoesindeeddependonaparticularworldview–abelief–thateveryone
implicitlyassumes.
Letusstartwiththescience.Therearecountlessargumentsyoumaywantto
make,butwhichonesaremoststraightforward?Youcannotexplainallof
astrophysicsinafewminutesandthebestwayforwardisusuallytostartwith
thebigview,beforegoingintodetails.
Tomethemostcompellingandsufficientargumentforaveryolduniverse
comesfromthesheersizeofitandthetimeittakesforlighttoreachus:from
mostpartsoftheuniverseittakesmillionsorevenbillionsofyears,ratherthana
fewthousandyears.Thisiswhateveryoneneedstounderstandandaddress
first.
Iwillfirstexplainhowtomeasurethesizeoftheuniverse.Thefocuswillnotbe
onadetailedderivationofthetraditional“cosmicdistanceladder”,buton
simplicity,robustness,andtransparencyoftheargument.Thereaderis
challengedtofollowtheargumentwithaslittlepriorknowledgeaspossibleand
todigdeeperwheredesired.Afterall,weonlyneedaveryroughorderof
magnitudesizeestimatetodistinguishscientificallybetweenthetwoscenarios.
Alreadywithsomebasicunderstandingoftrigonometryandcommonsense,itis
straightforwardtoshowthattheuniverseisfarlargerthan6000lightyears–the
distancelightcantravelin6000years.
Asanextstep,Iwilladdressthequestionsofwhetherthespeedoflightcould
changeorwhethertimecouldhavespedupintheevolutionoftheuniversein
ordertomakealargeuniverseinamuchshortertime.Therequireddrastic
evolutionofthespeedoflightandtime,however,areruledoutbycurrentultraprecisemeasurementsoflightaswellasprocessesweseeevolvinginfrontof
oureyesinthedistantuniverse.
Finally,Idiscusswhethertheuniversecouldhavebeencreatedafewthousand
yearsago,justlookingold.Thisisperhapsamuchdeeperquestionandtouches
ontheissueofthereliabilityofnatureandthenatureofGod.Whilegoingagainst
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Occam’srazor–andhenceconsideredhighlyunlikelyinthescientific
community,strictlyspeakingsucha“created-old”scenarioisscientificallynot
falsifiable.Itwould,however,implyacreator,whoseverynatureisunreliable
anduntrustworthy,settingupaworldthatgivesfalsewitnessofitsorigin.This
castsintodoubtoneofthemostbasiccharacteristicsoftheGodportrayedinthe
veryBibletheyoung-universeideaisderivedfrominthefirstplace.
Section2givesabasicintroductiontothemeasurementsofthesizeofthe
universeforageneralpublic.Section3discusseswhetheralternativescould
makesuchalargeuniverseyoung,suchasachangingspeedoflight.Finally,
section4isatheologicaldiscussiononwhyamodelinvokingtheBibletoexplain
ayounguniverseisinconsistentwiththeBibleitself;thissectionrequiressome
understandingofChristianthinking.
2
2.1
Sizeandageoftheuniverse
Sizeandtime
WhenIlivedintheUSinthe90’stherewasstillageneralnationalspeedlimiton
highwaysof55milesperhour.So,everyonewasusedtodriveatamoreorless
constantspeedof60mph(sincepolicewouldletyougetawaywithit):thespeed
ofcarwasfixed!Hence,myfriendswouldgivedistancesintermsoftime.When
youaskedhowfarawayacitywas,peoplewouldsimplysay“about2hours”,
meaningitwasabout120milesaway.
Thesameistrueinastrophysics:wetalkaboutlightyearsandmeanadistance.A
lightyearis9.56trillionkilometers–simplythedistancelighttravelsinayear.
Howfastlighttravelsisextremelywellestablishedthroughlaboratory
experimentsandthespeedoflightisveryconstant(seeSec.3.2).Infact,itisso
wellestablished,thattodaywedefinethemeterviathespeedoflight–simply
becausewecanmeasurethelattermuchmorepreciselythanwecouldmakeany
physicalrulerthatwoulddefinewhatameteris!i
So,whilealightyearisameasureofdistance,itisalsoameasureofage.Light
thatreachesusfromastarafewlightyearsawaytookafewyearstoreachus
andweseehowthestarlookedlikeafewyearsago,whenthelightwassenton
itsjourney.
Hence,theskyislikeaphotoalbum,whereyouseepicturesfromdifferentparts
ofyourlife.Lookingatobjectsatdifferentdistancesmeansyoualwayslookat
differentphasesoftheuniverseii!So,yesyoucanlookbackintime.Infact,you
doitallthetimewhenyoulookupintothesky.
2.2
Measuringreliabledistancesintheuniverse
ThebasicscaleusedinastronomyistheAstronomicalUnit(AU)–whichisthe
averagedistanceoftheearthtothesun:about150Millionkilometers.Dividing
thisnumberbythespeedoflight,roughly300,000km/s,thismeansthatthesun
isabout8.3lightminutesaway.Weareverysureaboutthisnow,sincewe
directlyflyspacecraftthroughtheentiresolarsystem.
Ifyouwanttofindoutyourself,youcoulddeterminethedistancetothesunin
principlefromthegroundwithalittlebitoftravel,agoodfriend,andbywaiting
foraVenusTransit.ThisishowtheAUwasfirstdeterminedreliably.Theonly
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problemisthatwejustmissedthelastVenustransitinJune2012andthenext
oneisonDecember11,2117.However,thereshouldstillbeenoughdataout
thereontheInternetpostedbyenthusiasticamateurastronomerstoactually
redothecalculationyourself.
Figure1:VenusTransit.Thefirststepistomeasurethedistancetothesunfromdifferentpositions
onEarth.Calculatingtheabsolutedistancethenmakesuseofthefactthattheratioofthevelocities
ofEarthandVenusaregivenbyKepler’sthirdlawofplanetarymotion.(Exploratorium.edu)
TheAUiscrucial,sincethenextstepinourdistancedeterminationis
fundamentallybasedonthisdistance.Astheearthmovesaroundthesun,we
willbe150Millionkmononesideofthesuninspringand150Millionkmonthe
othersideofthesuninfall,meaningthatthecurrentlocationoftheearthis
always300Millionkmremovedfromthelocationitwasjusthalfayearago.
Nowimagineyouaresittingonamerry-go-roundandtakeapictureofthe
crowdaroundyouwheneveryouhavemadehalfaturn.Thetwopictureswill
notlookalike.Yourfriendsandfamily,standingclosetothemerrygoroundwill
shiftfromonesidetothenextonsubsequentpictures,whiletreesandhousesat
thehorizonwillonlyshiftatinybit,probablynotnoticeableatall.Thisisdueto
achangeinperspective.Knowinghowlargethemerry-go-roundisand
measuringhowmuchpeopleshiftonsubsequentimagesyoucanactually
calculatewithalittlebitoftrigonometryhowfartheyareawayfromyou.
Figure2:Thebasicsofparallaxmeasurements-usingsmallchangesofstarsontheskyastheEarth
revolvesaroundthesun(fromATNF)
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Thesameyoucandoforstars,usingthesolarsystemasagiantmerry-go-round
(Figure2).Verynearbystarswillshiftatinybitontheskybetweenspringand
fall,whiledistantoneswillhardlyshiftatall.
Theshiftisactuallyexpressedasanangle.Tomeasuretheangulardistance
betweentwopositionsonthesky,pointafingeratthemsubsequentlyand
determinebyhowmanydegreesyouhavetomoveyourarm.Ofcourse,the
parallaxangleitselfissosmallthatyouneedamuchmorepreciseinstrumentto
measureitasdiscussedbelow.
Themathtoturnthisangleintodistanceisprettymuchthesameaswhatisused
bylandsurveyorswholookthroughtheirtheodolitesandmeasuretheangle
betweentheirlineofsighttowardsthetopandbottomofaredandwhitestriped
rodofadefinedlength.Thefurtherawaytherod,thesmalleritappears,andthe
smallertheangleyoumeasure.
Itturnsoutthatthisisnotaneasymeasurementtodoyourself–simplybecause
starsareveryfaraway.ThecloseststarisProximaCentauri,whichis4.2
lightyears,i.e.40trillionkm.Thisstarwillmoveontheskyonlyby1.5seconds
ofarc(orarcsecondsinshort)betweenfallandspring!
Howmuchisthis?Weknowwhatarightangleis.Therightanglecanbe
subdividedinto90degrees.Eachdegreehas60arcminutesandeacharcminute
isdividedinto60arcseconds.Trackingahalfcirclethroughthezenithonthe
sky,willextendover180degrees,whilethefullmoonwillcoverhalfadegree
only.
Figure3:Coordinatesofsourcesontheskyandtheirextentaregivenindegreesofafullcircle
projectedaroundtheearth(burro.case.edu)
Asapracticalexampleofsmallangles,pictureadartboardatthenominal
distanceof2.37m.Tohitthebullseyeyoumusthavetothrowyourdartwitha
deviationofmaximally9arcminutesrelativetotheperfectlineconnectingyour
handwiththeverycenteroftheboard.Ifwewouldprojecttheannualreflex
motionofProximaCentauriof1.5arcsecondsontothedartboard,theprojected
starwouldonlyshiftby17µmfromthecenteroftheboard–lessthanthewidth
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ofahumanhair!Youwouldnotbeabletonoticethisshiftwithyourbareeye(let
alonehitabullseyethatsmall).
Suchameasurementisverydifficulttodoandnowonderittookuntilthe19th
centurytoactuallydetectaparallaxshiftreliably.Infact,itstillishardtoday,but
apparentlysomededicatedamateurastronomerscandoitwithcommercially
availabletelescopeequipment–atleastinafewcases.So,probablyyoucandoit
aswell,ifyoureallywanttoknowyourselfandarewillingtoworkhard.
Ofcourse,todayparallaxmeasurementsaremuchbetterdonefromspace,where
telescopesliketheHubbleSpaceTelescopeorESA’sGaiamissionhavemeasured
distanceswithexquisiteprecisiondowntothousandsoflightyearsiii.Hereone
hastorelyonthefactthatthisdiversegroupofastronomersandengineersdoes
theirjobwell.InthelatestGAIAdatareleasethereare2millionstarsforwhicha
reliabledistancebasedonparallaxmeasurementshasbeendetermined–a
methodthatstillonlyinvolvesmeasuringangles.
Thisisanexcellentfoundationtostandonfordeterminingdistancestoeven
morestars.Thisisnotimportantformymainargument–wedonotneedmore
starstogetthebasicscaleoftheuniverse,butitmaybeusefultounderstand
thatalsotherestofthestarsnicelycorroboratethestorytoldhere.
Thereasonisthatthebrightness,temperature,andcolorivofstarsdepend
mainlyonhowmassivetheyare.Thereisarelativelytightcorrelationbetween
alltheseparameters,whichisreflectedindiagramssuchasthefamous
Hertzsprung-Russelldiagram(Figure4),whereonesortsstarsbycolorand
luminosityandwhere“normal”vstarsallfallononenarrowline.
Theheavierstarsare,thehigherthepressureinitscenter,thehigherthecentral
temperature,andthebluerisalsotheemittedlightatthesurface.Inthatsense
starsareremarkablysimpleandcanbedescribedbyafewbasicequations.
Notallparameterscanbemeasuredforallstars,butthereisenoughofa
representativesampletocovertheentirerangeofstarsweseeonthesky.The
massofstarscan,e.g.,bemeasuredfromtheirrotationspeedandorbits,ifthey
areinabinarysystem,wheretwostarsorbiteachother.Thesurface
temperaturecanbedeterminedfromtheobservedcolor,basedontheformula
forblackbodyradiation.Thisformulaistheonethatmakesmeltingsteelglow
moreyellow-whitethehotteritis.
So,knowingtheexactdistanceforafewstarsofacertaintype,i.e.,acertain
color,onecangetreliabledistancesforallotherstarsofthesametypeandcolor,
justbymeasuringhowbrighttheyappearinthesky.Thefurtherawayitis,the
fainteritwillbe.
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Figure4:AHertzsprung-Russelldiagram,whichshowsthatmoststarsfallontheso-called”main
sequence“(diagonallineofstarsinthecenter)duringthelargestpartoftheiractivelives.Thereisa
tightrelationbetweenthecolor,surfacetemperature,intrinsicluminosity,massandsizeofastar.
Knowingtheemittedcolorweknowtheintrinsicluminosityofastarandwecanestimatethe
distancetoitfromitsobservedbrightnessonthesky(“spectroscopicparallax”).Whitedwarfsand
giantstarsarestellarphasesattheendofthelifetimeofastarandcanbewelldistinguishedfrom
normal(main-sequencestars)fromtheiremittedlight(e.g.,theirspectra).
2.3
ParallaxeswithVLBI
However,thereisonetechniquethatIampersonallymoreinvolvedwithand
whichdeliversevenmoreimpressiveresults:verylongbaselineradio
interferometry,orVLBI.Hereradiotelescopesdistributedovertheentireworld
arecombinedintoonegiantnetworkoftelescopesthatcandeliver
measurementsthatareaspreciseasatelescopethesizeoftheearth.Whatthey
essentiallydoisGPSinreverse.Thatallowsthemtodoparallaxmeasurements,
whichareaspreciseasseveraltensofmicroarcsecondsvi.
VLBIdoesexactlythesameasdiscussedbefore–measuretherelativepositions
ofradio-emittingstarsontheskyhalfayearapart,butnowwithamuchhigher
precisionpossiblethanwithanyopticaltelescopetoday(Figure5).
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Figure5:ParallaxmeasurementsusingVLBI
AnexampleofsuchameasurementisshowninFigure6.Youseethatthe
positionofthissourceontheskyshiftsby0.18milliarcsecondswithinhalfayear
andback.Thisisindeedthereflexmotionseenontheskyduetotheearth
orbitingaroundthesun.DividingoneAstronomicalUnitbyhalftheangle,0.09
milliarcsecond(=4.4×10-10radians)wegetadistanceof36.000lightyearsor
340quadrillionkm(=3.41017km).
Figure6:RelativeshiftofthestarformingregionW49Nonthesky(“parallax”)separatedbyhalfa
year,asmeasurementswithVLBI(fromZhangetal.2013).
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Note,that36,000lightyearsmeansthatthelightwasemitted36,000yearsago.
Lighthadtotravelthatlongtogethereinthefirstplace.Bynowthisdistant
sourceismucholder,butthelightfromitspresentstatehasnotreachedusyet.
Isthisjustafreaksourceorameasurementerror?No,thesamecolleaguesof
mineattheHarvard-SmithsonianCenterforAstrophysicsandoftheMax-PlanckInstitutfürRadioastronomieinBonnhavedonemoreofthisfundamentalwork
andmappedoutthestructureofourMilkyWay.Therearenotsomanyuseful
radio-emittingstars,butenoughtocoveronequadrantofourgalaxyandtogeta
reliablesenseofthesizeofourMilkyWay(Figure7).Thestarsspan14
kiloparsecs,acrossourowngalaxy,whichis45,000lightyearsfromoneendto
theother.Thesedistancesaredirectlymeasuredviatheirparallax,i.e.themost
directandreliablewaytomeasuredistances.
Figure7:Artist'simpressionofourMilkyWayoverlaidwithactualmeasurementsofthelocationof
radioemittingstars(greendots),determinedfromparallaxmeasurementswithradiotelescopes.
Theaxesareinkiloparcsec,where1kpcis3260lightyears.Thereddotmarksthelocationofour
solarsystemandtheredstaristhecenterofourMilkyWay.(Reidetal.2014)
Ofcourse,weknowthattheMilkyWayhasmorethanonequadrantandhence
onecansafelyassumethattheMilkyWayextendsattheveryleast90,000
lightyears.
So,thenexttimeyoulookuponthenightskyinadarkregionandyoumarvelat
theMilkyWay(Figure8),rememberthatitstretchesalmost100,000lightyears
fromoneendtotheother!
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Figure8:TheMilkyWayarchingatahighinclinationacrossthenightsky(fish-eyemosaicshotat
Paranal,Chile).ThebrightobjectisJupiterintheconstellationSagittarius.Galacticnorthis
downwards(ESO).
2.4
OtherGalaxies–Millionsandbillionsoflightyears
Sofarwehavediscussedonlyonegalaxy,namelyourown.Whataboutthe
others?Well,thereistheAndromedagalaxy(alsocalledM31,Figure9).Itisa
marvelousmasterpiecetolookat;infact,youcouldseeitsbrightfluffy
innermostpartswithyournakedeyeunderverygoodconditions(ifyouknow
howtofindit).Usingbinocularsgivesabetterview.
Figure9:PictureoftheAndromedagalaxystretchingabout3degrees,i.e.,sixmoondiameters,
acrossthesky(AdamEvans)
WhatisinterestingaboutAndromedaisthatitresemblesverymuchourMilky
Wayinitsproperties.Wouldyousitintheouterpartsofthisgalaxy–aswedoin
ourown,youwouldseeaglowingbandverymuchlikeourMilkyWayatthe
nightsky.Thisneighborgalaxyisroughly3degreesacrossonthesky.Three
degreescorrespondtoroughlysixtimesthemoon(seehere,foraphotomontage
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
toillustratethis).Holdyourthumpupagainsttheskyandyoucancoverthe
moonortheinnermostpartofAndromeda.
Now,rememberthatourownMilkyWayextendsalmostovertheentiresky,say
300degrees,andthatthecenteroftheMilkyWayis27,000lightyearsaway.You
havetoextendyourarmsfromlefttorighttoembracetheentireskyandstill
coveronlyalittlemorethanhalfoftheMilkyWay.Howfarwouldyouhaveto
moveaway,sothattheentireMilkyWaywouldshrinktothesizeofthe
Andromedagalaxy?Well,togetfroma300to3degreesize,youneedtobea
factor100furtheraway.Hence,Andromedashouldbeabout2.7Million
lightyearsaway.
Infact,ourownteamhadlookedatacompaniongalaxyofAndromeda,M33,and
usedVLBItogetageometricdistancetoit(Brunthaleretal.2005).Themethod
isverysimilartotheparallaxmethod,exceptthatweactuallysawthegalaxy
rotateontheskyoverthecourseofyearsandknewhowfastitwasrotatingfrom
measuringtheDopplereffect.Thediskofthegalaxyisrotatingwith106km/sec,
yetthetwospotsinthedisk,wewereobserving,movedonlyby30
microarcsecondperyearonthesky.
Acarthatwoulddriveontheroadinfrontofyourhousewiththatspeedwould
movefromlefttoright,i.e.overroughly180°,inasmallfractionofasecond(and
recklesslyendangereveryonelivingthere,ofcourse).Thesamecarmovingwith
thatspeedonahighwaythatisafewkilometersaway,wouldseemtotakea
littlelongerbeforeitdisappearsfromyourview,butprobablywouldbestilltoo
fasttotrackitwithyourfingers.
Howfarawaydoyouhavetogotocatchitappearingasslowaswedid?Youcan
calculateviithatyouhavetomovestarsthatrotatearoundagalaxywith106
km/secondoutto2.4Millionlightyearsinordertohavethemmoveonlysucha
tinyfractionoftheskywithinayear.Thesetwosimpleconsiderationsgive
basicallythesameanswer:Andromedaanditsneighborsmustbeabout2anda
halfMillionlightyearsaway.
Asimilartechniquetogetadirectgeometricdistancehasbeenreported,e.g.by
Herrnsteinetal.(1999)andHumphreysetal.(2013,andreferencestherein),for
thegalaxyNGC4258(usingadiskofwatervaporrotatingacentralblackhole).
Thegalaxyisatadistanceof25Millionlightyearswitha3%error.
Ofcourse,thisisstillnottheendoftheuniverse.Thereareothermethodstogo
further:stepbystep.Thatcosmicdistanceladdercanbecomplicatedand
confusingattimes,soweonlymakeaverysimplesanitycheckhere.
HavealookattheHubbleDeepField(Figure10):thisisadeepimageofthesky
takenbytheHubbleSpaceTelescope.Itmeasures2.6arcminutesacross,roughly
thesizeoftheeyeofaneedlethatyoulookthroughwhileyouholditupagainst
thesky.Iusuallyshowthistoimpressontopeoplehowmanygalaxiesandstars
thereareintheuniverse(theimagecoversonly1/28,000,000ofthetotalareaof
thesky,hencetherearehundredsofbillionsofgalaxiesintheentireuniverse).
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Figure10:TheHubbleDeepField-adeepimageofarandompieceofskyshowingthousandsof
remotegalaxies.Itcoversabout2.6arcminutesoftheskyoneitherside.
However,herewewanttogetasimplefeelingonhowfarawaythesesgalaxies
are.Takearulerandmeasurethesizeofanaverage(spiral)galaxyintheimage.
Thenmeasurethetotalwidthoftheimageanddividethetwonumbers,to
expressthegalaxywidthasfractionofthetotalimagesizeandmultiplyby2.6
arcminutes,thesizeoftheimage.Youwillfindthattheseaveragegalaxiesare
about0.07arcminutesor4arcsecondswide.Comparethistotheangularsizeof
Andromedaof3×60arcminutes,whichappearsafactor2,500biggeronthesky.
NowwecanplaythesamegameaswedidbeforewithAndromedaandtheMilky
Way.Ifthesegalaxiesareanywherenearthesizeoftypicalgalaxiesthatwe
knowhereinourlocaluniverse,theyhavetobeafewthousandtimesfurther
awaythanAndromeda.Thismeansinorderforthosegalaxiestofitinatiny
speckwithintheeyeofaneedle,wearenolongertalkingaboutafewmillion
lightyears,butrathertensofbillions(1010)oflightyears!Theconclusion:the
lightfromthesegalaxiestooksometenbillionyearstoreachusandweseethat
partoftheuniverseasitwasabouttenbillionyearsago.
Infact,thereareotherindependentmethods,whichgivemoreprecisesizeand
ageestimates,liketheHubblelaw,butitallboilsdowntothesamehuge
numbersforthesizeandageoftheuniverse!
3
Aretherewaysout?
Ifyoudonotlikeanolduniverse,whatareyouroptionsaroundthis?Itis
intellectuallyinterestingtothinkaboutchallengesandIwilltrytodiscussthem
brieflyhere:
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3.1
Thisisallfake!
Honestly,Ihavenotheardanyoneactuallymakethisclaimanditseemstome
thatitisveryhardtodenythetruthfulnessoftheevidenceforthelargesizeof
theuniverse.However,insocietiesofalltimestruthseemstobewhatever
convenientlysuitsonesownpoliticalpurposerightnowandnobodyistobe
trusted.AlreadyPontiusPilaterevealedthiscynicattitude,whenJesustestified
infrontofhimandPilatesimplyasked“Whatistruth?”(John18,38).Obviously,
hewaswellawareofhowtruthcanbetwisted.
So,maybeallIsaidaboveisjustfakeandaconspiracy?Well,ifyouhavesucha
deepmistrustofscience,thereisprobablylittleIcoulddo.Afterall,Iama
scientistmyselfandpartofthesameclub.However,attheveryleastIamtrying
torelate,thattheseobservationsarenot“justatheory”.Theyarebasedonvery
solidandreproducibleempiricalevidence.Hence,Ihavetriedtoprovidesome
simplestepsyoucanfollowyourselfinordertomakeupyourownmind.
Parallaxmeasurementstonearbystarsyoucouldinprincipledoonyourown.
ComparingthesizeoftheMilkyWayandAndromedayoucandowithyourown
binocularandyournakedeyesviii.TherawdatausedtoproducetheHubbleDeep
Fieldandtodotheastrometricradiomeasurementsmentionedaboveareall
openlyavailableforeveryoneintheentireworldviatheInternetthroughthe
archivesoftheSpaceTelescopeScienceinstituteandtheNationalRadio
AstronomyObservatory.Theoriginalarticlesarealsoavailableforeveryonevia
theAstrophysicsDataSystem.Theidentificationnumbersofobservationsare
typicallytabulatedinthepublishedpapers,whichallowyoutolocatethedata
setsinthearchives.Thereductionmethodsaredescribedinthearticlesandthe
datareductionsoftwareispublicallyavailableforfree.
Whenwediscussaboutopensciencetoday,youwillfindthatastronomyhas
beenexercisingthistoalargeextentalreadyfordecades.
Yes,youneedskillstore-reducethedatayourselfandalotoftime,butin
principleyoucoulddoityourself.Inanycase,trainedscientistsalloverthe
worldcanre-checkit,withrelativelylittlefunding.Oneneedstounderstand
thatscientistsarenotahomogenousblock–theyareinfiercecompetitionwith
eachother.Thereisalotofrewardforthosewhoareabletooverturnanold
dogmaandestablishanewone.Ifayoungresearchercanshowthatamajor
resultisfundamentallywrong,bynothavingtoinvestmuchmorethanhisorher
owntime,thereisalottogain–ifheorshecanprovethepoint.
Still,thebasicdistancescalesIhavediscussedherehavestoodthetestoftime
overmanydecades.Thisisagoodsigninitselfthatwithsomuchdatabeing
openlyavailablethebasicpictureisessentiallycorrectix.
3.2
Maybethespeedoflightisnotconstant?
ThisisinfactthequestionIgetthemostfromthegeneralpublic.Indeed,my
entireargumentisbasedonaconstantvalueforthespeedoflight:about
300,000km/s.Thereisaverysolidcaseforlargedistances,buttheageofthe
universeonlyentersviathefactthatlightfromthosedistantplacesneedssome
(finite)timetoreachus.So,couldnotthespeedoflightchange?Onecouldspend
anentirebookonitsowntoaddressthis,butIwilltrytokeepitbasic.
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3.2.1
Thenatureoflight
Firstofall,beverycarefulwhatyouwishfor.Thespeedoflightisperhapsthe
mostfundamentalphysicalconstantwehaveandessentiallyallofphysicsand
modernhigh-techrestsonit.WithoutitthefamousequationsofMaxwell,
describingradiation,wouldnotworkandhotbodiescouldnotcoolviaradiation,
ironwouldnotglowredwhenheatedup,andneitherwouldthesunshineand
providewarmth.
Lightissomethingreallyamazing.Itcanbedescribedaseitherelectromagnetic
waves,i.e.,waveswhereelectricandmagneticfieldlineswigglethroughempty
space,orasphotons,i.e.masslessparticleswhichcarryacertainenergy.This
wave-particledualityisitselffascinating,butforsimplicityweherepicturelight
onlyaswaves.
Youcaninprinciplegeneratelightbymovingelectricchargesupanddown.
Pictureacowboywithawhipmovinghisarmupanddown.Thewhipwill
transportenergyfromthearmtotheendofthewhip,whereitcancreatealotof
damagewiththatenergy.However,ittakesawhilebeforetheenergyfromthe
musclesreachestheendofthewhip:awavecanbeseentravelingalongthe
rope,whenthecowboyflapshisarms–thefasterthearmmovesupanddown
themorewavecyclescanbeseen.Thenumberofcyclespersecondisthe
frequencyofthewaveandtheseparationbetweenwavecrestsisthe
wavelength.Theseparationbetweentwocrestspurelydependsonthe
frequencywithwhichthecowboyflapsthearmsandthespeedwithwhichthe
wavepropagatesalongthewhip.Thefasteritpropagatesthelongerthe
wavelength.Bycomparingwavelengthandfrequency,youcantherefore
measurethespeedofthewavepropagation.
Itturnsoutthatwecandescribeallelectromagneticradiationthatway.Radio
wavesareelectromagneticwaveswithalowfrequency(well,thisstillmeans
MillionsorBillionsofcyclespersecond!)andalongwavelength–from
hundredsofmeterstocentimeters,whileopticallighthasamuchhigher
frequency(~500trillioncyclespersecondandawavelengthhundredtimes
smallerthanhumanhair(seeFigure11).
NowpictureadaringpersonthatcatchestheendoftheCowboy’swhip:Despite
thiscatch,thecowboycanstillmovehisarmandinjectmoreenergyintothe
whip!Theenergyfromthearmstillpropagatesfreelyoutwardsuntiltheother
personabsorbsit.Hence,theenergyisactuallystoredinthewhipforacertain
while.Evenifthearmhadstoppedafteraveryshortwhiplash,theenergyisstill
propagatinguntilitreachestheend–thelonger,ofcourse,thelongerthewhip
is.
Hadthecowboyusedastickinstead,hisopponentcouldhavecaughttheendof
thestickandalmostarrestedthecowboy’sarm.Thecouplingbetweenthetwo
wouldbeinstantaneous,nowaveswouldexist,noenergywouldbetransferred,
norworkbedone,justaforceexchanged.
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Figure11:„Light“isoneparticularformofelectromagneticradiationdescribedbyitsfrequencyand
wavelength.Radiowaveshavelowfrequenciesandlargewavelengths,whileopticallightorX-ray
radiationhaveveryhighfrequenciesandtinywavelengths.Theproductofwavelengthand
frequencyisthesameforalltheseformsofradiationandequalsthespeedoflight.(Lawrence
BerkeleyLab)
Thatiswhatwouldhappenifyouhadaninfinitespeedoflight.Lightcouldnot
carryenergyaway–infact,lightwouldnotexist.Forexample,thehotand
wigglingelectronsinanold-fashionedlightbulbcouldnotdumptheirenergy
freelyintoradiation.Thesamewouldbetrueforthehotgasatthesurfaceofthe
sun.Radiationisamajorsourceofcooling.Withoutcoolingthesunwouldblow
upduetoitsheatsurplus.Ontheotherhand,solarradiationiswhatheatsthe
Earthsurface.Withoutradiation,therewouldbehardlyanyheatandnolifeas
weknowit.
Thisaspect,thatlightequalsenergyisdeeplyengrainedinmanyareasof
physics.Infact,oneofthefundamentalsofthermodynamicsstatesthatindeed
allintransparentbodiesradiatetheirheatawayvialight(seeblackbody
radiation).Thehottertheyarethebrightertheyradiate.Hence,peoplewhoget
excitedandheatedupbyfallinginloveliterallyglowmore–albeitmainlyin
near-infraredradiation.
Thetheoreticalderivationofthefrequencyspectrumofthatheatradiation,the
Planckspectrum,actuallyledtothedevelopmentofthequantumtheory,which
weoweoursmartphonesandcomputersto.
Ofcourse,youcouldstillhaveachangingspeedoflight,couldyounot?Inthe
beginningofthe20thcenturyscientiststhoughtthatlightwastransported
throughaninvisible“ether”thatwassupposedtofilltheentireuniverse.
Consequently,theymeasuredthespeedoflightinthedirectionofthemotionof
Earthandperpendiculartoit.Surely,thespeedoflightwouldneedtobe
differentityouweretomovetowardsoragainsttheether?Surprisingly,the
famousMichelson-Morley-Experimentshowedthatthespeedoflightwasalways
thesame,irrespectiveinwhichdirectiontheearthwasmoving.Theetherdid
notexistandlightwouldpropagateinvacuum,wherethereisnoreference
medium.
15
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Howcanyouthenmeasurespeed?Afterall,ifthereisonlyvacuuminthe
universe,youhavenofixpointtomeasureanyspeedandyoucanonlymeasure
yourspeedrelativetoanotherbody.Forcarsthatrelativebodyistheroad,but
youdonotknowhowfasttheroaditselfismovinginanabsolutesenserelative
to“theuniverse”.Theroadmovesatdifferentspeedsrelativetothesun,relative
tothecenteroftheMilkyWay,orrelativetothenextclusterofgalaxies.
Similarly,youcanonlymeasurethespeedoflightrelativetoanobserver.
So,doesthespeedoflightanobservermeasuresdependonwherethelightcame
from?Thenweshouldmeasureaslightlydifferentspeedoflightforeverylight
rayweobserve.Also,thespeedoflightonJupiterwouldbedifferentthanon
Earthanddependinwhichdirectionyoumove.TheMichelson-Morley
experimentshowsthisnottobetrue.Thespeedoflightseemstobeconstant
whereveryoumeasureitandwhateverlightraysyouusetomeasureitfromx.
Einsteinthendrewthedaringbutlogicalconclusion:Ifthespeedoflightis
constant,whereverImeasureit,maybesomethingelseischanging,namelytime
andspace.Whatyouactuallysee,whenyoumovefasterandfastertowardsa
lightbeam,isthatlightwaveslookcompressedor,equivalently,thatthelight
wavesseemstobeoscillatingfaster.Thissimplymeansthatyouhaveashorter
wavelengthorahigherfrequency,i.e.thelightwillchangecolor.Italsocanbe
understoodaschangingtimeandspace,dependingonhowfasttwoobservers
travelrelativetoeachother.Howeverirrespectiveofhowfastyougo,thelight
beamwillstillmovewiththespeedoflightrelativetoyou!Thisbecamethebasis
forEinstein’stheoryorrelativity,whichhaspassedallexperimentaltestsofvery
differentnature–literallywithflyingcolors.
Consequently,implementingachangingspeedoflightwouldaffectallphysical
models:thermodynamics,electromagnetismandlightpropagation,quantum
physicsandthetheoryofrelativity.Thecombinationofthesetheoriesiswhat
ourmoderntechnologicalworldisbasedon.Youcannotsimplywaveyourarms
andspeculateaboutthespeedoflightchanging,youwouldfundamentally
changeallofphysicsandtechnologytoday.
3.2.2
Measuringthespeedoflightinthelaboratory
Still,evenifweweretosucceedtoderiveatheorythatallowsmajorchangesof
thespeedoflight,whatdotheexperimentstellus?Thespeedoflightitselfis
huge,roughly300,000km/second,butyoucangetaroughmeasurementofthis
speedbydoingasimpleexperimentathomeusingamicrowaveandeggs.
Remember,thatthespeedoflightisthesameforallformsofelectromagnetic
radiation,beitradiowaves,lightrays,orgammarays.
Itisalsoimportanttorememberthatthespeedoflightrelatesthefrequencyof
lighttothewavelengthoflightwavesxi-essentiallyhowfastthewavetravelsin
oneoscillationperiod.Wouldthespeedoflightchangewithtime,also
frequencies(i.e.colors)andwavelengthsoflightwouldkeepchangingwithtime.
Forexamplelasersareproducedinresonancecavities,wherelightgoesback
andforth,withasizetunedtomultiplesofthedesiredwavelength.Witha
changingspeedoflightyouwouldconstantlyhavetoretuneyourlasers,usedin
somanydevicesthesedays.Youwouldhavealsohavetoretuneyourclocks
constantly,asweusefrequenciestomeasuretime.Infact,theveryInternetyou
16
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
areusingtoreadorobtainthispiecewouldloosesynchronization,sinceitrelies
onperfectlysynchronizedlightbeamsinglassfibers.Also,yourGPSinyourcar
wouldleadyouastraywhenchangingthenspeedoflightjustalittlebit,asit
comparesthearrivaltimesofradiowavesemittedfromdifferentsatellites.
Measuringthespeedoflightissoaccuratethesedays,thatonedefinesitasa
fixedGoldStandardfromwhichonecanderivemanyotherunits,likethelength
ofameter(Evenson&Petersen1976).
So,todayformallylabsdonotevenmeasurethespeedoflightanymore.They
wouldmeasuretime,wavelength,orfrequency.However,giventhatwavelength,
frequencyandspeedoflightaredirectlyrelatedtoeachother,onecanusethese
experimentstoseeifanythingischangingwithtimeatall.
Speciallabscanmeasurefrequenciesaccuratelyto16digitstoday(Kolachevsky
etal.2009)!Figure12showsmeasurementsmadeinthegroupofNobellaureate
TheodorHänschofthefrequencyemittedbythesimplestatomthereis:
hydrogen.Thatfrequencyismeasuredusinglaserstunedtoacertainwavelength
anditstaysconstanttothe14thdigitoveracoupleofyears(0.000000000001%).
Notethatyouwouldneedtochangethespeedoflightby0.25%everyyearin
ordertoslowitdownbyfactorof2.3Millionover6000yearstoexplainasizeof
14billionlightyears.Wouldthespeedoflightchangetoday,itwouldhavebeen
easilyseeninsuchprecisionexperiments.
Figure12:Laser-basedfrequencymeasurementsofthe1S–2STransitioninAtomicHydrogenasa
functionoftimearefoundtobestabletoroughlythe14thdigit(Kolachevskyetal.2009)
So,toinvokeachangeofthespeedoflighttosavetheideaofayounguniverse,
youwouldhavetoposethatitwaschangingalmostsuddenlyinthepast,butnot
atalltodaywithinextremelysmalllimits.Theproblemwiththatideais,
however,thatwecanstillseebackintimelookingatauniverseinayounger
stateandmeasurephysicalprocessesthere.AsIexplaininthefollowing,what
17
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
wefindisthatalsobackthenthespeedoflightwasnotmuchdifferentfrom
whatitistoday.
3.2.3
Speedoflightatdifferentdistancesandagesoftheuniverse
Figure13showsimagesoftheremarkablenovaoutburstofthestarV838Mon.
Thestarisatadistanceof20,000lightyearsandin2002suddenlycreateda
brightburstoflight.Thelighttravelledradiallyoutwardswiththespeedoflight
duringthatepochoftheuniverse.Itilluminatedsurroundingdust,whichlitup
andbecamevisibletoo.Thisiswhatyouseeinthepicturesanditiscalledalight
echo.TheimagesoftheHubbleSpaceTelescopeactuallyshowhowthelight
fromthecentralstartravelsoutwards.Havinganindependentestimateofthe
distancetothisstar,wecannowmeasurethegrowthofthe“lightbubble”and
hencedirectlydeterminethespeedoflightbackthenxii.Theconclusionisthatfor
something20,000lightyearsaway,thespeedoflightcannothavechangedmuch
morethan25%–byfarnotenoughtoreconcilethatsourcewithanageof6000
years.Similarlightechoeswereclaimedforsupernova1987AintheLarge
MagellanicCloud,some160,000lightyearsaway(Sugermanetal.2005).
Figure13:LightreflectedfromdustsurroundingthevariablestarV838Mon.Astimegoesby,the
lightfromabrightnovaoutburstincenterreacheslargerandlargerradiiilluminatingmoreand
moreofthesurroundingdustshells.Theconclusionisthatpropagationoftthelighthasnotchanged
enormouslyoverthepast20,000years.(Sparksetal.2008)
However,wecangoevenfurtherandlookforexampleatthespectraofvery
distantgalaxiesbillionsoflightyearsawayanddosimilarkindsofmeasurements
asinthelaboratorymeasurementsmentionedabove.Scientistsdothese
observationssincetheyactuallywanttotestwhetherfundamentalconstantsare
indeedconstantasafunctionoftime.Itturnsoutthatevenatthesedistancesthe
frequenciesandwavelengthemittedbyatomsareexactlythesameaswhatwe
observetoday,whentakingtheexpandinguniverseintoaccount(Uzan2002,
Kolachevskyetal.2009).Theseexperimentsaredesignedtomeasurethefinestructureconstant,buttheyalsodependcruciallyonthevalueofthespeedof
light(aswellastheelementarychargeandthePlanckconstant).
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
3.2.4
Summaryofthechangingspeedoflightidea
Insummary,thereisnoevidencetodaythatthespeedoflightischangingorwas
changing.Evencreationistsdonotseemtoinvokethisexplanationanymore(see
here,olderclaimswerejuststatisticalflukes).Ofcourse,physicsisneverentirely
finished,soitispossiblethatatsomepointonedoesfindtinychangesinthe
speedoflightandinfactvaryingspeedoflighttheoriesdoexistoutsidethe
standardmodelofphysics.Findingsuchavariationwouldbeanawesome
discovery,worthyofaNobelPrize,but,giventhelimitswehavetoday,theeffect
couldneverbesolargetomaketheuniversesignificantlyyoungerthanit
appearstoday.
Remembertomakethistheorywork,youwouldhavetoclaimthatthespeedof
lightwasconstantduringthepastcenturies,butatleast2.3Milliontimesfaster
intheprevious6000years!Thisislikehavingasnailsuddenlyrunataspeedof
25.000km/hr–evenfasterthanthefastestunmannedrocketeverfired(see
hereforadiscussionofthespeedofsnails!).Thisisnottheuniverseweseeout
there.
3.3
3.3.1
DoestimegofasteroutsideEarth?
Timedilation
WhileroamingtheInternetIcameacrossanothersuggestion,raisedina
creationistwebsitetoexplainthe“distantstarlightproblem”(asitisproperly
acknowledged).Maybetimeintherestoftheuniversegoesmuchfaster,thanon
EarthandhencewhattookaweekhereonEarthtookbillionsofyearsoutthere?
Theargumentinvolvessomeformofgravitationalredshift,centeredonEarth.
Andindeed,clocksonEarthgo37microsecondsperdayslowerthaninspace
whereGPSsatellitesorbittheEarth.Thistimedilationisactuallypredictedin
Einstein’stheoryofrelativityandaccountedforintheGPSnavigationsystemwe
alluse.However,tomakegravitationaltimedilationsoextremethattimewould
gomillionsoftimesfasteroutsideofEarth,wouldrequireextremecurvaturesof
space.Onlyintheveryvicinityofblackholesorneutronstars–extremelydense
concentrationsofmatter–wouldoneexpectsuchanenormousslow-downof
time.However,thoseobjectalsocomewithanextremegravitationalattraction
thatwouldcrushanylifeonEarthintoextremelythinpancakes.
3.3.2
Observingtime-dependentprocessesintheuniverse
Thesearetheoreticalarguments.Ifindoubt,wecouldstillmeasurehowfast
“clocks”ranintheearlyuniverse,bylookingbackintime,i.e.atlargedistances.
Thatprincipleoflookingbackintimestillappliesevenforayounguniverse.
Interestingly,weactuallydoseephysicalprocessesevolveatlargedistancesin
theuniverseonhumantimescales,whichwecanuseasroughclocks.For
example,explosionslikesupernovae(Figure14)orGammaRayBurstshappen
withinseconds,buttheirexplosionshellsdevelopoverdays,weeksandmonths
andwecanseethemdirectlyorindirectlyexpand.Thereisnoevidencethattime
speedsuporslowsdownwithdistance.Wedonotseethattheseexplosions
suddenlyrunamilliontimesfaster,whenlookingattheearlyuniverse.
19
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Figure14:RadioimagesofasupernovaexplosionseeninthestarforminggalaxyM82atadistance
of12Millionlightyears.Asupernovaisashockwavegeneratedbymatterejectedfromanexploding
star(notalightechoasinFigure13).Thetwoinletsatthebottomrightshowhowtheexplosion
rapidlyexpandedwithinayear.Theexpansionspeedof12,000km/secisnotuntypicalfor
explosionsofthiskind.(fromhere,seeBrunthaleretal2010,Kimanietal.2016).
Thereis,however,aneffectpredictedbyEinstein’stheoryofrelativitythatlight
isstretchedandtimeissloweddownastheuniverseexpands.Thismakes
processesatlargedistancesappearslowerthannearbybyafactorofafewfor
sourcesthatareafewbillionsoflightyearsaway.Thisisnormallycorrectedfor
instandardcosmologyandnotdiscussedmuch,asitisessentiallytakenfor
grantedinthiskindofresearch.
However,someastronomershaveexplicitlylookedattheevolutionoflight
comingfromtheseexplosions–essentiallytryingtoseeifstellarexplosionslast
longerwhenbeingfurtheraway(Blondinetal.2008forsupernovaeoftypeIaor
Zhangetal.2013forGRBs).Whilethestatisticalevidencemaybeweak(e.g.,
Littlejohns&Butler2014)tosupportseeingtheexpectedtimedilationfactor(of
orderofafew)inthisdata,thisclearlyrulesoutanymodelwheretimewould
suddenlyspeedupbyfactorsofmillions!
Hence,thedistantandolduniverseweseeevolveinfrontofoureyesisshowing
processesevolveatanormalpace.Itisnotspeedingupbyanysignificantfactor
thatcouldmaketheuniverseevolveinafewthousandyears.
3.4
Waituntilsciencecomestonewconclusions?
Maybethewiseapproachistojustwaituntilsciencecomestoadifferent
conclusion?Havenotscientificfindingschangedwithtime?Scienceinhundred
yearswillforsurelookverydifferent.Thescienceofnutritionadvicesalso
changeseveryyear:awhileagomorethanoneeggperdaywasconsidered
almostdeadly(atleastinmyrecollection)andnowsuddenlytheyaresaveto
eat.Werenotourgrandparentssmarterthansomeofthesescientists?Whycan
onenotassumethatthequestionoftheageoftheuniversewillbeanswered
quitedifferentlyinacoupleofyears?
20
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Infact,Iwasonceaskedatayoung-vs-olduniverseconference,whatthechance
wouldbeforthistohappen.Iansweredthatthechanceforsciencetoevershow
thattheuniverseisonly6000yearsold,isstrictlyzero(andnotjustasmall
number).Bymypersonalstandardsthiswas,infact,aratherunusuallybold
statement,butIdidnotwanttonotraiseanyfalsehopes.Naturallyhalfthe
audiencelaughedatme.HowcanIsaythis,ifIhaveactuallysaidinaprevious
articlemyselfthatscienceiswrongmostofthetime?
Firstofall,thereisacertaindifferencebetweenthescienceofnutritionadvices
(whereIadmittosometimeshavemyownseriousdoubtsonhowcrediblethey
are)andthatofphysicsandastrophysics.Starsintheuniversedonottalkback,
theydonotchangetheirmind,theydonotletthemselvesbeinfluencedby
media,fashion,orresearchersandthereisnobigindustrymakingmoneywith
themoutsidescienceitselfxiii.
Secondly,sciencetendstobecommonlywrongwhenresearchisconductedat
theforefrontofourknowledge.Itisacontinuousplayofclaimsand
counterclaims,tests,aswellascollisionsofegosandsometimeshypes.However,
inthewakeofthesediscussionsabodyofresearchbuildsupthatrarely
collapsesentirely–atleastnotinphysics!
Yes,itistrue,physicalknowledgetendstogetexpanded,modified,butitisnot
reversed.Newtonianphysicsfromcenturiesago,thatweallstilllearninschool,
isstillperfectlycorrectundernormalconditionsanddescribesmostofourdaily
liveswell,despitethefactthatEinsteinchangedourviewofspaceandtime
fundamentally.
Thereasonisquitesimple:Modelsinphysicsarenotanopinionthatcanchange,
butrathertheyareatheoreticaldescriptionofreality.Assuch,amodelmaybe
anapproximationandasimplification,butithastodescriberealityadequately
withintheerrors.Asalongasrealityisreliablealsothosemodelswillcontinueto
dotheirjobwellforthesituationstheywerecreated.Sometimesrealitybecomes
morecomplicated,butthenthemodelsneedtotakeextrafactorsintoaccount
andanewmodelneedstobecreated.
Hence,ifyouwanttowaitforsciencetochangeyouhavetothinkcarefullywhat
youareexpectingtochangeintheargumentsgivenabove?Mostfundamentalto
allofthisisthesizeofthesolarsystem.Doesanyoneseriouslybelievethatthis
sizewillchange,despitethefactthatwearetravellingwithspacecraftthrough
it?WoulditbesmarttothinkColumbusandothersxivwerewrongandscience
willeventuallydiscoverthattheworldisflatafterall?Wouldanyoneexpectthat
sciencewillchangeandwediscoverthatthedistancebetweenEuropeand
Americashrinkstoasizeofafewhundredmetersonly?
Doesthelatterquestionsoundbizarre?Itshouldsoundbizarre,becauseaneven
moreextremeshrinkingofoursolarsystemwouldbeneededinordertomake
theparallaxdistanceschangesuchthattheuniversecanfitwithin6000light
years.Whatisthechanceforthistohappen?
Therestofthedistancemeasurementismeasuringanglesandconvertingthis
intodistances.ThemathforthishasnotchangedsincethetimesofPythagoras
andtheparallaxangleshavebeenmeasuredoverandoveragainbydifferent
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
groupsfordifferentsources.Thesemeasurementswillnotchange.These
distanceswillnotchangesignificantlyeitherxv.
Thesamereasoningisvalidforthespeedoflightandtheevolutionoftime.Iam
veryhopefulwewilleventuallyfindsomethinginterestingthateventuallytakes
usbeyondthetheoryofEinstein.Maybewewillevenfindsometinychangeof
thespeedoflightoranextraeffectthatmakestimegoslightlynon-linear.
However,themagnitudeofthiseffectcannotbethatenormoustochangetheage
ortheuniversefrom14billionto6000years.Ifso,wewouldhaveseenit
alreadyeasily.
Thisallisnotsurprising.Afterall,anynewtheorywillhavetostilldescribe
realityweliveinasNewtonandEinsteindescribeitrightnow.Abetter
understandingofaerodynamicswillneverchangethefactthatairplanescanfly
rightnow.Similarly,abettermodelofspaceandtimewillnotchangethefactthe
GPSworksrightnow–asystemwhichweexperiencetoworkinourdailylives
andwhichcruciallydependsonmainstreamphysicstogetdistances,thespeed
oflightandtimemeasuredhereonEarthandinspaceveryprecisely.
Thehopethatsciencemaychangeandreverseinthisparticularmatteris
completelyunfounded.Ifyouarestrandedonasmallislandinabigocean,you
shouldnothopethatEarthwillshrinkeventuallyandyoucanswimhome,but
ratheraccepttherealityandlearntobuildasolidship.
4
DidGodmaketheuniverselookoldandlarge?
ThefinalquestionIdogetonceinawhileiswhyGodcouldnothavemadethe
universeinaninstanceaslargeasitis6000yearsago?Thisquestionsounds
utterlycrazytosomeofmycolleagues,butisofgraveconcerntothosewhoask
it.
Inthemiddleagesthisquestionoccasionallyaroseinthequestionofwhether
Adam,asafirsthumanbeing,couldbedepictedashavinganavel,leadinginthe
19thcenturytosomethingliketheinfamousOmphalos(greek:navel)hypothesis,
whichclaimedthattheuniversewascreatedyoung,butpurposelymadelookold
tomisleadus–infact,ifyouextendthatidea,theuniversecouldhaveformeda
weekago.
Letmefirstdefendthequestionbriefly,beforeItrytoanswerit.Infact,Iamnot
surethisquestionitselfismoreexoticthansomeotherhypothesesthatarebeing
discussedtodayinscience.Afterall,thereareserousarticlesinthescientific
literature(e.g.,Beaneetal.2002),whichdiscussthepossibilitywhetherour
universeisnotreal,butisnothingbutabigcomputersimulationcreatedbya
muchmoreadvancedaliencivilization.Theseideasonegetswhenmovies
replacetraditionalcreationstoriesxvi,butthisisstillnotareasontonotdiscuss
them.Notsurprisingly,inaworldwherevirtualrealitiesmoreandmorereplace
actualrealties,themereconceptofrealityisbeingquestioned.
4.1
Defendingthequestion
Hence,theunderlyingquestionis,whetherrealityandhistoryareanillusionand
perhapsmisleading.Thisisindeedquiteanimportantissueandscientificallywe
simplycannotanswerit.Ifwewerecreatedasplitsecondagowithallthe
22
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
memoriesimplementedinourmindsandhistoryfrozenintothisworld,then
howcouldwetellyesterdayexisted?
“Yesterday”isaveryabstractconcept.Itonlyexistsasthememoryandthecause
ofwhatisrightnow.Theonlyreasonwhywebelieveyesterdayexistedis,
becauseourexperienceshowstimeasalinearprogressionofthingsthatseemto
causeeachother.However,whatifthe“experience”couldnotbetrustedeither?
Moreover,humanexperiencesuggeststhatsometimesthings“happenoutofthe
blue”.Inthepastthiswasattributedtothewillofthegods.Todaysomemay
argue,thisissimplybecausewedonotalwayshavealltheinformationreadily
availabletotelluswhatactuallycausedit.Theclaimisthatwecouldknowthe
futureinprinciple,ifwewouldknowallparametersexactlynow.
However,thatisscientificallynottenablefortworeasons.Firstly,onecanshow
that–asamatterofprinciple–wecanneverknowtheentirestateoftheentire
universe,sincethenalsothedevicemeasuringthesestateswouldneedtoknow
itsownstateaccuratelyandwouldneedtobelargerthantheuniverseitself.
Secondly,chanceandchaosispartoftoday’sphysics.Inprocesseslike
radioactivedecayofindividualnuclei,quantumstatetransitionsofsingle
systems,orevenanentirebigbang“justhappen”–insometheories–“simply
becausethereisacertainstatisticalprobability.Foranyparticularinstance,
however,itisimpossibletoidentifyaconcretecause,whytheeventhappened
rightnowandrighthere.Inthesecases,wemerelyhavereplaced“thegods”with
“chance”and“probability”–theonlydifferencebeing,thatsomesenseof
“purpose”and“reason”wasattributedtotheformer,whilenoneofthatis
thoughttoexistforthelatter.Claiminganyabsenceofpurposeisaworldview
andanassumption.
Ofcourse,inaworldgovernedbychanceandprobability,itmayperhapssound
absurdtoconsideramaturelycreateduniverseareasonableoptiontoconsider.
Afterall,whatisthechancethatamatureandself-consistentuniversesuddenly
springsintoexistenceatsomepoint?Theprobabilityisinsanelylow.However,is
itmuchlowerthanauniversethatevolvedtoitspresentstateoutofasinglebig
bangwiththehelpofafewlawsofnatureandasetofabout26naturalconstants
convenientlysettotherightvalues?
Thisquestionisrelatedtothefamous“fine-tuning”debatethathasledmanyof
mycolleaguestoembracetheideathataplethoraofparallel(andmainlyfailed)
universesexist–theso-calledmultiverseidea.Iamaverybadstatistician,but
mygutfeelingisthatitmaynotbepossibletogiveascientificallysoundanswer,
whetheranyoneofthesescenariosisreallymorelikelythananyother.We
simplydonotknowallpriorassumptionsonehastomakeaboutphysics,space,
andtimebefore,after,andaroundthisuniverseinordertoaddressthisquestion
quantitativelyandscientificallyaccurate(e.g.,seearticlebymyRadboud
colleagueandmathematicianK.Landsmanwhoclaimsthatasingleuniverseis
statisticallynotlesslikelythanamultiverse).Hence,believinganimmeasurable
multiverseistheanswertoallquestionsmaybeasgoodorbadscienceas
believinginthecreationofamatureuniversebyanintelligentdesigneror
believinginasingleuniversethat“magically”evolvedoutofnothing.
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Consequently,Ithinkthatthequestionwhethertheuniversewascreated
recently,butonlylooksmatureisinprincipleavalidquestiontoaskandinfact
touchesonveryfundamentalissues.However,answeringthequestionisnot
possiblewithouttakingintoaccountthebeliefsystemofthosewhoareaskingit.
Scientistssimplyassumethattheuniverseis“reasonable”anddevelops
accordingtocauseandconsequences.Thisisthebasicaxiomofscienceandin
myexperiencethisisaverygoodassumptionfortheuniverseasawhole.
Admittedly,theexistenceofcauseandconsequencesisanassumptionandit
evenbreaksdownwhenlookingatindividualquantumsystemsasdiscussed
above.Similarly,thisprinciplemayalsobreakdownwhenponderingthefateof
anindividual.
Dootherassumptionsleadtodifferentconclusions?Doesreligionchangethis
argument?Inthefollowing,IwilldiscussthisfromadistinctlyChristian
perspective.Afterall,Christianityisnotonlystillthelargestreligioninthe
world,butitisalsotheone,whichdominatedthecultureswithinwhichmodern
scienceemergedand,ofcourse,theoneIpersonallyidentifywithandtrustin.
4.2
ThereliabilityofGod
So,couldGodnothavecreatedtheworld6000yearsagoandjustmadeitlook
likeitwasveryold?Personally,Ibelievehecouldhave,hadhewantedto,but
doesthatideafitthetraditionalChristianviewofthecharacterofGod?
Inessence,myviewisthatproclaimingaGodwhocreatesauniversethatlooks
old,butthatisactuallyyoung,wouldbethinkingofGodasamagicianwhotries
tofoolus.Thiswouldmaketheworldanditshistoryappearlikeatheaterplay,
whichisnotreal,butonlyshow.Evenworse,forobjectsliketheexplodingstar
inFigure14,wewouldhavetosaythathehadtoimprinttheexplosionintothe
lightthatwasalreadyunderwayandthestaractuallyneverexploded.Afterall,
6000yearsago,whentheyounguniversewassupposedlycreated,thelightwe
nowseefromthisexplosionwasalreadyMillionsoflightyearsawayfromits
homegalaxy.Yetthelightshowsanobjectevolve.ThatwouldbetrulyaMaster
deceptionandindeednotbemuchdifferentfromacomputersimulationthatis
suddenlyswitchedonwithanalreadyfullyevolveduniverse,thatiscompletely
notreal.
Foranybelieverthisshouldposeaseriousmoralproblem.Isnottruthan
overarchingthemeofbiblicalrevelation?Whatrevelationcanyoustillbelievein,
ifGodissopurposelytryingtodeceiveourperceptionoftherealworld?What
aspectofrealitycouldstillbetrusted?SuchaGodwouldbeinstarkcontrast
withtheGodthathumanshaveexperiencedinthepast,whomtheyreadaboutin
theBible,andwhomtheybelievetorevealHimselfreliablythroughhistory.
Thathistory,isnotonlyhumanhistory,butisintimatelylinkedtothehistoryof
theentireuniverse.InthebiblicalbookofGenesis,thecreationofhumansis
clearlypartofthatglobalhistoryoftheemergenceofourworld.Itseemsvery
difficulttoclaimareliablerevelationofGodthroughhumanhistory,butatthe
sametimedoubtingtherevelationoftheage-oldcreationoftheuniverse
throughtheverysamehistoryoftheworld.
24
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Formillennia,theknowledgeavailabletohumankindwaslimited.Thequestion
oftheageoftheworldwasaveryabstractandanacademicone–initiallyonly
debatableamongtheologians,forlackofanyotherevidence.Inthepastone
coulddiscussforageswhetherornotAdamhadanavel–therewasnowayto
saywhowasrightxvii.Thesetimeshavechanged:atleastnowwecanreliably
investigate,whethertheEarthhadanavelornot.
FundamentaltotheJewish-ChristianbelieveisthebeliefinonealmightyGod,
whoisthesinglecreatorandoriginofeverything.Aparticularimportantaspect
stressedoverandoveragainisthatHetranscendstime,isreliable,truthful,
faithfulandunchanging.ThisisnicelyexpressedinthePsalms,songsoftheOld
Testament,whereitsays:“Beforethemountainswerebornoryoubroughtforth
thewholeworld,fromeverlastingtoeverlastingyouareGod.”(Psalm90:2),orin
anotherpassage:“Theywillperish,butyouremain;theywillallwearoutlikea
garment.Likeclothingyouwillchangethemandtheywillbediscarded.Butyou
remainthesame,andyouryearswillneverend.”(Psalm102:26-27).
ThisreliabilityexpressedintheBibleisnotonlyaquestionofthespiritual
reliabilityofGod,butiswitnessedandexperiencedinareliabilityofnatureitself.
Asdiscussedlater(Sec.4.5),thisphysicalreliabilityisalsoaprerequisitefor
humanstobeabletofunctionasindependentandspirituallyaccountablebeings.
QuestioningitwouldbeaslipperypathforanyChristiantheology.
Ontheotherhand,theconceptofabsoluteand100%reliabilityisratherforeign
tohumans.Weareusedtolies,tricks,andalternativetruths.Emperorsandrules
areknowntochangethetruthandtheirlawstowhateversuitstheirneeds.
However,theGodoftheBibleisnot!
Evendivinemercyisnotarbitrary,butcomeswithconsequences.Christianityis
forcedtolookatthedyingandresurrectedJesusinordertounderstandand
experiencereconciliationwiththecreator.Simplychangingtherulesof
engagementtosuitourshortcomingsisnotapartoftheequationoftheGodof
theBible.Thereisapricetobepaidforsinandevil–evenifGodistheonewho
paysintheend.Causeandconsequencesarestrictlyupheldalsointhisspiritual
domainofChristianbelief.
WhenJesustalksabouttheunchangingdivinelaws,statingthat“Tillheavenand
earthpass,onejotoronetittleshallinnowisepassfromthelaw,tillallbefulfilled”
(Matthew5:17-20),isthatonlymeantforspirituallaws?Doesthatnotalsoapply
totheentireorderthiscreationissubjectedto?Whatwortharethesespiritual
lawsifGodchangesthelawsoftheworldwithinwhichhumanshavetooperate
atwillandorderdoesnotreallyexist?IfHewillnotchangespirituallawsthat
humansshalladhereto,whyshouldHefiddlewiththenaturallawsthatrocks
needtoadhere?Afterall,thelawsofnaturearethefoundationuponwhichour
dailylifeoperates.
Consequently,thefirstChristianthinkersliketheapostlePaul,wereconvinced
thatthepropertiesofGodarealsoreflectedinHiscreation.Inhislettertothe
RomansPaulwrites“ForsincethecreationoftheworldGod’sinvisiblequalities—
hiseternalpoweranddivinenature—havebeenclearlyseen,beingunderstood
fromwhathasbeenmade,sothatpeoplearewithoutexcuse.”(Romans1:20)
25
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Paulthinksthat“God’squalities…havebeenseenfromwhathasbeenmade”.The
latterreferstothingsthatGodmade,i.e.Hiscreation.So,wecanunderstand
naturewithourmindandtherebywewilllearnsomethingaboutGod.IfGod’s
divinenatureincludesbeingreliable,faithfulandtruthful,Hiscreationshall
reflectthataswell–andviceversa.
Statingthattheuniversedisguisesitselfassomethingthatitisnot,i.e.is
unreliableanddeceiving,thenalsoimpliesthatGodhimselfisnottobetrusted.
Afterall,theonlyobviouspurposeofalargeuniverseofbillionsoflightyearsin
size,whichwascreatedassuchyoung,wouldthenbetopurposelymisleadus.
Rightnowwedonot“need”thelargeuniverseoutsideoursolarsystemanymore
forourexistence.Godcouldhavecreatedamuchsmalleruniverse–justafew
thousandslightyearsinsizetobeconsistentwithayounguniverse,butHechose
otherwiseandwefindauniverseclearlyexhibitingoldages.
ItisforthatreasonthatIwouldconsideracreationmodelthatinvolvesa
universethatbearsfalsewitnessofitsoriginisinherentlyincompatiblewith
basicChristianprinciplesxviii,whichspeakofareliablecreator.
4.3
Miracles&mystery
However,istheBiblenotfullofmiraclesandmysteries?Whymakesuchafuss
aboutanorderlyuniverse?MaybeGodisabsolutelytrustworthyinmattersof
salvation,butdoesnotcareverymuchaboutthereliabilityofourscientific
projects?
Indeed,mysteryisafactoflife.Itisabsolutelymysterious,whytheopponents
scorethedecisivegoalinthelastminuteofovertimeinafootballmatchandnot
yourownteam.Itismysteriouswhyyouhavemetthatspecialoneyouloveat
therighttimeintherightspace,orwhynot.PassagesintheBibleremain
mysterious.Evenourcomputerssometimesseemtobehaveinmysteriousways.
Humanknowledgeislimited,sometimesfundamentally.
Asdiscussedbefore,itisalsoprudenttoremainskepticalabouteveryindividual
newscientificresult,buttoquestionfundamentallytheentirebodyofscientific
evidencewouldalsoquestionourabilitytomakeanyobservationsatall.
Scientificinstrumentsareonlyextensionsofournormalabilitiestoassessthe
worldwithoursensesandourminds.Questioningscienceingeneralwould
questionourabilitytoassessrealityingeneralanditwouldalsoquestionour
abilitytomakesenseofanyspiritualrevelation.Eventhemostdramaticspiritual
experiencesintheBiblehappeninandthroughthephysicalworld.Itappearsto
meverydifficulttomaintainananti-realisticstanceasaChristian,butstill
believeinaGod,whorevealsHimselfintherealworldthroughhistory.Insucha
picturelifewouldbemorelikeadream–orperhapsacomputersimulation,for
thatmatter.
Miraclesareanotherissue.Icoulddiscussthematlengthhere.Ilovemiracles,
butIwilllimitmyselftothequestion,whytheyarenotrelevanttothediscussion
oftheageoftheuniverse.Miraclesareeventswheresuddenlythefateofpeople
changed–usuallyforthebetter–inacompletelyunexpectedmanner.No
explanationisgivenintheBibleastohowexactlythingshappenedotherthanit
26
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
wascompletelymiraculoustothosewhowitnessedit.Thestoriesarewrittenas
sucheyewitnessaccountsandnotaslogbooksoflaboratoryexperiments.
Todaywehavenowaytoscientificallyinvestigatehowthewinegotintothe
amphoraeattheweddinginCana,whenJesussenttheservantsouttofillthem
withwater(John2:1-10).WedonotknowwhatexactlyJesuswaswalkingon,
whenhisdisciplessawhimontheseaofGalileelateatnight(Matthew14:22–
34),andwehavenoideahowexactlytheservantofaRomancenturionwas
healed(Matthew8:5-13).TheBibledescribessoberandconciselywhatwas
observed,butdoesnotexplainhowthingshappenedindetail.Amiracleis
primarilyalifechangingexperienceanditdoesnotevenhavetobesupernatural
tobeperceivedasamiracle.Itmay,itmaynot.Itisimportantthattheright
thingshappenattherighttime.Innowayisthereawaywecanprove–oneway
ortheother–thataparticularnaturallawwasviolatedornotthroughthese
stories.Miraclesaresignsofhopeinsituationswhereallhopeislostandnot
elementsofanyscientifictheory.
Incontrasttogeneralperceptionsalsointhebiblicalmiraclesarestillthevery
rareexceptionratherthantherule.EvenJesuswaswalkingonaplainandsimple
roadmostofthetimeandnotonwater.Hence,youcannotturnthisaroundand
suddenlypostulatesupernaturalmiraclesatwillandmakethemtherulerather
thantheexceptionforthehistoryofouruniverse.Togeneratethevisible
universein6000years,Godwouldhavetobreak,suspendormodifyalmost
everynaturallawthereisinamannerthatiscompletelyunpredictableand
untraceable.Thiswouldnotbea“miracle”asanexception,butrather
arbitrarinessasthedefaultmodeofoperation.Preachingsuchacreation
“history”doesnotproclaimtheorderlyGodproclaimedintheBible.
4.4
Howscienceandworldviewareintertwined
Thepointabout,theequivalencebetweenthereliabilityofGodandnaturecan
evenbemadestronger.Iwouldgosofartohypothesize,thattheproclamationof
areliableGod,whichinturnimpliesareliablecreation,wasevenanecessary
pre-requisiteforsciencetofunctioninthefirstplaceandtomakeitassuccessful
asitistoday.
Humanrulerscanchangerulesastheylike,childrenliketochangeruleswhile
theyplay(andthengetintotroublewitheachother),butGoddoesnotand
hencenaturedoesnot.Ifthelawsofnaturewouldchangeonsuchaday-to-day
basis,physicallawswouldbecomemeaninglessandnoreliablemachinecouldbe
built.Ifwecannottrustthatthelawsofaerodynamicsarevalidtodayinthe
samewaytheyworkedyesterday,wewouldsolelyhavetorelyonmiracles–or
actuallyluck–forairplanestofly.Ipredict,eventhemostfaithfulamongus
wouldneverstepintosuchanairplaneunlesstheyhadnootherchoice.
Thissoundsalmosttrivial,butthestabilityofnatureisaveryfundamentalpoint.
Wetakethisstabilityforgranted.However,thismaybeaculturalselection
effect.Probably,thebiggestintellectualrevolutiontheJewishfaithhadbrought
aboutwastoreplacealltheindividualgodswithasingle,almightycreator,i.e.,a
singleunchangingcauseandmaintainerofthisuniverse,
Hadsomeonegrownupinananimisticreligion,filledwithghostsandspirits,
thathaveawilloftheirown,searchingforlawsofnaturewouldnotmakemuch
27
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
sense.Forexample,Chineseastronomywasformanycenturieswayaheadof
astronomyintheWest,butacomparablepictureofasingleGodastheoriginof
everythingdidnotexist;neitherwastheretheexpectationofnaturallaws.The
universeitselfwasacomplexevolvingthingfilledwithgodsandspirits:“Chinese
spiritsandgodsneednotbeseenasall-powerful,transcendent,orcreatorsofthe
world.Theyareintimatelyinvolvedintheaffairsoftheworld…Asthespirits
associatedwithobjectslikestars,mountains,andstreams,theyexerciseadirect
influenceonthingsinthisworld,makingphenomenaappearandcausingthingsto
extendthemselves”(“TheSpiritsofChineseReligion,”byStephenF.Teiser,
quotedhere).
Similarly,didBabylonianandGreekastrologyassembleanimpressivebodyof
dataonplanetarymotionandmethodstochartandpredictthem,butthisdata
wasagainmainlyusedtopredictthewillofthegods.
Askingwhatthelawsofnaturearewouldhavebeenratherpointlessinsucha
culturalenvironment.Unsurprisinglyitdidnothappentheretotheextentit
wouldhavebeennecessarytoderivethelawsofNewtonandKepler.
Hence,Idonotbelieveforamomentthatthedevelopmentofmodernscience
canbeseenwithoutthecultural,philosophicalandtheologicalbackgroundin
whichitdeveloped.Ofcourse,thereareprobablymultiplefactorsneededto
explaintheemergenceofscience–afterall,alsotheGreeks,Romans,andArabs
laidimportantfoundations,butintheendsciencebrokethroughinaheavily
Christianenvironment.
Thebeliefinareliableandaccountablereality,whichconnectspastandfuture
viathepresent,isafundamentalcornerstoneofscienceandoftheChristian
faith–causeandconsequencesinanorderlycreation.Starsdonothaveawillof
theirowninGenesis.Itisthereforealsoneitheramiraclenorcoincidencethat
sciencedidflourishanddevelopintheChristianculture.Scienceandfaithare
moreintertwinedthanwethink.Wecannotentirelyseparatethemfromeach
otherorcompletelyignoreeitherofthem,whenwewanttomakesenseofthe
worldaroundus.
TousetheBibletodaytomarginalizeobviousscientificevidencewould
thereforemeantoignorethousandyearsofChristianhistoryandrepeatthe
errorsmadebyadefaultingChurchinthelateMiddleAges,desperatelyclinging
foritspower.
4.5
Responsibility,accountability,andtheoriginalsin
Interestingly,theissueofreliabilityaswellascauseandconsequencesrunseven
deeperandhaseventheologicalimplications.Oneofthemostimportantbiblical
storiesinthisrespectisthatofAdamofEve(Genesis2:4-3:24),whichintroduces
theconceptofthe“originalsin”–thethoughtthathumanshavelosttheir
intimateconnectiontotheircreatorfromtheirverybeginningandeversinceare
doomedtomakewrongchoices.
Interestingly,orthodoxChristianssometimesinvokethisAdamasaprincipal
witnessagainstanolduniverse.Theargumentessentiallyis:ifGenesisisnot
historical,thenAdamisnothistorical,thentherewasnooriginalsin,andthere
wouldbenoneedforsalvationxix.Thiskindofthinkingmaybecompletely
28
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
foreignforanon-believer,forwhomsalvationisanabstractterm.However,the
needforandtherealityofsalvationisconsideredself-evidentbythosewhohave
experienceditpersonally.Forthem,theissuerunsverydeepandspiritual
salvationofhumansisasrealasphysicalhealingisforthosewhohadonce
brokenalegorrecoveredfromavirusinfection.Thathealingmusthavehada
physicalcause,mustitnot?Hence,thosewhowerehealedandsavedmaytend
towardsaversionofhistorythattakestheirparticularexperienceintoaccount.
Asaresult,insomecommunitiesthereissuddenlyaconnectionbetweena
scientificquestion,namely,theageandnatureoftheuniverseandaspiritual
truth,namelypersonalsalvation.Inthiscase,scientificresultscansuddenly
causeseriousdogmaticandpersonalpains–andviceversa.
Itisthusworthtodiggingalittledeeperintothisissue.Iwouldadmitthatthere
isindeedanintriguingbutsubtlelinkbetweenthespiritualandthenatural
worldworthexploring.However,thatlinkisseriouslycompromised,when
upholdingacreationaccount,whichbetraystheprincipleofcauseand
consequences.Theimpliedworldviewwouldunderminetheveryprinciples
expressedinthestoryofAdam&Eve.
Afterall,areliablecreationandareliableGod,arealsothecornerstoneof
humanaccountabilityandresponsibility.Itseemsobviousthatwithoutrules,
thereisnowrongdoing,withoutorder,noconsequencescanbeforeseen,and
withoutknowledgethereisnounderstandingofgoodorevil.Order,causeand
consequences,andtheabilitytoknowandunderstandtheworldarecrucialfor
science.Theyarealsocrucialforeveryhumantobeabletomakedecisionsand
takeresponsibility.Questioningtheseveryprinciplesscienceisbuildon,
however,alsoimplicitlyquestionssomefundamentalsofChristianbelief.
ThekeymomentinGenesis2isthefamousscenewhereAdameatsthe
forbiddenfruitfromthe“treeofknowledgeofgoodandevil”(Genesis2:9).Itis
interestinginitselfthatthistreeisconnectedto“knowledge”.Theserpentthen
goesontosay“ForGodknowsthatwhenyoueatfromityoureyeswillbeopened,
andyouwillbelikeGod,knowinggoodandevil.”(Genesis3:5).
Whatmakeshumansspecial,accordingtoGenesis,isthatwecanknow!Asa
consequence,weareabletodistinguishgoodfrombadandtherebymirror
propertiesofGod(ofcourse,withtheproblemthathumans–beinghumanand
notgodly–areultimatelynotabletohandlethisknowledgeproperly).However,
rarelydowerememberthatunderstandinggoodandevil–andbeing
responsibleforit–onlyworksifyouhavethecapacitytoforeseeand
understandtheconsequencesofyouractions.
Letmegivetwoextremeexamples:Everydaysomewhereintheuniverseastar
explodesinasupernova,likelydestroyinganentireplanetarysystem.Evenif
someformoflifewerepresentinthissystem,nobodywouldblamethestar:it
cannothelpitanditdoesnotknowwhatitisdoing.Unlikehumansthestarhas
noknowledge.
Similarly,ifwewouldpictureaworldwithoutorderlylawsofnatureyoucould
dropsomeonefromahightowerandnotfeelguilty:afterall,maybethelawsof
gravity,pullingthepoorfellowtothegroundandkillinghim,mightnothave
29
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
existedjustafewmomentsagoxx.Evenwithyourabilitytoacquireknowledge
youwouldbeunabletoforeseeandunderstandtheoutcomeofyouractions.
Inaworldwherecauseandconsequencesarearbitrary,noevilcanbe
committedandinaworldwithoutknowledgenoevilcanbeunderstood.A
universethatpretendstohavebeenevolvingandtohavecontinuallygrownin
size,butinsteadwasmadeindiscreteunrelatedsteps,wouldbesuchaworld
wherecauseandconsequencearenottobetrustedanymore.Suchauniverseis
likeathiefwhowantstocoveruphisdeedsandfabricatesfalsecluestomislead
thepolice.
Animportantaspectofsuchareliableworldisthenotionthattheworldand
circumstancescanchange,butthatthebasicrulesstaythesame.TheChristian
conceptofsinandsalvationwouldberadicallydifferent,perhapsimpossible,if
neitherGodnorHiscreationwouldbereliablythesameyesterdayandtodayand
forever.(Hebr13:8).Indeed,theunchangingnatureofGodisadeep-rooted
convictionexpressedintheBible.
Hence,also–orperhapsespecially–inaworldview,wheretheneedfor
salvationisderivedfromAdam&Eve,anorderlyhistoryisneeded.TheGarden
ofEden–theworldthefirsthumansweredescribedtolivein–alreadyhadto
havebeenbeareliableworldinorderforthosehumanstomakeinformed
choices,basedontheirnewlyacquiredknowledge.Causeandconsequence
neededtoexistalreadyatthispoint.Theywerenaturallybuiltintotheentire
creationxxi.
Ontheotherhand,ifcauseandconsequencedidnotplayaroleinthehistoryof
creation,whyshouldthenatureofAdamhaveanyconsequenceatall?Afterall,
thestoryofAdamisjustaplayinthetheaterofcreationwherethedecóris
changedunpredictably?Howcanoneclaimthateventsinthepastrequire
forgivenessandsalvation,ifoneessentiallyclaimsthatthepastcannotbe
trusted?
Postulatingthatrulesofnaturearemisleading,unreliable,arbitrary,orchanging,
impliesthathistoryitselfisunreliable.Hence,whilea6000yearolduniverseis
occasionallyadvocatedbysomeinordertosavethehistoricityoftheBibleand
toreinforcedoctrineslikethe“originalsin”,theyactuallydestroythevery
foundationofit.Clearlysaid:usingthehistoricitydescribedintheBible,asan
argumenttoquestionthehistoricityofnaturedoesnotmakemuchsense,
becauseitquestionsallhistoricity,includingthatoftheBible.
4.6
Creationistscience
Havingsaidthat,Idonotquestiontheintegrityofthosewhostilldefendayoung
Earthcreation.Manyofthemhavegoodintentionsandcaredeeplyabouttheir
faith.
Someofthemsimplydonotcareasmuchaboutscience,asIdo.Somemaynot
havetheknowledgeortheinclinationtounderstandandreadthesignsof
nature.SomearesimplycontentwithknowingthatGodcreatedtheuniverse–
whetherthiswas6000yearsagoor14billionyearsmaynotmakeany
differenceintheirdailylife.Iwilldisagreewiththem,Iwilltrytoinformthen,
butIwillnotimposemyviewonthem–aslongasthereisnoattempttoenforce
30
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
ayounguniversemodelontothechurchorontosociety.Everyonehastheright
tohisorherownviews.
However,whenroamingtheInternetonecanalsofindagroupof“creationist
scientists”,whoclaimtodoscienceandwhowanttoseetheirsciencebe
acceptedbyeveryone.Theytoostartwiththeassumptionthattheword“yom”in
Genesis1impliesa24hourdayandthatthereforetheearthwascreatedin144
hours(i.e.,6daysof24hourseach).Mostscholarswilllikelynotagreewiththat
interpretationofyom,sincetheyfeelitmakesthestoryofGenesisinherently
inconsistentxxii.Nonetheless,the144hourcreationxxiiiisthecentraldogmaofthe
creationistbeliefsystemandscienceismainlyatoolforthemtoreaffirmthat
view.
Consequently,creationistsciencerequiresany“physicalreality”tobeconsistent
withthatparticularinterpretationofGenesis.144hr-creationsimisoftenledby
relativelysmartandwell-educatedmenxxivwithasolidscientificbackground.
Theyhavetheirownorganizations,theirownpublications,theirowntextbooks
andtheirownscienceconferences.Theyalsohaveastrongoutreachprogram
towardsChristianbelieverswithpopularsciencemagazines,websites,books
andaudio-visualmedia.
Interestingly,Creationismpurposelylinkscreationistfaithtoanewtypeof
science,therebymakingtheirfaithsubjecttoscientifictests.
Thecreationistmantraisthatmainstreamscienceiswronginitsbigconclusions
(afterallthelargeandolduniversecollideswiththeirowninterpretationofthe
Bible).Thisisaboldstatement,sinceourentiremoderntechnologicalworld
fromsmartphonesandcomputerstomedicalapparatuses,airplanes,carsand
spacecraftsarebased,explained,anddevelopedonthebasisofthescientific
progressthatwasdevelopedthroughoutthecenturiesbyscientists,manyof
whichwhowereactuallyalsodevoutChristians.
Ofcourse,inthisdayandageithasbecomeverypopulartodoubteverything
thatsmellslike“mainstream”.Aretherenotscandalsanderrorsaboundin
mainstreamscience?Hence,theclaimisquicklymadethatnon-mainstream
ideasaresimplybeingsuppressed.
Indeed,scienceisahumanaffairanditincludesallhumanemotionsand
corruptions.Atitsforefrontscienceworksasacompetition.Asaconsequence
scientistsneedtofightfortheirownrecognitionandformoneytodotheir
research.However,intheend,whateverispresentedneedstowork.Ideas,being
mainstreamofnot,arenowopenlyavailabletoeveryone,theyhavetobe
defendedinpublic,theyneedtobetestedbyexperiments,andthesetestsneed
tobereproducible.
Inthatrespectscienceisnotverydifferentfromfootballoranyothersports.
Beforeamatch,newspapersarefullofspeculationfromplayers,coaches,experts
andfansthatknowbestwhoshouldinprinciplewin.Attheendofthedayone
teamwinsthecompetitionandnoneofthatchitchatplaysanyroleanymore.The
finalresultcountsxxv.
So,ifcreationistsclaimtheirscienceisbetterthanthatof“mainstreamscience“
theyhavetodemonstratethatandneedtowinthatcompetition,ratherthan
startingtheirowncompetition.TheInternetisfulloflittlearticlesandpower
31
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
pointpresentations,wherecreationiststrytoarguewhyacertaindatingmethod
isflawedorwheretheypresentsome“creationmodel”thatexplainscreationin
144hours.Mostofthemareonapopularlevelthough,hardlyanyofthemhave
madeanactualimpactbeyondtheirownpeergroup,andevenwithinthispeer
groupthesemodelsdiffervastlyfromeachother.
Whatever144hourcreationmodelisoutthere,ithastochangephysicsina
drasticwayinordertobeconvincing.Sofar,thishasnothappened.Thereisnot
asingledeviceorasingletechnologicalbreakthroughwecanattributeto
creationistscience.
Ofcourse,whenlookingatthesecreationists’powerpointsandlecturesasa
layperson,onemaygetconfused:arethesedatingmethodsperhapsallflawed?
Iscreationistsciencethebetterscience,butjustignored?
WhatItrytoteachmystudentsistolookatthebigpicturefirst,whentheytryto
developanewtheory.Askyourselffirst:canitworkatall?Dotheorderof
magnitudenumbersmakeanysense?Onlythenstartworryingaboutthedetails!
Ihavetriedthesamehere:thesizeandappearanceoftheuniverseistherenow
foreveryonetosee.Inordertoexplainauniverseofabillionlightyearsthatwas
createdin6000years,youhavetomakeenormous,absolutelyradicalchangesto
thefundamentalsofmodernphysics.Thereisnowayyoucandothiswithany
physicsweknowandusetoday.Itisnotenoughtocomplainaboutsomeobscure
“datingmethods”toproveayounguniverse,youactuallyhavetoshakeand
revolutionizephysicsatallfrontsinawaynobrilliantthinkerinthehistoryof
mankindhaseverdonebefore.Noneofthescienceideasfloatedsofarby
creationistscomesanywherenearacoherenttheorythatcanstandupagainst
thescrutinyofcurrentexperimentsandobservations.Theyfailnotbyalittlebit;
theyfailbyahugemargin.Creationistsciencesimplydoesnotholduptothe
standardoftruththatwerequireinscience.Thechurchshouldnotbecontent
withanylesserstandards.
5
Conclusions
FromaChristianperspectivestudyingthenatureofcreationrevealssomething
aboutthenatureoftheCreator.Studyingcreationiswhatscientistslikemedo
foralivingandtheyhavetodoittruthfullyandhumbly.Theuniverseas
presentedtousismillionsandbillionsoflightyearsinsize,asonecanseewith
verybasicmeasurements.Neithertimenorspeedoflightcanbemadetochange
insuchadrasticwaytomaketheuniverseyoung.Thus,theuniverseitselftells
usthatitisnot6000yearsoldandthatittookmorethan144hourstoform.
Todefenda144hrcreationonehastoquestionthewitnessofnatureitselfand
saythattheuniverseonlyappearsold,butinrealityitisnot.Scientifically,this
cannotbechallenged,afteralltheuniversecouldinprinciplejustbeagiant
deceptionoracomputersimulation,setupwithallmemoriesimplantedto
deceiveus.However,suchapositionisfundamentallyincompatiblewithbasic
biblicalviews.Ascreationreflectsitscreator,thisactuallyimpliesaGodwhois
misleadingandunreliable.Godwouldhavehadtobuildintothisuniversemany
intricatefeaturesonlytomisleadanddeceiveus.
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
Alsomiraclesarenotawayout.IntheBibletheyarepresentedasveryspecific
andexceptionlifechangingexperiencesofpeopleratherthanthelawoftheland.
Thereforetheycannotbeinvokedasadefaultmodeofoperationtoexplainhow
theworldevolved.Moreover,questioningthehistoricityofnaturealtogether
alsoquestionsthehistoricityoftheBible–afterallChristiansbelievethatGodis
revealedinthephysicalworldthroughhistory.Therefore,theBiblecannotbe
usedasanargumentagainstanoldandlargeuniverse.Todosotodaywould
requireonetostatethatwecannottrustrealityatall.NeitherwouldtheBiblebe
trustableinsuchananti-realisticworldview.
Natureitselfspeaksofanalmostimmeasurablesizeandofanalmost
incomprehensibleageoftheuniverse.FromaChristianperspectivethisvastness
innumbersreflectsacreatorwhoisevenlargerandolderthanwecanimagine.
Infact,thisfeelingofanimmeasurableandawe-inspiringsizeofcreation
radiatesalreadythroughthewordsofbiblicalwritersandprophets.Job(36:26)
shoutsout“HowgreatisGod—beyondourunderstanding!Thenumberofhisyears
ispastfindingout.”Jeremiamarvelsabouttheincomprehensiblenumberofthe
heavenlyhosts:“…ascountlessasthestarsintheskyandasmeasurelessasthe
sandontheseashore.”(Jeremiah33:22). TheprophetsoftheBibledonotpreachasmalluniverse,asmallcreation,or–
forthatmatter–asmallcreator.Neithershouldwe.
ByinsistingonayoungEarthinthefaceofoverwhelmingevidence,creationists
makeGodnotonlyappearsmall,theyalsodestroytheverycredibilityof
scripturetheyseektouphold.Thisbuildsunnecessary,sometimes
insurmountable,hurdlestobelieveandtrustthebiblicalmessageforthosewho
havenotbeenfedbiblicalstoriesfromearlychildhoodon.
ThewarningofchurchfatherAugustinestillstandsaftermorethan1600years
“Usually,evenanon-Christianknowssomethingabouttheearth,theheavens,and
theotherelementsofthisworld…Now,itisadisgracefulanddangerousthingfor
aninfideltohearaChristian,presumablygivingthemeaningofHolyScripture,
talkingnonsenseonthesetopics…,howaretheygoingtobelievethosebooksin
mattersconcerningtheresurrectionofthedead,thehopeofeternallife,andthe
kingdomofheaven,whentheythinktheirpagesarefulloffalsehoodsonfacts
whichtheythemselveshavelearntfromexperienceandthelightofreason?”(from
“TheliteralmeaningofGenesis”,AD401,Book1,chap19,39).
Hence,inthelightofwidelyandpublicallyaccessibleknowledgeandexperience
aboutthesizeoftheuniverse,a6000yearolduniversecanbefirmlyandsafely
rejectedonscientificandontheologicalgrounds.
Acknowledgement:Iamthankfultoanumberofcolleagueswhohavecritically
andconstructivelycommentedonvariousaspectsofthispaper:StefanPaas,
GijsbertvandenBrink,CeesDekker,BramAchterberg,DanFabrycky.
iThismeansthatintoday’sphysicalunitsthespeedoflightisaconstantby
definition!However,donotgetconfused.Thisismainlydoneforpractical
mattersanddoesnotmean,wecannotchecktheconstancyoflightby
experiments.Infact,wecanalwayschangethedefinitionforanygiven
33
AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
experiment,defineastandardlengthscaleinsteadandcheckifthespeedoflight
changesafterall.
iiAlittletwisttothisstorycomesfromthefactthatwearelookingintodifferent
partsoftheuniverseineachdirection.So,weseeahistoryalongdifferentlines
ofsightwithrespecttoEarth.However,dothosedifferentpartsoftheuniverse
alsoshareacommonhistory,oraretheydisjoint?Itiswellestablishedthatthe
universeisisotropic–onaverageitlooksverymuchthesameinalldirections
fromus.However,wouldthatbealsotrueforanyotherpointintheuniverse?
Wouldotherearthsinothergalaxiesseethesamehistoryaswedo?Inthatcase
theuniversewouldalsobe“homogenous”.Itwouldhaveonlyonecommon
history.Thisisanassumption,buteventhatcanbetestedtosomedegreeof
precisionandtheanswerseemstobeareassuringyes(e.g.,Goodman1995,
PhRvD,52,1821,„GeocentrismReexamined“).
iiiGAIAdatarelease1seemstohaveaminimumparallaxerrorof0.2
milliarcsecond.Forameasurementwithasignificanceof5σ(i.e1
milliarcsecond),thiscorrespondstoparallaxdistanceof3000lightyears.
ivAswellastheirspectralfingerprint.
v„Normal“(or„main-sequencestars“)impliesmiddle-agedstarsthatarenot
recentlybornorhavecometotheendoftheirlifetime,wheretheyundergo
spectacularchangesinstructure.
viThisisquitesomething!ForaGPSsystem,whichmeasuresourposition
relativetosatellitesat20.000kmheight,thiswouldmeanmeasuringrelative
positionstoabout1mm.Thisisjustbarelypossiblewiththemostadvanced
techniques.However,VLBIcandothisfeatformeasuringtherelativepositions
ofcosmicsources,sincetheirantennasaremuchbigger,theyusehigher
frequencies,andtheycanaffordtohavebigatomicclocksateachradio
telescope.
viiD=106km/sec×oneyear/30microarcseconds
viiiYouwillbeoffbyafactorofafew,sinceyouwillmissthefaintouterpartsof
Andromeda.Itwillstillgiveyouahugedistance.
ixThisdoesnottakeawaythefactthatindividualdistanceestimatescanbeoffby
afactorofafewinextremecases,butalmostneverbyanorderofmagnitude.
xNote,thatthespeedoflightcanbeslower,iflightispassingthroughamedium.
Thisisbecausepartsofthelightareabsorbedandemitted,interferingwiththe
originalray.Thisslowsthewholelightraydowncomparedtoitsspeedin
vacuum.
xiThewavelengthofalightwave,λ,isgivenbythespeedoflight,c,dividedby
thefrequencyν:,λ=c/ν.
xiiNote,thatnormallyoneactuallyassumesthatthespeedoflightisgivenand
thendeterminesthedistancetothisobjectfromthelightecho.Thefactthat
herebothdistancesagreewithintheerrors,canthenbeturnedaroundtostate
thatthespeedoflightdidnotchangebymorethan~25%.
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
xiiiWithastrologybeingperhapstheexception,butastrologydoesnotfund
scientificstudiesasfarasIknow.Ofcourse,alsotheeducationalstructurein
somecountriescouldbeconsideredpowerful“industries”.Fortunately,thereare
stillhundredsofexcellentresearchinstitutionsthatgloballycompeteagainst
eachotherforfundingandreputationinmanyverydifferentfields.Hence,there
isnotsomethinglikeanorganizedastronomycarteloutthere,thatcould
manipulateresultsonsuchascale.
xivNeitherColumbusnorhiscontemporariesbelievedthattheworldwasflat.
Thatisacommonmyth,butuntruenevertheless(e.g.,M.Rossano2011).They
miscalculatedtheperimeteroftheearthandthelocationofIndia,butno
informedmedievalpersonthoughttheworldwasflat.Actually,Columbus
expectedtofindIndiaapproximatelywhereheactuallyfoundtheCaribbean
islands.Hissailorswerenotafraidtofallofftheearth,butthatIndiawouldbe
muchfartherawaythanColumbusthoughtitwas(seealsoHannam,“The
GenesisofScience”).
xvAsasidenote:infact,thedistancebetweenEuropeandAmericadoeschange!
Americamovesawayfromusby17mmperyearduetocontinentaldriftand
platetectonics.Thisismeasured–yearin,yearout–bygeodeticVLBI,i.e.,with
thesameradiotelescopesandthesametechniqueusedtomeasurethestructure
oftheMilkyWay.TheresultisindependentlyconfirmedbyGPSmeasurements,
i.e.verydifferentinstruments.However,thisdiscoverydoesnotchangethebasic
scaleofourearth,ratheritconfirmsplatetectonicsandverifiesthatVLBIis
reliable.
xviTheseideaswereapparentlynotanAprilfool’sjoke,butwerestimulatedby
theHollywoodmovie“Matrix”.Thereasonthatthisideawasconsidered
scientificallytestableisthatacomputersimulationwouldhaveacertain
“granularity”andwouldalsoexhibit“glitches”,whichonecouldtrytodetect.The
comparisontoancientcreationstoriesgoesevenfurther:alsoasimulation
wouldhaveacreatoranditsolvesthefine-tuningargumentofteninvokedby
creationistsandapologetics.
xviiTheancientnaveldiscussioncanstillbefoundinsomemodernInternetblogs
(e.g.,here,whichalsoprovidessomehistoricalcontextandtheadmissionthat
thisdiscussionwasbizarreattimes).Interestingly,heremoderncreationists
argueagainstAdamhavinganavel,withexactlythesameargumentIused
above.AlMaxeyexclaims:„ItismyfirmconvictionthattosuggestGodcreated
AdamandEvewithnavelsistosuggestHeisthecreatorofagranddeception,and
IsimplyamunwillingtomakesuchanassertionaboutmyGod”.Well,isnotthe
imprintedlightofanevolvingsupernovainayoungUniversemodelaneven
greaterdeception?Afterall,thiswecanseeevennow,whileAdam’snavelwe
cannot.
xviiiIwasonceaskedbyasmartandtriumphantstudenthowIcouldbesosure
thatGodwouldnotcreateamatureuniverse?AfterallJesusdidturnwaterinto
goodwine,whichobviouslymustbeold!Itmaysufficetosaythatthereisno
waywecanscientificallytestthisinterestinghypothesis.Thewineislonggone
whiletheuniverse–luckily–isstillaround.
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AgeoftheuniverseH.Falcke
xixOfcourse,inthevastuniverseofChristiantheologythethinkingabout
salvationismuchmorecomplexthansketchedhere.
xxObviously,Jesusrecognizedthisphysicallawwhenrefusingthetemptationto
throwhimselffromtheheight,notpresumingonGodandangelstointervene
andthusputHimtothetest(Matthew4:5-7).
xxiSometimescreationistsrefertoGenesis8:22inordertoarguethattheBible
wantstosaythatonlyfromthatmomentonwards(i.e.eversincetheFlood)God
hadpromisedtobereliableinhisdealingswithnature.However,thatpassageis
onlyabouttheassuredsurvivalofthehumanrace(whichwasnotatallassured
intheearlyofhumanhistory).Theuniverseassuchcouldhaveeasilygoneon
withouthumanbeings.
xxiiIfyomwere24hours,Godwouldhaverestedonly24hoursattheend.
However,giventhattheseventhdayinGenesishasnonight,indicatesthatthe
writerwantstoexpressthatwearestilllivinginthat“day”.Also,itmakesno
sensetohaveearthdaysbeforethelightswerecreatedthatseparatedayfrom
night.Aliteralandunbiasedreadingimmediatelymakesclearthattheword‚day’
isusedinvariousandrathercomplicatedwayshere(S.Paas,VUAmsterdam,
personalcommunication).
xxiiiIusetheterm“144hourcreation”heretoindicatethatsomeoneconsiders
thedaysinGenesistobeof24hourlength.TherearemanyotherChristians
thinkersthroughouthistory,whodidbelieveina„6daycreation“,but
consideredthose„days“tobeofvariablelength.
xxivItismypersonalimpressionthatthegenderbalanceamongcreationist
scientistsisevenmoreskewedtowardsmenthaninmainstreamphysics,butI
havenosolidstatisticstobackitupapartfromsomepersonalencountersand
fromhavingquicklyscannedovertheresearchstafflistedonvariousrelevant
websites.
xxvIwastoldthatinAmericancollegefootballtherankingofteamsisalsobased
ontheopinionofjournalistsandnotjustresultsonly.Ifthatistrue,itmight
explainwhyintheUSevidence-basedthinkingsometimeshasahardtime...but,
Icouldbeverywronghere!
36