"Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it befits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler
Where did the universe come from?
1) the credentials of Moses
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
- Galileo Galilei
"I have a foundational belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by men who were inspired. I study the Bible daily."
- Isaac Newton
The Bible claims God created the universe. From there, the Bible goes on in fair detail to describe the order of events of the earth's creation and life thereon. Moses' account touches on what is today galactic astronomy, geology, biology, genetics, and anthropology.
Thanks to the most recent advances like computers and space telescopes, modern science now paints a different picture of those respective sciences than it did even thirty years ago. So just as everyone would agree that more is known about the universe today than ever before, it is even more easily agreed upon that, by comparison, very little was known about the universe in Moses' time.
Consequently, if Moses' account of cosmic origins is found to parallel today's scientific beliefs, then it suggests something significant. Moses' accuracy is either
a. A tremendous insult to the last several thousand years of scientific research and discovery, or...
b. A tremendous endorsement for the believability of the Bible.
Strong and consistent parallels within the biblical writings to modern science do exist, as will be shown. Those parallels between today's scientific beliefs and the biblical account of the universe, man, and earth are collectively a very compelling reason to believe that the knowledge within the biblical writings must have originated from somewhere other than the ancients who wrote them.
The authors' claim their information came from God. If that is indeed where the information came from, that would satisfactorily account for the authors' own ignorance of advanced science. But while the authors cite God as their source, might they have actually gotten their information from somewhere other than God?
8.2 Where did Moses' beliefs come from?
There are ancient cultures other than Israel that had beliefs in some kind of creation or creator god. (The fact that other cultures possess creation stories is completely in line with historic Judeo-Christian beliefs, as previously discussed here; another confirmation of the believability of the Bible.) Though some of the non-biblical accounts pre-date Moses' writings, those accounts do not contain the same elements found within Moses' writings.
Those who believe Moses did not get his information from God generally surmise that he assembled portions of ideas from pre-existing cultures and then added material of his own to make it all seem to fit together. If this is how the Genesis account came about, then its piece-meal construction should not even come close to reflecting the relatively coherent perspective of modern science. But if Moses' account came from the Creator himself as Moses claimed, it should then be the most accurate of all ancient accounts, including any that pre-date it.
The key to deciding the most likely origin for Moses' account of the beginnings of the universe, the planet, and humanity is to look for the degree of parallels between the Bible and the most trusted scientific observations.
The magnitude of parallels that exist between the two is best appreciated by first looking at the secular account of the beginning of the universe and then comparing it with the biblical account. The following chapter on the origin of the earth will offer an even greater comparison of science with Scripture as the Bible offers greater detail on the formation of our planet than the formation of anything else. Following this will then be additional chapters that compare secular and biblical views on the origins of man and of life.
NEXT: PART TWO - The secular scenario...
See also:
The cosmological argument for God
What is chance?
Links to Intelligent Design and Creation Science websites
Expanded!
WHY THIS CHAPTER?
The Bible contains an account of the creation of the universe, and passages describing pre-Earth conditions.
Modern science, too, has a picture of the early universe.
This first of three parts on the universe considers the implications of what it would mean if Mose's account is parallel with what science has taken 3,400 years to prove.