Would you agree with the statement: "The Bible is NOT a scientific document?" When it says something that is deemed questionable in our realm of science today there is often an explanation or interpretation that fits the time and culture it was produced in much better than it will fit our current day advancements in science. This is not to say that the Bible opposes or violates science. After all, science was created from observing the way the created world operates. Instead, the real issue boils down to people picking sides. Both Christians and non-Christians do this. We are so fearful of giving an inch to the "other side" that we dismiss any apparent contradictions regardless of the possible validity. But science and the Bible are not at odds, and as humans, we should be able to use the power of deduction and observation to see if there is a way to reconcile these contradictions before we blindly argue against them. Chances are when science and the Bible clash there is a means to not only reconcile the difference but during that process, we will find that the solution will actually strengthen our belief in the Bible. Case in point, the account of creation expressed in Genesis.**
Current scientific observations estimate the earth to be around 4.5 billion years old and the universe to be over 13 billion years old. If these numbers are true we must be able to explain this apparent contradiction to the Bible which claims that only about 6000 years have passed since the beginning of time. Most of the arguments from Christians say that creation was either 6 literal 24 hour periods and the dating methods are somehow in error, or these "days" were really eons of time that took place. There is no happy medium….or is there? Let's examine this dilemma using the Bible and our modern understanding of time. Time is a crazy thing. Most of us have heard of Einstein’s theory of relativity right? But I bet that not many of us could actually explain what it means, or more importantly, how it relates to time and space (I couldn't without doing some homework). Thankfully we don't need to prove it to understand the premise behind it. (If you do want to dig deeper i recommend you read this book, also here is a great youtube video that explains this more in-depth than I will go, and here is a helpful article as well). All we really need is a simple word picture, some math, and some doodles (of course).
To begin, let's say we have a (totally unique) spaceship that could travel at close to the speed of light (I know it's not possible, but let's use our imagination here).
We will need some pilots for our ship and since we are making this story up we will get the best pilots we can find.
They will do nicely. Now we only need one more thing, a clock to help us figure out how going really fast affects time. Our clock is special, but still very simple. It consists of two mirrors 3 feet apart with a ray of light trapped between them. This ray of light bounces back and forth at a constant rate (the speed of light) which means every second it bounces 327,360,000 times. If we could actually see the light bouncing it would look like this:
Now let’s send our pilots on a donut run. Because who doesn’t like donuts right? Han tells us that Coruscant has the best donuts, so we send them off to pick up some old-fashioned donuts and a few maple bars for good measure.
For our experiment, we will put one of our special clocks on their ship and we will keep one with us on earth. As they fly across our sky it would look like this:
But if we had a really big telescope that was tracking the ship, and we could watch the clock we put on the spaceship we would observe something very interesting. When the ship is stationary the light is simply moving up and down between the two mirrors and the clock on the ship would match the clock next to us on earth. However, as Han and Chewie go faster and faster, we will observe the light in their clock begin to move in a zigzag path.
This is because from our vantage point as they move across the sky there is now horizontal motion in the clock and the light particle. This leads to an important question:
How do we explain the fact that the light is now traveling farther between each "tick" of our clock?
The clock is still 3 feet apart, but now instead of bouncing straight up and down, the light also travels side to side along with the ship. There are only two options to explain this, either the light is traveling faster or time is slowing down. Think of it this way, distance is equal to velocity multiplied by time (D=V*T). If the light is traveling farther for every tick then the distance (D) is increasing. This means that either the velocity of the light (V) or each tick of our clock (T) must also increase. One of Einstein’s important observations was that light always travels at a constant speed regardless of any outside forces or circumstances. This means that the light in our clock isn’t moving any faster as we see it zigzagging through our telescope. Einstein figured that this meant something else had to be at play here and he concluded that it was actually time that was changing. Again, the only way for the light beam in our clock to travel farther without going faster is for each tick to actually take longer. From our distance equation, if the velocity doesn't change the time MUST increase for the distance to increase. So as we observe the clock through our telescope each tick of the clock is actually taking longer (time is slowing down!) as the ship gets faster and faster. For Chewie and Han, this is not perceptible because they are in the ship going faster and faster right along with the clock, and everything appears normal to them. Only from an outward observer does time appear to slow down. This tells us that time is dependent on both speed AND on the frame of reference that we are observing it from. Finally, note that as we observe the time on the ship slowing down, our identical clock on the ground is still ticking away at its normal speed.
Things get interesting when we use these observations to analyze the questions concerning the time of creation in the Bible. We should immediately ask what is the frame of reference for the time used in Genesis? If we are using earth as our frame of reference, then things don't line up between the apparent scientific estimates of billions of years and the Bible specific "days". However, if the Bible is speaking from the perspective of the entire universe (which isn't unreasonable to assume when looking at the scope of creation in Genesis, after all the earth wasn't even created until day 3) things get much more understandable. Stay with me here, we have almost tied this all together.
One more observable notion in science is that the universe is expanding. From this observation, scientists conclude that at some point the universe was a tiny point in space that exploded (aka the big bang) and it has been expanding ever since. From a Christian worldview, it's not hard to imagine that this "big bang" was simply the moment God said, "let there be..." and everything sprang into existence from one tiny point.
If this is the case and we take the expanding universe as our frame of reference, then one day in our frame of reference at the universe level (which is moving RAPIDLY outward and possibly accelerating as well) could easily be billions of "earth" years. Again think of Han and Chewie’s ship as it traveled away from the earth in our example. Remember that the time in their ship seemed to slow down even though the clock on earth was ticking away at its normal pace. The same is true here, but instead of the spaceship traveling away from us, it’s the expanding universe. So the clock of the universe would be running slower than the earth clock.
There are formulas to calculate this difference in time, and the closer you get to the speed of light, the slower time will go by for the fast-moving reference frame. Not coincidentally, the divisions of days in the Bible line up rather well to the times and ages measured by science and this theory of time dilation. Check it out:
Of course, even with all this information, we are still making assumptions about space and even the estimates of the age of the earth are just that, estimates. But to see how an apparent major contradiction between science and the Bible can be reconciled rather easily is just another point on the side of a design and purpose behind everything we read in the Bible and observe in science.
As I read this book, pondered this idea and did more research before finally writing this blog; I couldn't help but think this is just another example of God's hand directing and guiding all things to point us back to him. For an Einstein to exist and then observe and come up with his theory about time and for Genesis to call out "days" and for science to be able to estimate the age of rocks… it's as if this life (and science in general) is a giant puzzle that's meant to culminate in an explanation that points us back to God. I am reminded of 3 verses in Daniel that apply here. Daniel speaking to the king says:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:20-22
How amazing to think of the idea that God created an Einstein to unravel some of these hidden secrets so that more of his mystery and glory could be revealed to us!
And finally, how true Matthew 13:13 is when Jesus says:
"That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand."
Does this verse not perfectly explain how our culture can invent such a twisted explanation for our beginnings? We can look at the observable universe: humans, the earth, the solar system, time and space and somehow not see. We can hear the arguments that physics and the science of life and time speak every day and somehow not hear! How else could our conclusions after all these observations be....." its all just a lucky coincidence"? How sad it is. Lord open my eyes to see and understand those things that my pride would hinder me from seeing!
**If you look up the term creation on Google it brings you to a results page with a large link to a Wikipedia article with the title “Creation Myth”. If you dig farther down to get to the page where Biblical creation is discussed, here is what you get:
Creationism is the religious belief that the universe and life originated "from specific acts of divine creation", as opposed to the scientific conclusion that they came about through natural processes...
That in itself is astounding to me, is it a scientific conclusion? I am an engineer, and from observation alone I find it VERY hard to imagine the precision and complexity of our earth, let alone the life on it, occurring by chance!
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