Recently the Vatican astronomer told a newspaper that 6- day creationists believe in a form of “superstitious paganism,” and he called the history presented in the first chapters of Genesis a “destructive myth.”
Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis has addressed the Vatican astronomer’s comments recently. My question is, why would a Church official, of that same Church who stands so fearlessly against public opinion, and with the Bible on abortion or divorce, throw Genesis overboard?
I sincerely believe the Vatican is deeply afraid of being portrayed as repeating a Galileo moment. They will side with secular science against creationists every time, no matter the evidence, to avoid being portrayed as repeating a Galileo moment.
Have they forgotten that the theory all the scientific and academic world — including the Vatican astronomers — believed at the time, that the sun revolved around the earth, was the established theory of the day, and that Copernicus and Galileo were little Davids standing up to the Goliath of their day with new evidence?
Have they forgotten that the accepted theory was proposed by a pagan Greek, Ptolemy, 1500 years prior, and had been taught as the received wisdom for so long, that questioning it was out of the question?
It is interesting that it is the official Vatican astronomer that calls creation science a “destructive myth.” I don’t know what the official Vatican biologist or official Vatican chemist think, if such exist. The problem most astronomers seem to have with creation science is the How can there be distant starlight in a young universe question. You know, light travels so much distance per second, or so much distance per year (one light year). We can see stars that are billions of light years away, therefore the universe must be that many billions of years old. So explain that, you young earth
creationists! Hah!
Dr. D. Russell Humphreys, nuclear physicist specializing in light theory at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, has, brilliantly. Starlight and Time: Solving the Puzzle of Distant Starlight in a Young Universe is available in book form or on DVD. The Vatican astronomer should pick up a copy, if nothing else than to be well- versed in the current theories being avidly discussed and debated among astronomers. And if nothing else than to know as much about the debate as your average homeschooler graduating high school. Who knows, he might find his faith and his respect for the unchangeable and infallible Word of God encouraged as well.
Just as Jesus transformed six jars of water into fine wine, God created the world in six days with the appearance of age.
Actually, if Dr. Humphrey’s theory is correct, God didn’t have to create the universe in six days with the appearance of age. The age that is seen by distant stars is true age, while the age of the earth is still 6000 years, approximately. It has to do with the extreme gravity at the boundary of the universe while God “stretched out” the heavens, (a phrase used over and over again in the Word) which made time run so much faster (relative to an earth vantage point) at the edge than at the center, where the earth is. Think a white hole (the opposite of a black hole) with the earth at its center. Instead of the gravity at the center, the gravity is at the edge. Time is relative to gravity. A clock on Jupiter runs much faster than a clock on the earth. Follow the links; they explain this fascinating concept in much more detail. Not only does Dr. Humphrey’s theory explain the age of distant stars, but also many other phenomenon that astronomers observe in the universe. Thus the universe is created in six days from the time clock of the earth, while distant stars appear — to our eyes — to be billions of years old, because we are observing them from the earth. Love Christine