Monday, May 15, 2006

Optional Question for extra credit

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060515_map_heavens.html

Please read article. Ponder the nature of time as it relates to the expanding universe. What are the philosophical implications of the nature of time as it relates to the individual, specifically its seeming increasing speed as one ages and the fact that the universe is expanding in an ever more rapid way? Seriously, is the universe's expansion related to the relative nature of time as it relates to God?

14 comments:

mllr said...

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. ...Isaiah 55

linda jean said...

MLLR: So are you saying that the accelerating expansion of the universe is merely a symbol of time's relationship to man and has no symbolic relationship to God? or that we are incapable of understanding so we should not consider it? or that I should just quit having goofy thoughts? I'm just saying time is relative and I wonder if God experiences that at all. Our thoughts have no bearing on what is actually true.

mllr said...

Linda you are analyzing above my brain level...to us time is not relative, it is absolute. We can set our clocks and know that in our minute little world everyone, in our time zone knows that it is 8:39 am...and we can convert to know everyone elses time on this planet...God is the one causing the universe to expand exponentially, there is no "dark energy"...it just shows how insignificant we would be if there were no God...In comparison with the universe we just keep getting smaller and smaller, and yet He has time to know every thought in our head...by the way, I am fascinated with your goofy thoughts.

Shauna said...

I always think of God overseeing this huge timeline of everything, and to Him what time period we're in at the moment isn't of particular importance because He has a knowledge of the whole thing.

Truly you have a dizzying intellect. Which reminds me. Once our (former) hip pastor asked for suggestions for a church movie night, and I threw out a few movies nobody's ever heard of along with the old stand-by The Princess Bride, but he rejected it and said it was "too Christianese." I still don't know what he meant...

linda jean said...

Maybe it's just a bit of divine fun. Like when you mark a waterline to watch how quickly it recedes, or how you measure your kids every year. Maybe events in history are triggered when the universe reaches out to a particular place. This gives God a mark for how much "time" in creations' terms has elapsed because he has no need to worry about it. It does sort of astound you at our tininess(?). "What is man that thou art mindful of him?"
I'm so tickled at my wonderfully brilliant friend calling my intellect "dizzying".

malh said...

When I read this article, in addition to the one explaining dark energy, I was amazed that so many of these scientists are clueless(their word, not mine). He upholds all things by the Word of His power...Heb 1:3.
For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead...Romans 1:20. I think these scientists are catching a glimpse of ETERNAL power in action. God said "let there be light" and His Word is continuing to create Light even today. Think of the implications in regards to our own reborn spirits. Glory to God. Amen. Thanks Linda.

betsyann said...

I didn't read the article, I like to have uninformed opinions, but I've always thought, about God and the nature of time, that since He's above all that and everything, that a late prayer is just as good as a timely one. If I forget that I'm supposed to pray at 9:00 am, I'll just pray when I remember to, and ask God to apply it at the appropriate time. It's handy.

lobiwan said...

As G.K. pointed out, you might as well say we have cozy little universe as a great big cold universe, as it is the only universe that exists. Or as certain physicist pointed out, you can say the sky is blue because light is refracted a certain way through certain molecule, and you would be correct. But you could also just say that the sky is blue because God made it that way, and you are no more or less absolutley correct. Unfortunatley, most scientist have forgotten this simple truth and descended further and further into their own gibberish.

lobiwan said...

I'm pretty sure I typed all of those missing "a"s and "s"s :p

bloggendrauf said...

I think the universe is neat - even though I'm not really sure what it is. I like time too. Especially feeding and nap time. I think there needs to be more time for feeding...

jmlo said...

Glory to God indeed! I really wish to participate in this discussion. I read the article and the question. However, I have to admit I can not really wrap my mind around the concept or the question. Perhaps it is a God sized question and it deserves a God sized answer? It is unfortunate that my mind has never been able to fully comprehend God. Parenthetically, after this whole pregnancy-birth-baby episode in life--well my mind feels like mush. Thanks Betsy for the prayers prayed later aspect. Never thought of that. :) nqjdkndk!

linda jean said...

I hope everyone had fun with this little excersise. It's always fun to me to try to come up with spiritual or symbolic reasons for anything that happens in the physical world. It's all just what we see in a dim mirror and we know there is a reality deeper than what we can observe through our physical senses. Of course, comprending God is beyond our reach, but I hope God is ammused by our attempts. A funny question is whether the expansion is real at all. What if we are actually shrinking in relation to it all and so the universe appears to be expanding? :) As to time, who can say? Although God is timeless, he created time. Although time feels like it speeds up as we age, the seconds that tick away are measured in the same way.

Ranger said...

It is different in many translations, but 2Peter 3.5 in NKJV says: "...by The word of God the heavens were of old,..." That short excerpt from a larger verse, and perhaps taken out of context, sums up my views on God's awesome creation. Stars are millions and millions of Light years away. So some of what we see now, or The hubble telescope sees, no longer exist. And thats just it God created these things either to appear at this point in time for our inspiration. Or perhaps for his own Cosmic joy. If the universe is ever expanding further and further out, then the farther we look out, the older the universe is or perhaps was. When the stars fall from the sky, will these stars have fallen milloions of years ago, or does God just make all these things appear, "as of old." Just some thoughts, not very eloquent, but I never really have been the polished type... Chris Joe

linda jean said...

Maybe he wants it to look just as pretty as it is now when the stars fall from the sky.