Scientific evidence supports the truth of a creation of the universe, but…

Scientists have concluded more about the fact that the universe had a beginning:

March 18, 2014

Scientist have discovered evidence that a split-second after the Big Bang, the newly formed universe underwent a fast and incomprehensibly massive growth spurt in its earliest infancy.

Experts are of the view that if confirmed, the discovery would be a major advance in the understanding of the early universe.

The study emerged after researchers peered into the faint light that remains from the Big Bang of nearly 14 billion years ago. http://www.utahpeoplespost.com/2014/03/scientists-discover-evidence-for-universes-early-growth-spurt/

WASHINGTON — Scientists say they have discovered evidence of the “dynamite” that blew up the Big Bang.

If confirmed, experts say it will be one of the most important fundamental discoveries in the history of science.

The new research provides the first solid evidence that the universe went through an extraordinary growth spurt in its first brief moments of being, a period called inflation.

This unfathomably rapid rate of growth left ripples in the fabric of space — gravitational waves that Albert Einstein predicted, but that have never been detected until now.

The force driving that exponential expansion is unknown, but experts say this new evidence that it exists offers a long-sought link between gravity, which acts on everything we can see, and quantum mechanics, which governs the subatomic realm.

‘Greatest discoveries’

“I think this is going to go down, if it stands the test of time, as one of the greatest discoveries in the entire history of science,” said Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Max Tegmark, who was not involved in the research, “and I really don’t say that lightly.”

The researchers studied the universe’s background radiation, the last traces of energy that remain from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago.

Working at a radio telescope at the South Pole, where the air is dry and there is little human interference, they found extremely subtle irregularities in that radiation. The variations followed a curling, twisting pattern that they say marks the passage of gravitational waves.

“Detecting this signal is one of the most important goals in cosmology today,” team leader John Kovac at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said in a statement.

Although much of current astrophysics rests on the assumption that inflation happened, the evidence has been lacking.

And it wasn’t clear that the signal would be detectable nearly 14 billion years after the fact, added University of Chicago cosmologist Michael Turner. “Looking for the gravity waves from inflation was called, by many, folly or chasing a wild goose,” he said.

Turner was not a member of the research team. He said the discovery of gravity waves means scientists can study the force behind inflation, which, he said, “might well have been the dynamite behind the Big Bang.”

‘New physics’

“One of the reasons why this discovery is exciting is because inflation does require that there’s some new fundamental physics beyond the four forces we know about,” said Johns Hopkins University astronomer Marc Kamionkowski, who was also not involved with the research.

He said the new findings fit nicely with theories that unify all of the forces.

The new evidence has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Experts who have seen the research said it was compelling, but that other scientists will need to confirm it.

Kamionkowski said that if it does stand up to scrutiny, it opens up an exciting new area of research.

“It’s as if someone was around at the time of inflation and sent us a telegram encoded in gravitational waves, which then got transcribed on the sky,” he said. “In the forthcoming years, what I’m hoping will happen is, we’ll actually be able to read what this telegram is telling us.” http://www.voanews.com/content/scientists-hear-earliest-echoes-of-big-bang/1873400.html

What that ‘telegram’ is telling us is that:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

After I wrote the above, a reader sent me a related article that came to the same basic conclusion:

And the Lord said ‘let there be a Big Bang’

Should religious Jews feel threatened by new evidence supporting the Big Bang Theory? Some religious scientists, rabbis believe the very opposite.

Jerusalem Post – March 18, 2014

As scientists around the world rejoice over recent findings of smoking gun evidence of the Big Bang theory, so too can religious Jews who believe in Creationism.

In the debate over whether science and religion conflict or complement one another, Jewish scientists and rabbis alike put forward convincing arguments to support the latter. Bar Ilan University’s Professor Nathan Aviezer, author of the book In the Beginning which deals with the subject, strongly advocates the argument that scientific and religious beliefs can live together in harmony.

Explaining the weight of the findings released on Monday, he says that scientists have for decades been looking for waves produced by gravity, but it was a difficult feat since gravity is a billion billion billion times weaker than electrical forces, which also produce waves.

However, he continues, “if there was enormous gravitational change, then maybe with some very sensitive apparatus you could detect them.” The Big Bang was that change, “so there was hope that maybe you could see ripples from the Big Bang – and that’s what these guys did.” “What’s all this got to do with Genesis?” he asks rhetorically.

The first verse of Genesis says that God created the Heaven and Earth; that the universe came from an act of creation. All scientists also use the term creation for the beginning of the universe, only that they don’t necessarily attribute it to God – they say it happened spontaneously.

Scientists maintain that the universe began with the appearance of an enormous ball of light – the explosion of which is known as the Big Bang – which slots together perfectly with the Genesis version of events in which God said “let there be light.” “The creation of the light was the creation of the universe,” Aviezer says. “Every word written in the Torah fits recent scientific discoveries. They are in exact harmony with the words of the Torah.”

Rabbi Benny Lau, activist and nephew of former Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, is less excited by the Big Bang news, shrugging it off as of no particular interest to him. He agrees, however, that the theory is compatible with the Jewish story…

“It is written in Beresheet (Genesis) that God created the Heavens and the Earth, and that was the moment that the world started,” he tells The Jerusalem Post. He notes that the concepts of time in the Bible are not the same as those we use now, and that one day could be the same as a million years. But for Lau, the world only starts to be interesting when there are people on it.

Weizmann’s Professor Aviezri S. Fraenkel expresses a similar sentiment, referencing the belief of leading Greek philosopher Aristotle that the universe existed forever.

“The modern Big Bang theory is much closer to the biblical description of creation, where there is a definite beginning,” Fraenkel tells the Post. “In fact, the modern theories, which don’t yet explain all the observed cosmological facts, bestow new meaning to the biblical verse in Psalms 92, 6: How great are Your deeds, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep”.

From these standpoints then, the modern theory of cosmology and the Jewish religion actually help explain, rather than negate, one another.

http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/And-the-Lord-said-let-there-be-a-Big-Bang-345752

Although some accept the Creation, many of the wise of the world still do not seem to want to believe this. But they should:

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:20-23).

A recent sermon for the Continuing Church of God was Is it logical to believe in God? More and more scientific evidence demonstrates that it is.Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Is God’s Existence Logical? Some say it is not logical to believe in God. Is that true? Here is a link to a YouTube sermon titled Is it logical to believe in God?
Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II This short article clearly answers what ‘pseudo-scientists’ refuse to acknowledge. Here is a link to a YouTube video titled Quickly Disprove Evolution as the Origin of Life.
How Old is the Earth and How Long Were the Days of Creation? Does the Bible allow for the creation of the universe and earth billions of years ago? Why do some believe they are no older than 6,000 years old? What is the gap theory? Where the days of creation in Genesis 1:3 through 2:3 24 hours long?
Where Did God Come From? Any ideas? And how has God been able to exist? Who is God?
How is God Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient? Here is a biblical article which answers what many really wonder about it.
Has time been lost? It Saturday the seventh day of the week?
Why Were You Born? Why did God make you? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject. You may also wish to read the article What is Your Destiny? or watch the video, also titled What is Your Destiny?
What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally? There is also a video titled What is the meaning of your life?
Bible: Superstition or Authority? Should you rely on the Bible? Is it reliable? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.