Recent developments in creationist cosmology offer an elegant explanation of the distant starlight question which is consistent with the Genesis account of creation and is based on recent astronomical observations and Einstein’s General Relativity equations. Whilst a detailed explanation of this new cosmology is beyond the scope of this Feedback article, it is explained more fully in Harnett’s article “Has dark matter really been proven?” http://www.creation.com
This article provides a framework for understanding the answer to the distant starlight question. The key elements are time dilation, the recent observations showing that we live in a galactocentric universe, and the Scriptural references to God ‘stretching out the heavens’ on Day 4 of the Creation Week.
An experimentally verified prediction of Einstein’s General Relativity Theory is a phenomenon called gravitational time dilation. It has long been established that gravity affects the rate at which time flows in any particular location in the universe.
Another mechanism for time dilation is a rapid acceleration of the fabric of space in an expanding universe. This is explained more fully in Hartnett’s article referenced above.
We live in a galactocentric universe: Standard Big Bang theory has it that the universe has neither a centre nor an edge which is an assumption, called the Cosmological Principle, designed to avoid the earth being a special place. If the Earth was special in any way, it would imply design and thus a Designer which flies in the face of atheistic evolutionary belief. When Edwin Hubble discovered the redshift in the spectra of stars and galaxies and interpreted them as distance (known as the Hubble Law), he was horrified at the implication that the Earth could be in a special place. He wrote: ‘Such a condition [red shifts] would imply that we occupy a unique position in the universe … But the unwelcome supposition of a favoured location must be avoided at all costs … [and] is intolerable … moreover, it represents a discrepancy with the theory because the theory postulates homogeneity.’1
Recent surveys3,4 have measured the galactic redshift for around 250,000 galaxies and have revealed an over abundance of galaxies at certain redshifts in which the data departs from the expected theoretical distribution in a series of large spikes. A straightforward interpretation of this data is that the galaxies are distributed with a spherical shell-like symmetry with the Milky Way galaxy at or near the centre! Such a result is entirely consistent with the biblical picture but is at odds with standard big bang beliefs and is not consistent with the Cosmological Principle.
In at least 11 places, the Scriptures speak of God ‘stretching out the heavens’ (e.g. Job 9:8, Isaiah 40:22 and 42:5, Jeremiah 10:12, Zechariah 12:1) and in Genesis 1:15 the words ‘And it was so.’ are recorded in connection with the events of Day 4 of Creation Week, implying the completion of the events described on that Day. It is a reasonable conclusion to draw that God stretched out the heavens to the vast extent of the observable universe in just one 24 hour day and then ceased the action of ‘stretching out’. This is more rational than the inflation fudge of big bangers discussed above. That is, where the universe just happened to expand much faster than light, although there is no known physical cause for starting or stopping this superluminal expansion.
We should also note that God created the Earth first before the sun, moon and stars (and by inference the planets etc) so it would seem reasonable to assume the universe was stretched out with the Earth at or very near its centre. Furthermore, Psalm 147:4 and Isaiah 40:26 imply that there is a finite number of stars in the universe. So, the Bible seems to teach that we live in a finite universe that has, at the very least, our Milky Way galaxy at its centre.
We now have the keys to understanding how starlight can reach us from such vast distances in just a few thousand years of Earth time. The days of the Creation Week were recorded from the point of view of an observer on the earth so the time reference in Genesis is Earth time. On Day 4, as God commenced stretching out the heavens, the mass of the universe (presumably including the ‘waters above’ which were separated out on Day 2) would have been confined to a much smaller volume of space than is the case today. Assuming the Hartnett–Carmeli theory is correct, the Universe rapidly expanded with massive time dilation as a result of very rapid acceleration of the fabric of space on Day 4. By the end of Day 4, when God completed his work of creating the sun, moon and stars, and had stretched out the heavens to their vast extent, billions of years of cosmic time could have elapsed at the outer edges of the cosmos in just one 24 hour earth day. There would have been more than enough time for the light from distant stars to have reached the earth so that when Adam gazed at the night sky on that sixth night he would have seen much the same as what we see today.
6,000 years have passed since the Creation Week. If the models outlined above are correct, the light we see today from any star that is greater than 6,000 light years away from the earth will have originated on Day 4 itself. This would include most of the visible stars, all of which are part of the Milky Way galaxy. We are effectively looking at God’s creative activity on Day 4 as we gaze into the universe!
So what do we make of supernova 1987A? At 170,000 light years away we are looking at an event that occurred on Day 4 but whose light did not reach us until 1987.
Is an exploding star consistent with a perfect creation? God said that the stars were created to be for signs and seasons (Genesis 1:14) and God foreknew all that would happen right from the very beginning. What to us seems to be destruction is actually just a physical process which does not necessarily denote any lack of perfection in the original creation. Importantly, there is no loss of biblical life involved (the creatures affected by death brought about by the Fall were those the Bible calls נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (nephesh chayyāh)).6
Another excellent resource on the light travel dilemma is previewed in the video below.
In an era when biblical narratives are often relegated to the realm of mythology, the “Ark and the Darkness” documentary seeks to reframe one of history’s most debated tales: Noah’s Flood.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about the flood. Hollywood not only doesn’t represent the true biblical account, they add a lot of mythologies and a lot of themes that are just clearly not biblical. … The two biggest misconceptions would be mythologizing the flood, saying it’s an allegory, it didn’t really happen. The other one that’s actually within Christian circles is, ‘It was just a local flood, God’s judgment was only pertaining to the people living in Mesopotamia Valley.’ … Our movie shows it wasn’t an allegory; it happened in real-time just thousands of years ago, and it was a worldwide event.”
“The Ark and the Darkness,” from Sevenfold Films in collaboration with Genesis Apologetics, bridges the gap between various scientific disciplines — geology, paleontology, the study of fossils, ancient civilizations, volcanic activity, and Earth sciences — all pointing unanimously to the reality of Noah’s Flood.
The documentary features experts, including scientists from Answers in Genesis and Liberty University, like Dr. Andrew Snelling, paleontologist Dr. Gabriela Haynes and researcher and speaker Dr. Terry Mortenson, who uncover the factual basis of Noah’s Flood.
The film hit theaters on Wednesday and Thursday.
Biddle pointed to a variety of scientific findings he said corroborate the biblical account, including the discovery of bioorganic materials in dinosaur bones, which suggests they were buried rapidly and relatively recently.
“There’s no way that these tissues could have lasted for millions upon millions of years,” he said.
The documentary, directed by Ralph Strean, explores the Morrison Formation, a geological site spanning 13 states in the middle of America, which contains a vast number of dinosaur fossils intermingled with marine life.
“How could you take a 13-state zone region and bury land creatures and marine creatures together over that much of an expanse?” Biddle asked. “The answer has to be a worldwide flood.”
Beyond presenting physical evidence, “The Ark and the Darkness” also delves into the implications of Noah’s Flood for understanding the state of the world today. Drawing parallels between the days of Noah and contemporary times, Biddle highlighted a perceived increase in lawlessness and moral decay, echoing biblical prophecies of the End Times.
“We just look around the world today, and it seems like a stage is being set for some interesting things,” he said. “I’m not a doomsayer, I’m not a sensationalist, I’m not even really a prepper. But I would just say that most Christians nowadays can look around the landscape and say, ‘Yeah, there’s a lot of shift going on.’ It’s not a time to be fearful. It’s a time to trust in the Lord, to run in our lanes, and to trust Him for both our short-term lives and what’s going to happen in a longer play. Jesus Himself draws that parallel between the flood and End Times, and so we do the same thing in the movie.”
The film counters evolutionary arguments, suggesting that Noah’s Ark could indeed have housed representatives of all animal kinds necessary to repopulate the Earth post-flood. Biddle challenged the notion that the ark’s capacity would have been insufficient, proposing that only around 7,000 animals were needed to account for the biodiversity seen today.
“One of the most popular allegations is … there’s no way that Noah could have taken all of those different species on Earth today on the ark because there are millions and millions of species. … But that’s one of the things that the Bible addresses straight out of Genesis and chapter one,” he said.
“The experts at Answers in Genesis believe that you only need 7,000 animals total on the ark to reproduce all the different species and all the different breeds that we see today. So that would be one aspect of how we go against evolution theory in the movie,” Biddle added.
Biddle also expressed concern over the growing trend among Christians to interpret the story of Noah’s Flood as allegorical rather than historical.
“We hear a lot of people say they’re just New Testament Christians,” he said. “If that’s true, please explain to me the Gospel without citing Genesis, and no one can do it.”
Biddle stressed that understanding the Gospel’s message of salvation is impossible without acknowledging the reality of sin introduced through Adam in the Garden of Eden. According to Biddle, denying the historical truth of events like Noah’s Flood undermines the entire biblical narrative, including the teachings of Jesus and the writings of New Testament authors who referenced the flood as a factual event.
“It really cripples the Gospel message to say that either the garden or Adam or the flood was a myth,” he said.
Biddle hopes viewers, regardless of their religious or scientific background, reconsider the historical validity of Noah’s Flood.
“I think every person who watches this movie, from a hardened, licensed geologist who’s a complete atheist all the way to a homeschool Christian who believes every word of Scripture, … will be shifted, shifted towards believing more about historic Christianity,” he said. “It would be really hard to sit through an hour and 52 minutes worth of this avalanche of evidence and not come out believing, ‘My gosh, I think they have a case.’ And, we do.”
Great message from Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis. Make sure you visit their website http://www.answersingenesis.org. He omits what is next for this planet hence my addendum.
In an attempt to accept evolutionary ideas about the age of the earth (millions of years), many Christians try to add long ages somewhere into Genesis. Sometimes Christians will argue that the days of creation were not literal 24-hour days, that there was a time gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, or that Genesis is just poetry. But any attempt to put millions of years into Genesis puts millions of years of death, suffering, and disease before sin—and that’s a big problem!
The Bible teaches that God’s original creation was “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and that death is the consequence of Adam’s sin (Genesis 2:17). Death did not exist in creation until after Adam’s sin.
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Romans 5:12
“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:21–22
Although those passages refer specifically to human death, they are also discussing death in general. Other passages like Romans 8:22 make it clear that the whole world is groaning because of sin, and this includes the animal world. Taking Scripture with Scripture, it’s obvious there was no death, disease, or suffering of human or animal (nephesh) life before sin.
This is a big problem for those who believe in millions of years because those long ages supposedly come from the rock layers and fossils. Now, fossils are, of course, dead things, so if those rock layers are millions of years old, there’s been millions of years of death beforeAdam and Eve. And not just death, but also, millions of years of diseases and suffering, animal carnivory (but in God’s original creation everything was vegetarian, see Genesis 1:29–30), and thorns and thistles (a consequence of sin, Genesis 3:18).
Millions of years is incompatible with the Bible’s teaching about death!
Death is not a natural part of creation; it’s not something that has existed for millions of years—it’s an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), an intruder into God’s once “very good” creation.
As Christians, we cannot accept millions of years and remain faithful to the plain meaning of Scripture. So how old is the earth? Well, God created everything in six days, and then Genesis 5 and 11 give us detailed genealogies that allow us to determine how many years passed between Adam and Abraham (about 2,000 years). We know about 2,000 years passed between Abraham and Jesus, and then 2,000 more years gets us from Christ to us today. So, starting with the Bible’s history, the universe, earth, and life is only about 6,000 years old.
Yes, we live on a young earth impacted by death because of sin. But someday Jesus will return and create a new heavens and a new earth where death and suffering will be done away with and everyone who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus will live with him forever.
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying, Ken
A great message from Ken Ham except he left out the 1000 years Jesus will rule over the nations on this Earth with some, if not all of the glorified Saints. We have had 6000 years of Satan’s dominion over the Earth, next is Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom, and only then will this Earth be destroyed. The second resurrection of all of the dead will take place followed by Jesus’ White Throne judgement. It is only after the White Throne judgement that John sees the new Heaven and new Earth.
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-12
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”Revelation 21:1-3
Secular archaeologists have spent 200 years attempting to establish that the Bible is a collection of mythology and Jewish/Christian propaganda, yet archaeological evidence is more consistent with the Bible as an accurate historical document. In Unearthing the Bible, Dr. Titus Kennedy isolates and illuminates 101 archaeological discoveries that buttress the thesis that the Bible is a reliable historical record by the traditionally recognized authors at the traditionally accepted times they lived.
Kennedy’s book should be in the hands of everyone serious about the historical study of the Bible. Sketching 101 intersections between God’s Word and archeological evidence, Kennedy crafts a sturdy structure of information and argument that makes clear that belief in the truth, accuracy, and reliability of the biblical narrative is not merely possible, but it is sensible and rational. Indeed, it takes a full dose of willful blindness and/or intellectual dishonesty to refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy and implications of some of these artifacts. Complete with photographs and translations of ancient inscriptions, a helpful principle of organization, and explanations that are clear and coherent, the book is a genuinely useful tool. No fair-minded reader can deny the book’s success in demonstrating that ancient events left behind extensive evidence that the biblical narrative is accurate.
As Kennedy notes on page 9, “The Bible has been routinely attacked and disregarded based on history or archeology.” Unearthing the Bible challenges those attacks and dismissals head-on. The book cites the biblical passages related to each artifact, anchoring the archaeological context with the date and location of each piece’s discovery, a note on the biblical period in question, keywords, and citations of related biblical passages. The reader’s sense and understanding of the relevance of each artifact to the scriptural record grows as the array of archaeological discoveries increases in number and characteristic. In the end, a reader hostile to a biblical worldview may still ‘attack’, but ‘disregarded’ is no longer an option.
In some cases, Kennedy cites a piece of archaeological evidence not as demonstrably connected to a specific biblical character, but as proof that a particular name was, in fact, in use at a particular time. On pages 38–39, Kennedy points out that
“27 scarab seals bearing the name ‘Yaqob’ (Jacob) and the element ‘El’ (perhaps meaning ‘protected by God’) have been discovered in Egypt, Canaan, and Nubia, dating to around 1800–1600 BC.”
Sumerian King List dating back to about 2000 BC
He notes that this period is in line with the time of Jacob’s migration to Egypt, but that the name was not used either before or after this time. Without trying to make more of the evidence than the evidence allows, Kennedy points out that it is significant that the archeological evidence of the name’s use corresponds dramatically with the biblical account.
Altogether, Kennedy cites 19 cases of names used at a time in the Bible that corresponds with the time that a particular name was in common use. This list contains both Old and New Testament names. Some of these cases have made the popular press, such as the ‘James Ossuary’ described on pages 224–225. This may, or may not, be the same “son of Joseph and brother of Jesus” that we know in the Bible, but, because all three names are in their proper timeframe and could be common, it certainly is possible.
Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries that Bring the Bible to Life is a valuable Bible study tool, but, beyond that, Kennedy’s book is a collection of convincing illustrations that scientific evidence does not contradict God’s Word. Just as biology, geology, chemistry, and physics are consistent with the Bible, the evidence found in archaeology is consistent with the Bible. Moreover, fulfilled Bible prophecies demonstrate its authors were divinely guided by the Holy Spirit.
The video IS GENESIS HISTORY features over a dozen scientists and scholars explaining how science intersects with the history recorded in Genesis. From rock layers to fossils, from lions to stars, from the Bible to artifacts, this fascinating film will change the way you see the world. The film’s goal is to provide a reasonable case for Creation in six normal days, a real Adam and Eve, an actual fall, a global flood, and the tower of Babel. Dr. Del Tackett, creator of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, serves as your guide—hiking through canyons, climbing up mountains, and diving below the sea—in an exploration of two competing views…one compelling truth.
1. Changing Our Perspective 0:00 2. What do the Rocks Tell us? 3:59 3. A Question of Paradigms 13:49 4. What Does the Text Say? 17:55 5 How do you Measure Time? 23:32 6.A Brief History of the World 34:13, 6 – A Brief History of the World 34:13, 7. The Origin of Fossils 42:26 8. When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth 50:14, 9. Soft Tissue in Dinosaur Bones 55:51, 10. The Genius of Design 1:02:58, 11. The Potential of Created Kinds 1:12:34, 12. The Purpose of the Stars 1:21:22, 13. Where was Babel? 1:28:03, 14. Genesis and Our Culture 1:33:19, 15. A Changed Perspective 1:39:09, 16. Credits 1:41:26
We all need to be equipped with good resources to bring our unrepentant family and friends to a knowledge of God and His redemptive plan for mankind. This video is an excellent tool. As well, go to http://www.answersingenesis.org and http://www.creation.com.
Martyn Isles (formerly of A.C.L) is now CEO of Answers in Genesis. He and Ken Ham (Founder) are in Australia at present. I attended their first meeting (Living in Babylon) in Adelaide at the Convention Centre. It was a sold-out event. The Perth event was last night but they still have Brisbane and Melbourne to go. Sadly, they could not get the numbers for Sydney. You can connect online, by going to http://www.answersingenesis.org.
Younger Americans are more likely to dissociate from organized religion, according to a recent Pew Research study on religious “nones.
Fully 69% of ‘nones’ say they believe in the God of the Bible or some other higher power, but only 3% “go to religious services at least monthly,” and a plurality (43%) says religion does more harm than good. These numbers don’t show “a rejection of God,” Perkins interpreted, but rather a rejection of “organized religion, that in many ways has become milquetoast and has abandoned truth. ‘So,’ [think the ‘nones’], ‘why bother?’”
An exploding number of young Americans are drifting through life without any theological mooring. Many of them were raised in the church, yet they remain largely ignorant of the Bible and its teachings
The real reason is that churches and Bible Schools have compromised God’s Word by accepting evolution and billions of years as fact. The Bible reveals that God made a perfect world about 6000 years ago. Adam was made in God’s image on the sixth day and given dominion over all the earth. He was there at the beginning. Death and suffering entered the world as a consequence of Adam and Eve disobeying God. The world rejects this true history as it does the Biblical account of the worldwide flood of Noah’s day when God judged the world and destroyed all but eight people and the animals that God had brought to the Ark. The entire topography of the Earth was changed due to the catastrophic flood “All the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened” Genesis 7:11. It is the reason we find billions of dead things buried all over the world including buried vegetation (fossil fuels). The world denies this event ever happened but has difficulty explaining the geological evidence.
Children are taught in schools that the universe started with the Big Bang. Life started in a primordial soup. Creatures evolved into more complex creatures as a result of natural selection and mutation. After much death and suffering men and women evolved from apelike ancestors. The survival of the fittest. God is not necessary and therefore does not exist. Does science support this theory?
The recent Encode project investigated DNA and its role in controlling the functions of all cells in the body. It revealed that DNA is a multi-dimensional assembly of information that controls the machines and transport devices in cells. Darwin did not have access to an electron microscope to see these complicated machines and transport devices inside all cells nor the DNA, the Information System that controls these machines. Information does not derive from matter or energy. There is only one source an Intelligent Designer who was outside of the universe (Time, Matter, and Space) He created. There is no way even the simplest cell could have evolved over time. The DNA, the information controlling the machines, and the complex machines had to be created perfectly at the same time to function – irreducible complexity.
God has raised up ministries such as Creation Ministries International, http://www.creation.com, and Answers in Genesis, http://www.answersingenesis.org to provide resources to present the case for creation so make sure you connect and support them.
The coming Antichrist’s One World Government will be put down by Jesus on His return at the battle of Armageddon, Jesus then initiates His One World Government. The nation God established for His purposes, Israel, will fulfill its destiny with its Messiah, Jesus, ruling the nations of the world.
It is amazing how the Bible reveals that mankind has not changed and down through the ages God’s arch enemy, Satan has raised up his rulers to deceive mankind and destroy God’s agenda which centers around the nation, Israel, The nation that God established for His purposes. In my lifetime the most horrific leader that Satan raised up was Adolf Hitler. He initiated the destruction of six million Jews, many were shot but mainly they were killed in gas chambers. At the height of deportations in 1943–44, an average of 6,000 Jews were gassed each day at Auschwitz.
You will learn from this video that Satan’s first world leader after the flood was Nimrod who built the Tower of Babel and we know how God put down that rebellion. The only true history of this world is given in the Bible, the nations that exist today arose from the descendants of Noah.
The archaeologist Joel Kramer shows us God is sovereign over His world with archaeological evidence of Babylon that fits the Biblical record of God’s judgement of that city. The same is true of Sodom and Gomorrah and I would urge you to go look at Sean McDowell’s video where he interviews Joel Kramer on evidence found for those cities.
Babylon is the second most mentioned city in the Bible yet few archaeologists have been able to excavate the area. Joel Kramer has made multiple trips to Southern Iraq to examine the ancient biblical prophecies about Babylon. His findings are genuinely remarkable and a modern-day example of fulfilled prophecy.
It is a reminder of the coming judgement of God on the entire world when God pours out His wrath upon the Earth with the Trumpet (Rev. 8 & 9) and Bowl (Rev.16) judgements.
“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”Revelation 6:15-17
In this video clip “Mountains After the Flood”, geologists John Whitmore and Andrew Snelling talk with Del Tackett about the importance of their research project in the Grand Canyon. They discuss creation science and why it provides answers to evidence not found in the conventional scientific paradigm. This four-minute segment shows convincing evidence that the Coconino Sandstone was laid down by a catastrophic flood. This formation spreads across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Make sure you watch the entire film to see the fascinating results of their research.
God’s providence ensures all of time and history serve His particular ends. Every moment is consequential and important because He is ‘accomplishing all His purpose.’ The Bible is ultimately a book of history: it is through the events of real history that He brings salvation to us and glorifies Himself through it.
This is why one’s view of the age of the earth matters to the gospel. If one replaces the Biblical timeline of thousands of years with the conventional timeline of billions of years, one must accept all the new events that go with that new timeline — events that necessarily displace Biblical events. This displacement inevitably affects the doctrines that rely on those events.
Dr. Del Tackett returns to the Grand Canyon with Geologist Steve Austin. But this time, the two of them board a helicopter for a bird’s eye view of this geological wonder. Join them as they discuss how the Grand Canyon actually formed. Watch the full film here: https://bit.ly/mtns-after-flood What if creation scientists suddenly discovered amazing new evidence supporting the events of Genesis? What if you could watch that discovery?
𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 follows Dr. Del Tackett as he joins a team of creation scientists who discover amazing new evidence for a recent global Flood. You’ll stare up at folded rock layers, peer into microscopes, climb high mountains, and fly over the Grand Canyon. By the time the journey is over, you’ll have a completely new understanding of what the Flood did to create the world we live in today.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 