Pahu, I'm on the atheist's side here because I'm an old Earther and evolutionist (because I'm scientifically aware
).
What's the young Earther apologetic on the distance of galaxies and finite speed of light proving an old universe?
Astronomy iz cool
Good point. One explanation is the evidence for the slowing down of light over the centuries. I am skeptical about that, but here is a link:
In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood - Galaxies Are Billions of Light-Years Away, So Isn’t the Universe Billions of Years Old?
Another explanation, which makes more sense to me, is God stretched out the universe, for which there is also evidence:
Universe Stretched
Was space, along with light emitted by stars, rapidly stretched out soon after creation began? If so, energy would have been added to the universe and starlight during that stretching. Pages
396–
401 show that the scientific evidence clearly favors this stretching explanation over the big bang theory, which also claims that space expanded rapidly. Yet, the big bang theory says all this expansion energy, plus all the matter in the universe, was, at the beginning of time, inside a volume much smaller than a pinhead.
At least eleven times, the Bible states that God “stretched out” or “stretches out” the heavens. [See
Table 21.] For emphasis, important ideas are often repeated in the Bible. While we may have difficulty visualizing this stretching, we can be confident of its significance.
Table 21. Bible References to Stretching Out of the Heavens
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]Job 9:8[/TD]
[TD]“[God] stretches out the heavens”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ps 104:2[/TD]
[TD]“stretching out heaven like a tent curtain”
[SUP]1[/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Is 40:22[/TD]
[TD]“He ... stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent”
[SUP]1[/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Is 42:5[/TD]
[TD]“... God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Is 44:24[/TD]
[TD]“I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Is 45:12[/TD]
[TD]“It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Is 48:13[/TD]
[TD]“Surely My hand founded the earth and My right hand spread out the heavens.”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Is 51:13[/TD]
[TD]“the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jer 10:12[/TD]
[TD]“He has stretched out the heavens”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jer 51:15[/TD]
[TD]“He stretched out the heavens”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Zech 12:1[/TD]
[TD]“the Lord who stretches out the heavens”[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"]The context of each of the above verses deals with creation. Although past and present tenses (stretched and stretches) are expressed in these English translations, Hebrew verbs do not generally convey past, present, or future. Translators must rely on context and other clues to determine verb tense.
Even if we knew the intended Hebrew tense, is the stretching from God’s perspective or man’s? The creation was completed in six days (Exodus 20:11), suggesting that in God’s time the heavens were stretched out during the creation week, perhaps on Day 4. However, in our time, some redshifted light from extreme distances—a consequence of this past stretching—is reaching us now.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
The Hebrew word for stretched is
natah. It does not mean an explosion, a flinging out, or the type of stretching that encounters increasing resistance, as with a spring.
Natah is more like the effortless reaching out of one’s hand.
Table 22. Comparison of Two Explanations for Expansion of the Universe
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
Big Bang[/TD]
[TD]
Stretching[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The universe was once much smaller. It began soon after time began and before all the laws of physics came into operation.
[SUP]2[/SUP] Energy and matter appeared out of nothing.[/TD]
[TD]Yes[/TD]
[TD]Yes[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]When did the expansion occur?[/TD]
[TD]Expansion has been going on ever since the big bang, at the instant time began.[/TD]
[TD]Expansion occurred early in the creation week, but not at the instant of creation.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Why is distant light redshifted?[/TD]
[TD]The more distant the light source, the greater the expansion rate and redshift.[/TD]
[TD]The light we see today from very distant objects shows the amount of stretching the light experienced.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Expansion began at almost a mathematical point.[/TD]
[TD]Yes
[SUP]3[/SUP][/TD]
[TD]No[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Expansion energy came from within the universe.[/TD]
[TD]Yes[/TD]
[TD]No[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The initial temperature and density of matter was[/TD]
[TD]nearly infinite[/TD]
[TD]finite[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]All expansion energy was expended[/TD]
[TD]within a tiny fraction (10[SUP]-34[/SUP]) of a second[/TD]
[TD]as the expansion proceeded[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stars, galaxies, and black holes began forming[/TD]
[TD]after 500,000,000 years, in an expanded universe[/TD]
[TD]before the expansion[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
The stretching explanation, proposed here, has similarities and differences with the big bang theory. Both the big bang and stretching explanations describe a very rapid expansion of the universe, soon after time began, but before all the laws of physics were in place. As one big bang authority stated:
In its standard form, the big bang theory maintains that the universe was born about 15 billion years ago from a cosmological singularity—a state in which the temperature and density are infinitely high. Of course, one cannot really speak in physical terms about these quantities as being infinite. One usually assumes that the current laws of physics did not apply [during the big bang’s rapid expansion].
... One may wonder, What came before? If space-time did not exist then, how could everything appear from nothing? What arose first: the universe or the laws determining its evolution? Explaining this initial singularity—where and when it all began—still remains the most intractable problem of modern cosmology.[SUP]1[/SUP]
The stretching explanation, in contrast to the standard big bang theory, does not begin with a singularity—an infinitesimal point.
[SUP]3[/SUP] Nor does the energy expended in stretching out the heavens come from within the universe or during its first trillionth of a trillionth of a ten-billionth of a second (10[SUP]-34[/SUP] second) or less, as with the big bang theory. Energy flowed
into the universe as stretching progressed. According to the big bang theory, stars, galaxies, and black holes began forming after 500,000,000 years. According to the stretching explanation,
these bodies were formed (or began) near the beginning of time—early in the creation week. Because matter and starlight occupy space, they were also stretched. You can decide which explanation the following surprising evidence supports.
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