•10:23 PM
January 29, 2011 10:23 p.m.
Why the Universe is the Way it Is by Dr. Hugh Ross
It is not often that I write a book review. Hey, these days, it is not often that I finish a book. But after a year or two of sitting on my shelf, I decided to pick this book up and read it, and am I glad that I did.
The author is an astronomer who early on in life came to faith in Jesus Christ after discovering that the Bible was unique among holy books in that it corroborated what he knew from science to be true about the earth and the universe, as far as its creation, structure, and origin. Not only this, but the writers of scripture allude to details about the heavens and the earth that are scientifically accurate as we understand science today; however, as scripture was written thousands of years ago, and there is no way that the ancient writers could have known scientifically what we know today, it must be that they were truly inspired by God. Now that may seem quite unbelievable, especially as many believe that there can be no true agreement between science and the scriptures. The scriptures are about God, and science is, well, about science, and never the ‘twain shall meet. So don’t even try. But Dr. Ross tried some 25 years ago or more, and succeeded in identifying a model of creation science that is compatible with scripture, as well as with the mainstream understanding of physics, astronomy, astrophysics, geology, et al. No bad science. No bad theology. After all, God reveals Himself in scripture AND in creation. Shouldn’t a more complete understanding of both end up in agreement?
In this book, Ross sets out to set the latest scientific discoveries about the universe in the context of the Creator God’s goodness and love for the human race. He gives the reader a glimpse into the exquisite fine-tuning that God has done in His created universe to provide for the existence of humanity,, and to allow for humanity to discover and learn much about the universe. I once heard it said that we have no idea how much God has done for us, individually for our lives, and collectively for our communities. That one day in heaven we shall finally come to know all the ways He has bent over backwards on our behalf to bless us and sanctify us. We already know some of these things, how God made such a beautiful world, how He sent His Son to take on the sins of us all. But there are so many things we are unaware of: things related to all that science has revealed about our created world, from sub-atomic particles through physical laws and up to the immensity of the universe. Why is the universe so vast? Why did he bother creating galaxies, stars, and planets that we will never even discover? Why is the universe subject to decay? Why does the universe have the composition it does? Why is it as old as it is? Why is the earth and our solar system located in such a relatively dark corner of the universe? Where does God reside relative to the universe? Why is our planet located exactly where it is? What do the scriptures indicate about the new creation to come and how does this relate to the present creation? The writing style makes discussion of recent discoveries in astronomy to be very understandable to the non-scientific mind. I appreciate this, because much of physics can be barely comprehensible to 99% of us. The author helps us along by writing in terms that we all can understand. Nevertheless, portions of this book do take some effort to digest.
The first half of the book is primarily scientific in scope, but the second half is more of a theological description. What hints does the Bible give us about the future of the earth and the universe? What do we know about the realm to come? What will happen to the present four dimensions that we experience? What limitations might we be freed from in the new creation? Why isn’t our present universe more “perfect”? How does the Bible explain the universe’s features? All of these questions are tackled somewhere in this book, and in other, more detailed, books by this author.
I appreciated the discussion on making sense out of the evil in the world. How can we explain the presence of evil in this universe? What significance and meaning can it have for anybody, except in the context of the fact that we were created for another place, another realm, to come, that is above and beyond the created order that we observe and experience now? In fact, it is only in this truth that any reasonable explanation can exist for the presence of evil.
I truly have appreciated this book, as I do most of Dr. Ross’ books, because it gives me even more specific reasons to rejoice in the goodness of God toward us, to be amazed at His grace and condescension, and to be more aware of the incredibly huge investment that God has in humanity; or to put it in Ross’ words “How much the Creator has invested and will continue to invest for humanity’s sake is astounding beyond all comprehension”. This book reveals so many more reasons to give Him all our worship and adoration. We truly have no clue about all that the Lord has done for us since before time began.
Another thing that this book does is excite the imagination about the new creation. If we all gave more thought to the wonders of eternity, we would walk so much more faithfully in this present life on earth. Scripture has given us a little bit of information about what this eternal realm will be like for us, and Dr. Ross couches this description in scientific terms, explaining some of what may be different about the new creation, and how it will succeed and supersede the old (present) creation after it has passed away.
I found this book to be a real faith-builder for me, peppered as it is with scripture references, for the author is a Christian theologian as well as a scientist. I think it is an important book for Christian and skeptic alike.
Why the Universe is the Way it Is by Dr. Hugh Ross
It is not often that I write a book review. Hey, these days, it is not often that I finish a book. But after a year or two of sitting on my shelf, I decided to pick this book up and read it, and am I glad that I did.
The author is an astronomer who early on in life came to faith in Jesus Christ after discovering that the Bible was unique among holy books in that it corroborated what he knew from science to be true about the earth and the universe, as far as its creation, structure, and origin. Not only this, but the writers of scripture allude to details about the heavens and the earth that are scientifically accurate as we understand science today; however, as scripture was written thousands of years ago, and there is no way that the ancient writers could have known scientifically what we know today, it must be that they were truly inspired by God. Now that may seem quite unbelievable, especially as many believe that there can be no true agreement between science and the scriptures. The scriptures are about God, and science is, well, about science, and never the ‘twain shall meet. So don’t even try. But Dr. Ross tried some 25 years ago or more, and succeeded in identifying a model of creation science that is compatible with scripture, as well as with the mainstream understanding of physics, astronomy, astrophysics, geology, et al. No bad science. No bad theology. After all, God reveals Himself in scripture AND in creation. Shouldn’t a more complete understanding of both end up in agreement?
In this book, Ross sets out to set the latest scientific discoveries about the universe in the context of the Creator God’s goodness and love for the human race. He gives the reader a glimpse into the exquisite fine-tuning that God has done in His created universe to provide for the existence of humanity,, and to allow for humanity to discover and learn much about the universe. I once heard it said that we have no idea how much God has done for us, individually for our lives, and collectively for our communities. That one day in heaven we shall finally come to know all the ways He has bent over backwards on our behalf to bless us and sanctify us. We already know some of these things, how God made such a beautiful world, how He sent His Son to take on the sins of us all. But there are so many things we are unaware of: things related to all that science has revealed about our created world, from sub-atomic particles through physical laws and up to the immensity of the universe. Why is the universe so vast? Why did he bother creating galaxies, stars, and planets that we will never even discover? Why is the universe subject to decay? Why does the universe have the composition it does? Why is it as old as it is? Why is the earth and our solar system located in such a relatively dark corner of the universe? Where does God reside relative to the universe? Why is our planet located exactly where it is? What do the scriptures indicate about the new creation to come and how does this relate to the present creation? The writing style makes discussion of recent discoveries in astronomy to be very understandable to the non-scientific mind. I appreciate this, because much of physics can be barely comprehensible to 99% of us. The author helps us along by writing in terms that we all can understand. Nevertheless, portions of this book do take some effort to digest.
The first half of the book is primarily scientific in scope, but the second half is more of a theological description. What hints does the Bible give us about the future of the earth and the universe? What do we know about the realm to come? What will happen to the present four dimensions that we experience? What limitations might we be freed from in the new creation? Why isn’t our present universe more “perfect”? How does the Bible explain the universe’s features? All of these questions are tackled somewhere in this book, and in other, more detailed, books by this author.
I appreciated the discussion on making sense out of the evil in the world. How can we explain the presence of evil in this universe? What significance and meaning can it have for anybody, except in the context of the fact that we were created for another place, another realm, to come, that is above and beyond the created order that we observe and experience now? In fact, it is only in this truth that any reasonable explanation can exist for the presence of evil.
I truly have appreciated this book, as I do most of Dr. Ross’ books, because it gives me even more specific reasons to rejoice in the goodness of God toward us, to be amazed at His grace and condescension, and to be more aware of the incredibly huge investment that God has in humanity; or to put it in Ross’ words “How much the Creator has invested and will continue to invest for humanity’s sake is astounding beyond all comprehension”. This book reveals so many more reasons to give Him all our worship and adoration. We truly have no clue about all that the Lord has done for us since before time began.
Another thing that this book does is excite the imagination about the new creation. If we all gave more thought to the wonders of eternity, we would walk so much more faithfully in this present life on earth. Scripture has given us a little bit of information about what this eternal realm will be like for us, and Dr. Ross couches this description in scientific terms, explaining some of what may be different about the new creation, and how it will succeed and supersede the old (present) creation after it has passed away.
I found this book to be a real faith-builder for me, peppered as it is with scripture references, for the author is a Christian theologian as well as a scientist. I think it is an important book for Christian and skeptic alike.
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3 comments:
Interesting. My engineer-student son phoned me the other week to tell me about a documentary on quantum physics that one of his tutors had recommended. The bit that grabbed his attention was about evidence of another reality coexisting with ours.
Linda, we now know of some 11 dimensions in the universe. The human mind, although it can conceptualize more, can only visualize 4 of those dimensions. We are so limited, and yet, it is amazing how arrogant we can be in our limited knowledge.
I saw a documentary on the History channel last night, doing a scientific analysis of the 10 Biblical plagues, and concluding that they really did happen, and had scientific basis. I believe that as thinking people, we must accept reason as well as faith, and if reason and faith intersect, and one bolsters the other, that's a good thing. These sorts of analyses are very interesting to me.