BiblePhysics
BiblePhysics: Content Overview
I've been crazy about science all my life. From an early age, I was tearing into clock radios, tape recorders and a variety of other household appliances, to discover how they worked.
Later on, construction of classroom science projects such as erupting volcanoes and solar system models held my fascination. And while biology never really captivated me -- other than views through a powerful microscope -- and chemistry's attraction was mainly in mixing powders that would explode or produce brightly colored smoke, I appreciated those fields insofar as being able to explain the fundamental properties of life.
As a young boy, it never occurred to me that there might be a conflict between science and religion. Although I went to church as a kid (and only because my parents made me, to be honest), I simply didn't dwell on Bible scripture, and frankly, I just didn't dig that deeply into religion or science.
That changed -- the digging deeply part -- years later when I accepted Christ. I was 36, and well aware of the problems between Darwinian theory and the Genesis account of creation. However, my fondness for science was not diminished in the least. While my new life in Christianity and hunger for a deeper understanding of the Bible drove my thoughts and actions, my analytical nature and love of stargazing drove me to learn more about astrophysics and cosmology in general.
I'll never forget my 'first light' with a newly acquired (and extensively reworked) 10-inch Newtonian reflector telescope. From the top of an 11,300-foot summit in southern Utah, through optimum transparency against a jet-black sky, I gazed at the Horsehead Nebula in Orion's Belt, M31 in the constellation Andromeda, then M51, a pair of galaxies in Canes Venatici. My excitement turned to awe as I finally pushed back from the eyepiece and looked up, absorbing the high-altitude panorama of the heavens. The sky was carpeted with stars; the Milky Way almost photographically obvious through the thin atmosphere.
David's words leaped to mind, then to my lips: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge."1 I was humbled at immensity of it all, and at the same time ecstatic. I knew the Creator of the universe... and He knew me.
A moment later, a different thought leaped to mind. I re-aimed the scope, then returned to the eyepiece. This time as I gazed at M51, the thought at the front of my mind was that light bouncing off the telescope's mirrors, passing through the lens and into my eye, left the galaxy roughly 23 million years ago.
That was the first time I truly appreciated the predicament those Bible believers known as literalists find themselves in when confronted with basic cosmology.
Fact is, though, I too was a literalist. I am still. Another fact is that my literal reading of Genesis does nothing to dissuade my excitement for astrophysics, nor does my knowledge of astrophysics keep me from accepting Genesis literally.
My understanding of God is that He gave us the heavens to study and the knowledge to build telescopes, understand math and dream up advanced concepts of physics. He didn't create illusions, deceptions, or even puzzles that can't be solved. He does, however, want us to work out the answers. I'm certain also that we can do it with Him, or without Him.
With Him, though, those answers are bound to flow more freely, and are more likely to be in harmony with other aspects of His creation.
Those long and eventful nights with the telescope compelled me to read everything I could lay my hands on concerning cosmology. The advent of the internet opened up additional resources, and by the turn of the millennium, there were mountains of material available for research.
I launched BiblePhysics as a site to consolidate and organize material. As time went on, I discovered more people who, like me, were looking for answers to similar problems. Many of these were students of various sciences, and, empathizing with their desire to learn, I changed the web site to accommodate their needs.
Another aspect of science that was a foundational part of the early web site was the evolution/creation controversy. I had followed it for a number of years, studying arguments and evidence, and frankly I was growing tired of the evolutionist's favorite tactic -- that of simply implying, 'You're stupid, and I'm not.' It's sophomoric, I know. But when you've argued with as many evolutionists as I have, and you compare their grounds with the evidence, well, that is actually what the majority of them imply.
And it doesn't seem to bother evolutionists -- at least those I've met -- that their reasoning, their logic, is often shallow, no deeper than a teaspoon.
BiblePhysics demonstrates through analysis of the arguments and evidence that evolution as a scientific theory is teetering. That it is embraced by thousands of scientists and educators does not diminish the fact. And as information technology skyrockets -- the ability to decipher and understand the digital code that resides at the core of all life -- the only thing evolutionists have to carry them forward is momentum.
And that momentum is the result of nothing more than making people believe what evolutionists in science and education want them to believe.
With each passing day, though, more scientists, more educators are walking away from the theory, even at the expense of professional ostracism. They realize the theory can no longer be validated through rigorous scientific method. That's not to say they are leaping on the creation bandwagon. It simply means they no longer believe evolution theory.
It will be years before evolution is 'officially laid to rest', if ever. Meanwhile, sites such as BiblePhysics exist to organize research material, present it to readers and encourage them to ask questions. Question everything, even what you read here. Sift it, apply logic, and weigh the evidence.
Then make up your own mind. Don't let a high school science teacher or college professor make it up for you. It's yours. Use it.
On behalf of everyone who contributed to this web site, as well as the countless people who work in other realms to bring a clearer understanding of these issues, I want to say thanks for digging deeper. I hope this material helps. Please take a minute to drop me a line from the Contact page. Let me know what you think.
Dane Ronnow
By the way, a few people ask, 'Why BiblePhysics?' Good question. The name combines two of my passions. Together, they describe the nature of everything we can experience, reflecting the intention of theology in its original form -- kind of like the science of Michael Faraday.2 (If you don't know who he was, read up on him. He rocked.)
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Dane Ronnow is an IT specialist and software instructor for an Arizona newspaper corporation. He also designs standards-compliant web sites and teaches college courses in advanced web technologies. He is married, with three children and four step-children.
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References:
- ↑ Psalm 19:1-2, New International Version; Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Online: www.ibs.org
- ↑ Michael Faraday, (1791–1867) was an English chemist and physicist. Although he had little formal education, he was one of the most influential scientists in history.
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