HOW LONG ARE THE DAYS IN GENESIS?

Transcription

1 HOW LONG ARE THE DAYS IN GENESIS? The Hebrew word for day is íøé (YOM). Depending on context, it can mean 1. A 24 hour day, 2. The daylight portion of a day, or 3. An indefinite period of time. Every time throughout the Old Testament that íøé is used with a number (over 350 times outside Genesis 1) it always means a 24 hour day. This is the way it appears in the Creation account. God obviously intended to say that these were 24 hour days. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-1

2 All Scripture is inspired by God... B p but this Scripture was written with His own finger. For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is]... (Exod. 20:11) The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-2

3 YEARS SINCE CREATION (Hebrew Text) ADAM years SETH years d ENOSH years d KENAN years d MAHALALEL years d JARED years d ENOCH years... walked with God Approximate Dates and Lifespans from Adam until the death of Jacob (Genesis 5, 11, 17, 25, 35, 47) METHUSALEH years d LAMECH years d NOAH years d SHEM years d Arpachshad d Shelah d Eber d Peleg d Reu d Serug d Nahor d Death of Adam 1656 THE FLOOD Earth divided Tower of Babel maybe between 1757 and 1996 Death of Noah Terah d Abraham d Isaac d Jacob d The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-3

4 Reasons for Believing the Universe is Old: 1. If it s only a few thousand years old, what was God doing all that time before He created it? 2. Starting from a big bang, it would have taken billions of years to reach its present size. 3. How could light from stars billions of light years away reach us in only a few thousand years? The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-4

5 Reasons for Believing the Universe is Old: 1. If it s only a few thousand years old, what was God doing all that time before He created it? 2. Starting from a big bang, it would have taken billions of years to reach its present size. 3. How could light from stars billions of light years away reach us in only a few thousand years? Reasons for Believing the Earth is Old: 1. Radiometric dating. 2. Geologic features such as the Grand Canyon that are supposed to have taken millions of years to form. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-4

6 How Can we See Light from Stars Billions of Light Years Away if the Earth is Young? O s 1. Size of universe unknown - calculated based on a series of assumptions. 2. Possible answers: i. Light Paths from the stars. Many object to this on philosophical grounds. If God created impressions of supernovae in the light paths, then He made it seem that we were seeing things that never actually happened. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-5

7 How Can we See Light from Stars Billions of Light Years Away if the Earth is Young? 1. Size of universe unknown - calculated based on a series of assumptions. 2. Possible answers: i. Light Paths from the stars. ii. Curved Space. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-6

8 CURVED SPACE Relativity says that gravity distorts space, much like a weight distorts the surface of a rubber membrane. A B Gravity well - a space caused by of matter distortion in the presence (shaded area) Light would not have to go to the bottom of the well to go from A to B. It would take the shortest route, through curved space. MIT s Moon & Spencer calculate that it would take no more than years for light to travel between any two points in the universe. Few believe them, but their mathematics are sound. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-7

9 How Can we See Light from Stars Billions of Light Years Away if the Earth is Young? 1. Size of universe unknown - calculated based on a series of assumptions. 2. Possible answers: i. Light Paths from the stars. ii. Curved Space. iii. Speed of light may have been much faster in the past. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-8

10 IS LIGHT SLOWING DOWN? Best fit curve to speed-of-light values determined from showing apparent exponential decay. (After Setterfield & Norman, The Atomic Constants, Light and Time.) Cautions: (1) Little data is available from before (2) The decrease is less than 1/3 of 1% - not enough to convince most scientists. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-9

11 How Can we See Light from Stars Billions of Light Years Away if the Earth is Young? 1. Size of universe unknown - calculated based on a series of assumptions. 2. Possible answers: i. Light Paths from the stars. ii. Curved Space. iii. Speed of light may have been much faster in the past. iv. Light may travel faster in deep space than close to earth. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-10

12 Light in Deep Space 1.Sound and pressure waves require a medium such as air in order to propagate. 2.The only place we can measure the speed of light is right here on earth. It moves slower in a dense medium such as water, and faster in a vacuum. 3.In space, light does not seem to need a medium on which to travel. It seems to move like a particle. 4.What if there is a medium we have overlooked such as electromagnetic or gravitational fields? It would stand to reason that light could move at different speeds in deep space where such fields are weaker. We have no way to test the speed of light in deep space. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-11

13 How Can we See Light from Stars Billions of Light Years Away if the Earth is Young? 1. Size of universe unknown - calculated based on a series of assumptions. 2. Possible answers: i. Light Paths from the stars. ii. Curved Space. iii. Speed of light may have been much faster in the past. iv. Light may travel faster in deep space than close to earth. v. Gravitational Time Dilation. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-12

14 BLACK HOLES A black hole is a theoretical concentration of mass so great that not even light can escape its gravitational pull. Since the force of gravity drops off by the square of the distance, there is a radius called the event horizon outside which light will not be drawn in. The theory of relativity says that bizarre things happen to time near and inside the event horizon. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-13

15 GRAVITATIONAL TIME DILATION Earth Sphere of water I. START OF EXPANSION Sphere of water has diameter of perhaps 2 light years. Depending on exact amount of matter, event horizon may be as much as 450,000,000 light years. Event horizon Time is uniform throughout the matter (water) sphere. (Not to scale) Source: Russell Humphries, Starlight and Time The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-14 Event horizon

16 GRAVITATIONAL TIME DILATION Sphere of water Sphere of water continues to expand, but has not yet reached event horizon. Earth Event horizon Time continues to be uniform throughout the matter (water) sphere. (Not to scale) The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-15

17 GRAVITATIONAL TIME DILATION Event horizon Earth II. MATTER REACHES EVENT HORIZON Matter has spread to event horizon. Expansion of space is not bound by the speed of light; may have been times faster, so process need not take more than a few earth hours. Time still fairly uniform throughout. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-16

18 GRAVITATIONAL TIME DILATION Earth III. MATTER PASSES EVENT HORIZON Matter begins to pass the event horizon; as it leaves, the horizon begins to shrink. Proper time inside horizon moves much slower than outside. Shrinking event horizon Edge of universe (expanding water sphere) The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-17

19 GRAVITATIONAL TIME DILATION Earth Matter continues to pass the event horizon; the more that leaves, the more the horizon shrinks. Proper time outside the horizon moves faster and faster relative to the inside. Shrinking event horizon Edge of universe (expanding water sphere) The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-18

20 GRAVITATIONAL TIME DILATION Shrinking event horizon Earth Edge of universe IV. EVENT HORIZON SHRINKS TO NOTHING. As more matter leaves the event horizon, it shrinks away to nothing. Since the earth is fairly close to the center, it stays inside the event horizon longer than most of the universe, resulting in much less proper time elapsing on earth than far away. As the event horizon passes through the earth, proper time here approaches infinity. Millions of years could pass in space during one day here. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-19

21 How Can we See Light from Stars Billions of Light Years Away if the Earth is Young? 1. Size of universe unknown - calculated based on a series of assumptions. 2. Possible answers: i. Light Paths from the stars. ii. Curved Space. iii. Speed of light may have been much faster in the past. iv. Light may travel faster in deep space than close to earth. v. Gravitational Time Dilation. vi. Unknown factors. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-20

22 Characteristics of an Accurate Clock 1. Initial Conditions Known. What time did the clock say when it was wound up? The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-21

23 Characteristics of an Accurate Clock 1. Initial Conditions Known. What time did the clock say when it was wound up? 2. Known Rate of Change. The clock need not always run at the same rate, but if it changes we must know when and by how much. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-21

24 Characteristics of an Accurate Clock 1. Initial Conditions Known. What time did the clock say when it was wound up? 2. Known Rate of Change. The clock need not always run at the same rate, but if it changes we must know when and by how much. 3. Closed System. The clock must not have been reset or tampered with. Since we can t be sure of any of these for any clock in nature, we should use many different methods to determine a maximum possible age. Out of all the dating methods, less than 10% point toward a maximum of billions of years. The rest point toward millions or even thousands. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-21

25 SPIRAL GALAXIES There are many spiral galaxies throughout the universe. O C NASA photos of spiral galaxies M81 and M101. The arms wind in toward the center with each revolution. Within a few hundred million years there would be no arms left. Some of the stars in spiral galaxies are supposed to be more than ten billion years old. However, the arms on the galaxies point to an age of far less than one billion years. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-22

26 SUPERNOVA REMNANTS A supernova occurs about every 25 years in a galaxy the size of our Milky Way. According to evolutionary theory, the remnants go through 3 stages. NASA photo of the Crab Nebula, a wellknown supernova remnant Number of SNR s That Should Be Detectable In Milky Way: Stage I Stage II Stage III If Galaxy at Least ,000,000 Years Old: If about 7,000 Years Actual Number Detected The data are consistent with a young galaxy, not an old one. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-23

27 SHORT PERIOD COMETS Short period comets orbit the sun at least once every 200 years. NASA photo of Halley s Comet, a typical short period comet Jupiter Earth Sun Comets lose a significant amount of mass each time they fly by the sun. Within about 10,000 years all the short period comets would be gone. Yet there are still hundreds (at least). Saturn This points toward a maximum age of the solar system of less than 10,000 years. Mars Uranus Neptune Orbit of Halley's Comet Pluto The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-24

28 COMETS AND THE KUIPER BELT Orbits of several short period comets compared to the planets The hypothetical Kuiper Belt is supposed to extend slightly above and below the plane of the solar system. However, short period comets orbit the sun in many different planes. Only a few of them could possibly have come from the Kuiper Belt. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-25

29 VOLCANIC ACTIVITY ON IO In 1979 the Voyager spacecraft discovered on Jupiter s tiny moon Io a volcanic eruption more violent than any ever seen on earth. O C NASA photo of volcanic eruption on Io If the solar system is billions of years old, small objects far from the sun should be cold and inactive. However, Io is the most geologically active body in the solar system. Maybe the solar system is not billions of years old after all. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-26

30 Poynting-Robertson Effect Light streaming from the sun does not have enough force to knock dust particles out of orbit. Instead, it slows them down so that they gradually spiral into the sun. Light coming from sun Apparent direction of light seen by dust particle resisting its forward motion Motion of dust particle slows down Within about 189,000 years, all dust particles 1/10 mm or smaller would have been vacuumed up at least as far as earth s orbit. However, a great deal of dust this size falls on the earth every year. This implies that the solar system is far less than 189,000 years old. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-27

31 Recession Of The Moon earth moon As the moon orbits the earth, its force of attraction causes tides and bulges. This slows the earth s rotation down by about 2/1000 of a second per day each century. The angular momentum of a rotating system must be conserved. As the rate of rotation decreases the diameter must increase, and vice versa. (Like a figure skater on TV.) In order to conserve angular momentum as the earthmoon system slows down, the moon has to move away. If it started at the surface of the earth, it would have taken no more than 1.37 billion years to reach its present distance -- 3 billion years less than evolution requires. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-28

32 Lack of Solar Neutrinos The sun could burn for billions of years only if it were performing large-scale nuclear fusion. One required step is to turn hydrogen-1 into hydrogen-2 as follows: H + 1 H 1 H + +1 e + υ 0 where +1 e is an exotic particle known as a positron, and υ is a massless particle of energy called a neutrino. PROBLEM: we have only detected about 1/3 the expected number of neutrinos, and we can t even be sure they are coming from the sun. If it is performing fusion, it is on nowhere near the scale to keep it burning for billions of years. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-29

33 The Solar Temperature Dilemma If the sun does not work by nuclear fusion it would have burned out in a few hundred thousand years. Serif clipart If it does work by nuclear fusion it would have been about 5% cooler a billion years ago. The earth would have been covered with a crust of ice and would have been unable to sustain the plant life we find in the fossil record. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-30

34 Evidence for a Young Sun 1. PRESENCE OF BERYLLIUM. The sun is supposed to be about 4.6 billion years old. Evolutionary theory says it should be about 15 million degrees. However, it contains a great deal of beryllium, which breaks down at 4 million. We can conclude that it must be less than 4 million degrees. Either evolutionary theory is wrong, or the sun is not as old and hot as it s supposed to be, or both. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-31

35 Evidence for a Young Sun 1. PRESENCE OF BERYLLIUM. The sun is supposed to be about 4.6 billion years old. Evolutionary theory says it should be about 15 million degrees. However, it contains a great deal of beryllium, which breaks down at 4 million. We can conclude that it must be less than 4 million degrees. Either evolutionary theory is wrong, or the sun is not as old and hot as it s supposed to be, or both. 2. RADIAL OSCILLATION. If the sun has been burning for billions of years it should have developed a dense core by now. However, the rate at which it oscillates in and out due to the opposing forces of gravity and heat is incompatible with a dense core. It must not have been burning long enough to develop such a core. The Bible vs. Evolution - Overhead # 5-31