Genesis, a Cup of Tea, and the End of the World

by Kenneth Francis (September 2017)

The Astronomer, Johannes Vermeer, 1668

 

In an epic hit-and-miss essay on America losing its mind, in a recent edition of The Atlantic magazine, Kurt Andersen writes that Americans believe—“really believe”—in a story of life’s instantaneous creation several thousand years ago.
 

If Mr. Andersen is referring to the age of the universe or life, he is exaggerating. All Americans don’t ‘really believe’, although some do, in instantaneous creation several thousand years ago. From the Belgium Catholic priest, astronomer Georges Lemaitre (1894-1966), to astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, some 13.7 billion years seems to be the duration in time since the universe began, according to Big Bang cosmology. And most American Christians and atheists—again, not all—believe in this and an old universe/earth. As for life: it didn’t just pop out of nothing uncaused, a concept that is religiously neutral.
 

However, Christianity, which is in fact the most science-friendly belief system amongst the world’s religions, says nothing about the earth’s age. As for human creation: The story of primordial beings, Adam and Eve, is infused with metaphor and symbolism. The Hebrew for Adam is ‘Man’, and Eve is ‘Living One’. There was no talking snake, but a metaphor symbolizing Satan (serpent). However, this is an inhouse discussion amongst fellow Christians and subject of another essay. But back to creation: Stephen Hawking, although most of his views on astronomy are sound, is dismissive of the biblical account. He also rejects a creator.
 

About seven years ago, during a talk on Hawking at a university, I raised my hand and criticised comments he made in his then latest book, The Grand Design, which he co-wrote with Star Trek screenwriter Leonard Mlodinow.
 

My question was, “why did Hawking write such a nonsensical idea that the universe created itself because of gravity?” (In order for the universe to create itself it would have to have existed before it exists, and gravity is part of the universe). I also asked why did Hawking write “philosophy is dead” at the beginning of his book (a self-refuting statement, as it’s philosophical), while constantly philosophising throughout the entire book?
 

There was an awkward silence in the lecture hall and the speaker looked at me in what seemed like a confused expression. He said, “Did he really say that?” (He hadn’t read the entire book). I told him the page numbers where he could find the quotes. I wasn’t criticising Hawking the man (a man enduring a severe neurone disease that has paralysed him for decades), but Hawking the scientist.
 

 

Then there’s the late celebrity scientist Carl Sagan, another likeable atheist, who also didn’t accommodate the divine or a creator. He was also no stranger to contradictions and the odd, daft statement about the origin of the cosmos. He once said: “One of the great commandments of science is, ‘Mistrust arguments from authority’. (Scientists, being primates, and thus given to dominance hierarchies, of course do not always follow this commandment.)”
 

What he seems to be saying is, ‘don’t trust what I’m saying’, as he and all the other scientists are hairless apes prone to error. He added: “The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be.” Really? Whatever happened to the Big Bang and the Second Law of Thermodynamics (SLT)?
 

But the secular academia and ‘intelligentsia’ would rather believe celebrity scientists than The Bible’s account of creation. This rejection of Genesis is where ‘intellectual’ pride gets you. In 2 Corinthians 11:19, St Paul said: “For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.” But not all non-believers are hostile to Scripture.
 

In his book, The Genesis Enigma, Oxford evolutionary biologist Andrew Parker wonders how did the writer of the first chapter of Genesis get it so scientifically correct. Parker is taken aback by the order of creation described in Genesis, which follows the order of geologic and life evolution as science understands it. He writes: “Either the writer of the creation account of Genesis 1 was directed by divine intervention or he made a lucky guess.”

Parker isn’t alone. Other agnostics, theists and atheists marvel at the fine-tuning of the universe and its beauty. In his book The Universe: Past and Present Reflections, British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle wrote: “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”

The opening line of Genesis is historically the first to mention the Big Bang by another name: “In the beginning . . . ” For the ancient Greeks and Eastern religions, the universe was/is eternal, but The Bible proved otherwise when a hint of the SLT debunked such unscientific notions. This law began to emerge again in the early 19th century and became widespread and fully developed in the 20th century, estimating the age of the universe at approximately 13.7 billion years old.

 

 

ultimately becoming undone and in vain. In his book, A Free Man’s Worship, atheist philosopher, Bertrand Russell, bleakly laments:

 

Russell, who criticised people who were certain of their beliefs, was certain of this depressing outcome. But one must commend his profound command of the ramifications of a Godless universe. But there is a God because something caused the universe and science points to a First Cause.

Even the world’s most famous atheist, Richard Dawkins, gets confused on this question. During a TV debate in Australia a few years ago on the origins of the universe, Dawkins claimed something can come from nothing. He said: “Of course common sense doesn’t allow you to get something from nothing . . . SOMETHING [yes, you read that right] pretty mysterious had to give rise to the origin of the universe.” Dawkins also said supernatural claims for the universe should be “ridiculed with contempt.” Does that include the Big Bang, which was a supernatural event? Or freedom of the will? Or the laws of logic, aesthetic judgments, love, morality, mathematics, all of which transcend Naturalism?  

 

Consider the philosopher William Lane Craig’s version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Here is the crux of the argument: whatever begins to exist, has a cause of its existence. The universe began to exist. Therefore, the universe had a cause of its existence. And this cause of the universe must be a personal creator.

 

Dr. Craig says the only way to have an eternal cause but a temporal effect would seem to be if the cause is a personal agent who freely chooses to create the universe. Think about it: there was no ‘before’ the universe because time itself was created with space and matter.

 

The term, mentioned earlier above, is ‘ontologically prior’ to the universe. Very few people, with the exception of a handful of philosophers, find God’s relationship with time and divine eternity to be enormously complex. It makes the problem of evil and suffering (theodicy), the greatest problem for most people, seem like a walk in the park. Think about it: God has always existed. However, he entered into time a finite time ago by an act of making a personal, free choice. So, the hard question is, what ‘was’ God doing ontologically prior to the universe? Was he floating around in some transcendent dimension whistling and twiddling his thumbs while waiting to create the Big Bang? Such a state seems absurd.

 

According to Christianity, God is a triune entity (three persons in the one Godhead) and, as such, there is spiritual love relationship within this entity. If God isn’t triune, then His love would have to be self-absorbed love, which is an imperfection, just like a narcissist is deeply flawed. And as God is not some finite, human figure, we cannot know exactly what He was doing or thinking ontologically prior to the universe. As for Time: God also knows the future. This is not to say that we are determined and lack free will. Our actions and potential future actions are decided by us and us alone.
 

As for how the world will end: for the theist, spiritual eschatology is the apocalyptic viewpoint of the Second Coming of Christ. Here is how that event is described in the Apocalypse of John, the last book in the New Testament (remember, The Bible is rich in metaphor and symbolism. The NT text below is translated from Greek):

 

—Rev. 20.11-21.3 ESV

 

Eschatology, says Dr. Craig, has also become a branch of physics called: Physical eschatology. It is a sub-discipline of cosmology, which is the study of the large-scale structure and evolution of the universe. Cosmology subdivides into two parts: Cosmogony is the sub-discipline which studies the origin and past history of the universe. Eschatology, by contrast, is the sub-discipline which explores the future and final fate of the universe.

 

William Lane Craig again:

 

The key to physical eschatology is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. About the middle of the nineteenth century, several physicists sought to formulate a scientific law that would bring under a general rule all the various irreversible processes encountered in the world. The result of their efforts is now known as the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

 

With all that in mind, why not make yourself a nice cup of tea and don’t worry about the end of the world . . . for now.
 

 

 

__________________________________

Kenneth Francis has for the past 20 years worked as an editor in various publications, as well as a university lecturer in journalism. He also holds an MA in Theology and is the author of The Little Book of God, Mind, Cosmos and Truth (St Pauls Publishing).
 

If you enjoyed this article by Kenneth Francis and would like to read more, please click here.
 

To help New English Review continue to publish scholarly and interesting articles, please click here.