Reflections from an Astrophysicist

One of the things I like about my friend Sam Conner, PhD candidate in physics at MIT, is that he thinks I know something about his field. In truth, I comprehend astrophysics about as well as I do Spanish: Un poquito. When Sam comments on the latest developments in string theory, cosmic inflation, or quantum gravity, I usually smile and maintain eye contact while hoping to recognize a couple of words.

But I know Sam well enough to wait for his theological reflections, which I find inspiring. He is a deeply humble man (he would tell you he is not), and he has an abiding passion for the glory of God. In a recent email, Sam mentioned a 1988 MIT colloquium that changed his life. A presentation was made on the continuing expansion of the universe, and, as Sam described it, "It obliged me to consider the possibility that the universe God has created is a place of richer possibilities than I had previously imagined, perhaps even a place of almost infinite possibilities."

The universe is obviously far too immense for human comprehension, let alone habitation. It has not been made for our sake. However, if God's purpose is to glorify Himself in creation, the universe is arguably too small. That thought led Sam to a theological argument for the eternal expansion of the universe.

"It seems to me that a spatially finite universe, no matter how large, is an unsatisfactory representation of God's infinite might. But if in fact it is impossible for spatially infinite universes to exist, what can God do in the spatially finite universe to remedy this inadequacy and so fulfill his purpose of manifesting His glory in it? The answer is 'to make it larger.'"

Sam tells me that contemporary cosmologists regard the expansion of the universe as an "exceedingly fast" and interminable process that continues to create new matter and energy. That idea may challenge the faith of some or the science of others, but Sam has a very different response. "If understood through a biblical understanding of God's sovereignty, these ideas move one to more humble abasement and to greater worship."

The heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1). The more closely we look, the more we see.

Bob

photo credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto,and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team, Astronomy Picture of the Day

Spring Flowers

Springtime pictures from a trip to the Dallas Arboretum

Cloths of Heaven

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W. B. Yeats