New Universe Research Confirms Biblical Teaching on Astronomy
The
universe is much bigger than scientists originally thought.
It's a new
discovery by man that has always been a part of what the Bible says.
According to a new analysis
of Hubble Space Telescope data, there are 10 times more galaxies /in the
universe /than previously reported--about 2 trillion of them, rather
than 200 billion.
"We are missing the vast majority of galaxies /because they are very
faint and far away," Christopher Conselice, an astrophysics professor at
the University of Nottingham in England and the lead author of the
study, said in a statement.
"The number of galaxies in the universe is a fundamental question in
astronomy, and it boggles the mind that over 90 percent of the galaxies
in the cosmos have yet to be studied. Who knows what interesting
properties we will find /when we study these galaxies /with the next
generation of telescopes?"
The Bible actually backs up this new research. Apologetics ministry Answers in Genesis recently published an article /adapted from Dr. Jason Lisle's book, Taking Back Astronomy.
Lisle points out that in several places the Bible indicates that the universe has been "stretched out" or expanded.
For example, Isaiah 40:22 teaches that God "stretches out the heavens
/ like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." This
would suggest that the universe has actually increased /in size /since its
creation. God has stretched it out. He has expanded it - and is perhaps
still expanding it.
The Answers in Genesis article points out that, in fact, secular
scientists once believed that the universe was eternal and unchanging.
The idea of an expanding universe would have been considered nonsense /to
most scientists of the past.
Conselice's research comes to a similar conclusion.
"These results are powerful evidence //that a significant galaxy
evolution has taken place /throughout the universe's history, which
dramatically reduced the number of galaxies through mergers between them
- thus reducing their total number. This gives us a verification of the
so-called top-down formation of structure in the universe," Conselice
explained.