Humphreys, R. D Starlight and Time, Master Books, Green Forest, Ark.1994-2006
In Appendix B he provides a biblical basis for his cosmology using scriptures. He claims, from researching the Hebrew, the expanse or firmament is interstellar space not our atmosphere. Gen. 1:7-8 7God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8God called the expanse heaven. Gen. 1:14-17 14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. Gen. 1:20 20Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” Here he claims the original Hebrew bolded phrase is better translated as on the face of the expanse of the heavers.
He draws several conclusions or premises that are somewhat supported by scripture:
- The universe has been expanded or stretched by God (he cites 17 scriptures)
- The universe has a center and has bounds or limits and is finite
- Water is an important early ingredient in the creation
- The cosmos is young(from earth’s viewpoint) as God created it in 6 ordinary days
Ps. 147:4 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.
Ps. 104:2 “Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.”
Is. 40:22 22It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Gen. 1:7-8 above indicates that the expanse(interstellar space) separates the water below (earth) from the water above. Gen. 1:14-17 above implies the expanse is there to guide us and give us signs. Both verses imply our center location.
The below scriptures make the point that God highly values man and wants his praise. There are over 1000 scriptures saying we are to praise God. Rom. 1 and Ps. 19 indicate that the heavens show forth God’s glory and provide evidence of Him. So it makes sense to me that God would place us in a special place to observe the heavens, in the center. If we were at the periphery of the universe, or at a random place it might be difficult to observe it accurately.
Job 7:17 What is man, that You think so highly of him and pay so much attention to him?
Ps. 144:3 Lord, what is man, that You care for him, the son of man, that You think of him? Also Heb 2:6; Ps. 8:4 and Job 15:14 highly value man as he is made in God’s image
Ps.19 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.”
Rom. 1: 19-20 “, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”
Ps. 148:3-4 3Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! 4Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
Rev. 6:14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, Heb. 1:12 Like a mantel you will roll them up, like a garment they will also be changed. Is. 34:4 And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
2Pet. 3:5 by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
Humphreys also gives a possible scenario of the creation day as follows: p.32 God creates 3D space within a ball of water, “the deep” Gen 1:1-5 Day 1 The ball of water was in a black hole below the event horizon. “and God was hovering over the waters,–And let there be light” was when thermonuclear fusion began. Day 2. Gen 1:6-8 Here God stretches out space (the expanse) from inside the black hole outward by a white hole with a thin water (ice) layer forming the outer boundary of space. Fusion continues in the water still in the black hole and God begins separating the heavier elements to form earth’s core. Day 3 Gen. 1:9-13 Rapid radioactive decay occurs and the heating forms the earth’s crust and makes it more buoyant than the core and rising above the waters. Also with the result of the rapid expansion of space, cooling occurs. Matter is being ejected from the event horizon as hydrogen and helium but the stars have not formed yet. Day 4 Gen. 14-19 The stars and galaxies are formed by God form the ejected matter as the expansion continues. The stars are formed to ignite in thermonuclear fusion. Time goes much faster outside of the event horizon than inside it where the earth was. Most mater has been ejected far from the earth, but the moon, sun, and our solar system is set up close to us. The stars farthest from us have the reddest shifted light from the stretching of space. P31-38
Humphreys also points out some parts of big bang models that are often not talked about but are part of their mathematics and total pictures. P96-99
- Matter in the universe has no boundaries- could be infinite. In open versions of the Big bang models- some start infinitely large and get larger.
- There is no center and no centrally directed gravitational forces.
- The universe was never in a black hole
- Space can expand faster than the speed of light. Alan Guth’s Model has hypersphere expanding initially at 1020 times the speed of light.p98
- The red shifts are not primarily Doppler shifts by mainly from the stretching of space
As Hawkings explains in the book The Large Scale Structure of Space Time (p.134) that initial assumptions were made, that the universe has no center and no edge. This preserves their naturalist-atheistic assumption that our universe is not special or specially located. It is located randomly.p86 of Humphreys. Humphreys also noted that Einstein stated that space is and ether, like a fabric to contain the galaxies
“Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” (Isaiah 48:16)