Robert Jastow (1925-2008) was an American astronomer and physicist. He was a leading NASA scientist, popular author, and futurist. He said that although he was an agnostic and not a believer, he believed the accepted scientific theory of the big bang origin of the universe supported the Biblical view of a creation by something beyond nature as we know it. He knew that was an unpopular view in the scientific community, but he had the courage to proclaim that inevitable conclusion to which the evidence pointed. Below are some quotes by Robert Jastrow.
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“Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.“
–“A Scientist Caught Between Two Faiths,” An interview in Christianity Today, August 6, 1982
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“Now we see how the astronomical evidence supports the biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same: the chain of events leading to man commenced suddenly and sharply at a definite moment in time, in a flash of light and energy.”
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“There is a strange ring of feeling and emotion in these reactions [of scientists to evidence that the universe had a sudden beginning]. They come from the heart whereas you would expect the judgments to come from the brain. Why? I think part of the answer is that scientists cannot bear the thought of a natural phenomenon which cannot be explained, even with unlimited time and money. There is a kind of religion in science; it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the Universe. Every event can be explained in a rational way as the product of some previous event; every effect must have its cause, there is no First Cause… This religious faith of the scientist is violated by the discovery that the world had a beginning under conditions in which the known laws of physics are not valid, and as a product of forces or circumstances we cannot discover. When that happens, the scientist has lost control. If he really examined the implications, he would be traumatized.”
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“At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”
–Robert Jastrow, The Enchanted Loom: Mind in the Universe, (1981), p. 19.
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And a bit more:
I Believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
–First Article of the Apostle’s Creed
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“You may find it hard to believe that God made everything out of nothing, but it takes a lot more faith to believe that nothing turned itself into everything.”
–Mark Cahill
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“I felt in my bones that this universe does not explain itself.”
–C. S. Lewis (when still an agnostic, but moving toward faith in God)
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There is nothing in observable natural law that can explain the creation of matter and energy out of nothing. There have been many wild speculations by scientists, all of which require far more faith to believe in than Genesis 1:1. And just because it is a scientist doing the guessing, does not mean that such guesses or speculations can be even tested by the scientific method, much less verified. Many people have therefore concluded that there must be a God above and beyond what science can observe, measure, and test.
Then again, as children often ask, “But who made God?” That is an interesting question, but not one a Christian is required to answer. It is the atheist whose explanation of the universe must be limited to the observable laws of nature. Christians believe there is more to reality than can ever be explained. Christians believe in a God who we cannot see, whose power is unlimited, who is not bound by any natural laws we have observed, and whose kingdom is bigger than the universe that we observe, test, and measure. With such a God and that view of reality, anything is possible. We will know something about that God only if He chooses to reveal Himself, and then confirms such revelations by miracles that defy natural explanation– such as a man rising from the dead.
Christians will readily admit we do not have the observable facts or the tools to explain the universe. We confess our faith in a God beyond our knowing, who is eternal and “not made” (Nicene Creed) by anyone or anything else, and who is beyond the necessary ’cause and effect’ chain of events of our universe. Our small minds cannot even imagine the fullness of God; just as we will never be able to explain this universe and its origin without reference to the God above it. And the more we learn about the universe, the laws of nature, and the complexity of life, the more difficult it becomes to explain it all without reference to a power beyond what we see. Ans as Robert Jastrow (and many others) have argued, the more scientists discover about the universe, the more they are forced to admit that need for a power beyond the universe.
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Genesis 1:1 — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Psalm 8:1…3-4 — Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens… When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
Psalm 19:1 — The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
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I thank you, my Creator and Lord, that you have given me these joys in your creation, this ecstasy over the deeds of your hands. I have made known the glory of your deeds to people as far as my finite spirit was able to understand your infinity. If I have said anything unworthy of you, or have aspired after my own glory, graciously forgive me.
–Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), German mathematician and astronomer; a key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution; best known for his laws of planetary motion
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See also:
https://www.prageru.com/videos/whats-greater-leap-faith-god-or-multiverse