The Cosmos ... distances so vast they are overwhelming

[JimT]

Earth .. from "out there" ..
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Earth and the moon.
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Earth from Mars.
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Earth .. "the pale blue dot" ... from 'way out past Neptune .. over 4 billion miles away.

And that ain't even a small fraction of the known universe ...

In the beginning God said, "Light ... BE!" and there was a big bang! ......

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Pete44ru]

the first historically recorded incident of spoken word(s) certainly created light......

Nah - light created to first spoken word ( as in: "Oh, $hit - What was that ? ) .

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[crs]

Ray said "One thing folks who believe in hundreds of billions of years of chronological cosmic elapsed time fail to understand is that the approximate 186,000 miles per second of the speed of light is, first of all a theory, and second of all, when the Creator commanded light it went everywhere instantly so the so called speed of light calculated today only applies to today and not then."

An interesting observation about the speed of light.

Having always been fascinated with the night sky, one of my university minors was Astronomy which included classes in Celestial Mechanics (the latter was helpful in getting my first post University job at the Graduate Research Institute in Texas which is now UT Dallas). One thing that was avoided in serious classroom discussions was speculation beyond proven fact. Even now, proven fact (as opposed to theory) runs out of gas long before theory and speculation can be confirmed. Time will slowly provide the missing information.

The Cosmos remains a great mystery to Earthbound humanity and the night sky is still fascinating when away from population centers.

[JimT]

The Cosmos remains a great mystery to Earthbound humanity and the night sky is still fascinating when away from population centers.

I loved the night skies when in the bush in Africa! There is nothing like being where there is no man-made light pollution!

[TraderVic]

The Cosmos remains a great mystery to Earthbound humanity and the night sky is still fascinating when away from population centers.

I loved the night skies when in the bush in Africa! There is nothing like being where there is no man-made light pollution!

Likewise, when I was out at sea in the Pacific Ocean, on a clear night it was so dark you honestly could not see your hand if you held it up in front of you.
Have never seen so many stars, horizon to horizon......before or since.
Unreal for sure...

[Grizz]

one of my favorite thought themes... and then He saw that light is good . . . and proceeded . . .

[Ray]

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[Ray]

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[Pitchy]

My thought is we don`t know chit, it`s beyond our understanding, some day our eyes will be opened to the truth in the mean time we struggle in this fallin world that Satin runs.
Most of the people on this earth have no clue or can understand what`s going on in the super natural or what`s happened in the past which man can`t seem to learn from.
People got to get past selfishness, greed and try and stay obedient to God and if so escape what`s coming upon this world.
Not to believe there`s something beyond our thinking is foolishness.

[Pitchy]

Let me add nice pictures Jim and i love looking up at the stars too but it`s only a little God is letting us see at this time.
We won`t see the glory of it all until we are with God, is there things out there beyond our understanding no doubt but its not our time to see or understand.

[Ray]

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[AJMD429]

This helps visualize the perspective pretty well.
https://youtu.be/MlOjSQeO1Dg

This goes the other direction - to subatomic particles - then to galaxies and beyond.
https://youtu.be/Ny8aUYiwrnI

Some others speculate on what lies outside the observable universe...?
https://youtu.be/XmhEBiIGPUg

[Grizz]

This goes the other direction - to subatomic particles - then to galaxies and beyond.
https://youtu.be/Ny8aUYiwrnI

this is one of my all time favorites. I've shared it a lot. It helps to put in perspective the massive Bible proof of Christ's claims. The number associated with 322 prophecies explicitly fulfilled by Christ is bigger than the universe can contain. His overwhelming Love overflows His creation.

[Grizz]

right over on the other hand, the presentation of the Atlas is based on human wisdom without acknowledging the presence and power of the Creator. Did you catch this? The presentation intentionaly begins and ends with human wisdom, sans creator. Believers see this Atlas and see the Glory of YHWH:



The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.… Psalm 19:1

Cross References

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.


Genesis 1:14
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and to mark the seasons and days and years.

Psalm 8:1
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.

Psalm 50:6
And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah

Psalm 89:5
The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD--Your faithfulness as well--in the assembly of the holy ones.

Psalm 97:6
The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the peoples see His glory.

Psalm 145:10
All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD, and Your saints shall bless You.

Psalm 150:1
Hallelujah! Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens.

Isaiah 40:21
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

Jeremiah 31:35
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and orders the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--the LORD of Hosts is His name:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don ... rt_377.cfm A better explanation . . . of revalation

[FWiedner]

.
Perspective on man's prominence in the universe...

A video concering the relative size of the planets and stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=NI6QwdU_9UA

[Blaine]

Here's another. If our solar system was laid out in exact scale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj4524AAZdE

[FWiedner]

Here's another. If our solar system was laid out in exact scale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj4524AAZdE

That guy must not have got the memo about Pluto being re-designated as a planet.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[flightsimmer]

So, think about this. Does the universe have an end? What would be at the end if there is one, a wall or what?
If there is no end, how could that be possible?

The only answer that mankind can understand is GOD.
Then, imagine this, the Bible declares that GOD, spoke it into existence. So that tells me that all of existence is from the mind of GOD.
And when the end of the universe and earth comes, it will be rolled up as a scroll and burned with a fervent heat and nothing left but the lake of fire for all of an never-ending eternity.

GOD is. He said of Himself "I Am the Great I Am".
He is far beyond our understanding and His power is as limitless as the universe is large.

Now, prove different if you can.

[twobit]

one of my favorite thought themes... and then He saw that light is good . . . and proceeded . . .

and the flora was established before sol was even created......put that in your pipe and smoke it charlie darwin !

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

So those plants were happy living in the dark with no photosynthesis??? Talk about having your head in the sand where it is always dark!!! WOW!

[flightsimmer]

Now! Fathom this.
A long time ago I happened to be thinking about the Cosmos and since I was relaxing, I decided to imagine what it would be like to be out in space. So, I imagined leaving earth and traveling out too and past the moon. As I past the moon I turned and looked out into the Galaxy, and suddenly, a voice inside my head said "do not go there" and instantly I was back on earth, and I have never been able to explain it. It felt like a clear warning. I have never tried it again.

Could it have been GOD warning me? Maybe, I may never know.

[Blaine]

So those plants were happy living in the dark with no photosynthesis??? Talk about having your head in the sand where it is always dark!!! WOW!

I'm always amazed how some are so scared of something that they don't believe in.

[Grizz]

well . . . . , a little hebrew info that may help... they do not have a linear time frame where events are presented in chronological order. they use something called block logic, which means the stanzas of genesis are not necessarily in chronological order. they are in the order that made sense to the ones who received the information. another example, they consider the future to be in back of them, and the past to be ahead, because they can see it in front of them. I Know, Right?

this is why, for example, it is hard to make sense of the reported events of David's life. certain aspects of events can be arranged topically, which makes us scratch our heads as to the chronology. it is entirely a western civ thing to order events chronologically.

so, sometimes, we can get our head spinning in a direction not actually in view in the scriptures. What fun to dig down and grow with it.

[Ysabel Kid]

This goes the other direction - to subatomic particles - then to galaxies and beyond.
https://youtu.be/Ny8aUYiwrnI

this is one of my all time favorites. I've shared it a lot. It helps to put in perspective the massive Bible proof of Christ's claims. The number associated with 322 prophecies explicitly fulfilled by Christ is bigger than the universe can contain. His overwhelming Love overflows His creation.

One of my favorite presentations as well!

[Grizz]

sad to say, the power of 10 video link posted is actually a muslim counterfit. the original film, the authentic one is called The Powers of 10 and it and it was produced for IBM in 1977. this is the real link to the real video. and it is so much BETTER !!

ENJOY ! !

https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/powers-of-ten/

[Ysabel Kid]

sad to say, the power of 10 video link posted is actually a muslim counterfit. the original film, the authentic one is called The Powers of 10 and it and it was produced for IBM in 1977. this is the real link to the real video. and it is so much BETTER !!

ENJOY ! !

https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/powers-of-ten/

Yes! This is actually the one I remember, starting with the couple having a picnic!!! Thanks Grizz!

[flightsimmer]

Try and wrap your head around this, there is no end to the void. What do you think it would be, a brick wall or something? The void goes on forever just like eternity.

[Bullard4075]

OK I haven't read all (most not all) of these threads but one question I haven't heard asked nor answered is when did God invent/start time. Put another way did God "invent" time for man and (no pun intended) when ? At the creation, God created (for example) trees. Not seeds to grow into trees but the whole shebang , trees, tree seeds, half grown trees, and grown trees although not dead or dying trees because death didn't come into play until the fall. Likewise distant galaxies ALREADY had light coming partway here at the Creation so this notion that light traveling from distant stars somehow "proves" or disproves a Biblical (or for that matter a secular Big Bang ) timeline. Just my musings, YMMV. Where have I gone wrong. And if I haven't made clear I believe the Bible completely, I just try to not dwell on or argue (not that we are arguing here) disputable matters (Romans 14:1) .

[Rockrat]

You really want to be astounded, get a pair of night vision bino's and go star gazing on a clear, dark night. Hopefully one day, you can see a comet with them too.

[FWiedner]

... the approximate 186,000 miles per second of the speed of light is, first of all a theory...

Fake news.

[Ray]

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[Bill in Oregon]

Time is a dimension that carbon-based life forms on earth are stuck in. For us, we only experience it one way. God created this dimension and is not subject to its effects.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--Hamlet the Dane