A theory has surfaced in recent years that says “the universe had no beginning. It existed forever as a kind of quantum potential before collapsing into the hot dense state we call the Big Bang.” (Brian Koberlein blog)
In other words, instead of the universe appearing suddenly from nothing, which many Christians outright reject, an eternal “quantum potential”may be an easier idea to accept, and perhaps even a valid one.
Why is this especially important for Believers?
Because too many friends and family, scientists and teachers believe that science disproves the Bible. But recent revelations within quantum physics, , and other science disciplines clearly tell us that this is not so.
With some insights offered here, perhaps you can help others understand this truth as well.
Subatomic structure in wave and particle forms.
Quantum physics has been studied for over 75 years. Its theories help us understand how things function outside the classic laws of physics.
For example, at the subatomic level, the laws of gravity don’t operate as we know them. Instead, the theory of “wave-particle duality” tells us that matter can exist everywhere at once in a state of all possibilities, as particles and as waves.
Once it is measured and observed, it collapses and becomes a static element that we can see.
This sounds like a perfect way to explain how the universe could have existed in some potential quantum state until the moment God formed the heavens and earth.
“It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.” (Isaiah 45:12)
The apostle John even tells us the mechanism by which God created the heavens and earth:
“In the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. Through Him all things were made, and apart from Him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1–3)
Can words be so powerful that even we have the power to affect matter?
Yeshua said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
The mustard seed was the smallest of the seeds known to the Judean farmers of Yeshua’s time. The height of the quick-growing black mustard seed of the Holy Land can exceed heights of 3 meters (10 feet).
How does such faith work exactly?
And how did the infinite God who manifests as Spirit and Matter, who has no beginning and no end, bring the universe into existence with the vibration of His Word?
“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
Though we don’t yet understand exactly how God, His Word and science work together to affect matter, there was a time when we didn’t understand other scientific claims in the Bible either, such as the six marvelous wonders we’ll look at below.
1. Pleiades and Orion make an appearance in the Book of Job.
In Job 38, Job (Iyov), a righteous man who Satan stripped of wealth, children, servants and health, is finally given his desired audience with God. Job wants an explanation of the reasons for his loss and suffering.
In answer, God asks him a series of questions that challenge Job’s limited knowledge of how the universe works.
One of God’s questions is “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?” (Job 38:31)
Though our words affect matter, Job still had to subject his words to the will of the sovereign Lord who brought all matter into existence.
“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:4–5)
A child looks through one of the main telescopes in Bareket observatory, which is located near Modiin, Israel.
Without the help of modern science, the Book of Job correctly identifies two clusters of Pleiades and Orion as being chained or tied together.
When we examine the Hebrew in the verse in Job that refers to these clusters of stars, it seems to refer to the force of gravity.
“Can you bind (kashar) the beautiful (ma’adannah) Pleiades? Can you loose the cords (moshekah) of Orion?” (Job 38:31)
The Hebrew word for bind is kashar, which means to tie or join physically together.
Although ma’adannah is translated beautiful in the NIV, it also can mean bonds, fetters or influence.
The Hebrew word for cords is moshekah, which comes from moshak meaning to draw or drag.
A NASA picture of Pleiades, taken by Hubble, which is a telescope that orbits the Earth.
Until recently, we couldn’t have understood the significance of these words. But today, we know about these clusters of stars and how they relate to each other because of astronomical spectroscopy, a technique that began with Isaac Newton’s observations of the Sun’s light.
It has since advanced to the study of the frequencies of emitted and absorbed energy, including visible light.
Since Job is one of the oldest books of the Bible, if not thee oldest, how could the writer specify that these two groups of stars are physically connected?
The region of Orion’s Belt and the Flame Nebula, photographed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The glowing gas clouds are thought to be illuminated by the blue stars.
2. The Bible says that the Earth is suspended in space.
Once again, we find this now incontrovertible lesson in astronomy in the Book of Job:
“He spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; He suspends the earth over nothing.” (Job 26:7)
The Blue Marble suspended in space: This picture of Earth was taken by a hand-held Hasselblad camera on December 7, 1972 from Apollo 17, as it traveled to the moon on the last Apollo mission. Israel is toward the top. Africa is at upper left, and stretches down to the center of the image. At the bottom is Antarctica and the south pole.
3. The Bible also contains many statements about the absolutely vast number of stars in space.
“I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.” (Jeremiah 33:22, see also Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 26:4; Exodus 32:13, etc.)
Scientists still really have no idea how many stars are in space, although some do put forward estimates.
In the Milky Way alone, there are an estimated 100 thousand million stars and millions upon millions of other galaxies (European Space Agency).
Photograph of the Milky Way
4. Job also provides a remarkable lesson in hydrology, describing how water first becomes vapor before it comes down as rain:
“He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion [sukkah]?” (Job 36:27–28)
[For additional Bible descriptions of the earth’s hydrologic water cycle, also read Psalm 135:7, Jeremiah 10:13, Isaiah 55:10, and Ecclesiastes 1:7]
5. In terms of geology, the Bible clearly describes the Earth as spherical or rounded, and not flat as previously believed by ancient scholars and cultures.
“He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” (Isaiah 40:22)
The Top of the Atmosphere: This NASA photo of Earth was taken by the International Space Station crew Expedition 13 over the South China Sea.
6. Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and helps newscasters forecast weather so that we can make decisions about our day and week.
The Bible also reveals something about atmospheric phenomena by describing the circulation of the atmosphere.
“The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.” (Ecclesiastes 1:6)
A depiction of the circulation of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Even though the Bible is entirely consistent with scientific facts, there will always be things in the Bible that we don’t understand, yet.
Some events in the Scriptures such as the donkey speaking to Balaam, the parting of the Red Sea, Yeshua turning water into wine, walking on water, and raising people from the dead are outside the realm of the natural and inside the realm of the supernatural.
As we have Scientific explanations for the physical claims in the Bible through the study of astronomy, physics, and others, we will most likely understand the miraculous claims through the study of quantum mechanics and related sciences.
The fact that there is so much good science in the Bible that has been revealed just in this past century asssures us that we can trust the Bible as God’s inspired Word.
As 2 Timothy 3:16–17 states: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
