The First Three Cycles of Darkness and Light
From the beginning, the absence or presence of light has always determined night or day. According to cosmology, astrophysics, and the astronomy of the solar system, there have been three phases of darkness while the Earth was forming. A new phase, when the material of the Earth in formation was flooded with light, was the end of each preceding dark phase. The cycles of alternating darkness and light were the first three days. Together they lasted 13 820 million years, but their long durations do not mean that they were not really three days, in the simplest sense of the word as small children understand it. Astronomers have photographed the different phases of light that shone on each of the first three days. They have also photographed the transitions between night and day, that is, the dawn and the twilight of the first and second days. Each of the first three days has a different source of the prevailing light. We will examine photographs of the light sources.
The darkness and light of the first three days are scientifically observable data. They establish an exact correspondence between the Genesis narrative and the discoveries of science. Nuclear physicists and astrophysicists have determined the origin and formation of atoms, stars, and the life-giving chemical richness of the crust of the Earth. The formation of atoms, stars, and the Earth’s crust is interrelated. To make atoms, stars, and a habitable planet one needs exactly three alternating cycles of darkness and light. Moses was right about the three major discoveries of cosmology. Besides that notable accomplishment, Moses also anticipated the findings of nuclear physicists and astrophysics by more than 3 000 years!
It took three cycles of darkness and light to form the Earth, just as the Bible says. This provides additional Bible confirmation from precise science.
Among pre-scientific peoples certain concepts are simply taken as given. The idea of defining a day seems absurd to many uneducated people. If asked, they would say, “A day is a day!” Even after modern education people often say, “A day is 24 hours,” without recognizing their circular reasoning.
Moses gives a logical and scientific criterion for observing the passing of a day. Given the cosmic scope of his compact narrative it is remarkable that he would devote even one verse to explaining his concept of a day. The observational criterion he gives for recognizing a day applies to the very beginning of the universe, long before the Sun was shining and the Earth was formed and rotating. Even though night and day in the universe as a whole are very different from the darkness and daylight an observer sees from a fixed location on Earth, the same criterion applies.
The literal, Biblical criterion for observing the passing of a day applies everywhere and always. It applies universally precisely because the criterion avoids specifying any particular duration. A day is simply an unspecified period of natural darkness followed by another unspecified period of brightness. The criterion turns on phenomena that anyone with seeing eyes can easily verify.
Only in the last fifty years have we begun to understand and photograph the cycles of alternating darkness and light at the beginning of the universe. Yet more than 3000 years ago Moses describes the cycles correctly and provides an observational criterion that includes them as well as the ordinary days the Sun now makes on the Earth. Once again we have to ask: How did Moses get his story right?
The darkness and light of the first three days are scientifically observable data. They establish an exact correspondence between the Genesis narrative and the discoveries of science. Nuclear physicists and astrophysicists have determined the origin and formation of atoms, stars, and the life-giving chemical richness of the crust of the Earth. The formation of atoms, stars, and the Earth’s crust is interrelated. To make atoms, stars, and a habitable planet one needs exactly three alternating cycles of darkness and light. Moses was right about the three major discoveries of cosmology. Besides that notable accomplishment, Moses also anticipated the findings of nuclear physicists and astrophysics by more than 3 000 years!
It took three cycles of darkness and light to form the Earth, just as the Bible says. This provides additional Bible confirmation from precise science.
Among pre-scientific peoples certain concepts are simply taken as given. The idea of defining a day seems absurd to many uneducated people. If asked, they would say, “A day is a day!” Even after modern education people often say, “A day is 24 hours,” without recognizing their circular reasoning.
Moses gives a logical and scientific criterion for observing the passing of a day. Given the cosmic scope of his compact narrative it is remarkable that he would devote even one verse to explaining his concept of a day. The observational criterion he gives for recognizing a day applies to the very beginning of the universe, long before the Sun was shining and the Earth was formed and rotating. Even though night and day in the universe as a whole are very different from the darkness and daylight an observer sees from a fixed location on Earth, the same criterion applies.
The literal, Biblical criterion for observing the passing of a day applies everywhere and always. It applies universally precisely because the criterion avoids specifying any particular duration. A day is simply an unspecified period of natural darkness followed by another unspecified period of brightness. The criterion turns on phenomena that anyone with seeing eyes can easily verify.
Only in the last fifty years have we begun to understand and photograph the cycles of alternating darkness and light at the beginning of the universe. Yet more than 3000 years ago Moses describes the cycles correctly and provides an observational criterion that includes them as well as the ordinary days the Sun now makes on the Earth. Once again we have to ask: How did Moses get his story right?