Atheism and Apologetics - Evolution
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, September 03, 2011
"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" (Gen. 1:16).
"Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them" (Psalm 111:2, ESV).
Now for those who think that the solar system is just the detritus left over after the big blooey, here are just a couple things to think about.
The sun is 93 million miles away, and the moon is an average of 238,855 miles away. These two heavenly lights are supposed to be the size they are, and the distance they are from us as a function of chance. So why, in an eclipse, does the disk of the moon fit over the disk of the sun like they were a couple of quarters on your coffee table? What are the odds?
Here is another one, twice as boggling, and a hundred times more fun.
But you will have to work with me here -- marveling at God's handiwork, as well as marveling at the first guy who figured this stuff out.
The diameter of the moon and the diameter of the earth stand in a ratio of 3 to 11, respectively. With me so far? Great. What this means is that if you hauled the moon down so that it was resting on the surface of the earth, and then drew a circle with the earth's center as its center, and the moon's center as lying along its circumference, you would have a circle going around the earth at an altitude equal to the moon's radius. Still with me? Now draw a square for the circle of the earth to fit in perfectly, with the earth touching each side of the square at just one point. The ratio of 3 to 11 means that the perimeter of this square and the circumference of the earlier circle we drew are the same.
Not only that, but you see the same ratios with a double rainbow. The inner rainbow follows the circumference of the earth and the outer rainbow runs right through the center of the moon. By chance, you creationist rubes!
Not only that, but if you are into these things, take a gander at Leonardo's famous drawing of the man in the square and circle, the moon would fit right above the man's head.
Now I acknowledge myself gobsmacked by such things, but I also admit that it is no doubt due to my inadequate training in all things scientific. Maybe I am too easily gobsmacked. Maybe that's it.
3 comments:
I have also read a theory that the fact we have solar eclipses has helped us learn and understand much about the universe we live in by being able to do experiments only possible by such an event.
Throw in the idea that the sun is in an optimal part of the galaxy to facilitate learning about the galaxy and beyond. Consider, for example, that if we had been much closer to the centre of the galaxy, the night sky may have been too bright to ever see stars.
And I recently came across this discussion which has some interesting points I need to follow up on at some time:
The Big Balloon theory? - point 8 and 9 in particular.
Yep, far too easily gobsmacked.
If, as G says "God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night." Why does the Moon spend so much time in the day sky, leaving the night unlit? And why, even when it is around at night is there so little of it visible, so little light cast, in each of its cycles?
To do as G claims, it should be a constant light, like the sun, and it should always be visible at night.
Ah, yes the perpetual arrogance of fallen Man. If God does not do things my way, in a way that seems good to me, well then I refudiate him.
And if anyone dares tell me that "refudiate" is not a word, it should be. So there.
JT
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