CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

Background material for Year 1 Semester 2 Med PPSD session on Wednesday 14^th January 2009

1.0 NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE, tabi’at al kaun

1.1 THE UNIVERSE

The universe consists of the earth, the sky, the space that encloses them both, and the space between them. It includes the stars, the planets, comets, galaxies, meteors, empty space, human and other all forms of life.

1.2 THE EARTH

Known human history is about 7000 years but the duration of pre-history is unknown. The earth and its contents were created before creation of humans. Study of the earth reveals God’s signs that are a moral lesson and a reminder. The earth is wide and humans inhabit only a small portion of it. It is however very tiny compared to the size of the whole universe. The earth is standing on its own without pillars to give it firmament. It is dynamically stable being able to move by rotation on its axis, revolution around the sun, and movements of plate techtonics. All continents were one land mass (called Pangea) that broke up into several continents. The earth is a sphere flat in some places and mountainous in others. It is orderly and exerts gravitational force. Its surface is variable in topography, climate, and vegetation. About 70% of its surface covered with water. Only a very small part of the earth’s surface, called the biosphere (soil and atmosphere), supports life. The earth has many bounties that God put there for humans and other living things.

1,3 THE SKY

The sky is very wide and expansive. The sun, the moon, and the stars are either below the sky or are attached to it. It is the roof of the earth. It is held in place and is orderly. The order will be destroyed on the last day. It contains life. It is subservient to the human. Stones, water, and food fall from the sky. The sun is a source of light. It is stable. It also has precise movements. It rises and sets at a different place every day throughout the year. Day and night alternate with movements of the sun. At the start both the sun and the moon emitted light but later the moon lost its light and only reflected the sun’s light during the night. Stars are sources of electromagnetic energy. They move in definite positions. The moon is a satellite of the earth. Its movements and positions are used for reckoning time.

1.4 OUTER SPACE

Outer space is wide with millions of galaxies. Each galaxy consists of stars and objects around them. Our galaxy is the milk-way. Our sun is an average-sized star being one of 100 billion stars in the milk-way galaxy. Stars are arranged in 88 different patterns called constellations. Outer space is dark. The blue color seen from the earth is due to scattering, diffraction, of blue rays from the sun. The universe is expanding. The galaxies are moving away from one another at a speed of thousands of miles a second.

2.0 THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS

2.1 INTRODUCTION

There are ultimate questions about the universe that are beyond human intellect. They can only be answered by revelation. They are start of creation, end of creation, purpose of creation, and the ultimate destiny of the human. Several human attempts to answer the questions without the aid of revelation have not given satisfactory answers. These included metaphysics (understanding ultimate reality by reason), various religious beliefs, folklore, and empirical science.

2.2 START OF THE UNIVERSE

Human intellect cannot work out the start and the end of the universe. Human anthropometric arrogance has made them reject creation by God and theorized that the universe arose by chance or was created by humans. The driving force behind this curiosity is to understand the present and predict the future by knowing the origins. Scientific theories assert that the earth and the sun started as gases and dust that shrunk and clamped to become the solid we call earth. The earth melted, heavy metal settled at the bottom and lighter ones floated to the top. With time the earth cooled enough so that rainwater could settle down without evaporation.

Atheistic scientists have theorized that life started on earth by chance and that various forms of life appeared by chance natural selection. Religions teach that God preceded and created the universe. Different things were created at different times. Adam was the last creation being created de novo from basic elements of water and soil. All humans are descended from Adam. Human creation came at the end because all other creations had to be subservient to and serve humans.

2.3 END OF THE UNIVERSE

The end of the universe is easier to grasp than the beginning. It is common human experience that everything has a beginning and an end. The end usually signifies destruction and disappearance with or without replacement. The physical laws of entropy are a summary of the concept that every system must eventually self-destruct and come to and end. This should logically also apply to the universe. It is only God who is eternal and everlasting. He has no beginning and no end. The human mind cannot fully grasp concept infinity associated with God. Human life will come to end when the physical universe on which it depends comes to an end. Humans will however have extra-corporeal existence until they are resurrected in a physical form. Time will disappear when the sum used for measuring time is folded up.

2.4 THE EXPANDING/CONTRACTING UNIVERSE and HUMAN DESTINY

Cosmologists, scientists who study the origin and nature of the universe, have observed phenomena of the cosmos appearing to expand with its various components rapidly moving away from one another. They do not know if the universe is an open or closed system. If open it will go on expanding until all matter is converted into heat energy, a phenomenon called black holes. This is the heat death of the universe. If closed it will stop expanding and fall back in a big bang creating a new universe. In either case there will be destruction.

2.5 SCIENCE AND THE SIGNS OF CREATION

Study of science especially medicine is part of observation and reflecting on God’s creation. It enables us discover many secrets of creation and many signs that God put in the universe for your education and intellectual growth and development. The creation of everything in pairs, the creation of opposites, symmetry, and harmony are some of the constant features of the universe that convince the human that there must be a grand design behind all this creation.

3.0ORDER, CHANGE AND PERMANENCE

3.1 PHYSICAL LAWS

Phenomena in the universe are related in a causal way. The relations are not haphazard. The universe is ordered and is coordinated. Complex phenomena can be explained by a few simple mathematical equations that summarize physical laws. The physical l accurately describe phenomena that appear complicated and very detailed. They serve as a reminder that the empirical world is simple and straightforward running on a few basic principles and paradigms. The physical laws according to which the universe is ordered are among the signs of God. They are fixed and are characterized by stability. They therefore serve as a basis for predictability of empirical phenomena. They explain the consistency, repetition, parity, symmetry, harmony, co-ordination, and purposive ness of physical phenomena in the universe. Even apparent differences and exceptions follow some fixed laws.

3.2 ORDER

The universe is orderly, systematic, harmonious, and predictable. The order reflects God's will, is the best logical manifestation for one sole creator, and is open book and proof of One Creator. The human body in its gross and microscopic anatomy is a reflection of a high level of order. There is organizational order in all physiological functions. Existence of orderly relationships is the basis of medical treatment. If the chemical reactions were not predictable and orderly, each instance of disease would require new research to discover the right medicine for it. Scientific research would not be possible if there was no order in the universe. There are physical laws that describe and summarize this order. The purpose of all scientific investigation is to find these laws, understand them, and use them for the benefit of humans. The universe has a stable state to which it returns after temporary disturbances. This state is referred to as homeostasis in physiology. Negative feedback maintains homeostasis. Compensatory mechanisms in normal physiology assure return to the normal resting state. In patho-physiological situations, corrective mechanisms fail to restore order after disturbances and this results eventually into definitive pathological changes and disease.

3.3 CHANGE:

Only God is permanent. Everything else changes continuously. The physical laws are also permanent but their application in different circumstances produces different results. Change is a constant phenomenon in the in nature. The miracle of God’s creation is that changes are regulated and are co-ordinated. They follow a system. Such phenomena can occur only occur in a situation in which there is one powerful creator for the universe. One of the major discoveries in science is that matter and energy are inter-changeable. Day and night follow each other in a predictable way. The sun and the moon move in fixed orbit and move according to accurate and predictable reckoning. Climate or weather is one of the manifestations of constant change. Periods of rapid growth in infancy and adolescence are periods of major and rapid biological change. This change is not chaotic. It follows a fixed predictable order. This biological clock operates on a daily basis i.e. hours of sleep and wakefulness. It also operates on a monthly basis for female menstruation. Physiological reactions and processes are in a state of constant change. The change is according to a definite order and is not chaotic.

3.4 THE SEEN & THE UNSEEN

The world of the unseen has two components: the absolute and the relative. The nature of the spirit / soul, knowledge of the time of the last day, time of human death, are absolute unseens unknowable to humans with certainty. Examples of relative unseen are: knowledge of the past and knowledge of contemporary events. Most phenomena in the physical universe are relative unseens. Humans through research or just waiting for long enough can get to know things that were unknown before.

3.5 BALANCE and EQUILIBRIUM

The concept of centrality is used to refer to the average, the middle ranks, or the normal expectation. The law of action and reaction is necessary to restore and maintain order. Being objective allows humans to maintain order. If personal whims and fancies were followed there would be a lot of anarchy and chaos. Minimizing changes and maintaining constancy is desirable in some physical phenomena in order to maintain order. God in His mercy also allows changes because rigid constancy would not allow response and adjustment to changing circumstances.