Astronomers in the early 1900s noticed that light from stars in other galaxies had longer wavelengths than expected, a phenomenon called redshift. They theorized this was due to the Doppler effect from galaxies moving away from Earth as the universe expanded. Edwin Hubble later found galaxies farther away had larger redshifts, indicating the universe is uniformly expanding from no central point. While most scientists accept this "Big Bang" theory, some creation scientists offer alternatives where the universe expanded from Earth as the center just thousands of years ago. The key difference between theories is philosophical assumptions about the universe rather than scientific evidence.

1. The Big Bang: an
expanding universe
By Dr. Jay L Wile
Exploring Creation with Physical Science
Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc.

2. In the early 1900s, astronomers began to notice that the light
coming from stars in galaxies other than the Milky Way is a bit
different from what was expected. Wavelengths of light emitted by
excited elements are called spectral lines. Each element has its own
unique pattern of spectrum lines it emits when excited. These
spectrum lines are well known and understood for most elements.
When astronomers looked at spectrum lines that come from excited
elements from stars of another galaxy, the spectrum lines were
different from those of the same element on earth. For each
element, the spectrum lines had longer wavelengths when the light
came from other galaxies as compared to those same spectrun lines
on earth. (Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science, J.L.Wile, pg.414)
Spectrum Lines

3. The wavelength of visible light determines the color of the light.
Visible light with the shortest wavelengths is blue, while visible
light with long wavelengths is red. Astronomers found that the
light from other galaxies had longer wavelengths than one would
predict. The wavelengths seemed to be shifted to the red or long
wavelength end of the spectrum. This phenomenon became known
as the red shift. ( Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science pg.415)
The RedShift

4. What causes the red shift? Asronomers had a theory. The Doppler
effect tells us that when moving objects emit waves, the frequency
and wavelength of the waves we observe is different from what we
would observe when the object is stationary. If the object moves
toward us, the waves bunch up, and the observed wavelength is
smaller than the actual wavelength and has a blue shift. If the object
moves away from us, the waves get stretched out, and the observed
wavelength is larger than the actual wavelength and has a red shift.
(Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science, J.L.Wile, pg. 415)
The Doppler Effect for Light

5. Asronomers saw that the light coming from most of the other
galaxies had wavelengths that were longer than they should have
been. They theorized that the red shift was actually the Doppler
effect for light. Therefore most galaxies were actually moving away
from the earth. As time went on, astronomers became convinced
that the red shift was the Doppler effect and that most galaxies
were moving away. The Andromeda galaxy, the closest to us, seems
to be moving toward us because the light that comes from it is bluer
than it should be. The vast majority of the galaxies emit a light that
experiences a red shift so most astronomers have concluded that
these galaxies are moving away from the earth.( Exploring Creation
w/ Physical Science, pg. 415)
The Vast Majority of the Galaxies
Are Moving Away from the Earth

6. In 1929, Edwin Hubble noticed that the further
the galaxy is away from the earth, the larger the
red shift. Light that comes from distant galaxies
has significantly larger wavelengths than
expected. Astronomers have interpreted this to
mean that the universe is actually expanding.
Light that travels through the universe as it
expands would get stretched because it would
have to expand with the universe. According to
this interpretation, the red shift is not the result
of the Doppler effect. Instead, it is the result of
the expanding universe. Today most astronomers
think the universe is expanding. (Exploring
Creation w/ Physical Science, J.L.Wile, pg.415)
Edwin Hubble and the expanding
universe

7. If the universe is expanding,
it could be doing it in many
different ways. It could be
expanding from a central
point, the way a balloon
expands. In this case it could
be an ever-expanding
sphere. However, most
astronomers think the
universe is expanding, but
not from a fixed center. They
think it is expanding without
any specific geometry at all.
To contrast these two views,
perform the following
experiment. (Exploring
Creation w/ Physical Science,
pg. 415)
The Expanding Universe: 2 Views

8. Supplies: Balloon & a marker to write
on the balloon.
Introduction: There are many possible
ways the universe could be expanding.
This experiment contrasts two of them.
Procedure:
1. Lay the balloon flat on a table. Put
dots all over the balloon on both
sides.
2. Bring the balloon to your mouth to
blow it up.
3. Hold the balloon so that you can see
the dots and blow the balloon up.
4. Notice how the dots move in relation
to one another. (Exploring Creation
w/ Physical Science,pg.416)
Experiment: An Expanding
Universe

9. In the experiment you should have seen all the dots moving away
from each other. Many astronomers consider this experiment an
illustration of how the universe is expanding. According to them, the
surface of the balloon and only the surface represents all of space.
When you blow the balloon up, space (the surface of the balloon)
begins to expand. Because space expands all the galaxies move
away from each other. However, there is no point on the balloon´s
surface which you can call the center point. Instead, the entire
surface of the balloon expands with no specific geometry. This is
how most astronomers believe the universe is expanding. (Exploring
Creation w/ Physical Science, J.L.Wile, pg.416)
Expanding but with No Center

10. There are two views of the universe expanding. It might be
expanding with a defined center and all the galaxies rushing away
from the center, which is perfectly consistent with the data. Or, it
might be expanding because, as space expands, it carries all
structures away from each other, like the dots on the balloon. Again,
this is perfectly consistent with the data. Or, it might not be
expanding at all, if our interpretation of the red shift is wrong. Which
of these opinions is right? The majority of the astronomers believe
the universe is expanding without a center point. However, there is
no scientific reason to choose that explanation over the one with a
center point. (Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science, pg.417)
Same Data-Two Views

11. Why do most scientist believe in the non-centered universe? The
answer is philosophical and not scientific. Most scientist do not want
to believe there is anything special about any one particular point in
the universe. If the universe were expanding from a central point,
that point would be very special from a universal point of view. Most
scientist do not want to believe there is any special place in the
universe, therefore, they pick the model which conforms to their
belief system. (Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science, pg. 417)
Philosophical Reasons

12. Astronomers who believe in God, however,
look at things differently. If God created the
universe, then he might want the earth to
have a special place. We know that earth is in
a special place because for life to exist many
important values of physics must be exactly
what they are or life would be impossible and
even the universe as we know it would be
impossible. There is a high degree of fine
tuning in the universe that makes life on our
planet possible. Just as the earth needs the
sun, the earth might need a special position
in the universe as a whole. If the galaxy in
which the earth exists is near to the central
point around which the universe expands,
that would make it a special place and
warrant certain philosophical conclusions.
(Exploring Creation, pg.417.)
The Creationsts View

13. Dr. Russell Humphreys wrote a book entitled
Starlight and Time. In it, using Einstein´s
General Theory of Relativity, he develops an
entire theory for the formation of the universe
predicted on the assumption that the earth´s
galaxy is at the center of the universe, and the
universe is expanding around that point. A large
number of creation scientists believe that the
earth is only a few thousand years old. They
believe that the vast majority of scientific data is
consistent with this assumption and inconsistent
with the assumption of billions of years. They
believe the universe was created only a few
thousand years ago. How can that be?
(Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science, pg.417)
Dr. Russell Hunphreys: Starlight
and Time

14. There seems to be a problem. We can observe stars that seem to
be billions of light years away. If the creation of the universe
happened only a few thousands years ago, how can we be seeing
the light from those stars? It would take billions of years to get
here. Dr. Humphreys theory tries to explan this problem. Using
standard theories and tools that all other astrophysicists use, Dr.
Humphreys shows that if the universe is expanding with the earth´s
galaxy as its center, creation could have happened only a few
thousand years ago, and we could still to be able to see light that
took billions of years to travel here! Watch this link below for more
information: (Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science, pg. 417)
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=k3XSz5TEInU Origins:
Starlight & Time- Dr. Russell
Humphreys.
The Problem and Solution!

15. The majority of scientists believe in a theory called the “big
bang.” This theory assumes that the universe is expanding, but
it assumes that the expansion takes place without a center. This
theory concludes that the universe is a result of random chance
and is billion of years old. Dr. Humphreys´theory tells us that if
we assume the universe is expanding with earth´s galaxy as the
center, the universe need not be the result of random chance,
and need not be billions of years old. (Exploring Creation,pg.418)
Big Bang or Dr. Humphrys?

16. Which theory is right? We do not know. For all we know they are
both wrong. However, we do know that the only real difference
between them is a philosophical assumption. So, if you assume one
way, you get one theory. If you assume another way, you get
another theory. From the scientific point of view, both assumptions
are absolutely equal. (Exploring Creation w/ Physical Science,
J.L.Wile, pg.418)
Philosophical Assumptions

17. The vast majority of scientist believe the universe is, indeed,
expanding. Although science has only recently been considering
such an idea, The Bible has always indicated that the universe is
expanding. Job 9:5-8 says, “It is God who removes the mountains,
they know not how... Who alone stretches out the heavens...” In
addition, Psalm 104:1-2 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O lord
my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and
majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, stretching
out the heavens lile a tent curtain.” In both verses, and 15
other similar ones, the Bible mentions that God is stretching out the
heavens. It has taken science thousands of years to conclude what
the Bible has always said- the universe is expanding! (Exploring
Creation w/ Physical Science, J.L.Wile, pg.418)
The Bible confirmed!

18. Jeremiah 32:17

19. Isaiah 40:22

20. Isaiah 45:12 & 44:24

21. Romans 1:20

22. Text taken from Dr. Jay L Wile´s textbook: Exploring
Creation with PhysicalScience 2nd Edition, Apologia
Educational Ministries, Inc., 2007. pages 414-418.
http//www.apologia.com
Images taken from Google Images used only for non-
comerical, that is, educational purposes.
Links available on Youtube.
Dr. Humphreys book & Dr. Wile´s textbooks available online
through various bookstores.
Presentation arranged by Dennis Molinski
References