A Brief History of the Universe

Below is my understanding of the first 6 days of the Universe starting from the big bang. My understanding is based upon peer-reviewed science and traditional biblical commentary published by noted M.I.T Physicist and Theologian Gerald R. Schroeder in his great book “The Science of God.”

It begins with the concepts that Albert Einstein published around 1904 in which he said that Matter can be made from Energy, and that the flow of time is not a constant. Or, time is relative based upon the position of the observer.

It is with the relative time concept that I am fascinated with as it begins to explain one of life’s greatest questions…”Is the Earth Six days old, or Billions of years old?” And the answer based upon peer-reviewed science by Professor Schroeder is….”Yes!” It all depends upon your point of reference.

Time is relative, and once we define some timeframes we will discuss the mathematical concepts behind his answer:

The following definitions and charts are adapted, (not quoted), from Dr. Schroeder’s Book “The Science of God.”

Cosmic Days – This is based upon the first day of the big bang looking forward in time with each cosmic day being relative in that each cosmic day gets shorter based upon the Cosmic Background Radiation, (CBR), temperature.

Cosmic Earth Years – This is the number of Earth years that are passing as the Universe is forming.

Earth Days – This is based upon the first day on Earth looking backward in time using our current 24-hour clock.

Adam Years – The number of earth years before Adam, based upon the current 24-hour clock.

Click Chart to Enlarge:
The timeframes are based upon the cooling of the Universe. At the time of the big bang the temperature of the Universe was it’s hottest and it has been cooling ever since. The current temperature of space is 2.73 degrees Kelvin, approximately 270 degrees Celsius.

The age of the Universe has been revised upward constantly and in 2003 it was revised once again. From Space.com…“In a study published today in the journal Science, a team of researchers says the universe is between 11.2 billion and 20 billion years old.
Most estimates in recent years have ranged between 10 billion and 15 billion years. Last year, data supplied by the Hubble Space Telescope led to an apparently refined estimate of 13 billion to 14 billion years.”

www.space.com/scienceastronomy/age_universe_030103.html


Some estimates are made using visual readings such as through a telescope, they are sometimes called “red-shift”, or “blue-shift” depending upon the method, and then others using math and the C.B.R. as Dr. Schroeder has done.

What is even more interesting to me is how the authors of the Bible “guessed 100% correctly” on how evolution progressed through these Cosmic Days of Creation. (They couldn't have known, they must have guessed, right?)

For example, the bible says water occurred before any life, and that the first living creatures were in the water, next reptiles and then winged animals, then humans. I wonder if Darwin and others looked at the sequence in the Bible to figure out the sequence of Evolution? (tongue in cheek) See the next chart below: (Click Chart to Enlarge:)

The above is presented as something to contemplate. I know there will be some who will take it as some kind of affront to their worldview and summarily dismiss it, and probably attack it as well, but that is to be expected since one of the laws of the Universe is that there needs to be opposites so we will be able to have choice.

Now whether God had a hand in fine tuning Evolution, such as "sprinking" some new life forms from time-to-time, such as the "Cambrian Explosion", well that is for another post.