How Old is the Universe?

 

The Christian Apologetics Conference, with the theme 'The Origin of the Universe and Life,' was held on November 4, 2023, at Chungju Sumun Church, Chungju, Korea.

 

One of the speakers on that day was Professor Je Wonho. He is currently a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Seoul National University. He gave a lecture titled "The Origin of the Universe as seen by Physicists: A Comprehensive Perspective beyond the Material World."

 

Professor Je Wonho covered three main topics: ① Is there a contradiction between science and religion (faith)? ② How old is the universe? ③ What is the fundamental difference between humans and animals?

 

Professor Je argued that to understand the visible world properly, one needs a comprehensive understanding of the invisible world as well. He claimed that the creation story in Genesis is not in contradiction with science and provides a consistent narrative for the material world and human existence.

 

According to the professor Je, God created not only the visible material world but also the invisible spiritual world. He argued that focusing solely on the visible material world in scientific research has limitations when it comes to understanding the origins of matter. Therefore, he emphasized the need for a comprehensive understanding of the material world and its connection to the spiritual world.

 

Professor Je's discussion can be summarized as follows: God created humans in His image and allowed them to experience both the material and spiritual worlds.

 

A genuine understanding of both creationism and science is necessary because they are not opposing realms. Science begins with observable phenomena and seeks to connect them to hidden, unchanging truths and ultimate reality.

 

In contrast, faith starts with the unseen and provides new insights into natural and social phenomena. Science and faith may have different starting points and approaches, but they are not entirely unrelated domains. While scientists can explore the hidden laws, providing ultimate origins is a more challenging task.

 

People used to believe that everything visible was material, adhering to a materialistic worldview. However, with Einstein's theory of relativity, science demonstrated that there is a certain amount of energy hidden within the visible material.

 

Therefore, it became necessary to modify the materialistic concept. Gathering the right amount of energy alone does not automatically create matter, but the existence of a sophisticated "intelligent design" behind the combination of energy is intuitive.

 

Professor Je discussed the topic of "Time and God." Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning," represents the concept of the beginning of time. In other words, God created time even before the creation of heaven and earth. The universe started with the Big Bang, a tremendous explosion that generated light and all matter, marking the beginning of time.

 

Scientists estimate the universe's age to be about 13.8 billion years, while the Bible describes it as approximately 6,000 years. There is a discrepancy between modern scientific theories and the biblical account of the universe's creation.

 

However, according to the theory of special relativity, time itself has a relativistic nature. After the Big Bang, the universe had extremely high temperatures and rapid expansion, meaning time could have passed much faster than today.

 

In this perspective, the first day, lasting 24 hours, could correspond to about 8 billion years. However, the second day would have seen a significant decrease in temperature due to the rapid expansion of the universe, reducing the length of a day to approximately 4 billion years.

 

From the third day onward, time continued to decrease by half. The sixth day, which began about 250 million years ago, they ended approximately 6,000 years ago when Adam's human history began—according to this calculation, the first day started about 15.7 billion years ago, which is remarkably close to the estimate of today's scientists.

 

Professor Je argued that evolution is not a theory that explains the origin. The understanding of "humans and animals" is possible when you take a comprehensive look at both the visible and invisible worlds. Science, including evolution, may include humans among the animals, but the Bible's creation narrative belongs to the domain of God. The spiritual and the physical are independent, and one cannot fully explain the other.

 

The questions of the old Earth theory, evolution, and the universe's age do not necessarily conflict with scientific theories. Evolution is not an explanation for the origins of all things. The initial creation of the universe was not a matter of chance.

 

Science does not threaten faith. However, whether it is theistic evolution or evolutionary creationism, trying to explain everything solely through evolution can be limiting.

 

Dr. Je Wonho received his B.S. (1982) and M.S. (1984) degrees from Seoul National University and earned his Ph.D. in Physics (1989) from Yale University. He began teaching at Seoul National University in 1992. He also obtained a Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the Boston area.

 

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