I took my Astronomy students stargazing the other night in the clear, dark skies of the High Sierra... We spotted the Pleiades, Pegasus, Taurus (Aldebaran), Orion (Betelgeuse & Rigel), Canis Major (Sirius), Canis Minor (Procyon), Cassiopeia, the Big and Little Dippers, the Milky Way, Jupiter, and much more. The following morning we had chapel in the fresh air in the midst of spectacular mountain scenery... Does it get any better this side of eternity?!?
]]>Stephen Hawking, co-author of The Grand Design with Leonard Mlodinow, is a contender for the dual monikers “smartest man in the world”, and “greatest scientist since Einstein.” His new book asserts that our universe – as well as others – could have come into existence spontaneously from nothing, without any help from God. Many other scientists who have come before him have also tried to remove God from the origins equation.
The authors start out this book by saying that while the big existential questions used to be left to philosophers, philosophy is now dead, because it hasn’t kept up with modern science, which is a very bold and controversial statement to say the least. Some might say that the authors haven’t kept up with philosophy!
The authors insist that any ideas that are incompatible with modern physics must be wrong, yet they ignore the historical track record of science’s iterative process, rife with errors and misconceptions, followed by corrections and paradigm shifts.
The Scientific Method never proves anything: we’re just looking for the best explanation given the evidence that we have so far, all the while realizing that new evidence could show up tomorrow that would turn what we think we know on its head.
He also neatly brushes aside the uncertainty introduced by the very quantum physics he needs for M-theory. Hawking paints a picture of a purely materialistic cosmos, where cause and effect determinism rules, and there is no room for free will. So, the big deal of this new book is that Hawking proclaims that “the laws of physics allow universes to appear spontaneously from nothing”. Well, we already see that God works through the processes and physical laws that he’s established, and that only adds to our wonder and awe of Him. But, the thinking person’s first response should be, “Why are there laws of physics, and where did they come from? And why these particularly special laws that supposedly allow universes to appear from nothing?”
The only “explanation” Hawking gives is that these are the specific laws that must exist in order to get our universe, which is merely a tautology, or truism, not an actual explanation of the reason that these laws came to be. So, Hawking does nothing to address the cosmological questions of “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and “Why is there order rather than chaos?” for these laws of physics. He simply states that there must be a law like gravity in order to have a universe with mass in it… He does not address the question of why there are any laws at all!
Neither does he address any of the other classical arguments for belief in God, such as:
Also, let’s not forget the Principle of Logic that says you can’t prove a negative: thus, it’s impossible to prove the non-existence of God.
All Hawking is really doing is simply promoting a materialistic worldview that attempts to make it easier for a physicist to discount God… There’s nothing substantially new here: it’s just re-packaged “Naturalism.” And to be fair, he does admit at the end of the book that his theory is yet to be confirmed by observation.
As Carlin Romano from The Chronicle Review concludes:
“Many (scientific cosmologists) would rather be bound, gagged, and abandoned in a rundown multiverse than take nonscientific cosmology seriously, or admit that some matters, if not matter itself, fall outside their expertise.”
]]>In the brief time we were there, Mom asked me to read Dad a heartfelt card expressing deep, shared emotions from one of our in-laws, and afterwards suggested that I sing to him. I sang "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" and "Lift High the Cross" (a song that was especially meaningful since Dad had just taught it to me some weeks earlier from his hospital bed, requesting that it be sung at his memorial service). It was while I was singing to him that he quietly slipped away. It was really quite peaceful, in contrast to the past few days when he'd had seizure after seizure. As a friend who was also there visiting at the time reflected, we had the amazing privilege of escorting him into God's presence!
My brothers and I participated in the memorial service, with John sharing some favorite scripture verses, and Mark reflecting on the man that Dad was. I talked about the closeness Dad and I had gained in the last few weeks of his life, which I had been longing for essentially all of my life. I also sang the two songs I'd been singing as he passed away, with the help of a dear family friend.
At the end of the service, the guests had an opportunity to talk about their memories of Dad. Hearing these people remember Dad really blessed me, as I was able to see how he had given so much of himself to others, and touched so many lives in so many positive ways.
Since Dad has been gone, I've had a strong sense of our time here being very short, and that I need to make the most of it. I feel like I've been more "heavenly-minded", trying to focus more on things of lasting value. I find myself thinking more about what heaven will be like, and how the things we consider unfinished business here will either lose their importance, or somehow be brought to perfection in eternity. "For I am confident of this very thing: that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it…" (Phillipians 1:6).
]]>2010 was a busy year, filled with many good things. We heard brilliant scholars lecture at APU as part of our annual Science, Faith and Culture series (www.apu.edu/cris/lectures - Dinesh D’Souza on “Answering the New Atheism” and Peter Enns on "The Benefit of Doubt" stand out as just two of my favorites). I attended several conferences throughout the year: the Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention in March, Aerospace Medicine in Phoenix in May, BioLogos in Boston in June, American Scientific Affiliation in DC in July, and I presented my Aerospace group’s research on Climate Change and National Security at the AIAA Space 2010 conference in Anaheim in August. I also gave a handful of talks at various venues on topics in science and faith, sports, and spaceflight.
In addition, I launched my own website (www.leslieannwickman.com), vacationed in several versions of paradise (Maui, Sunriver, and Whidbey Island), went to Las Vegas (definitely NOT paradise!) to watch my nephew play in a basketball tournament in the heat of July, and adopted a little sister for Mulder (Scully - of course! - a Maine Coon who at nine months is threatening to outweigh her big brother by more than a little, and eat me out of house and home in the process!).
Another fun activity was getting to watch whales three separate times this year: humpbacks off Maui and Massachusetts, and blue whales right here off Redondo Beach! What a treat.
I also learned last March that the ACL graft in my right knee has gone missing, and although I was able to play beach volleyball throughout the summer, the time has come for another surgery, probably in the February 2011 timeframe. There'll be no skiing for me until this gets fixed.
Finally, I spent a wonderful Christmas with my older brother’s family again in Oregon this year, and am now back home getting ready for the new year.
I pray that you and yours will join me in counting our many blessings as we look forward with hope to 2011.
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