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Why I Know God Exists WHY I KNOW GOD EXISTS JoLynn Gower 493-6151 [email protected] 1 VERSE FOR THE JOURNEY • Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. • Hebrews 1:1-3 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When a mind is ready to receive them, nothing can change it like the facts. Fred Heeren 2 WHAT IS THE GOLDILOCKS ZONE • The region around a star that has the right conditions to find liquid water on the planet surface is called the “Goldlilocks zone” • The planet isn’t “too hot” or “too cold.” It is “just right.” • TWO WAYS THAT SCIENTISTS ARE SEARCHING FOR INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE: 1. Looking for other planets with a goldilocks zone outside our solar system (exoplanets) 2. SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by listening/looking for intelligent signals with a radio telescope • PRIVATE FUNDERS: Arthur C. Clark, Paul Allen (Microsoft), Gordon Moore (Intel), David Packard and William Hewlett (HP) 3 PROJECT PHOENIX Parkes, New South Wales, Australia 1995-96 Green Bank, West Virginia 1996-98 Arecibo, Puerto Rico 1998-2004 4 FERMI PARADOX • Fermi realized that any civilization with a modest amount of rocket technology and an immodest amount of imperial incentive could rapidly colonize the entire Galaxy. Within ten million years, every star system could be brought under the wing of an empire. Ten million years may sound long, but in fact it's quite short compared with the age of the Galaxy, which is roughly ten thousand million years. Colonization of the Milky Way should be a quick exercise. • So what Fermi immediately realized was that the aliens have had more than enough time to pepper the Galaxy with their presence. But looking around, he didn't see any clear indication that they're out and about. This prompted Fermi to ask what was (to him) an obvious question: "where is everybody5 ?" SETI FINDINGS • SETI set out to search about 1000 stars within 200 light- years of our solar system • Going star by star, they were listening for narrow frequency signals which, in their minds, would suggest intelligence sourcing • 2/3 of the 1000 were searched with no success • 56 years since Frank Drake (founder of SETI) began listening; so far, no intelligent life has been confirmed • Robert Jastrow, founder of NASA Goddard Institute and director of Mt. Wilson Observatory (1925-2008) once believed that we are part of a “large cosmic community” • Jastrow believed that the Big Bang “leaves room for God” although he professed to be agnostic6 JASTROW’S FAMOUS QUOTES • “At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” • “Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.” 7 EXOPLANETS • The Kepler Space Telescope, “Kepler” was launched in 2009 • The exoplanet candidate count was 4696 as of 10/24/2013 • The confirmed count was 2331 • 21 of those have “small habitable zones” • Kepler became unusable in 2013 but creative thinking allowed it to continue; the new mission is known as K2 • Exoplanet candidate count in K2 is 458 • Confirmed count is 173 • Kepler 186f was the first habitable planet in the habitable zone • Kepler 452b has now been discovered to be the most earth-sized planet in a habitable zone with a star similar to our sun 8 BREAKTHROUGH LISTEN • In 2015, Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Prize, announced Breakthrough Listen • This initiative was funded by Milner at 100 million dollars for the first ten years • Mark Zuckerberg is another investor, along with others from the Silicon valley. • The Breakthrough Prize is given in the fields of mathematics, fundamental physics and life sciences • The annual award began in 2012 and is 3 million dollars 9 ARE WE UNIQUE? • Superstring theory now believes there to be 10 dimensions and possibly 11 • Boson string theory suggests up to 26 dimensions • We live in three of these plus time as a fourth • What makes us godlike? 1. triune nature 2. spiritual nature 3. intellectual abilities above animals, etc. • Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. • Psuche: breath/animal principal only; pneuma: spirit; rational-immortal soul; zoe: life generally, even plants • In Hebrew: nephesh; ruwach; chay • Being: nephesh • Living: chay 10 DOES THE BIBLE SPEAK OF “THEM” • The Bible clearly speaks of other creations that operate in other dimensions • Luke 2:13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying…. • Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Abraham and Lot for example) • Angels clearly usually live in another dimension; however, they can manifest in our dimensions when sent and can even take human form • Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 11 OTHER “DIMENSIONAL” VERSES • John 18:36 Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." • Colossians 1:15-16 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 12 OTHER “DIMENSIONAL” VERSES • 2 Kings 6:16-18 So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. • Acts 7:55-56 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." • John 1:49-51 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."13 .
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