hope, purpose,

1
hope, purpose, destiny

• presented by mark ritter
• based on a true story by hugh ross

2
intro

• science in the hands of Men Without God can be
  wielded like a Hammer of Despair
  
• science as a tool in the hands of godly men can
  build a House of Hope
  

3
a brief history

• since time immemorial, western man has seen his
  world as the center of everything
  
• no enviable position, though, being at the bottom
  of the universe
  
• never the less, it did seem that we were there,
  unmoved, at the center

old geocentric pic
4

• over 400 years ago Nicolaus Copernicus revived an
  ancient Greek idea that the sun - not Earth - was
  at the center of it all
  
• led, illogically, to a worldview that maybe we
  werent so special after all

5

• in the last century it was discovered that not
  even the sun was central we all were off in some
  corner of just one galaxy of billions
  
• for some, this shoved us - philosophically-
  further from any special status at all

galaxy cluster
6
whatever.

• a Mediocrity Principle developed which asserted
  man is not special in any way and resides in no
  place unique
  
• human-like origin and development has likely been
  duplicated billions of other places

7

• meanwhile others elsewhere were painting quite a
  different picture

8
evidence for things unseen

• in the past 40 years another view has emerged of
  the cosmos and our place in it
  
• called the anthropic principle, it asserts that
  the universe appears designed for the sake of
  human life!

davinci man pic
9

• taking the last hundred years of astro physics
  bio research, adherents to the AP say that for
  humans and our civilization to even exist
  requires the planet, the solar system, the galaxy
  - the universe! - to behave, perfectly, and in
  unison!

10

• i.e. a preponderance of physical evidence points
  to humanity as the central theme of the cosmos!
  
• not in a pride-filled way, but a very humbling
  one
  
• any evidence? boy howdy!
• the following are just a dozen of a hundred

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• the ultrathin outer layer of our planet - the
  crust - is just the perfect thickness

12

• any thicker, it doesnt move, and we end up with
  no continents, just oceans
  
• any thinner, we have continuous destructive
  earthquakes and volcanic activity

13

• our mass is just enough to keep this thin layer
  of gases above us.
  
• any more mass ( more gravity)means a heavier,
  more destructive atmosphere with more deadly
  gases staying here
  
• less mass (less gravity)and we cant hold onto
  oxygen and other life-support gases

14

• our atmosphere is 20 oxygen
• any less?humans arent here
• any more?everything burns alot faster, and
  ourbodies age quicker

15

• the thin invisible ozone layer keeps us alive by
  absorbing nasty radiation from space
  
• less ozoneand we roast in uv lightfrom the sun
• any moreand we dont getenough of the
  sunslife-giving energythrough to thesurface

16

• carbon dioxide in our atmosphere acts like a
  blanket and keeps us warm
  
• any less,we freeze,plants choke
• any more,we fry in arunawaygreenhouseeffect

17

• lightning strikes once a second on this planet
• more often?too many fires
• less often?not enoughnitrogen wouldget
  fixedinto a formusefulfor life

18

• the Moon has slowed us,kept us steady,given us
  tides,stabilized our orbit
  
• without it, life couldnot exist
• its whole creation storyis a thing of
  amazingwonder in itself

19
creation of moon

• very early on a Mars-sized planet struck Earth1
  at exactly the right angle and velocity to shear
  off our crust, give us a thicker core and more
  radioactive material, and provide us with a
  life-sustaining Moon

20

• Venus, closer to the sun, has...
• an atmosphere so heavy with carbon dioxide its
  like being under a kilometer of water
  
• a surface temp around 900F
• a cloud cover of sulfuric acid
• no water
• not a shopping mall in sight

21

• Mars, smaller farther out,
• has almost no atmosphere or plate tectonics, and
  its water reservoirs are essentially frozen, so
  there is no life-giving water cycle

22

• Jupiter and Saturn are at theperfect distance
  to
  
• leave our sensitive orbit alone, but
• protect us from nasty, earthbound comets and
  asteroids...

23

• our sun is the perfectage,mass,brightness,
  generationfor life
  
• anything else, were not here

24

• the faint sun paradox says that through an
  amazingly complex list of coincidences, the sun
  increased in luminosity at the same rate the
  greenhouse gases were removed from our atmosphere
  so Earth could maintain a life-friendly constant
  temp for 4 billion years

25

• our sun is a bachelor, a single star. most stars
  have at least one other companion.
  
• of course, having no star means a bad day,
  but
  
• if the sun had a buddy,our orbit would
  destabilizeand we would not be here.

26

• our sun wasnt born in a cluster, near other big
  and destructive stars like these four here in the
  Orion Nebula, the Trapezium Cluster

27

• this bright star in the Trapezium is clearing
  away planet-making material from its siblings
  
• no planet-making material,no planets.
• no planets, no TV.
• no TV, no life.

28

• as to the stellar explosions called supernovae
• closer to us?life is exterminated
• farther?not enough local planet-building
  debris
  
• more frequent?life goes away
• more infrequent?no planets

29

• we live on the only street in our galaxy which
  allows life, about 2/3 out...
  
• closer to the nucleus,we get supernovaed,radiate
  d to death,and thrown out ofa stable orbitby
  other stars
  
• farther,no planet-building material

30

• we live in the perfect type of galaxy for life,
  too, - the spiral.

31

• and on and on and on
• the more astronomers learn about the universe and
  the requirements of our existence, the more
  severe the limitations they find governing the
  structure and development of the universe to
  accommodate those requirements

32
the obvious conclusion

• as early as the 1980s, physicists like Paul
  Davies concluded evidence for design of the
  universe and of earth for human life could
  rightly be described as overwhelming

33

• Copernicus was right - sorta
• we are not at the center of anything but thats
  part of what makes us special
  
• our unique position exactly right here right now
  is miraculous
  
• we are special to Someone

34
the plot thickens

• Brandon Carter, a British mathematician,
  presented a unique inequity - the anthropic
  principle inequality

35
the plot thickens

• Brandon Carter, a British mathematician,
  presented a unique inequity - the anthropic
  principle inequality

36

• the universe spends 14 billion years preparing
  itself for humans who can survive no more than a
  couple million years at best!
  
• and not just humans here on Earth - any
  conceivable intelligent life anywhere in the
  universe!

37
slow motion instant replay analysis

• 10 Gy to form stable planetary system just to
  support primitive life
  
• 4 Gy more just to fashion a planet in that
  system richly layered in biodeposits for
  civilized intelligent life
  
• but! these perfect conditions that took so long
  to form and work together so unbelievably well
  will soon vanish!

38

• doomsday events
• the Sun brightening
• days getting longer
• tectonicsslowing
• atmosphere changing,and!

39

• probable supernova
• climatic flip flops
• socio/environmental upheaval
• accumulating genetic mutations
• bottom line were doomed

40

• some thought we could escape these phenomena by
  escaping Earth altogether, taking a sample of
  human civilization with us
  
• but now even their hopes have been dashed

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e x p a n d i n g worries

• one of the parameters of the AP says the universe
  is expanding at exactly (I mean exactly) the
  perfect rate
  
• any faster - no lifeany slower - no life
• but the universe appears to be expanding quicker
  and quicker -its accelerating!
  
• so what? so this

42

• astrophysicists Lawrence Krauss and Glenn
  Starkman analyzed consequences of an accelerating
  expanding universe
  
• and saw what they think is bathwater with our
  baby

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5 cosmic dooms!

• with accelerating expansion they predict these
  fabulous prizes!
  
• our cosmic window shrinks!
• star formation ceases!
• heat flow diminishes!
• metabolism ceases!
• physical consciousness ends!!!

44
the humanist manifesto

• but their paper betrays their human-centric
  hopelessness by placing us in an existence 1)
  limited to this universe and 2) without God
  
• seeing life as doomed, they write

45

• ultimately we will need to abandon our bodies
  entirely.

46

• We still have many billions of years to design
  new physical incarnations to which we will
  transfer our conscious selves.

47

• A point would come when organisms would be
  forced to reduce complexity - to dumb down.
  Before long, they could no longer be regarded as
  intelligent.

48

• Is there any hope for eternal life?

49

• Eternity would become a prison, rather than an
  endlessly receding horizon of creativity and
  exploration.

50

• is this what itscome to? despiteall the
  APevidence fordesign, is lifejust doomed?
  
• is the end of the universe the end of us?

51

• their despair betrays two fatal flaws their
  presumption that our hope and destiny lie in this
  universe without God
  
• but is there something beyond our cosmos?

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end of part 1
53
part 2

• the anthropic principle asserts that humans are
  the reason for this universe
  
• but some, limited to the realm of nature and
  ignoring the AP implications, look to the future
  and see Nothing
  
• are they right? is this all there is?

54
the God connection

• the Bible is our key to seeing the Big Picture
  here
  
• it establishes that God created the universe,
  fixed its laws, stretched the heavens, and will
  do away with it all(!),
  
• but that He has also established dimensions beyond

55
the God connection

• where does it say all that and to what
  purpose???
  
• first well look here, then well look beyond

56
cosmic singularity beginning

• In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
  earth

Genesis 11 Genesis 23 Genesis 24 Psalm 1485
Isaiah 4026 Isaiah 425 Isaiah 4518 John 1
3
Col. 115-17 Hebrews 113
57
cosmic singularity beginning

• Lift up your eyes to the heavens Who created all
  these?

Genesis 11 Genesis 23 Genesis 24 Psalm 1485
Isaiah 4026 Isaiah 425 Isaiah 4518 John 1
3
Col. 115-17 Hebrews 113
58
cosmic singularity beginning

• By faith we understand that the universe was
  formed at Gods command, so that what is seen is
  not made out of that what was visible

Genesis 11 Genesis 23 Genesis 24 Psalm 1485
Isaiah 4026 Isaiah 425 Isaiah 4518 John 1
3
Col. 115-17 Hebrews 113
59
cosmic singularity beginning

• Let them praise the name of the Lord for he
  commanded and they were created.

Genesis 11 Genesis 23 Genesis 24 Psalm 1485
Isaiah 4026 Isaiah 425 Isaiah 4518 John 1
3
Col. 115-17 Hebrews 113
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stretching the heavens

• He alone stretches out the heavens

Job 98 Psalm 1042 Zech. 121
Isaiah 4022 Isaiah 425 Jer. 5115
Isaiah 4424 Isaiah 4512 Jer. 1012
Isaiah 4813 Isaiah 5113
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stretching the heavens

• My own hand stretched out the heavens I
  marshalled their starry hosts.

Job 98 Psalm 1042 Zech. 121
Isaiah 4022 Isaiah 425 Jer. 5115
Isaiah 4424 Isaiah 4512 Jer. 1012
Isaiah 4813 Isaiah 5113
62
fixed physical laws

• I have established my covenant with day and
  night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth

Jeremiah 3325 Genesis 25-6 Romans 818-23 Eccle
siastes 13-15 Genesis 1 3 Revelation 211-22
5
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fixed physical laws

• For the creation was subjected to frustration by
  the will of the one who subjected it will be
  liberated from its bondage of decay

Jeremiah 3325 Genesis 25-6 Romans 818-23 Eccle
siastes 13-15 Genesis 1 3 Revelation 211-22
5
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scripture summary

• all these verses imply
• God started it all from nothing
• God stretches out the heavens
• God established its laws
• God is in control of our physical realm
• but is there a spiritual connection to these
  physical phenomena?
  

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spiritual purpose to physical laws

• help turn us from evil! like a sin repellant
• more sin ? more pain
• more sin ? more work

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• examples
• abusing tools ? less productivity longevity
• abusing family ? less productivity longevity
• abusing body ? less productivity longevity

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why limits on our time?

• uni-dimensional! irreversible!unstoppable!
• bad people can only exist at one time
• none can go back and make things worse, etc.
• none can prolong evil deeds, etc.

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our playpen of space time

• limits how many we can harmtime limits our
  human contactsspace separates us from others
  
• these are the best physics to limit evil in this
  life - its almost almost Godlike!

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• but wait! theres more! theyre not just a
  prevention, theyre also a blessing
  

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best time and place

• right here right now in the whole history of the
  universe we have these fabulous prizes
  
• maximum cosmic window
• best possible observatory
• best possible home
• best possible physics
• most to be conscious of!

71
no surprise mini-summary

• its as if the entire physical universe and its
  laws were made so we could have maximum enjoyment
  of this planet and escape maximum consequences of
  the Fall at this very time and place

72
above and beyond

• but what about our destiny?
• are Krauss and Starkman right? is this all there
  is?
  
• is the universe just Gods playground?
• is He about finished playing with His toys?

73
another dimension, to go

• if heaven is our destiny and heaven is in this
  universe, things look grim
  
• heaven must be beyond!

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intro to extra-D

• through the work of many smart cookies it has
  been established that there are 10 dimensions of
  space and time!

75
the flat family

• subtracting just one D from our universe, we can
  get a glimpse into the extra D and its effects
  
• intro to Flatman and his universe

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the extradimension connection

• how do extra dimensions help us in our faith in
  God and the Bible?and
  
• how does it help us understand our destiny?

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examples of extraD

• the first creation
• burning bush
• inscription of 10 Comm
• NT examples (appearing and eating, Philips free
  ride, transfiguration)
  
• since the beginning of time
• the Prophets prophesying
• etc., etc., etc.

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lo, I am with you always

• His proximity while here and away
• how can He go away, yet remain?

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pray w/o ceasing

• which prayer is God listening to here?
• all, via simultaneous,multi-time-dimension
  attention!
  

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before the foundations

• how can He know us from before time?
• intro the Sphere of Influence
• He has the complete view of everything - now!
• thus, He has knowledge and perspective to time
  everything perfectly ( no coincidences)

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3 in 1

• how can God be three persons in one?
• dunno! but the extra dimensions available make it
  possible if not fully comprehensible

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fully man, fully God

• Incarnation demands accepting the limitations of
  this creation extraD provide insight

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His sacrifice

• 6 hrs suffering no big deal? beg to differ!
• eternal suffering the Biggest Deal - ever
• in extraD He can suffer eternal punishment for
  every single human

84

• extra dimensions explain our past and present
• and they are the foundation of our future and
  destiny

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two creation model

• creation 1
• cosmos Earth prepared
• Adam Eve placed in Eden
• humans tested by evil
• evil conquered by Christ
• all lead, finally, to

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• creation 2
• a new creation prepared for redeemed humans
• God permanently removes evil
• God places redeemed humans in new creation
• whats it like???

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second creation

• its a deliverance from paradise!
• first creation annihilated
• no thermodynamics, gravity, or electromagnetism
  like here
  
• no darkness

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second creation

• enormous habitat
• different dimensionality
• unimaginable splendor, joy, beauty, and peace
• relational space-time limits lifted
• pleasure limits lifted, and best of all
• no lima beans!!!
• more days? more weeks of creation???

89
the new body

• not subject to our laws
• will give us ultimate nuclear family
• what we can accomplish is beyond comprehension

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summary

• science has given us tools of insight into the
  workings of God - here and beyond
  
• the worldview of Men Without God predictably
  leads to despair despite the overwhelming
  evidence to support the existence of the God of
  the Bible

91
conclusion

• despite the despair of those men, there is hope
  for our future
  
• but its not here

92

• Krauss and StarkmanEternity would become a
  prison, rather than an endlessly receding horizon
  of creativity and exploration.

93

• Christ and GodlymenEternity will be freedom
  from a prison an endlessly receding horizon of
  creativity and exploration.

94
No eye has seen,no ear has heard,no man has
conceivedwhat God has prepared for those who
love him.