1. Three Eras of Cosmology
GOD AND THE WORLD
Three Eras of Cosmology

2. SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES
COSMOLOGY
THREE ERAS
ANCIENT
MODERN
POST-MODERN
CHALLENGES TO
MODERN
COSMOLOGY
GOD’S ROLE
IN NATURAL
EVENTS
FOUR SOURCES
OF CONFLICT
ARISTOTLE
DESCARTES,
DARWIN & EVOLUTION
SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES

3. COSMOLOGY story, ideas, or discourse about the order of everything
Related words: cosmos, universe

4. QUESTIONS OF COSMOLOGY
What is the universe made of?
Is it changing? Or static?
Is it good, bad, or neutral?
How did it all begin?
What is the place of humans in it?
What is God’s (0r the gods’) role in it?

5. SOURCES OF COSMOLOGY For most of human history:
Religion, myth, philosophy, observation
In recent history one most influential source:
SCIENCE

6. WHY STUDY COSMOLOGY? Not just an academic or historical concern.
Christians believe God is all-powerful and good
Christians believe God has a plan, is guiding everything according to the plan

7. How can we understand these beliefs in light of what we know about the world today?

8. COSMOLOGY AND GOD’S ROLE NATURAL EVENTS: THREE ERAS
ANCIENT (400 BC – 1600)
MODERN (1600 – 1950)
POST-MODERN (1950 – present)

9. ANCIENT COSMOLOGY

10. ANCIENT COSMOLOGY PAGANISM: GREEK PHILOSOPHY: JUDEO-CHRISTIAN:
Every natural event has a divine cause
GREEK PHILOSOPHY:
Most natural events have a divine, but less direct cause: chain of cause & effect
JUDEO-CHRISTIAN:
God is separate from nature, but God’s plan can be seen in causes and effects of nature

11. ARISTOTLE AND GREEK PHILOSOPHY

12. CAUSE AND EFFECT The idea of cause and effect: an example
The cause can be known in its effect: e.g. hearing
The metaphor of “imprint”
Chains of cause and effect
The First Cause: God the creator?

13. GOD’S ROLE IN NATURAL EVENTS
God is the artist/maker
the work manifests the plan or idea of the maker
God is the commander
Nature’s consistency and order manifest its obedience to Gods’ command

15. NATURE IN ANCIENT COSMOLOGY
Nature is responsive to God’s command
Oriented toward a goal set by God
Can only do what God wills it to do
(Nature can prove that God exists!)

16. THE ADVENT OF SCIENCE AND THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN ERA
Transition to the modern cosmology
THE ADVENT OF SCIENCE AND THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN ERA

17. DESCARTES AND CARTESIAN METHOD
Rene Descartes (d. 1650)

18. CARTESIAN METHOD Radical Doubt
Concern with certainty: “I think; therefore, I am”
Mathematical science: cartesian coordinates
Rejection of ancient proofs of God’s existence

20. ARISTOTLE VS NEWTON

21. SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES TO THE ANCIENT COSMOLOGY
ASTRONOMY:
Order in stars/planets due to mathematically determined relationships
BIRTH OF PHYSICS:
Newton and Gravity – the discovery of force

22. Sir Isaac Newton (d. 1727)
F = 𝑚1 𝑚2 𝑑² 𝑔
-11
g = 6.6 x 10

24. MODERN COSMOLOGY

25. GOD’S ROLE IN NATURAL EVENTS
God reduced to designer/ “clock-maker”
After set-up, no role but watching
God is lawmaker,
His laws of nature direct everything
Occasional role in “miracles”

26. NATURE IN MODERN COSMOLOGY
Nature’s obedience now seen as blind force
Order is now mechanistic
Mechanism and forces operate independently once set in motion
Physical nature is devoid of spirit
Can we know the maker? Do we need him?