Good Heavens! The Human Side of Astronomy

Thanks to Podbean listeners, Good Heavens was recently nominated by Welp Magazine to be in a list of the Top 20 Podcasts in Astronomy for 2021!  To see the article go to https://welpmagazine.com/20-best-astronomy-podcasts-of-2021/ "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  Genesis 1:1  "Great are the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight in them." Psalm 111:2 Today there exists a confidence in the minds of many skeptics and unbelievers that science has somehow disproved God's existence.  According to our guest, Dr. Stephen C. Meyer of Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington, nothing could be further from the truth. In his latest book, The Return of the God Hypothesis, Dr. Meyer unpacks and examines the leading scientific theories in both cosmology and biology and demonstrates with lucid, evidentiary detail, how God is indeed the best explanation for the existence of the universe and life within it. On part one, we discuss Dr. Meyer's personal journey and the latest findings in the science of the universe. You'll find your faith encouraged as we discover together that rather than doing away with God, the exquisite discoveries of the last century point directly to divine intelligence, affirming the wondrous truths of Scripture that everything that has come to be has been made and is sustained by the risen Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 1; Psalm 19; Psalm 111; Isaiah 40:26; Colossians 1; John 1; Hebrews 1:3; 11:3). From Dr. Meyer's website, http://www.thereturnofthegodhypothesis.com Stephen C. Meyer received his Ph.D. in the philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. A former geophysicist and college professor, he now directs Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture in Seattle.   Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.  

There are moral implications and assumptions about climate change. And it is thus vitally important we have a proper understanding not only of the history of Earth, but of current scientific paradigms about the environment that smuggle in a moral imperative about what we ought to do about the environment.  If the heavens and earth are not created, if the Genesis Flood did not occur, and God did not judge the world as Scripture tells us, then how do science or the environment give us any moral commands? Is biological life on earth threatened by human behavior? What does it mean to be human and alive on Earth today? Scripture is clear about these questions. We are created in God's image for the purpose of bringing Him glory. He created the world as very good but it was impacted by human sin. God judged the wickedness of man in a global Flood. Much of modern geological science denies a flood ever took place, and by implication, negating God's judgment. But climate change and the science of the environment have theological and moral implications. Both sides of the debate recognize there is much at stake.  On part two of our discussion with Institute for Creation Research physicist Dr. Jake Hebert, we look more into the nature of Earth's history and environment and discuss how these issues are related to God and His glory in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jake Hebert's page on the ICR website:   https://www.icr.org/jake_hebert/ Jake's book, The Ice Age and Climate Change. Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible. Image by LuisValiente from Pixabay

Climate science is making headlines today. It is one of the hot topics of our time. But what is the science that underlies current scientific assumptions about the environment? Is it sound? Is the planet headed for a catastrophe of our making?   How do we best interpret the history of Earth? Is the past a key to the present? How many ice ages have there been? Come and see climate science as you probably have not seen in the headlines!  On this special two-part episode of Good Heavens! Wayne and I talk with Institute for Creation Research physicist Dr. Jake Hebert III about the current state of climate science and the importance of getting Earth's geological and environmental science right.  Dr. Hebert argues that how we understand the physical universe will profoundly influence how we interpret the current state of our environment.  If God doesn't exist, from where do we derive the moral imperative to care for Earth's climate? Is the Earth a fragile biosphere or is God governing it through His providential wisdom and care? At Good Heavens! we affirm that God is still on the throne and in control of what He has made.  Dr. Jake Hebert earned a Ph.D. in physics in 2011 from the University of Texas at Dallas, where he did cutting-edge research on the connection between cosmic rays, solar activity, and weather and climate. Jake Hebert's page on the ICR website:   https://www.icr.org/jake_hebert/ Jake's book, The Ice Age and Climate Change. Video of largest glacier calving ever filmed:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC3VTgIPoGU Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible. Image by LuisValiente from Pixabay

Matthew, Mark, and Luke see the Last Supper as a Passover meal. But John seems to say the Passover meal had not yet occurred. Can this discrepancy be reconciled? On this special Easter edition of Good Heavens! Wayne and Dan examine a solution proposed by Dr. Colin J. Humphreys in his book, The Mystery of the Last Supper.  We do not argue this is the only possible or conceivable solution, but we do find it persuasive enough to make a podcast out of it!  So come and see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  https://creationanswers.net/biblical/crucifixiondate.htm  https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Last-Supper-Humphreys-ebook/dp/B004V9O7BO/  Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible. Image by Ambroz from Pixabay

If you have not yet listened to part one in our series, we encourage you to check it out before diving into Part 2.  In Part 2, Wayne and I discuss the ways in which ancient Jewish people kept time, we talk about the beauty and regularity of the sun and moon that give us the ability to know times and seasons and we also discuss the wondrous regularity of nature.  Why is it that the sun, moon, and stars all faithfully seem to know their place? Why is it we can predict where they will be in the sky? Why is nature so regular and ordered?  We think it is because Jesus created nature to be this way. It is His "fixed order" that He established when He created the heavens and the earth. And in Jeremiah 31, the LORD uses this "fixed order" of the cosmos as an example of His unfailing and steadfast love toward us in Christ, and even to all creatures great and small, including a humpback whale who delights to eat anchovies!  So come and spend some time with us as we explore the wondrous regularity and usefulness of the sun, moon, stars, and nature.  In Part 3 we will discuss how calendars are relevant to the last week of Christ and the events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion. Books and resources mentioned: The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy Encyclopedia of Ancient Astronomy The Mystery of the Last Supper Links to resources on Wayne's website. https://creationanswers.net/biblical/crucifixiondate.htm https://creationanswers.net/goodies/LastWeek_Christ_Outline.pdf https://creationanswers.net/goodies/LastWeekofChrist.pdf Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

What's the date today? What time is it? For many people and times, the answers to these questions were not always easy to determine. Today, we take it for granted we can tell time by a clock or look up a date on a calendar.  On this episode, Wayne and Dan discuss some fun and curious tidbits about calendars, from the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Romans to the late 16th century when there was a great calendrical reform by Pope Gregory VIII. We talk about the Julian and Gregorian calendars and how the sun and moon figured into months and years.  This is part one of a three-part series that will culminate in the final days of Jesus of Nazareth, leading up to His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, all in line with Easter celebration on Sunday, April 4th of this year.  Books and resources mentioned:  The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy  Encyclopedia of Ancient Astronomy  The Mystery of the Last Supper  Links to resources on Wayne's website.  https://creationanswers.net/biblical/crucifixiondate.htm https://creationanswers.net/goodies/LastWeek_Christ_Outline.pdfhttps://creationanswers.net/goodies/LastWeekofChrist.pdf Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.  

There is much to the universe we simply don't know. And this unknown aspect of the cosmos inspires and fascinates us, inviting us to explore and engage it's tacit voice, "Come and see!"  The psalmist (Psalm 111:2) proclaims, "Great are the works of the LORD, they are studied by all who delight in them". While many scientists who study the cosmos do not acknowledge God as the Creator, their dedication to knowing more about the heavens tells us the created order is imbued with an inestimable value, majesty, awe, and wonder.  We are willing to spend time, effort, and money to knowing more about it's undisclosed secrets.  Whether it is the surface of the moon or the wondrous artistic sculpting of the cloud formations of Jupiter to the most distant galaxies, known or unknown, we believe it all declares the glory of God.  Some of the mysteries mentioned in this series for your further exploration! Note there are not specific "Christian" points of view expressed in these websites and resources and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wayne, Dan, Good Heavens, or Watchman Fellowship, Inc. Fast Radio Bursts: https://astronomy.com/news/2020/11/astronomers-have-finally-found-the-cause-of-mysterious-fast-radio-bursts Gamma Ray Bursts: https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/bursts1.html Book: We Have No Idea https://www.amazon.com/We-Have-No-Idea-Universe/dp/0735211523/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=We+Have+No+Idea Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible. ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team

The universe is filled with "known unknowns" to quote the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. They are fascinating, mysterious and worthy of our attention. There are all sorts of wonderous and fantastically mysterious light sculptures in the cosmos. We talk about the mysteries of stars, galaxies, galaxy structures, fast radio bursts, gamma ray bursts, and all kinds of other things that presently remain a mystery to astronomers, cosmologists, and astrophysicists. And we think all these great unknowns point to the glory of God in Christ. So come and see what's up in our marvelous universe and be amazed by what we don't know!    Some of the mysteries mentioned in this series for your further exploration! Note there are not specific "Christian" points of view expressed in these websites and resources and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wayne, Dan, Good Heavens, or Watchman Fellowship, Inc.    Mysterious light: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/936219170/scientists-discover-outer-space-isnt-pitch-black-after-all   MOND:  https://newatlas.com/physics/modified-gravity-evidence-dark-matter/    Technetium: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ethansiegel/2015/08/01/a-periodic-table-surprise-the-one-element-in-stars-that-isnt-on-earth/?sh=2fa74570df74   Podbean enables the Good Heavens podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.  

Somehow Wayne and Dan are still riding along on a comet  as they explore the mysteries and intrigue of these celestial wonders!  Could comets actually have helped to kickstart life? Just what kind of things must line up in order for this to have happened? What comets can we see in 2021?   Dan made another video trailer for this episode, click here and HANG ON! Video clips from ESA, NBC News, the Discovery Institute. Books: See David A. J. Seargent's book on Amazon, "The Greatest Comets in History: Broom Stars and Celestial Scimitars."  Also on Amazon, look for the 2020 updated edition of the book, "The Mystery of Life's Origin" by Thaxton, Bradley, and Olsen (and others).   For David Gelernter's essay on why he left Darwinism, go to https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/giving-up-darwin/ Or see Wayne's article for this podcast, on comets and the origin of life:  https://creationanswers.net/answersblog/2020/12/24/comets-meteorites-the-origin-of-life/ Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/store/donations. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible. Good Heavens! is a production of Watchman Fellowship, Inc. A 501 C (3) educational non-profit Christian research organization.

Come along and ride a comet with Wayne and Dan as they explore the mysteries and intrigue of these celestial wonders!  Why are they so regular? Why are they so surprising? How do they behave? What are they made of? From where did they come? And could they have seeded life on our planet?  From Halley and ISON to the present day extraordinary accomplishment of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to Comet 67P, comets continue to fascinate us. Come and see what's up with comets and find out how you can catch one in 2021!  To see a video trailer for this episode, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfHWqYxIaOo   See the book on The Greatest Comets in History on Amazon. See the technical book, "The Mystery of Life's Origin" on Amazon See Wayne’s article on comets and the origin of life at https://creationanswers.net/answersblog.   Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/store/donations. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.    Good Heavens! is a production of Watchman Fellowship, Inc. A 501 C (3) educational non-profit Christian research organization providing the body of Christ with resources on apologetics, world religions, cults, and non-Christian worldviews. Visit our main site at Watchman.org.  If you enjoy Good Heavens! be sure to check out our other podcast Apologetics Profile. We feature conversations and interviews about Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, science and other apologetics topics from top-notch authors and guests!  Image credit:  TRAPPIST/E. Jehin/ESO