Question
Dear Gramps,
It is a proven fact that the universe is expanding and in time will implode again or will forever expand. Neither will be very good. If this is true, how can the universe be eternal? What was there before the big bang? And how can we endure for eternity on a celestialized earth, as Mormon doctrine states, if this is the case?
Mike
Answer
Dear Mike,
I think we would be a lot better off in the kingdom if we were to put as much faith in the words of the prophets as we do in those of the scientists. You say that it is a proven fact that the universe is expanding. That is not a fact; it is merely a theory! And there is recent scientific evidence that the theory of an expanding universe is incorrect.
The idea of an expanding universe is deduced from the observation of the red shift of the hydrogen spectral lines emanating from the stars. This Doppler effect is greater in some stars than in others. Therefore, it is concluded that the stars showing the greater doppler effect are more distant from the earth and are thus receding from the earth at a greater rate.
An analogy of the expanding universe could be made by putting a number of ink dots on a balloon, and then blowing the balloon up. Assume that the earth is any one ink dot and it is observed that all the other ink dots on the expanding balloon are receding from it, and that those that are farther away are receding at a greater rate. So, it is logically concluded that the greater Doppler effect represents stars that are moving away at a greater rate and therefore must be farther away from the earth than those emanating light with a lesser red shift.
In astronomy, however, we can’t make independent measurements of either distance or speed of recession of the distant stars. Our only measuring tool is the Doppler effect of the radiation emanating from the stars. What scientists are doing is using the Doppler effect to prove that the stars are receding from the earth at a rate proportional to their distance from the earth. They then use the conclusion that the stars are moving away from the earth according to the expansion theory to justify the Doppler effect. They are using the theory to prove itself !
I mentioned above that there is scientific evidence that the theory of the expanding universe may not be correct. A paper was published in Physical Review Letters, 63, 20, 13 Nov. 1989 p. 2220-23, entitled “Correlation-Induced Doppler-Like Frequency Shifts of Spectra Lines,” by Emil Wolf, that suggests that the Doppler effect of the hydrogen spectral lines emanating from the stars can be explained by a scattering phenomenon induced by interstellar media, and therefore does not require an expanding universe to explain the phenomenon. A paragraph from the conclusion section of the paper reads as follows:
There is a widely held opinion that no other mechanism except the Doppler effect and gravitation exist within the framework of present-day physics, which can account even for parts of the red shifts observed in the spectra of radiation that reaches us from astronomical sources. The analysis presented in this Letter raises a question about the correctness of this opinion.
Now, let’s hear a word on this subject from the Lord.
For by the power of my Spirit created I all things; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal– First spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work; and again, first temporal, and secondly spiritual, which is the last of my work–Speaking unto you that you may naturally understand; but unto myself my works have no end, neither beginning; but it is given unto you that ye may understand, because ye have asked it of me and are agreed (D&C 29:31-33).
If God himself declares that his works have no end, neither beginning, what does that say about the “big bang” theory that declares that the universe started at a given moment of time? The scientists who propose this theory have impaled themselves on the horns of a dilemma. They state that matter can be neither created nor destroyed. (It is accepted that matter can be converted to energy and visa versa, but the laws of conservation are not violated.) Then what about the moment before the “big bang”? That question is not addressed by science.
There is absolutely no doubt that as science progresses the “big bang” theory will be shown to be incorrect and will be relegated to the dust bin of history as have all the scientific theories that predate those that are presently held so tenaciously by the scientific proponents of today.
Gramps
