IMAGES OF THE COSMOS
WHAT IS THE “WORLD ORDER”
AND
HOW DO WE KNOW IT?
• According to the Big Bang theory, the universe
emerged from an extremely dense and hot
state (singularity). Space itself has been
expanding ever since, carrying galaxies with it,
like raisins in a rising loaf of bread. The graphic
scheme above is an artist's conception
illustrating the expansion of a portion of a flat
universe.
GRAPHIC IMAGE OF BIG BANG
IMAGES OF THE UNIVERSE
PICTURES TAKEN
RECENTLY FROM
THE HUBBLE
TELESCOPE
Fr. Georges Lemaitre
1884-1966
Fr. Lemaitre and Albert Einstein
Lemaitre deduced “Big Bang”
from General Relativity
Dianoia and Pistis?
• It is tempting to think that Lemaitre's deeply-held religious
beliefs might have led him to the notion of a beginning of
time. After all, the Judeo-Christian tradition had propagated a
similar idea for millennia. Yet Lemaître clearly insisted that
there was neither a connection nor a conflict between his
religion and his science. Rather he kept them entirely
separate, treating them as different, parallel interpretations of
the world, both of which he believed with personal
conviction. Indeed, when Pope Pius XII referred to the new
theory of the origin of the universe as a scientific validation of
the Catholic faith, Lemaître was rather alarmed.
Dianoia and Pistis?
“As far as I can see, such a theory remains
entirely outside any metaphysical or religious
question. It leaves the materialist free to deny
any transcendental Being… For the believer, it
removes any attempt at familiarity with God…
It is consonant with Isaiah speaking of the
hidden God, hidden even in the beginning of
the universe.”
http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html
Edwin Hubble
1889-1953
Hubble's law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
v = H0D
• v is the recessional velocity of the galaxy or
other distant object,
• D is the comoving distance to the object, and
• H0 is Hubble's constant, measured to be
+1.3
70.4
−1.4 km/s/Mpc by the WMAP probe.[32]
Fred Hoyle
1915-2001
Would you not say to yourself, "Some super-calculating
intellect must have designed the properties of the
carbon atom, otherwise the chance of my finding such
an atom through the blind forces of nature would be
utterly minuscule." Of course you would . . . A common
sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a
superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as
with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind
forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers
one calculates from the facts seem to me so
overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond
question.[3]
-Fred Hoyle (Coined the term “Big Bang”)
So What Do We Know Now?
• The Universe: 16 Billion Years
–If 1” = 1 million years: 1331 feet
• The Earth: 4.5 Billion Years
–If 1” = 1 million years: 375 feet
What Do We Know Now?
The material in our bodies is
–16 billion years old
–Completely replaced every 7 years
–The elements developed almost
instantly
–They have been evolving ever since
–The are billions of galaxies
–The Universe continues to expand
What Do We Know Now?
Genetically speaking—
• Each of us embodies the
unbroken chain of DNA of our
ancestors
• Yet each of us is unique:
–I am not my grandfather
–This is not my grandfather's
Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
1881-1955
Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
• THE STUFF OF THE UNIVERSE REVEALS ITSELF
UNDER TWO ASPECTS:
– OUTER-MECHANICAL ORGANIZATION
– INNER-CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS/
RESPONSIVENESS
THE LATTER BECOMES UNAVOIDABLY
OBVIOUS WITH HUMANS