From Arcadia, California,
the Carter Report presents
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"The Living
Word" around the world.
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Hello friend, I am John Carter.
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Welcome today to
the Carter Report.
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I have two great
guests with me today
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from "Reasons to Believe."
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Dr. Hugh Ross,
a noted astronomer
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and Dr. Fazale Rana,
who is a noted biologist.
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We're going to talk today about
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"The Big Bang
and All That" stuff.
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Welcome today.
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Jesus said, "Go
into all the world
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and make
disciples of all nations,
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baptizing them in
the name of the Father,
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Son, and Holy Spirit."
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The Carter Report
team has therefore
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accepted the challenge
of worldwide evangelism.
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Millions in Russia, Ukraine,
the Philippines, Africa,
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India, Australia,
the United States,
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and the Isles of the Sea
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have heard the
good news of Christ
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as John Carter has
proclaimed God's Living Word.
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You are invited to be
a part of the Carter team
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by praying and by giving
and when God calls by going.
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Write a note now
to Pastor John Carter,
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PO Box 1900, Thousand
Oaks, California 91358
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or to PO Box 861,
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Terrigal, NSW 2260, Australia.
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Jesus said, "With God
all things are possible."
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Welcome today and
welcome to you, Dr. Ross.
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Thank you.
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Welcome to you,
Dr. Rana. Thank you.
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You come from great organization
here in Southern California.
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It's called
"Reasons to Believe."
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What's it about
"Reasons to Believe?"
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Well, we're developing
new reasons to believe
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in Jesus Christ as
Creator, Lord and Savior,
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predominately from
the Book of Nature.
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You know, the Bible tells
us God has given us two books,
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the Book of Scripture
and the Book of Nature.
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And so Book of Nature
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that reveals existence
of God and His attributes
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and we're living in a society
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where lot of people aren't sure
about whether or not God exist.
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And if they are sure,
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they're not sure
what His attributes are.
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So we're doing is
developing new discoveries,
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looking at new discoveries
in the Book of Nature
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as a way to introduce
people to this Creator God,
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persuade them this God exist
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and basically use
these new evidences
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for the God of the Bible
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as a bridge to the
traditional evidences.
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By profession,
you are an astronomer.
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Right. And by
profession, you are--
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Biochemist. A biochemist.
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I said, biologist before,
so I was bit out, wasn't I?
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Well, it's-- you know,
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a biochemist is under
the umbrella of a biologist.
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So I was sort of right.
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You were right. Yeah.
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Only by
accident, I can assure you.
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Why did you
become an astronomer?
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Well, I was seven years of age
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and wanted to know
why the stars were hot.
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And my parents told
me to go to the library.
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How did you know
the stars were hot?
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My parents told
me they were hot.
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And I wasn't
satisfied with that.
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I wanted to know
why they were hot.
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And that's what
eventually caused me
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to become an astronomer.
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Will your
parents believe this? No.
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They didn't become
believers until their late 70s.
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But they were moral people.
But they became believers.
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They did become
believers about 35 years
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after I gave my life to Christ.
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And then you
studied astronomy where?
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You got your doctorate where?
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At the University of
Toronto. I was raised in Canada.
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And then also
down the road here,
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there is the-- this Caltech.
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Yes, and after I got my PhD
at the University of Toronto,
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Caltech invited me to come
and to do postdoctoral research.
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And yeah, it's one of the
finest institutions for that.
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And the reason why I
accepted their invitation,
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they had the telescope.
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I wanted to do
my ongoing research.
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Oh. Then tell me
about this telescope?
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Well, at that time it was rare
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to have radio telescopes
in high-altitude deserts.
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And here in California, we
have a high-altitude desert.
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They had some
great telescopes there
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and I said, I've got a
research program, I can--
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What did you
basically research at Caltech?
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Distinct galaxies and quasars.
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I was very interested in
the physics of the universe
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when it's relatively
young and how that leads
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to the kind of
galaxies that we have today
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that would allow for
the existence of life.
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Faz, why did you
become a biologist?
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Well, I was enrolled
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in a pre-med
program as an undergraduate
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and I took my
first biology course,
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the first
question we dealt with was
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the question, what is life?
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And that was astounding to me
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to know that or
to come to learn that
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that biologists
couldn't define what life is.
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And so that just got me
very curious about what is life
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and how does it all
work at a basic level.
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And so I gave up any
interest in becoming a doctor
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and I wanted to
become a biochemist.
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Where did you study?
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My PhD was at Ohio
University in Athens, Ohio
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and then I also did
postdoctoral fellowships
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at the
University of the Virginia
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and the University of Georgia.
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And you're a
committed Christian?
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I am, yes.
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So you believe
that that there is a--
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there's no incompatibility
between science and scripture?
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Yeah, I believe
there is full harmony
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between science and
scripture, in fact--
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Or nature and
scripture. Exactly.
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Yes. That's a
better way to say it.
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And it was really my
study of biochemical systems
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that convinced me
that these had to be
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the work of a mind
and that opened me up to
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asking the really
important questions,
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who is that Creator
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and how do I
relate to the Creator.
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Of course, if you
talk to many people today
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and particularly in some
circles they'll tell you,
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you can't be
intellectually honest
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and really believe the Bible.
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How would you respond to that?
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I think there is overwhelming
evidence for God's existence
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when it comes to the--
again the record of nature,
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whether it's in astronomy
or whether it's in biochemistry
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in all disciplines
in between, if you will.
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And so you believe
there are reasons to believe.
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Yes, very good
reasons to believe.
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What a great title?
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I wish we
thought about it first,
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we would have been
using it at the Carter Report.
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You're an astronomer? Yes.
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Tell me about and tell
us all about the Big Bang.
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Now this is got bad connotations
with not all Christians,
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of course but some
Christians have got bad feelings
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towards the term the Big Bang.
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What is the Big Bang?
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I think they have
these bad feelings,
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because they have
the wrong definition
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or
understanding of the Big Bang.
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First of all the term,
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Big Bang was
applied to the theory
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by a Hindu astronomer Fred
Hoyle as a term of division.
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So it was
basically a marking term
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and people get the
idea that the Big Bang
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is some chaotic explosion,
it's the exact opposite.
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Now he didn't believe
in the Big Bang, did he?
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He believed in the-- Did he?
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No, not all. No.
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He was very
committed to study state.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And the reason why as he says,
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you know, we
accept this Big Bang,
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the universe has got a beginning
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and there's a
beginning, there's a beginner.
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And he was a Hindu.
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Well, he had a Hindu
worldview perspective.
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Yeah.
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And he was looking for some
way to have the universe eternal
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rather than having the brief
period of time in Big Bang.
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That's not a
Christian view point, of course.
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No.
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And the Hindu view point says,
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no beginning, no ending
sort of thing of the universe.
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Well, Hindu say that
there's many beginnings.
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And so the universe goes
through repeated beginnings.
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Cycles of 4.32 billion
years between one and the next
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and Fred Hoyle looked
at Big Bang cosmology,
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it's one beginning and
it's a finite period of time.
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And he was wanting infinite time
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so we have time for evolution,
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biological
evolution to do his thing.
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I mean, when the Big Bang
Theory was first proposed,
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astronomers who were non-theists
says we can't go with this.
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It doesn't allow us enough time
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for the Darwinian biological
evolutionary model to operate.
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Tell me this again,
because many of my friends--
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at least some of my friends say,
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if you believe in the Big Bang,
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this means that you
believe really in evolution.
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Because they think if
you got billions of years
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and that's
going to be everything
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that Darwinian model needs
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where as astronomers
were not naive on this.
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They said that's only ten zeros.
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And of all you got
is billions of years,
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there's no way to
save the Darwinian model
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for the origin
of history of life.
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And so for decades,
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Zerotronic come up with some
understanding of the universe
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that would allow the universe
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to be at least the
quadrillion years old.
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But eventually the
evidence became overwhelming
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that the
universe has a beginning.
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Has not just any
kind of beginning,
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it's a beginning of
space and time itself.
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Which is very much
what the Bible says.
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Well, normally is
what the Bible says
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is what the
Bible uniquely states.
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Of all the holy books
religions of the world
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where the Bible
stands apart is saying
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that God creates
independent of space and time
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rather than with
in space and time.
00:10:03.38\00:10:05.39
How old is the universe?
00:10:05.42\00:10:08.52
Now you're an astronomer? Right.
00:10:08.55\00:10:11.37
How old is the universe?
00:10:11.40\00:10:13.51
Now some people think
00:10:13.54\00:10:15.02
the universe is only
few thousands years old.
00:10:15.05\00:10:19.27
Of course, the
Bible doesn't teach that,
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that is simply a
tradition of some churches.
00:10:20.79\00:10:24.04
But what is the evidence
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that supports a
very old universe?
00:10:26.60\00:10:30.52
Oh, there's many
categories of evidences
00:10:30.55\00:10:33.27
where we get our
most accurate measure
00:10:33.30\00:10:35.48
for the age of universe
is by examining in detail
00:10:35.51\00:10:39.73
the radiation from
the cosmic creation event.
00:10:39.76\00:10:42.67
That's the radiation leftover
00:10:42.70\00:10:44.92
from the universe
come into existence.
00:10:44.95\00:10:47.71
And by carefully
measuring that radiation,
00:10:47.74\00:10:50.50
we can determine
that the universe
00:10:50.53\00:10:52.66
is 13.79 billion
years old and the year bond
00:10:52.69\00:10:57.28
that is now only plus
or minus, 0.05 billion.
00:10:57.31\00:11:00.61
So it's known to
high degree of precision,
00:11:00.64\00:11:03.52
but you get the same date
00:11:03.55\00:11:04.76
if you were to use
radiometric dating.
00:11:04.79\00:11:06.89
If you're to
measure the expansion
00:11:06.92\00:11:08.36
rate of the
universe, you get the same date
00:11:08.39\00:11:10.30
and no matter
what technique we use,
00:11:10.33\00:11:12.37
like the burning
history of stars,
00:11:12.40\00:11:14.42
you'll get the same date.
00:11:14.45\00:11:15.56
All the dates are consistent
with that 13.79 billion.
00:11:15.59\00:11:21.15
This is what brought
me to faith in Christ
00:11:21.18\00:11:23.50
is when I looked at the Bible
00:11:23.53\00:11:25.00
and I saw that it
talk all the elements,
00:11:25.03\00:11:27.55
the foundational
elements of Big Bang cosmology,
00:11:27.58\00:11:31.34
thousands of years before
any astronomer even dreamed
00:11:31.37\00:11:34.90
that the universe had
these characteristics.
00:11:34.93\00:11:37.57
It's not just
that the Bible tells us
00:11:37.60\00:11:39.92
that the
universe has a beginning,
00:11:39.95\00:11:42.02
it has a space, time beginning.
00:11:42.05\00:11:43.93
Space and time don't exist
until God creates the universe.
00:11:43.96\00:11:47.60
And as much as a Bible says
00:11:47.63\00:11:49.18
about the
beginning of the universe,
00:11:49.21\00:11:51.16
it says more about the
expansion of the universe.
00:11:51.19\00:11:54.21
So the
expanding universe concept
00:11:54.24\00:11:56.00
is embedded in the writings
00:11:56.03\00:11:58.06
of six different
Old Testament prophets.
00:11:58.09\00:12:00.81
Then it tells us that it expands
00:12:00.84\00:12:02.32
under laws of
physics that don't change,
00:12:02.35\00:12:05.01
where one of those laws
is a pervasive law of decay.
00:12:05.04\00:12:08.53
As a young physics
student I realized,
00:12:08.56\00:12:10.82
if the universe is expanding
under laws that don't change,
00:12:10.85\00:12:14.56
or one of those laws is
a pervasive law of decay,
00:12:14.59\00:12:18.36
that implies that the
universe gets progressively
00:12:18.39\00:12:21.44
colder and colder as
it gets older and older.
00:12:21.47\00:12:25.73
Cold and colder as
it gets older and older.
00:12:25.76\00:12:28.23
In a
numerically predictable way.
00:12:28.26\00:12:31.23
And you know what's exciting
00:12:31.26\00:12:32.80
is we
astronomers now can measure
00:12:32.83\00:12:35.10
the past
temperature of the universe.
00:12:35.13\00:12:37.67
Those past temperature
measurements perfectly fit
00:12:37.70\00:12:40.72
what the Bible predicted
thousands of years ago.
00:12:40.75\00:12:43.47
And also to-- talk
to me about this Faz,
00:12:43.50\00:12:46.67
evolution says
or atheist evolution
00:12:46.70\00:12:50.81
that life started from non-life.
00:12:50.84\00:12:53.07
Now if the universe
00:12:54.18\00:12:56.65
is of a
relatively recent origin.
00:12:56.68\00:13:01.27
How does this affect our views
00:13:02.43\00:13:04.34
towards the evolution of
life from non-life matter?
00:13:04.37\00:13:11.97
How does this
influence our thinking?
00:13:12.00\00:13:13.34
Well, I mean even though
00:13:13.37\00:13:14.40
the universe is approximately
14 billion years in age,
00:13:14.43\00:13:17.99
you don't have
that full length of time
00:13:18.02\00:13:20.38
for the origin of life.
00:13:20.41\00:13:21.58
You don't have the
appropriate chemical elements
00:13:21.61\00:13:24.21
that you need for
the origin of life
00:13:24.24\00:13:26.77
until the universe
has at least existed
00:13:26.80\00:13:30.70
for
approximately 10 billion years.
00:13:30.73\00:13:33.10
So you don't have as much time
00:13:33.13\00:13:35.06
as you think you might have
00:13:35.09\00:13:37.75
even if the universe
is billions of years old.
00:13:37.78\00:13:40.10
And what's remarkable
00:13:40.13\00:13:41.36
is that when life appears,
on earth it appears suddenly.
00:13:41.39\00:13:44.57
It's a dramatic
event where you have
00:13:44.60\00:13:47.68
the very first
life forms even though
00:13:47.71\00:13:49.76
they are single cell organisms
00:13:49.79\00:13:51.30
are incredibly complex
from a biochemical standpoint.
00:13:51.33\00:13:54.81
So you go from nothing to
an incredibly complex system.
00:13:54.84\00:13:59.35
Therefore, if I
understand you both correctly,
00:13:59.38\00:14:03.38
you're saying that the--
the Big Bang Theory is really
00:14:03.41\00:14:08.03
the death sentence
towards atheistic evolution.
00:14:08.06\00:14:14.39
Well, for
example the latest book
00:14:14.42\00:14:16.16
written by an atheist physicist
00:14:16.19\00:14:19.03
"The Universe from
Nothing" by Lawrence Krauss.
00:14:19.06\00:14:21.17
He says there in the book
that we can no longer avoid
00:14:21.20\00:14:24.39
a deistic
interpretation of reality.
00:14:24.42\00:14:27.34
Because of our
compelling evidences
00:14:27.37\00:14:29.37
that the
universe has a beginning
00:14:29.40\00:14:31.39
and there must be
a causal agent beyond
00:14:31.42\00:14:33.40
space and time that brings
the universe into existence.
00:14:33.43\00:14:37.27
And we'll be back
after this short break.
00:14:37.30\00:14:40.47
Hello friend, I am
John Carter in Colombia.
00:14:44.11\00:14:48.86
Behind me is the
great city of Bogota,
00:14:48.89\00:14:51.75
the capital of
this amazing country.
00:14:51.78\00:14:55.30
This city is a city of
more than eight million souls.
00:14:55.33\00:15:01.88
It's up more than
8,000 feet in the Andes.
00:15:01.91\00:15:07.21
And we've come here
today with one purpose in mind
00:15:07.24\00:15:11.05
to preach the everlasting gospel
00:15:11.08\00:15:13.02
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:15:13.05\00:15:15.91
We are here because we
have a commission from God.
00:15:15.94\00:15:19.75
Jesus said, "Go
into all the world
00:15:19.78\00:15:22.91
and preach the
everlasting gospel,
00:15:22.94\00:15:25.81
baptizing them in
the name of the Father,
00:15:25.84\00:15:28.27
and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit."
00:15:28.30\00:15:31.69
The people here need
the Gospel of Christ.
00:15:31.72\00:15:35.99
And I am asking
you today come with us,
00:15:36.02\00:15:38.51
if not in body but
come with us in spirit.
00:15:38.54\00:15:42.27
This has been a
very, very dangerous city.
00:15:42.30\00:15:45.70
A very dangerous
part of the world,
00:15:45.73\00:15:48.40
but we believe that we are safe
00:15:48.43\00:15:50.72
when we are in the hands of God.
00:15:50.75\00:15:53.48
Therefore, I am beseeching
you in the name of christ
00:15:53.51\00:15:57.46
and in the names of these
eight million plus inhabitants
00:15:57.49\00:16:01.89
in the city of Bogota
00:16:01.92\00:16:04.40
to come and help us to
preach the word of God.
00:16:04.43\00:16:07.80
Please support the preaching
of the word of God in Columbia.
00:16:07.83\00:16:12.16
Please write to me, John Carter,
00:16:12.19\00:16:14.43
PO Box 1900,
00:16:14.46\00:16:16.78
Thousand Oaks,
California, 91358.
00:16:16.81\00:16:20.78
In Australia, write
to me at the address,
00:16:20.81\00:16:23.70
Terrigal, New
South Wales, Australia.
00:16:23.73\00:16:27.43
Jesus said,
"Work while it is day
00:16:27.46\00:16:30.74
the night is coming
when no man can work."
00:16:30.77\00:16:34.39
Please write to me today.
00:16:34.42\00:16:36.52
Thank you, and God bless you
00:16:36.55\00:16:38.81
Welcome back.
00:16:45.38\00:16:46.42
We're talking about
00:16:46.45\00:16:47.61
"The Big Bang
and All That" stuff.
00:16:47.64\00:16:49.33
And we have two
great guests with us today.
00:16:49.36\00:16:53.06
Welcome back, Dr.
Ross and Dr. Rana.
00:16:53.09\00:16:57.12
Dr. Ross, how did you come
00:16:57.15\00:16:59.21
to believe in God,
in a personal Creator?
00:16:59.24\00:17:01.96
You started out
basically in an atheistic home.
00:17:01.99\00:17:05.50
Well, it's a moral home,
00:17:05.53\00:17:07.52
but it is a home where
my parents didn't believe
00:17:07.55\00:17:09.86
that there was an afterlife.
00:17:09.89\00:17:12.05
No such thing as eternal life
00:17:12.08\00:17:15.08
but they thought that the Bible
00:17:15.11\00:17:16.32
had some good moral teachings,
00:17:16.35\00:17:17.59
although I didn't start
reading the Bible till I was 17.
00:17:17.62\00:17:20.24
They motivated
me to read the Bible
00:17:20.27\00:17:22.98
was becoming convinced
from my studies in astronomy
00:17:23.01\00:17:26.11
that the
universe had a beginning
00:17:26.14\00:17:27.64
and therefore beginner.
00:17:27.67\00:17:29.47
And I actually looked at
00:17:29.50\00:17:30.67
several different holy
books of religions of the world.
00:17:30.70\00:17:33.43
But recognized that
of all those holy books,
00:17:33.46\00:17:36.48
only the Bible was- had a
teaching that was matching
00:17:36.51\00:17:40.39
what we're
discovering in astronomy.
00:17:40.42\00:17:42.08
And so the fact that
the Bible had, you know,
00:17:42.11\00:17:45.32
actually been a
head of the scientist
00:17:45.35\00:17:48.14
by thousands of
years and I spent two years
00:17:48.17\00:17:52.12
studying the Bible and realize
that this book that we call
00:17:52.15\00:17:55.28
the Bible had
accurately forecasts
00:17:55.31\00:17:58.01
at least 200 separate
scientific discoveries,
00:17:58.04\00:18:01.32
hundreds and sometimes thousands
00:18:01.35\00:18:03.68
of years in advance of its time
00:18:03.71\00:18:06.09
that convinced me that
this book had to be inspire
00:18:06.12\00:18:08.88
by the one that
actually created this universe.
00:18:08.91\00:18:11.83
And that's what motivated me
00:18:11.86\00:18:13.64
to sign my name in
the book of a Gideon Bible
00:18:13.67\00:18:16.09
at age 19 that I'm
committing my life to Christ.
00:18:16.12\00:18:20.08
And then since that
time realize every year
00:18:20.11\00:18:22.99
we're making new
scientific discoveries
00:18:23.02\00:18:25.58
that actually made the
case stronger for Christianity.
00:18:25.61\00:18:29.16
So there are reasons to believe.
00:18:29.19\00:18:30.45
Now Faz, how long
have you been a Christian?
00:18:30.48\00:18:33.88
About 28 years now.
00:18:35.04\00:18:36.35
How did you become a Christian?
00:18:36.38\00:18:37.84
Again it was in graduate school
00:18:37.87\00:18:39.62
studying
biochemistry convinced me--
00:18:39.65\00:18:42.49
You were an
unbeliever? I was an unbeliever.
00:18:42.52\00:18:45.06
Where you brought
up as an unbeliever?
00:18:45.09\00:18:46.30
Oh, I had a very
interesting upbringing.
00:18:46.33\00:18:49.45
My father was a Muslim
00:18:49.48\00:18:50.66
and my mom was a
non-practicing Catholic.
00:18:50.69\00:18:53.41
And so when they married,
00:18:53.44\00:18:55.01
they agreed to disagree
when it came to religion.
00:18:55.04\00:18:57.48
They're smart. Yes.
00:18:57.51\00:18:58.96
But the most of religious of
my two parents was my father.
00:18:58.99\00:19:02.73
And so my parents
left it up to my brother
00:19:02.76\00:19:05.85
and I to figure
things out on our own.
00:19:05.88\00:19:08.12
And so by the
time I was in college,
00:19:08.15\00:19:10.58
I pretty much was an agnostic.
00:19:10.61\00:19:12.12
But again studying
biochemical systems
00:19:12.15\00:19:15.34
and the design convinced
me there had to be a creator
00:19:15.37\00:19:18.20
and that open me up to
begin to read through scripture.
00:19:18.23\00:19:21.16
Do you believe
00:19:21.19\00:19:22.64
that a person can have an
actual relationship to God,
00:19:22.67\00:19:26.27
the relationship to the Creator?
00:19:26.30\00:19:28.87
Yeah, that's the thing,
that's the most astounding is.
00:19:28.90\00:19:31.38
That is astounding, isn't it?
00:19:31.41\00:19:32.47
There's overwhelming
evidence for a creator.
00:19:32.50\00:19:34.73
Because He's a
very big God, isn't He?
00:19:34.76\00:19:37.26
He's an incredibly big God.
00:19:37.29\00:19:39.29
And He's very old. Yes.
00:19:39.32\00:19:41.46
We believe and the evidence
00:19:41.49\00:19:44.52
that the universe
itself came into being
00:19:44.55\00:19:47.86
in a flash of
light of the energy,
00:19:47.89\00:19:49.62
space, time, 13.7--what?
00:19:49.65\00:19:52.93
Nine billion years ago.
00:19:52.96\00:19:54.29
I thought it was 13.72 or
has that been changed or--?
00:19:54.32\00:19:58.93
Yeah, there's new measurements
00:19:58.96\00:19:59.99
that just came
out of few months ago
00:20:00.02\00:20:01.71
where they're able to measure it
00:20:01.74\00:20:03.22
with about 3 to 4
times more precision.
00:20:03.25\00:20:06.32
Is it true it was,
we thought was 13.72?
00:20:06.35\00:20:09.08
Yes. Yeah. And now it's 13.79.
00:20:09.11\00:20:12.02
Yeah, well, the
air bar is smaller now.
00:20:12.05\00:20:13.73
What is smaller?
00:20:13.76\00:20:15.69
Well, the
uncertainty we have in our--
00:20:15.72\00:20:18.44
Oh, I understand.
00:20:18.47\00:20:19.52
Is much smaller
than it was back.
00:20:19.55\00:20:21.28
So it's almost 14
billion years old.
00:20:21.31\00:20:23.36
Yeah.
00:20:23.39\00:20:24.45
So first up, this is a--
00:20:24.48\00:20:27.90
pardon, I even
using a scientific term.
00:20:27.93\00:20:30.21
It's a quantum leap to believe--
00:20:30.24\00:20:34.12
to discover He's such a big God.
00:20:34.15\00:20:36.23
Because He's older than
14 billion years, isn't He?
00:20:36.26\00:20:39.68
Yeah.
00:20:39.71\00:20:40.74
I mean, He was there
before that, that's what God is.
00:20:40.77\00:20:44.08
Yeah, He's eternal in the past.
00:20:44.11\00:20:45.77
And when He
created the universe,
00:20:45.80\00:20:47.78
He actually created it
00:20:47.81\00:20:48.84
with nine dimensions
of space not just three.
00:20:48.87\00:20:51.65
So He's actually bigger
than 10 space time dimensions.
00:20:51.68\00:20:54.84
So He's an
incredibly big interesting God.
00:20:54.87\00:20:59.39
Yes.
00:20:59.42\00:21:00.45
Faz, you believe that a person
00:21:02.41\00:21:04.38
can actually have a
relationship with this God.
00:21:04.41\00:21:07.16
Isn't this somewhat
an astounding claim?
00:21:07.19\00:21:11.18
It is, but that's again
in a sense of my journey
00:21:11.21\00:21:14.96
to faith in
Christ is recognizing
00:21:14.99\00:21:18.04
that first there's a Creator
00:21:18.07\00:21:19.38
and then wondering
who is that Creator,
00:21:19.41\00:21:21.25
how do I relate to the Creator?
00:21:21.28\00:21:22.97
And as I read through scripture,
00:21:23.00\00:21:25.61
I discovered that there's
this person Jesus Christ,
00:21:25.64\00:21:28.39
who is the mediator
00:21:28.42\00:21:30.19
between human
beings and that Creator
00:21:30.22\00:21:32.87
and it's through Jesus
that we know the Creator.
00:21:32.90\00:21:34.84
How do you have a
personal experience with God?
00:21:34.87\00:21:37.86
How do you personally?
How does it work for you?
00:21:37.89\00:21:40.95
Well, it's first
of all recognizing
00:21:40.98\00:21:43.33
that I'm a sinner and I'm
in hopeless need of a Savior.
00:21:43.36\00:21:47.95
And it's the person of Jesus,
00:21:47.98\00:21:49.27
who is fully
human but also fully God
00:21:49.30\00:21:53.58
who led a life
that was without sin.
00:21:53.61\00:21:55.82
Who died on the
cross for my sake
00:21:55.85\00:21:58.48
and is by putting my trust
in what He did on the cross.
00:21:58.51\00:22:02.97
I believe this million percent.
00:22:03.00\00:22:04.36
Yes.
00:22:04.39\00:22:05.80
It's wonderful to hear
scientist saying the same thing,
00:22:05.83\00:22:08.93
because there is not
warfare, really is there?
00:22:08.96\00:22:15.08
Between, revelation and nature,
00:22:15.11\00:22:19.15
because God gave us both.
00:22:19.18\00:22:20.49
That's right.
00:22:20.52\00:22:21.83
And now this is
absolutely wonderful.
00:22:21.86\00:22:23.24
Dr. Ross, how were the elements
00:22:24.97\00:22:27.44
that compose
the universe formed?
00:22:27.47\00:22:29.60
Now in the beginning--
00:22:30.69\00:22:33.40
Now you know, a trillion times
00:22:33.43\00:22:36.05
more about these things
than I will ever hope to.
00:22:36.08\00:22:38.41
The universe when it was
formed was there only hydrogen?
00:22:40.41\00:22:43.83
Yes, that was the only element
00:22:43.86\00:22:45.78
that existed when
God created the universe
00:22:45.81\00:22:49.26
and as the universe expanded
from the cosmic creation event.
00:22:49.29\00:22:52.68
Yes. It got cooler and cooler.
00:22:52.71\00:22:55.28
And there's a brief
window about 20 seconds wide.
00:22:55.31\00:22:58.26
Colder and
older. Yes, you got it.
00:22:58.29\00:23:00.92
There's a window
about 20 seconds wide,
00:23:00.95\00:23:03.99
when the universe
was at the temperature
00:23:04.02\00:23:06.19
where nuclear fusion can occur.
00:23:06.22\00:23:08.28
And during that 20 second window
00:23:08.31\00:23:10.29
about one quarter
of all the hydrogen
00:23:10.32\00:23:12.70
was fused into helium.
00:23:12.73\00:23:15.07
And then that
collected into stars much later
00:23:15.10\00:23:18.04
and stars that fuse
the hydrogen, helium
00:23:18.07\00:23:22.50
into all the
elements that we have today
00:23:22.53\00:23:25.96
and then you
look at planet earth.
00:23:25.99\00:23:27.31
We have the full
compliment of the elements,
00:23:27.34\00:23:30.85
98 elements that exists.
00:23:30.88\00:23:34.12
But every one of those
elements is a normalness
00:23:34.15\00:23:37.11
compared to the
rest of the universe.
00:23:37.14\00:23:39.50
Is it not true to say
and once again, you know,
00:23:39.53\00:23:43.02
I'm a pastor,
I'm not a scientist
00:23:43.05\00:23:44.82
but people who
don't believe in God,
00:23:44.85\00:23:48.00
what they really
force to believe in this
00:23:48.03\00:23:51.23
that if you leave hydrogen
gas alone by itself long enough,
00:23:51.26\00:23:56.01
it'll become people
singing and dancing.
00:23:56.04\00:23:58.46
Is this the bottom-line?
00:24:00.81\00:24:03.13
That is the bottom-line
of atheistic worldview,
00:24:03.16\00:24:05.68
but they have to
explain how it is that something
00:24:05.71\00:24:08.45
that has no
life, no consciousness,
00:24:08.48\00:24:11.04
no personality, no
spirituality, no emotion.
00:24:11.07\00:24:14.23
And only hydrogen at the start.
00:24:14.26\00:24:15.35
Yeah.
00:24:15.38\00:24:16.41
But if you leave it
alone by itself long enough,
00:24:16.44\00:24:18.58
it'll become Faz
and you and John.
00:24:18.61\00:24:22.67
Well, they're failing to realize
00:24:22.70\00:24:24.74
that John is far more complex
than 50 billion, trillion stars.
00:24:24.77\00:24:29.14
They're just giant balls of gas.
00:24:29.17\00:24:30.78
Yes. They have no consciousness.
00:24:30.81\00:24:32.78
They have no life.
00:24:32.81\00:24:34.34
And how do you
get something greater
00:24:34.37\00:24:35.97
from that which is lesser.
00:24:36.00\00:24:37.05
You know, a feeling of atheism
00:24:37.08\00:24:39.86
is it violates the
principles that cause an affect.
00:24:39.89\00:24:42.62
You know, you
cannot get greater affects
00:24:42.65\00:24:44.76
than the causes and
this is the claim of atheism
00:24:44.79\00:24:47.99
that you go from
something as no life whatsoever,
00:24:48.02\00:24:50.78
no
consciousness, no spirituality,
00:24:50.81\00:24:53.43
no mind and it's able to make
00:24:53.46\00:24:55.63
that which has
all of those features.
00:24:55.66\00:24:57.17
That's a
tremendous step of faith,
00:24:57.20\00:25:00.94
isn't that to
believe such an idea.
00:25:00.97\00:25:03.25
Right.
00:25:03.28\00:25:04.31
We don't like
to denigrated but--
00:25:04.34\00:25:06.74
or denigrate people's ideas,
00:25:06.77\00:25:08.94
but to this
person it seems crazy
00:25:08.97\00:25:13.95
to think that if you
leave something which is dead,
00:25:13.98\00:25:17.77
like hydrogen gas by
itself for billions of years,
00:25:17.80\00:25:21.57
it'll become us.
00:25:21.60\00:25:23.53
And they're also failing to
realize that there is a plan.
00:25:23.56\00:25:27.10
I mean, you look
at our planet earth
00:25:27.13\00:25:28.89
that I was mentioning earlier,
we have elemental abundances,
00:25:28.92\00:25:32.67
you don't see anywhere else.
00:25:32.70\00:25:34.33
And each one of
those elemental abundances
00:25:34.36\00:25:36.58
has to be
extraordinarily fine-tune
00:25:36.61\00:25:38.52
to make advance life possible.
00:25:38.55\00:25:40.79
Unless there is a
planner with the mind
00:25:40.82\00:25:43.42
that knows
exactly how to transform
00:25:43.45\00:25:45.78
those elements
at the right time.
00:25:45.81\00:25:47.18
It's not going to work.
00:25:47.21\00:25:49.21
And likewise you look
at the history of life
00:25:49.24\00:25:51.13
getting into Faz's discipline.
00:25:51.16\00:25:53.42
We have a long history of
life here in planet earth,
00:25:53.45\00:25:55.87
but if you get that plan
00:25:55.90\00:25:58.44
slightly adjusted
in a different way,
00:25:58.47\00:26:00.26
you will not get human beings.
00:26:00.29\00:26:01.63
You speak about the
fine tuning in the universe,
00:26:01.66\00:26:05.48
tell me about it?
00:26:05.51\00:26:07.18
Well, every feature
we look at the universe,
00:26:07.21\00:26:11.26
we see fine
tuning to make possible
00:26:11.29\00:26:13.68
the existence of human beings.
00:26:13.71\00:26:15.77
I mean, even
atheist physicists say
00:26:15.80\00:26:18.19
when you look at the universe,
00:26:18.22\00:26:19.75
there's overwhelming
evidence has been designed
00:26:19.78\00:26:22.45
for the benefit of human beings.
00:26:22.48\00:26:24.71
Or as one part of Freeman Dyson
00:26:24.74\00:26:26.81
when you look at the universe,
you can't avoid the conclusion
00:26:26.84\00:26:30.50
that somehow it
knew we were coming.
00:26:30.53\00:26:32.71
It was designed and planned
in advance for us human beings.
00:26:32.74\00:26:36.68
And we're looking at the
degree of fine tuning design
00:26:36.71\00:26:39.85
that's orders of
magnitude greater than anything
00:26:39.88\00:26:42.65
we human beings are capable of.
00:26:42.68\00:26:44.99
Give me one illustration.
You tell me once about--
00:26:45.02\00:26:48.23
When I first met
you, you held up a dime
00:26:48.26\00:26:51.40
which in Australia would be like
00:26:51.43\00:26:54.71
a five cent piece
or ten cent piece.
00:26:54.74\00:26:58.31
Tell me in the last 60 seconds.
00:26:58.34\00:27:01.97
Tell me about the dime,
the mass of the universe.
00:27:02.00\00:27:06.52
Well, both the
mass of the universe
00:27:06.55\00:27:08.82
must be
fine-tuned and feature called
00:27:08.85\00:27:10.96
dark energy must be fine-tuned.
00:27:10.99\00:27:13.46
And the fine tuning is crucial
00:27:13.49\00:27:14.99
when the universe
is extremely young.
00:27:15.02\00:27:17.41
And in the
absence of dark energy
00:27:17.44\00:27:19.62
if you were add, say
a coin's worth of mass
00:27:19.65\00:27:22.83
to the universe
or subtract a coin
00:27:22.86\00:27:25.55
that'll be enough
to upset the balance.
00:27:25.58\00:27:28.13
But now that we know
00:27:28.16\00:27:29.25
the dark energy is
a dominant component,
00:27:29.28\00:27:31.09
we see even greater
fine tuning in dark energy
00:27:31.12\00:27:34.83
in order to have planets
in which life is possible.
00:27:34.86\00:27:37.23
For a lay person that's
almost incomprehensible.
00:27:38.77\00:27:41.40
But what you're
saying if you add a dime
00:27:41.43\00:27:44.35
to the mass of the
universe, it doesn't work.
00:27:44.38\00:27:47.56
This to me is an
incredible evidence
00:27:48.80\00:27:51.13
that there must
be a Creator God.
00:27:51.16\00:27:54.38
And, dear friend,
00:27:54.41\00:27:55.98
I want you to write to
us at the Carter Report.
00:27:56.01\00:27:59.18
Write to me John
Carter, PO Box 1900,
00:27:59.21\00:28:02.39
Thousand Oaks, California 91358.
00:28:02.42\00:28:05.67
And in Australia
write to the address
00:28:05.70\00:28:08.50
at Terrigal, now
appearing on the screen.
00:28:08.53\00:28:10.64
And also you can write
to "Reasons to Believe,"
00:28:10.67\00:28:14.25
which is 818, Oak Park Road,
00:28:14.28\00:28:19.00
Covina, CA, 91724.
00:28:19.03\00:28:22.38
Did I get that
right? You got that right.
00:28:22.41\00:28:24.12
Yes. And we'll see
you soon next time.
00:28:24.15\00:28:28.39