THE BIBLE is not a collection of myths and legends as the "intellectuals" of today would like it to be. Genesis, for instance, is on the contrary a capsulized form—what twentieth century intellectual could better such a summary—of the fact of creation.
The Book of Genesis, in the language of science today, could well be—
In the beginning, at Zero-moment when time began, there burst forth the Ultra Nova.
And there was light.
The amazing nova is a sudden stupendous outburst of energy which increases the brightness of a star temporarily up to 100,000-fold; in a supernova, up to several billion-fold. The Crab nebula in the galaxies was found to have been the remnants of a supernova in 1054. Astrophysicists had long discarded the Collision Theory and the Planetary Nebulae theory on the origin of the Earth. Energy, as the basic concept of Physics can neither be created nor destroyed but may ultimately be lost by imperceptible dissipation. It is known by man today in its Trinitarian forms: light, heat and motion. Its power is approximated by Einstein's famous equation, E=mc2, the product of the initial mass and the velocity of light squared.
And this was so because in the beginning, God said: "Let there be light". And light pierced the darkness of the void. And light is day and darkness night. And that was the "first day".
Thus, at that time, because of the absolute heat at the Alpha-point of explosion, the universal mass was then in a gaseous state. (Note the Trinitarian state of matter— gas, liquid and solid.) But as the universal masses moved farther and farther from Alpha point into the Zero-absolute cold of the void, the heavier gasses liquefied. The universe then was a mass of incandescent gasses, liquids ("waters") and cosmic dust.
And it came to pass that while the infinite number of particles of that Alpha-explosion, the Ultra Nova, were solidifying in the absolute cold of the void—their gravitation (the attraction of being to being) inter-acting with the expanding motion of that explosion causing them to spin and forming them into spheres—they became the spinning and sparkling "marbles" strewn all over the universe that today we call the heavens.
And this was so for God had said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters to divide the waters." And He called the firmament "Heaven". And that was on the "second day".
Then, because of the balance of energy, known to us in the three conservation laws of Atomic Physics—conservation of the total charge, conservation of mass energy and conservation of momentum—such that the positives equal the negatives and together form the "net zero", the point of balance, we find the Alpha-point of explosion becoming the "eye of the typhoon". the microscopic (in relation to the entire universal exploding mass) remnant core became one of the first particles to cool off.
The continuing scientific search for the basic elements of matter in the universe gives us a factor of staggering significance—while stars and suns and planets and nebular formations differ in their constitutive elements, their constitutive elements are found existing as part of our own Earth. The significance then strikes the mind — is not our own earth therefore, a (perhaps the) remnant core of that Ultra Nova?
The mass constitution of the stars and suns show (and this is a basic phenomenon on earth) that the heavier elements form their core. This is precisely the foundation of nuclear fission (splitting). For the elements that form the mass for atomic fission are precisely one of the heaviest elements discovered on earth. Uranium, the 92nd element. (There are now 103 known elements on earth. The atomic weight of the lightest, hydrogen, is 1.00797 while Uranium is 238.03. Its isotope, the Uranium-235, used in the atom bomb and another metal, Plutonium, the 94th element, also capable of undergoing fission, was produced by bombardment of uranium.)
This is cross-checked by what happens in atomic fusion, or joining, of two isotopes of hydrogen (two atoms of tritium, the H3 isotope of hydrogen) to form a helium atom. Helium is the second lightest element with an atomic weight of 4.0026. This thermonuclear fusion that gives off tremendous energy is held to be the source of our sun's power. And also it is the reason why ultimately, the sun's energy will fade away when the fusion elements unless atomic fission explodes it much earlier, as another nova. (Note, nuclear fusion—lightest elements; atomic fission—heaviest elements)
Summarizing, since (1) the suns and stars and nebular formations are chiefly gasses and cosmic dust clouds (our own Sun has 93% hydrogen atoms forming 76% of the mass of matter; 7% helium atoms forming 23% of the mass, and all the other recognized 60 chemical elements forming only a little more than 1% of the total mass of matter in the sun); (2) the known stellar elements are all found on earth; and (3) our own Earth is chiefly hard core elements, why should not our own Earth be the remnant core of that Ultra Nova?
The third day
The process of cooling off in any sphere begins at the outer layers. Thus, the matter of that remnant alpha-core, being precisely the core, while also in the three states of matter had more solids than liquids and gas. The lighter elements became the atmosphere. Two of the seven elements composing the air had combined (because of the heat of the core reacting with the cold of the void) into a compound we call today water—the hydrosphere. The heat of the center, known today as the barysphere or centrosphere, interacting with the cooling effect of the hydrosphere and the atmosphere, (in a physical phenomenon not very much unlike the expanding crustlike movement of boiling rice) caused the movements in the crust—lithosphere—of the earth and resulted in the mountains and valleys and ocean depths we see today and of which we are reminded by the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
And this was so because God had said "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear."
Eons and eons of cooling off continued until the temperature finally became "just right". Then land and marine vegetation burst forth from the earth. The elements in the earth itself were to be the food of vegetation. All at once the balance of nature, of everything in the universe is evident. For the vegetation that was to feed upon the earth was also to conserve the earth from extreme erosions, preserve the oxygen balance in the atmosphere that would burn and minimize meteoric bombardments and prepare it for life as it continued spinning and hurtling through space.
Geology has divided the history of the Earth into four major eras — the Pre-Cambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic. Not much is known about the Pre-Cambrian era which was from at least 4 billion years down to 600 million years ago except that in the late Pre-Cambrian rock layers, while there is no trace of fossils of animal life, there exist calcareous algae, the fossils of that group of aquatic plants belonging to the most primitive division of the plant kingdom, the thallophytes.
And this was so because God had said "Let the earth bring forth vegetation; seed-bearing plants and all kinds of fruit trees that bear fruit containing seed. And that was on the "third day".
The fourth day
During all this time, the earth was hurtling along in the void. But if it continued for eons more, it would have been too cold that elementary vegetation, then already present would also perish. Then in one of those unexplained "chances in a million" that science can only posit but never explain, the earth, narrowly missing a much smaller sphere, and catching the latter in its gravitational sphere, gained a satellite—the moon today orbiting around the earth.
The earth and its satellite, however, converged into the path of a white-yellow star of medium magnitude. And as both their gravitational fields neutralized each other, the earth found itself in an elliptical orbit around the sun with the closest distance between the two bodies (perihelion) about 91,407,000 miles, and at the farthest point (aphelion) about 94,516,000 miles. This interplay of gravitation slowed down the earth's spin, completing one turn around its axis in 24 hours, it completes one revolution around the sun in 365.256 days traveling at the average speed of 66,600 miles per hour. (This accounts for the "leap year" every fourth year where one day is added to the common calendar.) While the sun's solar system—the earth's solar family — is moving towards the constellation Hercules at about 40,000 mph.
And this was so because God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate day from night; let them serve as signs and for the fixing of seasons, days and years; let them serve as lights in the firmament of the heavens to shed light upon the earth. And this was on the "fourth day".
The fifth day
The Paleozoic era, which is subdivided into periods ranging from the Cambrian, 600 million years ago, down to the Permian, 280 million years ago, is known as the time of early life. The fossils of this era show that the first forms of animal life were from the sea. The most abundant and characteristic Cambrian fossils are the marine invertebrates named trilobites. While in the later period, among the fossils found in the rock formations are imprints of insect wings.
And this was so for God said "Let the waters abound with life, and above the earth let winged creatures fly below the firmament of the heavens". And that was on the "fifth day".
The crown of creation
It is in the Mesozoic era rock formations, from 230 million years ago, that the first traces of land animal life are found. Mammals had put in by then their first appearance.
And this was so for God had said "Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures; cattle, crawling creatures and wild animals."
The Cenozoic era which ranges from the Paleocene epoch 63 million years ago down to the Recent, 100 thousand years ago, is known for the arrival of modern life. It is in the latter epoch of this era, between the Pliocene, 13 million years ago, and the Recent, that the rock formations show the most important fossils — Man.
And this was so for God had said, "Let Us make mankind in our image and likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, over all the wild animals and every creature that crawls on the earth."
God created man in His image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle and all the animals that crawl on the earth."
And that was on the "sixth day". And when God looked at His handiwork, He said, "It's good."
Once, out of the fascination that struck me while watching what babies did the first time they crept out in the world, upon "Mother Earth", came forth these thoughts —
WHEN ALL WAS NEW
Seventy times seven times
I hear a mother's angry cry:
"Don't play
with clay!"
Seventy-one times seven times
When out of Mother's watchful eye,
They play
with clay.
They have toys to last all day
Yet soon they throw them all away,
And play
with clay!
What wonders does the clay unfold
Even to a six-month-old?
Could it be that they were told,
By angels, of a tale as old
As Man. That once, when all was new
Upon this Earth, God, too,
Did play
with clay?
*The Rainbow, September, 1969
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