I Don't Know
by Ted Slater on 07/29/2008 at 9:53 AM
There are plenty of things that I just don't know. Plenty of things about which I'm just unable to make any confident conclusions, despite having spent time researching them. Here are a few.
Fossil Fuels
The theory that petroleum is a "fossil fuel" -- i.e., the result of ancient plant and animal life being heated and compressed -- was first suggested in the 1700s. Since then, numerous scientists have found inconsistencies with this "biogenic origin" hypothesis, and have suggested that it is instead "produced by the abiotic synthesis of hydrocarbons in the mantle of the earth."
A team of scientists conducted experiments with a reactor vessel they had built which proved that oil is produced from calcium carbonate and iron oxide, neither of which are biological. Science Magazine published an article that supports this abiogenic hypothesis, concluding, "Our findings illustrate that the abiotic synthesis of hydrocarbons in nature may occur in the presence of ultramafic rocks, water, and moderate amounts of heat."
If this theory is true, that petroleum is not a fossil fuel, or at least in some cases it's not a fossil fuel, then that would make oil a renewable resource, continually being generated by natural processes miles below the surface of the earth. Which makes such concerns as the "peak oil hypothesis," for example, invalid. Interestingly, this abiogenic hypothesis would also seem consistent with some young earth theories of creation.
So what do I believe? I don't really know, frankly. Evidence exists in support of both theories, and I can discount neither.
Alien Life
Does life exist on other planets? Hm. Not sure. Scripture doesn't say that the Lord only created life on earth, which leaves room for God to have brought about living beings elsewhere in the universe.
Some people say that the universe is so big, of course there's got to be life out there. That's a pretty silly thing to say, in my opinion, because the Creator could form life on other worlds whether there's just one other planet or billions of other planets. Life comes about because of His word, not because the chances for it happening seem larger because the universe is so large.
Astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell (who happened to be the sixth man to set foot on the moon) recently claimed to have inside knowledge about the existence of extraterrestrial life. Is he making it up? Is he losing his mind? I don't know.
C.S. Lewis took serious this question about life on other planets and concluded that if it exists, it's no threat to the Christian faith. They may have sinned, or not. The Son may have solved their sin problem in a way unique to that species, or perhaps His human incarnation is sufficient for all beings terrestrial and extraterrestrial. Regardless, if life does exist "out there" it's not a threat to Christianity, despite the claims of some.
So what do I think? Is there alien life? Are UFOs demonic? Have humans ever interacted with extraterrestrials? I don't know.
Light
Is it a particle? Is it a wave? Is it a, um, "particle-wave"? Who knows?
Light was created on the very first day, an ancient and elusive thing about which C.S. Lewis rhapsodized, "We cannot see light, though by light we can see things."
Though weightless, or perhaps of very little mass, it is powerful. Darkness cannot overcome it. Scripture says that God Himself is "light." We are called into that light to become children of light. Scripture's high estimation of light tells me that there's something quite special about it.
I understand a bit what light does, and how it's associated with good. But what it is ... I cannot tell.
Unplumbed Mysteries
I'm tempted to explore other enigmas -- heaven, the gospel, Christ, our very faith -- but that would move this blog post beyond its intended scope: mysteries of the physical world.
So how about you? Do you find petroleum, aliens and light as intriguing as I do? What about photosynthesis, aurora borealis, the nature of language, the growth of a seed into an apple tree or a child, the ongoing beating of your heart? What else puzzles you in this wonderful universe our Lord has created?
1. Tom Neven said the following at 10:17 AM on Jul 29:
I'm mystified that no matter what line I get in at the bank, it immediately comes to a halt.
I'm mystified that brussels sprouts are considered food and not an alien conspiracy to destroy mankind.
I lie awake at night wondering about what happened to the mate of all those single socks that come out of my dryer. Or of that lone sneaker you always see lying in the road.
2. Craig M. said the following at 10:19 AM on Jul 29:
I recently read a little book by a psychologist about how people come to believe they have been visited or abducted by aliens. The analysis of the mental workings of these people was amazing. The most startling bit of information? The very first time that the familiar "gray" aliens made an appearance in public media was in an episode of "The Outer Limits" in (I believe) 1961. Two months later, a man and a woman who had watched that episode of the show made the first report of an abduction by such beings. The idea drifted into the public subconscious from there. The malleability of the mind, and its ability to be manipulated, is frightening.
3. Dan RealName said the following at 11:46 AM on Jul 29:
Dinosaurs and when they roamed the earth.
4. Carrie (the original) said the following at 12:07 PM on Jul 29:
Speaking of things on the side of the road . . . what about those large chuncks of tire rubber??
5. mindlab said the following at 12:30 PM on Jul 29:
Glass is fascinating!
Also, an exact solution to the Heisenberg uncertainty problem (which would certainly require a non-particle model of atomic physics), a predictive algorithm for prime numbers, and a workable description of the relationship between space and time would be interesting to me.
6. Dan Gill said the following at 12:32 PM on Jul 29:
"Speaking of things on the side of the road . . . what about those large chuncks of tire rubber??"
Ummm . . . those come from tires. Most often, an inner truck tire will go flat, and it abrades the outer tire, causing one or both to blow apart and shed the tread.
7. mindlab said the following at 12:36 PM on Jul 29:
4. Carrie (the original)
They're called 'road alligators' and they're treads from semi' tires that have been poorly re-tread. When truck tires wear out, a new tread is applied to the tire instead of scrapping it; occasionally, the re-tread comes loose, much to consternation of silly motorists following too close.
8. Ted Slater said the following at 12:42 PM on Jul 29:
Thanks, Dan, for the explanation. Now explain light. ;-)
9. obewan said the following at 12:52 PM on Jul 29:
Many scientists believe in abiotic oil? If you look you will see that many (perhaps more) do not. Science Magazine? Can’t you do better than that? Science is like the National Enquirer of science publications. I would have respect for the opinion if Scientific American published it.
It does not take a lot of investigation to realize that only a few examples of what MAY be abiotic oil exist in the entire world. Yes, there are a small handful of oil deposits that have slowly refilled. However, it is important to emphasize that many geophysicists say they MAY have refilled due to migration of oil under pressure (through cracks in the earth) that was already present in another deeper or adjacent deposit.
If abiotic oil were the norm, we would see old depleted oil fields refilling with greater frequency. We currently see most depleted fields remaining bone dry once they are dry (except for water and minerals).
Who says abiotic oil supports the young earth theory? I have heard a lot more about the Genesis flood supporting current oil formation theories.
Some who subscribe to the abiotic oil theory say it takes thousands of years to fill a large deposit, and that if that is the case, that abiotic oil offers little if any hope toward solving the coming world oil crisis. Also, some say that the mineral deposits may be like coal or metal or other resources and that they must be present in sufficient quantity and combination in order for the oil to form, and that if no mixing process is present, no oil will form (like maybe it happened ONE time when the Earth's core was formed).
Abiotic oil theory at present just becomes an excuse for an SUV driving American to shrug and say as usual: “What, me worry? Why?”
Here is what some of the debunkers have said about abiotic oil:
www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/index.shtml#abiotic
I am more inclined to believe in UFO’s. I have not ruled out that angels and demons both travel in UFO’s. They might even use transporter beams. Of course, if God can send them by spiritual transporter beam, then they would not have need for the UFO I suppose.
Dan #6 Asks:
>>"Speaking of things on the side of the road . . . what about those large chuncks of tire rubber??"<<
I almost had one take out my windshield once. If I was not in my 2 seat mid engine sportscar, I might have been killed. As it was, I swerved into the breakdown lane at 70+mph and it missed me (barely).
10. Christina (in green) said the following at 1:02 PM on Jul 29:
The proof for x^a + y^a = z^a only works for a <= 2...
Why is the sky blue?
Why is grass green?
What makes Scooter wings at Gator's Dockside so absolutely delicious???
And how is it that mathematics, music, history, science, art, english, and religion correlate so infinitly well together?
11. mindlab said the following at 1:33 PM on Jul 29:
10. Christina (in green)
Blue Sky per Harvard physicists (so even if they're wrong, they still sound snooty).
12. Mike said the following at 2:34 PM on Jul 29:
Why do computers crash at the exact moment when you're on a tight deadline?
13. Tigger said the following at 3:03 PM on Jul 29:
Well, as for socks, I've learned that socks, when they need a break, sort of like going to rehab, escape through a hatch door in the back of the dryer and go to Sockland. They may or may not come back. This is why you will have an odd sock for three months then suddenly have a match for it.
I'd like to know how the Pyramids were built. Nobody really and truly knows. Just educated guesses. And Stonehenge, too.
I'd like to know why no two snowflakes are ever exactly the same, and how we know that, and why Someone goes to all that trouble for something so transitory...
I'd like to know how many stars there are, and have been.
I'd like to know how and why a tornado can devastate one side of a street and leave the other untouched.
And so much more...the world is fascinating, far more than even my mind can comprehend, let alone mimic when as a writer I try to create my own. :)
14. Dan said the following at 3:11 PM on Jul 29:
Unfortunately, those Harvard Physicists allowed art to confuse the physics.
Better Answer: The sky is blue because of Rayleigh Scattering.
This is where being a scientist does not necessarily make one a better parent. E.g.:
Junior: Why is the sky blue?
Dad: Uh, let's see, so air is composed of molecules. Those molecules transmit some light and scatter other light. It just so happens that the molecules that make up air are sized such that they scatter short wavelength light better than long wavelength. Consequently, if you don't look right at the sun, you will see scattered, short wavelength light as opposed to long wavelength light. Blue is shorter wavelength than red light. Ergo, the sky is blue.
Junior: What is a molecule?
Bad joke, forgiveness requested many times over. Another bad one is the answer to "why does it rain?"
15. Christina (in green) said the following at 3:29 PM on Jul 29:
mindlab (#11)
HA! Is that why the red sky means sailor beware? (or something like that...)
16. Sarah P. said the following at 3:51 PM on Jul 29:
What a cool post! I, too, am fascinated by the mysteries of the universe. I do rather doubt that there are extraterrestrials out there, but who knows, I guess? Thanks to the inexplicability of light, it seems unlikely we'll know much about other planets firsthand, that's for sure.
Light. Light is stinkin' cool. So is gravity. So is beauty. These are things that kinda... invest other things. Hold them together. Like in Colossians 1:15-17 - "in [Jesus] all things hold together."
17. Tom Neven said the following at 3:59 PM on Jul 29:
Christina (#15)
It's "Red sky in morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight."
Here's a pretty good explanation of that aphorism.
18. Sarah P. said the following at 4:08 PM on Jul 29:
Tigger, you sounds like someone it would be fun to be friends with. :) I have been creating my own fictional world for several years now. Warning to future hubby, whoever he may be: I will probably be writing books and/or screenplays when I am married. :D
19. DannieA said the following at 4:49 PM on Jul 29:
Autism...so many theories...so many "fixes"
and so many kids that are vastly different with it....
yeah can you tell I'm a speech therapist?
20. Cathy S said the following at 4:54 PM on Jul 29:
What I think is cool is that no one has ever seen a star being formed! All anyone has is theories. That's because God created them all already.
21. Paul H said the following at 5:02 PM on Jul 29:
Here's a subject that I find fascinating: Is time absolute or relative? And what exactly is time, anyway? Did time have a beginning? Augustine confessed, "What is time? I do not know." This subject is important because it has serious theological implications.
22. Mike said the following at 7:35 PM on Jul 29:
Paul H -
Time is definitely relative. Just try getting a couple of kids out of the house on time; it proves your relatives always make you late... ;-)
23. Chris said the following at 7:57 PM on Jul 29:
Cathy S writes:
What I think is cool is that no one has ever seen a star being formed! All anyone has is theories. That's because God created them all already.
Not exactly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_formation#Observations
Check out the observations section. It appears possible to observe some phenomena that can reinforce/disprove theories. What you are proposing is a classical "god of the gaps" argument that will eventually fail.
Ted writes:
Is it a particle? Is it a wave? Is it a, um, "particle-wave"? Who knows?
Depends on what you're trying to model/observe. You seem to be asking physics to come up with some absolute answer, which it cannot do. It can model the universe, nothing more. Sometimes the particle concept works best, sometimes the wave concept works best.
24. Rachael said the following at 8:19 PM on Jul 29:
I wonder how God sees light. I thought I read/heard somewhere that we only see the sky is blue because ___________________(fill in the blank if you know, I think it's something like because our limited eyes can only see the blue). Is that true? Is the sky or something really many colors or something? If so, does God see a multicolorful sky...?
25. Rachael said the following at 8:22 PM on Jul 29:
Oops. Looks like the blue sky issue was already wondered upon in these comments. Still, though, I wonder how God sees the universe/earth. All colorful?
26. Rock said the following at 10:35 PM on Jul 29:
Relative time would seem to be an experimentally verified theory. Either way, it is a property of the universe, which God created. God seems to exist 'bigger' than the created universe, so I would expect that time is no hurdle for God.
At any rate, as a scientist/engineer, I think the physical world is absolutely fascinating and unbelievably complex, attesting to the splendor of its creator.
27. James said the following at 11:39 PM on Jul 29:
Ted, in regards to light on if it's a wave or a particle, the answer is "yes."
That is because light behaves in ways that are consistent with BOTH the particle AND wave models. See, we use models to represent light and to study and predict its behavior. It also acts like a ray as well.
So, the answer is that light is both wave and particle because we don't have a better way of describing it ;).
There, and now you know =p.
28. Sadie said the following at 11:57 PM on Jul 29:
At three I asked my dad, "Why is a cow?" It has become the family joke whenever we ponder (firmly discuss) something like light, thunder, space, creation, nurture vs. nature, and the brain.
It makes me stop and praise the maker of all things.
29. Lindsay said the following at 12:02 AM on Jul 30:
A great answer to the question of is there life outside Earth can be found in Lee Strobel's "Case for a Creator". Basically, the scientists he interviewed say that the conditions of Earth are so specific and fine-tuned for life, esp. its place in the universe and solar system, that it's highly unlikely that other life-bearing planets exist. Just thought you'd like to know :)
30. K.L. said the following at 12:19 AM on Jul 30:
I wanna know how they get the peanut butter inside of a Reese's peanut butter cup.
How come Greenland is mostly ice, while Iceland is mostly green? Somebody needs to fix that.
And why do we always have to do what Simon says? Who put him in charge?
To this day it never ceases to amaze me how my birthday always falls on the exact same date year after year.
How come I don't get a refund from the hair salon when my hair grows back out? I think there's a conspiracy.....
For the life of me I do not understand how I can have tan lines and still look paler than all my friends. It's gotta be that Cherokee blood running through my veins.
Why doesn't a little lightbulb appear above my head when I think of a great idea?
How did God create the entire universe in six days without ever lifting a finger?
How does God take something so bad and turn it into something good?
And what in heaven would ever possess Him to love human beings, who are infected with sin from birth, that he would send his only Son to die for us?
Some things we'll just never know the answer to....
Hey, look! I just found my missing sock! It's returned from sockland! : )
31. Kelly said the following at 3:56 AM on Jul 30:
The idea of aliens absolutely fascinates me. I have no idea if they exist or not but I certainly think it's POSSIBLE. After all, God can do anything!
I can't imagine anything more exciting that meeting beings from another planet.
32. Carrie (the original) said the following at 6:23 AM on Jul 30:
If a tree falls in the forest and I don't hear it, does that mean I'm deaf?
33. Carrie (the original) said the following at 6:24 AM on Jul 30:
Oh and thanks for the explanations Dan and mindlab! :)
34. Eric M (paleontologist) said the following at 7:36 AM on Jul 30:
I'm with 3. Dan Realname
Though the timing question is more of a physicist's problem. I'd like to know what made dinosaurs tick. How did they live? How did they grow? How many could the environment support at one time? How many different genera coexisted in one environment?
35. Christina (in green) said the following at 7:45 AM on Jul 30:
Paul H (#21),
Don't know why you think there are serious theological implications if time is proven to be absolute or relative...
God was never COMPARED to time...only that he was there before time began. He is the Beginning and End. So regardless of time being relative or absolute, God is still there.
I prefer Einstein's interpretation:
Time is relative and the only constant is light.
How awesome is that? Jesus/God/Holy Spirit is the Light of the world...the only constant...
So regardless of Time, God is absolute.
36. Sarah P. said the following at 8:17 AM on Jul 30:
The thing about time is that it is something that permeates every particle of this universe in which we live. It influences even the finite minds that are trying to "see" it. The names and measurements we put on it are just our attempts to understand an underlying concept, not the thing itself.
"Time" is just another way to say "change," which is another way to say "death." Every change, even a positive change, must involve giving up something else, because we are finite creatures. We say, "I don't have enough time to do that." We are intimately caught up with change and death, as we grow back into who we were supposed to be in the first place. We can't step out of time.
If you were out in the middle of the ocean, no land, stars, moon, or sun in sight, it would be impossible to tell if you were moving in any particular direction, or at all. You would be in precise rhythm with the ocean itself. Now, if you put down an anchor in a harbor and stayed stationary, you could watch the tide's flow.
In other words, the only things that can measure time are those things that are relatively unchanging - they stay stationary while the world flows past.
Therefore, a changing God would be terribly frightening, simply because He would not be able to "know" all of the universe and all of creation. We are washing by in a flowing river; God is the Rock. If He were just another vessel in the flood, He might be traveling in front of us or behind us and might never meet us at all.
37. valerie said the following at 10:49 AM on Jul 30:
#14 made me chuckle. My husband is forever answering our 2 year old's questions with math equations...it drives me BATTY! (but a good reminder that we see the world through vastly different "glasses"---and boy am I thankful for all you engineering-types out there!)
38. Tigger said the following at 2:13 PM on Jul 30:
Well Sarah (#18), I too think I am a fun person to hang out with, and I'm guessing you are too. And I have also been creating my own world for some time, but it's such work...and the more I do, the less I understand about the world.
KL (#30), congratulations on the return of your sock from Sockland. There is always the trouble, though, that he will miss the life he had in Sockland and get homesick and return. Sometimes they do that, and you have to let them go. Otherwise they will just unravel to create holes in their misery...
Not to be too silly, but what color to Smurfs get when they tan or burn from the sun?
And another silliness: if a cat always lands on its feet, and if buttered toast always lands buttered-side down, what happens to a cat who has buttered toast strapped to its back?
Seriously - gravity. What's it made of? How'd it get started? What holds it together?
How did anyone realize that cultivating plant seeds means you can feed yourself much more easily? Or that grapes make wine? Or such a simple but revolutionary invention as the wheel?
Language? How on earth did that develop into what it is now? How did we get it in the first place?
How do bees fly? Apparently their body shape should make it impossible, but they quite unashamedly do.
Why do we have so much water on this planet and nearly all other planetoids are barren? (That we know about, of course.)
Oh, there's so much.
39. Lukas said the following at 2:13 PM on Jul 30:
I'm reading a book called Lights in the Sky & Little Green Men: A Rational Christian Look at Ufos and Extraterrestrials by Hugh Ross, Kenneth Samples, and Mark Clark. The sections by astronomer Hugh Ross are pretty interesting in how they describe the near impossibility of life arising on other planets as well as that life travelling to earth across the vast distances of interstellar space. I think some of his calculations (such as the famous Drake equation) are very hard to substantiate and may be off by orders of magnitude, but it certainly is interesting to think about.
40. kaarina said the following at 3:13 PM on Jul 30:
What did women in the 11th and 12th centuries wear under their clothes? What is Greek fire? How on earth is Stonehenge even possible before algebra? Was there really a conspiracy against poor Lord Castlereaugh or was he ought of his mind?
Do daughter isotopes really only come from decaying parent isotopes?
Gas clouds in space... how can anything be so beautiful? What is the origin of the voices heard in audial hallucinations by people with Schizophrenia? Do black holes really exist? What is the cause of the hallucinations of non-existent music that many people perfectly healthy experience? What is the actual cause of epilepsy? Why does my mother smell garlic in advance of a migraine?
Do other universes really exist? If the universe is really expanding what is it expanding into? If you go to the edge of space and look out into the expansion, what would you see? Is Heaven a place you can go in an earthly body, if you have the right set of directions, or is it only accessible after death? More importantly, when I get to heaven, will I finally enjoy the taste of cake?
41. Chris said the following at 7:12 PM on Jul 30:
kaarina writes:
If you go to the edge of space and look out into the expansion, what would you see?
If I understand things correctly, you'd essentially be looking back onto the universe since it's donut-shaped or something like that.
If you really want to blow your mind, you can do some heavy drugs or you can try to understand what scientists think the shape of the universe is. I think either would have the same effect in terms of both feeling and brain damage....;^)
42. James said the following at 7:44 PM on Jul 30:
kaarina (#40), the cake is a lie!
Sorry guys, I couldn't resist =p.
For those who don't get it, it's a long-running joke from the game "Portal", on Half Life 2.
43. Matt from DC said the following at 8:43 AM on Jul 31:
Looks like I'm getting to this party a little late.
Carrie #32 - Yes, you are correct. The good thing is that sign language is more beautiful than spoken.
44. Sarah P. said the following at 11:17 AM on Jul 31:
Tigger (#38) asked:
Seriously - gravity. What's it made of? How'd it get started? What holds it together?
Ha! Gravity holds everything else together, 'cause every object has its own gravity (though most are too small to notice). Other mysterious forces hold all atoms together. Personally, I think they are Jesus's fingers. (See Colossians 1:16-17).
Language? How on earth did that develop into what it is now? How did we get it in the first place?
The entire universe was created by the "Word" of God, i.e., Jesus. So everything is His language. We are created in His image, so we have language too. There is something fundamental and creative about our human ability to speak, and so when everyone was able to speak the same language, we got a little haughty and full of ourselves. As a collective race, we thought we could reach the level of God. So God put the kibosh on that idea at the Tower of Babel, dividing folks by language forever.
Someday I'm gonna write the prehistory (before written accounts) of the world and track the diffusion of peoples to where they now live.
kaarina (#40) asks: How on earth is Stonehenge even possible before algebra?
What makes you suppose they didn't have algebra? And if you really want to amaze yourself, do a search on the Nazca Lines in Peru.
45. Matt from DC said the following at 11:46 AM on Jul 31:
Sarah P,
I am puzzled by what you say: "Someday I'm gonna write the prehistory (before written accounts) of the world and track the diffusion of peoples to where they now live."
First, the written account of Moses called Genesis begins history with creation. Are you going to write about what happened in eternity past as God communed with Himself?
Second, when you say history do you exclude the historical claims of the Bible? Are you going to write down what happened from other sources between the Genesis 11 and 12 - the tower and Abram?
Third, who are you that you know history that predates all written accounts? From what source did you receive this history. (I will not accept before history was I AM ;) )
You have made a fascinating claim, I can wait to hear more about it.
46. Sarah P. said the following at 12:21 PM on Jul 31:
Whoops, fair enough Matt from DC (#45). I misspoke. I was defining the term "prehistory" as the world at large defines it. I mean more precisely that I want to write the earliest history of the world, during that period about which only the Bible writes with complete accuracy. Technically, scholars don't consider this to be "history," since the people who actually walked around during those earliest times didn't leave their own written accounts for us to find. I personally would conclude that they were washed away in the Flood and then destroyed in the chaos after the Tower of Babel. As it is, for generations people have concluded that Moses wrote down the ancient oral histories.
And the Bible leaves out a lot of specifics, some of which archaeology and genetics and linguistic studies can fill in. How is it that the oldest civilization in Peru in South America created immensely intricate "portrait" pottery that depicts people of every different facial characteristic, from what we consider to be "white" to "Asian" to "black," for example? How did the Mayas show up in central America spontaneously creating intricate and beautiful cities without any other signs of their civilization developing in the area? These are the mysteries I would like to answer. :D
Does that make more sense? I am not anyone in particular, and I might die first, but somebody needs to write this account.
47. shona said the following at 12:30 PM on Jul 31:
Way cool post! There are a gazillion things I don't know- like, how Zimbabweans can work out what a quadrillion is, or how muscles heal, or how the brain works... The more I know about the human body, the more I wonder how everything keeps working.
Which is why we are finite, and God infinite. And yet he became finite- oh, there's another one.. :)
48. Matt from DC said the following at 1:35 PM on Jul 31:
Sarah P,
There is another way that Moses could have known the events from Genesis that happened from creation to 400 years before he was born - God revealed them to him. Moses met with God frequently and God told Moses several things at different times and Moses wrote them down. In Deuteronomy 31 there are two examples of this in verse 9 and verses 19-22.
One DVD I am interested in viewing when we get to Heaven is exactly what you describe. What about all the other peoples in the world. I know the Bible, from Genesis 12 onward, traces down a narrow group of people all the way to Jesus the Christ, but what about the others? Where did Noah's boys go. I know what the Table of Nations says in Genesis 10, but where did they spread out to? One day, I think, we will know because we will be spending eternity with all who believed God.
However, as Randy Alcorn said in his recent book Heaven that of course all knowledge will not be ours because that would mean that we were omniscient. Therefore, we may never know these things.
Good luck to you in putting together this piece of the story.
49. Christina (in green) said the following at 2:01 PM on Jul 31:
Matt from DC,
I know most of where Noah's sons spread to can be traced through history...Genesis actually does a good job preserving much of the lineage of the sons to the point that you can trace the early peoples (Amalekites, Philippines, etc) to one of Noah's 3 sons. Ancient history does the rest.
Actually, one such example is the "Ishmaelites" that Joseph's brothers trade him to...descendents of Ishmael residing in the land along the Nile.
A lot is still speculation, but there are a lot of pieces present that give you a decent idea.
50. Sarah P. said the following at 2:37 PM on Jul 31:
Again, my bad. You're absolutely right. I feel silly that I needed that poke to remind me that God told Moses what happened, and He was there to see, so from a Christian viewpoint that is all definitely "history," even in the technical meaning of the term.
The actual writing and putting together of all this is going to have to wait until I'm much older than 24. I sure wouldn't put any stock in such a project by a 24-year-old. But there's plenty else to do with my life first. :D First and most importantly, lots more humility and love to learn.
51. ptschett said the following at 3:24 PM on Jul 31:
I always wondered about the invention of cheese. Someone decided "this milk I put in an animal stomach turned into watery stuff and some lumps, but I'm going to eat the lumps anyway..." The invention of yogurt puzzles me too.
And then there's the good old equation:
e^(pi * i) = -1 (yes I know how it works, but still...)
52. Paul H said the following at 4:13 PM on Aug 1:
Christina (in green) said (#35): "Paul H (#21),
Don't know why you think there are serious theological implications if time is proven to be absolute or relative..."
Christina, the nature of time has theological implications for the simple reason that if time did not have a beginning, then the future is not eternally settled or "predestined."
Watch this: Can God Write A New Song? (~15 min.)
Christina said: "God ... was there before time began."
Can you show me biblically that time had a beginning? Not speculation from theoretical physics or philosophy, but Scriptural evidence?
This Bible summary gives a lot of evidence to the contrary -- that God experiences time. Eternity is endless time, not the absence of time.
Christina said: "He is the Beginning and End."
Yes, and He is also called the God "[W]ho was and is and is to come!” God has a past, a present, and a future.
Christina said: "I prefer Einstein's interpretation:
Time is relative and the only constant is light."
What if Einstein was wrong? ;-)
53. Michael said the following at 9:06 PM on Aug 1:
As a Christian, I believe in life on other planets, created by God, as on this one. But I believe they are not fallen, like our world is. This is hinted at in verses like Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7, and the fact that angels pre-existed our world (as can be gleaned from comparing verses like Revelation 12:7-9 with the account of the fall in Genesis).
They might be beings like us, or they might look "alien," although I believe whatever their form, they must be beautiful. On the other hand, I don't believe they would visit our world, because they know all about it already, and pretty much we are under quarantine because of sin (which is why we don't ordinarily see angels, etc.).
Personally I don't believe that Genesis 1 refers to the creation of the universe, but instead only our planet, solar system, or galaxy.
54. kaarina said the following at 9:29 PM on Aug 1:
#44
Because Stonehenge is believed to have first begun taking shape with stone in 2600 BC and the first written proof of algebraic equations were written by the Babylonians circa 1800 BC in what was basically the other side of the world. Meaning either understanding of algebra predates the Babylonian proofs and had made it to England, or they did it without it. :)
55. Mike Theemling said the following at 9:53 AM on Aug 3:
Christina(in green):
You might know this already but the equation:
x^a + y^a = z^a only works for a <= 2
is "Fermat's Last Theorem" and was proven to be true by Andrew Wiles back in 1995 (he came up with a proof in 1993 but it had a flaw and had to revise it).
56. Mike Theemling said the following at 10:01 AM on Aug 3:
Things I wonder about:
"What is time exactly and the nature of it?"
"Why did God create sleep? I mean, we spend about 1/3 of our lives essentially 'doing nothing'"
And on a more theological note...
"Why did God create billions of souls which last for eternity knowing that only a small percentage of them will go to Heaven and the rest will go to Hell?"
57. Brandon said the following at 12:35 AM on Aug 14:
Concerning light, I like how in Genesis 1:3 God created light and then he "separated" the light from the darkness!
Hilarious.
If you have to separate light from darkness, you didn't do a very god job of creating light in the first place.