Note: I wrote this letter in response to a Time Magazine article on cosmology, in which the author stated that the universe originated in hot Big Bang and will perish in a cold Big Freeze.

 

Editor,

In your article on modern cosmology you state that the universe began in Fire (a hot Big Bang) and will end in Ice (a cold, lifeless dustbin, ravished by the Second Law of Thermodynamics).

Permit me to suggest a fresh perspective.

Since, in strictness, both of these cosmic events are scientifically unobservable, the only person who can tell us the truth about them is God, assuming that he does indeed exist. And the only way we can know he exists is if he reveals himself to us.

I am certainly not alone in believing that God abundantly reveals himself to us in nature and conscience. However, for us to have sure knowledge about the cosmological events you touch on, we need more than this. We need a trustworthy Teacher, someone sent by God to give us the cosmological answers that we can never find on our own.

Jesus Christ is a very good candidate for the job! Hundreds of Old Testament types and prophecies; countless beneficent miracles; a life of virtue, kindness, wisdom, courage, and sacrifical love; and an unparalleled resurrection from the dead–all of this and more powerfully mark him out as the world’s most trustworthy Teacher, as a Teacher come from God.

And what does Christ say about the origin of life? That God himself made it “at the beginning of the creation” (Mark 10:6).

And what does he say about the future of the universe? That for his enemies it will end with fire, but that for his friends it will not end at all. Rather, it will emerge from the fire as an eternal paradise, a heavenly homeland graced with the presence and glory of God himself.

This approach seems quite reasonable to me. If it doesn’t to you, why not take a little time to check out the evidence for it, whether biblical, historical, or scientific?

For if Christ is right, none of us can afford to be wrong.

Dean Davis