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Featured Does the Universe Have a Purpose?

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Aaron, Feb 7, 2016.

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  1. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    If so, what is that purpose? Can that purpose be discerned by the observations made by scientists?
     
    #1 Aaron, Feb 7, 2016
  2. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    I don't know that the universe serves a utilitarian purpose, but I do believe it exists to demonstrate the glory of God to men. And yes, this can be observed by all men, even scientists.

    Sent from my TARDIS
     
    #2 JonC, Feb 7, 2016
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  3. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    How does the universe display God's glory?
     
    #3 Aaron, Feb 8, 2016
  4. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    To me, just the unimaginable expanse alone both demonstrates God's glory and this glory (rather than man) as the purpose for Creation.

    When I was a child I could wonder for an hour over the intercity of a leaf just thinking about God speaking it into being (I was a weird kid I guess). But I took into adulthood the idea that God could have created a very simple, small, and less complex universe in terms of sustaining Creation itself, therefore utilitarian function may not be its primary purpose. I think God creates as an expression of His nature for His own glory.
    Sent from my TARDIS
     
    #4 JonC, Feb 8, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2016
  5. Alcott

    Alcott Well-Known Member
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    None that it's ever told me about.
     
    #5 Alcott, Feb 8, 2016
  6. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    I wonder why the Pro-Lifers have not said anything about the purpose of the universe? Crazy isn't it?
     
    #6 Revmitchell, Feb 8, 2016
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  7. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    Has its Creator said anything about it?
     
    #7 Aaron, Feb 8, 2016
  8. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    You mentioned its size and utility. Those are structural and design aspects. Are you saying its purpose can be discerned by an analysis of its design and structure?
     
    #8 Aaron, Feb 8, 2016
  9. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    I do believe that analysis of design and structure reveals the purpose of the universe and all of creation to be the glorification of God, but here I am suggesting the opposite as well, that it's existence exceeds utilitarian function in order to magnify to us God's Majesty.

    Sent from my TARDIS
     
    #9 JonC, Feb 8, 2016
  10. Alcott

    Alcott Well-Known Member
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    Plenty about the universe and what it contains. It's purpose? Not exactly.
     
    #10 Alcott, Feb 8, 2016
  11. Zaac

    Zaac Well-Known Member

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    This is what I always come back to. It just blows my mind to think that as great and expansive as we believe the universe to be, God is GREATER![​IMG]

    It blows my mind and gets me all giddy at the same time. The God that we serve is so big that HE created this expanse we call the universe. Yet even that universe is dwarfed when compared to Him!

    What a MIGHTY GOD we serve!!!

    Every now and then I have to just pull out the dancing baby and let him do his Holy Ghost dance.[​IMG][​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     

    Attached Files:

    #11 Zaac, Feb 8, 2016
  12. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    Secular scientists agree with you, which is why they presume an unbounded universe with no edge or center (that doesn't mean infinite). If they presumed a bounded universe with an edge and center, the observations would put earth in the center.
     
    #12 Aaron, Feb 8, 2016
  13. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    I think it was written that all things were created by and for Christ. Is His work on the Cross central to Heaven? (and by Heaven I mean God's eternal plan)

    Is there anything said about the purpose of the stars?
     
    #13 Aaron, Feb 8, 2016
  14. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    Psalm 19.
     
    #14 Martin Marprelate, Feb 8, 2016
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  15. Rob_BW

    Rob_BW Well-Known Member
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    Since I'm in Isaiah this semester:

    For this is what the Lord says—
    God is the Creator of the heavens.
    He formed the earth and made it.
    He established it;
    He did not create it to be empty,
    but formed it to be inhabited—
    “I am Yahweh,
    and there is no other.
    Isaiah 45:18
     
    #15 Rob_BW, Feb 8, 2016
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  16. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    I may be quite wrong, but I don't believe that astronomers will ever find the edge of the Universe (though the Big Bang theory demands that there is one). If someone found how big the Universe is, he could say, That's how big God is.
     
    #16 Martin Marprelate, Feb 8, 2016
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  17. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    That doesn't necessarily follow. 1st, the Big Bang only demands a beginning, it doesn't demand an edge. The Cosmic Microwave Background, theoretically the echos of the Big Bang, is theoretically the oldest light we can see, originating from 14 billion lightyears away, according to estimations based on presently accepted standards, in all directions from the earth.

    But, assuming no edge is not the same as assuming infinity. The universe is assumed to be something like the membrane of a balloon. No edge and no center. Get in a rocket ship, go in a straight line long enough and you will end up at your starting point. Assuming that kind of structure to the universe will allow for the observations of astronomers and keep the earth out of the center. But it's only an assumption, and it is the allowed one, because they believe that purpose is evident in structure, and they need a structure that says purposelessness.

    But if the universe is something like a big sphere, it has an edge and a center, and the astronomers' observations can only be explained if we are viewing the stars from the center of that sphere. That structure is rejected for no reason other than that it would mean, according to them, the earth occupies a special place in the universe, and that implies purpose.

    So I ask, does the universe have a purpose?
     
    #17 Aaron, Feb 8, 2016
  18. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    And what of Gen 1:16-17?

    . . . he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.
    ​
    Is that saying the earth is central to the purpose of the stars? At least the ones we can see?
     
    #18 Aaron, Feb 8, 2016
  19. TCassidy

    TCassidy Late-Administator Emeritus
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    Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork."

    The magnificence of Creation gives us a hint of the Magnificence of the Creator.

    It also gives us insight into the Nature of the Godhead.

    The Universe consists of Matter, Time, and Space. 3 in 1 (Universe = uni = 1)

    Matter is solid, liquid, and gas. 3 in 1.

    Time is past, present, and future. 3 in 1.

    Space is 3 dimentional, up/down, side/side, forward/back. 3 in 1.

    The Universe is shouting! 3 in 1! 3 in 1! 3 in 1!

    The Triunity of the Godhead is wonderfully expressed in the Creation wrought by our Wonderful Creator.

    Yep. Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork." Wow! Do they ever! :)
     
    #19 TCassidy, Feb 8, 2016
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  20. Alcott

    Alcott Well-Known Member
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    Looking up "stars--" plural-- I get 51 results, of which 15 are in the New Testament, of which 8 are in Revelation. I see 3 main 'purposes' that they serve...
    1) to declare the glory of the Lord-- light, fixation, never absent,
    2) often a parallel to/with sand of the seashore, to illustrate numbers and vastness; Abraham's descendants, points of wisdom, enemies, God's knowledge (he gives names to them all).
    3) to 'rule' the night; supposedly to aid in position, time, direction, navigation; as well to remind us that light [God] is not absent even at night.

    Okay, does that answer your questions here, or have you been slithering up to something else?
     
    #20 Alcott, Feb 9, 2016
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