The Universe has no center in the same way the surface of a ball has no center. This knowledge results from how astronomers think the Universe started, and that says something about Who started it. The Universe – time, the three dimensions of space, matter, energy, and the laws of logic and physicscame into existence from nothing and began expanding (see Gen. 1:1, Ps. 104:2, Is. 40:22). The matter did not expand into pre-existing spatial dimensions like the explosion from a grenade. Instead, the Cosmos created the space it expanded into.
Imagine an elastic chalkboard: you can’t draw a picture larger than the chalkboard without stretching it-so you stretch it as you draw. Similarly, the Universe’s expansion was not an explosion but instead was a very controlled release. This theory accurately describes and predicts what astronomers observe. The main ideas of it were penned in Inspired Scripture thousands of years before scientists penned them in scientific papers and books.
The most remarkable evidence in favor of this expansion-from-nothing came in 1964 when two physicists at Bell Labs observed a glow that had been predicted over a decade before. Making predictions about how an experiment will turn out is one of the hallmarks of science. Astrophysicists reasoned that (A) if the Universe began with a hot, ongoing expansion, then (B) we should observe the sky glowing in microwaves!
The observations at Bell Labs in 1964 were the first detection. More sensitive and detailed detections came later in 1992 and 2003 from NASA’s COBE and WMAP spacecraft.
So, the Universe expands on the four dimensional “surface” of space-time like polka-dots on a balloon expand on its two dimensional surface. Don’t worry, it’s not possible to visualize it, but the math and physics work out! According to the Bible, God transcends this four dimensional “balloon,” and this is consistent with what we know from cosmology. One reason for confidence in the Bible’s truth claims is that it’s the world’s only holy book where God is described as existing apart from his creation. As we’ll see in my next article, God’s extra dimensional existence helps makes sense of some difficult themes in Christianity.
The baby Universe glowing in microwave light as observed by NASA’s WMAP spacecraft. This glow was predicted to come from an initially hot, expanding Universe, and is the strongest evidence for it. Both cosmology and the Bible predict that the Cause of the Universe-God transcends it. This can help explain some confusion in Christian doctrine.
