Why Genesis? What is the Purpose of the Universe?

by George Withbroe

Overview

We live in a Universe that differs profoundly from the small and simpler world in which our religious ancestors lived. Then the Earth was flat and at the center of the world, and the Sun, Moon, and stars were lights in the sky. The world and the Supreme Being who created it were centered on us. Modern science has revealed a very different world. Our Universe was born 13.7 billion years ago in the Big Bang, is evolving, and contains 10 billion trillion stars many of which are likely to have planets. The Earth is no longer at the center of the world and the Sun is but one of trillions of stars in the Universe. What are the theological implications of these revelations? What is the purpose of the Universe? What are the implications concerning the nature of God and the relationship between humanity and God? What is the creation story in Genesis trying to tell us? If God is the Creator, then the Creator’s handiwork is inscribed by God in the natural record, “The Book of God’s Works.” What theological insights can we discover from reading this divinely written text? These are questions that the present book addresses in hopes that it will encourage the reader to find his or her own answers.
The author is a research scientist who worked for many years as an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and later served as a science program director at NASA Headquarters. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940013636507
Publisher:	George L. Withbroe
Publication date:	06/06/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

For 26 years the author worked as an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics where he also served as an Associate Director and Head of the Solar-Stellar Physics Division. This was followed by a decade as a Science Program/Division Director at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC where he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership. After retiring from NASA the author had part-time scientific research positions at George Mason University (Research Professor) and University of Minnesota (Adjunct Professor). Currently he has an unpaid appointment as an Adjunct Professor at Minnesota.
Dr. Withbroe has authored or coauthored 128 papers published in the scientific literature and nearly 200 presentations at national and international scientific conferences. He has served on a variety of scientific advisory committees for governmental agencies (NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, Naval Research Laboratory, European Space Agency) and the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences.