I just have to jump in here because, a few years ago, an idea came to me and I’ve been just itching to try it out and see what others think of it. Unfortunately, my day to day life revolves around cooking, changing diapers, and trying to clean marker off a wall (sometimes all at the same time!! lol), so I haven’t had a chance to share this grand idea with too many people.
Anyway, here goes. I’ve got this image of the universe as a sort of “snow globe”. The earth and it’s surrounding solar system (which I’m fairly certain does revolve around the sun) as well as the rest of the galaxies, nebulas, etc. are all God’s creations, put into place for their beauty (and, perhaps, for our amusement). The universe may very well be expanding, if for no other reason, so that we are never able to see beyond it’s boundries for, beyond it’s boundries, is Heaven. I hope I’m explaining this well. My thought here is that this reconciles the creation story in which the earth was surrounded by a firmament. Perhaps it really was. Then, as men continued their quest for knowledge and improved technology, God found it necessary to expand the universe around us (or, to follow my analagy, make the snow globe bigger) so that we would never actually reach the boundries. Does this make sense?
God bless, Jen