What is the purpose of such a large universe?

[doubleB]

I know God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden - with the warning “do not eat the forbidden fruit”.

Perhaps God expects us to show some similar restraint regarding our utilization of the “Universe”.

 

[Nino]

I am not saying this is the only purpose, but maybe it is a purpose…

God did say be fruitful and multiply right… so it makes sense that there is a big universe in which to multiply. If we are to multiply naturally, it is only a relativlely small amount of time to populate the entire earth (look at our present state of population). So if the universe is created before the fall, and before the fall people did not die, it would make sense that there were plenty land, including other planets besides the Earth, to occupy so that it did not get too crowded. How many more millions would be on this earth if we did not die, if Adam had never eaten the apple? Perhaps the vastness of the universe is majorly part of the old plan before the fall.

 

[Nino]

I think its rather presumptous or whatever to know whats in the mind of a mighty Creator…the First Cause etc…age old questions…why so much pain in the world…how come its easier to be an athiest then a Christian or Jew?..why cant people just get along.why so many wars…why then also is a storm that does damage…called in the media…‘an act of God’ notice only when something bad happens the secular humanistic media even mentions our blessed Creator…and on and on…size of universe…again why would a landlord build a large hotel and not rent out the rooms…all heard before…our idiot ancestor…Adam thought he was soooo smart also…instead of giving God credit for having brains…Adam wanted to be equal to…thanks,and that dang apple stuck in his throat and to this day that lump in mens necks is called…you guessed it Harry,Adams apple!!!

 

[Bruno_Schulz]

Perhaps God expects us to show some similar restraint regarding our utilization of the “Universe”

**Isn’t it rather like the parents who leave the child alone in a situation, where they in a loving way attentively watch the child’s doing; if he behaves so, that the child protects himself, and does not go along with somebody strange…

A young mother said; “I wont tell my doughter about this God-business where a God is watching us whatever we do. Children have enough other fears”

That attitude might arise even more fears in the child. I remember when I was a child, my parents told me, that I’m never alone and God who loves us is with us. Always. So, I was glad never to be alone and at any time to be able to speak to God who loves me.
So why shouldn’t we too, seemingly be left alone in a huge universe. We are not alone, but God is with us: Matthew 28,20
“I am with you always, even to the end of time.”
**

Nino:

again why would a landlord build a large hotel and not rent out the rooms…

Jesus holds those rooms for us: John 14:2 -
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

 

[smkw]

I don’t have trouble with many philosohical questions, but this one I have a hard time with. What could God’s purpose be for creating such a massive universe? My normal answer to such a question would be that he made if for us. However, the universe is so huge that I can’t imagine humanity ever being able to make use of it all. Indeed, it is so massive that I don’t imagine people ever even being able to even know everything that is out there. So how, then, could it be for us? Or, is my premise flawed? Did God create some things for a purpose other than us. Or is there more than just us, and those other beings are what some of creation is for? Finally, maybe humanity will live for billions of years and eventually be able to appreciate or make use of all of the universe? What do you all think is the reason for such a large universe?

Larry

 

[smkw]

smkw:
The purpose of such a large universe might simply be to reveal the glory of God.
“The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord”.

 

[Bruno_Schulz]

**“What could God’s purpose be for creating such a massive universe?”

Well. If it would be small – that means – if we could see its border, we’d do anything to get behind this limit. Just as we waist immense lots of money to explore the Universe instead exploring and healing hunger in this world for that money.
If for some reason we couldn’t look to or into the other side of that small universe bubble e.g. through a hole in its “skin” which God won’t allow, we’d know, “there behind, is heaven”.

Today we might send exploring beams into outer space and won’t ever find a margin. The only way to keep it up to us; to believe or not to believe.

The truth, we have to find by ourselves by ways of belief and faith.
As soon as we recognize the truth, we will be free. The one and only Truth is God. Is Jesus, who told us in John 8,32: Then you will have knowledge of what is true, and that will make you free.

Freedom in God means loving God, and loving God means faith and understanding.
**

 

[cranster]

Wrong-O! The most distant galaxies are millions of light years away from us.

The most distant galaxies are not millions but billions of light years away.

At the speed of light time ceases, so traveling very near the speed of light time would slow enough that it may be possible to travel billions of lightyears in a lifetime.

The only problem is you can’t accelerate to the speed of light because mass becomes infinite at that speed and you can’t accelerate an infinite mass.

There was an event in the sky a few months back that would have been visible to the naked eye. It was the formation of a very large black hole that gave off a tremendous amount of energy. It is halfway between us and the bigbang… 7 and a half billion light years away. The light that was visible in the sky only a few months ago from that event started traveling towards us about 3 and a half billion years before the earth formed.

Speaking of the bigbang I was just reading an article and I can’t remember the name of the physicist who authored it, but basically he was saying that all the mathematical constants that govern the universe were imprinted in the big bang so as emergent stages developed the mathematical constansts that govern those stages were already present and took effect.

The way I understand it is the original singularity contained a sort of dna of the universe. First there was nothing, then there was a first cause with strings setting the properties of quarks and atoms etc… so now you have an effect from the first cause and the distance between the two was the first moment of time… probably the first trillionth of a second. But along with the very first particles of matter there was also information which contained all the math necessary to govern the future emergent stages.

It’s pretty crazy to contemplate the size of the universe today compared to it’s size when it was a singularity of infinite mass and energy perhaps no larger than a single string. A string is so small that it is to an atom what an atom is to the solar system.

Perhaps God let the universe get so big to humble us before His infinite majesty.

 

[bobzills]

Perhaps God let the universe get so big to humble us before His infinite majesty.

So the purpose of a large universe is a psychological or religious one?

 

[ricmat]

So the purpose of a large universe is a psychological or religious one?

The important things in this life are just imperfect and limited versions of those same things in the afterlife. Just as Moses’ tabernacle and Solomon’s temple were imperfect and limited versions of the heavenly temple.

IMO - the purpose of a large universe is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite majesty. And…the purpose of earthly beauty is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite beauty. And…the purpose of earthly love is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite love. And the purpose of good things on earth is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite goodness. etc. etc. etc.

Or so I’ve heard.

 

[cranster]

So the purpose of a large universe is a psychological or religious one?

Science can attempt to explain the mechanism of the universe, but purpose enters into the realm of metaphysics. To me it appears that the mathematical constants that govern the universe in it’s emergent stages, including the immensly complex human Genome came from design. I would have to say that the intellect that set all of these forces into motion is far, far beyond anything that 8 pounds of gray matter can comprehend. The entire purpose can only be known to the mind that made it all happen.

But for the humans that inhabit this small planet in an average sized galaxy that is one among billions, I would say that intellect entered time on this planet and took human form and proclaimed Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, then backed it up by rising from the dead, and leaving in His wake countless miracles and transformed lives. That intellect itself came and gave us purpose.
All things were created through Christ, in Christ and for Christ. The entire purpose of the universe I would imagine only the uncaused cause that caused it can answer that.

I’m not really sure how you extracted a psychological element out of what I said.

 

[RobbyS]

The important things in this life are just imperfect and limited versions of those same things in the afterlife. Just as Moses’ tabernacle and Solomon’s temple were imperfect and limited versions of the heavenly temple.

IMO - the purpose of a large universe is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite majesty. And…the purpose of earthly beauty is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite beauty. And…the purpose of earthly love is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite love. And the purpose of good things on earth is to inspire us with awe of God’s infinite goodness. etc. etc. etc.

Or so I’ve heard.

This questioon leading me to ask: What is the kingdom of God, and how small or large is it? For we Christians believe in the resurrection of the dad and the life of the world to come. Well, what is that? Maybe if we are indeed with God, then will the universe be anything more than a toy?

 

[ricmat]

This questioon leading me to ask: What is the kingdom of God, and how small or large is it? For we Christians believe in the resurrection of the dad and the life of the world to come. Well, what is that? Maybe if we are indeed with God, then will the universe be anything more than a toy?

Again, IMHO -

God created us out of love. So as to have even more persons to share the love of the trinity. We needed a place to live, and to perfect love so that we can eventually love God in heaven. The universe is our place to live while we practice for the afterlife.

Does it NEED to be so large so as to be a place to live? No.

Does the fact that it IS so large make us stand in awe of our Creator? I hope so.

The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. I fear his awesome majesty and glory every time I think about the universe.

 

[ricmat]

To me it appears that the mathematical constants that govern the universe in it’s emergent stages, including the immensly complex human Genome came from design.

Amen brother!

I would have to say that the intellect that set all of these forces into motion is far, far beyond anything that 8 pounds of gray matter can comprehend. The entire purpose can only be known to the mind that made it all happen.

But for the humans that inhabit this small planet in an average sized galaxy that is one among billions, I would say that intellect entered time on this planet and took human form and proclaimed Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, then backed it up by rising from the dead, and leaving in His wake countless miracles and transformed lives. That intellect itself came and gave us purpose.

I would quibble with your last sentence above. Didn’t we have purpose even before the Incarnation?

 

[cranster]

Amen brother!

I would quibble with your last sentence above. Didn’t we have purpose even before the Incarnation?

We’ve always had the innate desire to know God. The Incarnation gave us the tangible means to do so.

 

[Nickkname]

I don’t have trouble with many philosohical questions, but this one I have a hard time with. What could God’s purpose be for creating such a massive universe? My normal answer to such a question would be that he made if for us. However, the universe is so huge that I can’t imagine humanity ever being able to make use of it all. Indeed, it is so massive that I don’t imagine people ever even being able to even know everything that is out there. So how, then, could it be for us? Or, is my premise flawed? Did God create some things for a purpose other than us. Or is there more than just us, and those other beings are what some of creation is for? Finally, maybe humanity will live for billions of years and eventually be able to appreciate or make use of all of the universe? What do you all think is the reason for such a large universe?

Larry

You are correct that God created the Universe for us, but, this dosen’t meant we have to explore every inch of it. Remember: creation is a reflection of the glory of God, not a playground of man. The reason God created the Universe so unimainably huge is twofold: Because He wants man to realize, especially in his pride, that he is nothingness - indeed, man is but dust at the feet of the Lord - and because He is a superabundantly generous God - indeed, it is easier for the Lord to give us more than it is to give us less.

 

[bobzills]

You are correct that God created the Universe for us, but, this dosen’t meant we have to explore every inch of it. Remember: creation is a reflection of the glory of God, not a playground of man. The reason God created the Universe so unimainably huge is twofold: Because He wants man to realize, especially in his pride, that he is nothingness - indeed, man is but dust at the feet of the Lord - and because He is a superabundantly generous God - indeed, it is easier for the Lord to give us more than it is to give us less.

How can the whole universe be created for us humans, if we will never be able to see more than 99 percent of it?

 

[Bruno_Schulz]

Perhaps God let the universe get so big to humble us before His infinite majesty.

**in that case, we’d know, right there behind, is heaven. So we’d have proove of God’s being. That’s not intended, as then believe wouldn’t be necessary and we’d all know. So, God set behind the first room another door to another room or universe.
Someone told me:
What about if the world is amidst heaven - like an aquarium where the fish too think there’s nothing behind what we see. But instead they are amidst our room
**

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Here are the last two paragraph’s of Stephen Barr’s article “Anthropic Coincidences,” from First Things (about 2001):

“The traditional answer is a good one, but there may be another. It turns out that the very age and vastness of the universe may have an “anthropic” significance. Life emerged in our universe in a way that required great stretches of time. As we have seen, most of the elements needed for life were made deep in stars. Those stars had to explode to disperse those elements and make them available before life could even begin to evolve. That whole process alone required billions of years. The evolution of human life from those elements required billions of years more. Thus, the briefness of human life* spans and even of human history compared with the age of the universe may simply be a matter of physical necessity, given the developmental way that God seems to prefer to work. It takes longer for a tree to grow to maturity than the fruit of the tree lasts. It took much longer for the universe to grow to maturity than we last.
Physics can also suggest why the universe has to be so large. The laws of gravity discovered by Einstein relate the size of the universe directly to its age. The fact that the universe is many billions of light-years across is related to the fact that it has lasted several billions of years. Perhaps we would be less daunted by a cozy little universe the size, say, of a continent. But such a universe would have lasted only a few milliseconds. Even a universe the size of the solar system would have lasted only a few hours. A universe constructed in such a way as to evolve life may well have had to extend widely in space as well as in time. It may well be that the frightening expanses that are so often said to be a sign of human insignificance may actually, like so many other features of our strange universe, point to man, as they also proclaim the glory of God.”

If you would like to see the entire article, go to firstthings.com, type in Stephen Barr. When his list of articles comes up, click on “Anthropic Coincidences.”

What’s “the traditional answer” ? Thanks for the reference ​

Why the “Anthropic Principle” ? For the Incarnation, maybe ? God does seem to work in a very roundabout way - He could do in one second what He wants the Church to do, yet He “takes the hard way”. And why bother to create trilobites, then millions upon millions of years later dinosaurs, & apes millions of years after that ? He seems to be very wasteful - every pace we take, we step on millions of microbes.

Mgr. Knox (1888-1957) suggested that bread was invented for the sake of the Mass: if so, that would be another example of going the long way round.

This has interesting implications for the BVM - it implies that she was to God Incarnate what the earth is to us, & for the same reason: she was His “environment”, just as the earth is mankind’s environment. In a sense, all creation is narrowed down from the Big Bang into her, for His sake.

 

[Bruno_Schulz]

**Scientists exploring the origin of life and universe by holding on to the big bang theories, still have most believers on their side, however ridiculous this “Big Bang” might be. For what should bang if there’s nothing and what was there, before there was something, and where did this come from?!

It’s godless to spend Billions of money worldwide, exploring the Universe and the “results” help no-one, instead of spending the same money to overcome hunger and poorness in this world. The silly answer: Well this gives many work, can be disproved by: War- and weapon-industry too does so - but it destroys life, and a anti-hunger industry would do so too with many employees from teachers to docs and farmers.

Big Bang and need to explore the farthest Universe? Even the most silly things can be said in sophisticated words. The more sophisticated, the more they are true?
Not at all!

How come, we worry more about God’s creating and keeping the world than our own eternal life? Didn’t Jesus say (match e.g. Matthew 6:33) SEEK FIRST GOD’S KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THE REST WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU AS WELL.

That’s absolutely true, for many a thing the world never understands, is given to those who live in faith and believe in God. But the world won’t listen and sets on it’s own “wit and cleverness”, which is just nothing without God, and leads literally into a dead-end road.
**