Good Heavens! The Human Side of Astronomy

We have another interstellar visitor in the solar system, something truly out of this (particular) world!

Is it an alien spacecraft? Is it a comet? A sign of the end of the world? An asteroid? Demons just messing with us?  What's All the Gas About?

Here on this episode of Good Heavens! we cut through all the viral hype and make some biblical sense of this wondrous interstellar object. Come and see!

NASA fast facts on this mysterious object:

This is Mark and Rita's first-ever podcast interview! The Schrocks are fellow Christians and engineer specialists at NASA's Mission Control in Houston, Texas and share with us what working at Mission Control is like. We talk about everything from landing on the moon, to Space Shuttle missions and even what they think of aliens!

And of course, we talk about how we believe it all points to the glory of God. Human space exploration is good, but it isn't safe.

Mark is the chief design engineer behind the Space Shuttle's Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver which was...

How does a short passage in Mark chapter 2 point to Jesus as Lord and God? And what might Jesus' healing of the paralytic say about the nature of the universe and our place within it? Can we trust Mark's account as real history?

This is a short audio essay examines these questions in greater detail and hopefully provides us with some encouragement not to be discouraged in times when God seems silent.

Thumbnail photo credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI, A. Pagan (STScI)). This is Pismis 24, a small star cluster in the constellation Scorpius, the...

Atheists have often claimed that the Bible makes no scientific predictions and therefore cannot be a valid source of knowledge about the universe.

But this is simply unfounded. First, modern science as we understand it today did not exist thousands of years ago. To demand that our modern expectations should be imposed upon the text of Scripture is anachronistic eisegesis. It is our imposing our expectations and understanding into the texts of the Bible.

But second, Psalm 19, written by King David some 3,000 years ago, tells us that the heavens are continually pouring forth speech and...

How does philosophy inform modern physics? And how do physicists incorporate philosophy into their research?

On this episode, we dive into those questions with philosopher Dr. Timothy McGrew and astrophysicist Dr. Luke Barnes in order to help you fine tune your thinking about the fine tuning of the universe.

Critics of the fine-tuning argument will often invoke probabilities in order to get around the argument's deeper implication of the existence of God.

Tim and Luke will explore some of the issues in probability theory as it informs the physics of the fine-tuning

The brand new Vera Rubin Observatory recently opened its 28-foot diameter mirror and snapped a few stunning images that astronomers displayed to the public for the first time in June.

You can explore the amazing imagery of the heavens at the observatory's website at this site: 
https://rubinobservatory.org/news/first-imagery-rubin

Why so many stars? Why is the universe so immensely enormous, beyond our comprehension? What is the universe saying to us?

There would be no science of the heaven

Despite how secular most disciplines in the physical sciences are today, those who study nature assume that nature is intelligible and that it should be explored. But how does modern science actually explain what nature is saying to us? How do the explain that nature is intelligible to us at all? Is science the only way to understand the physical universe and everything it contains?

From silvery meandering rivers to the variegated heavenly canopy of stars above us, all creation is speaking to us, but in the words of the late Dr. Carl Sagan, "Who speaks for...

The Bible tells us that we can see and understand "God's invisible attributes" through what He has created. And this is precisely what former atheist Michael Ray Lewis discovered as he spent three years examining the evidence for Christianity. One of the most impressive arguments he encountered during his time of searching was that of the fine tuning of the universe.

Jesus eventually got hold of Michael and not long thereafter his wife encouraged him to make a documentary about the evidence he had uncovered for Christianity.

Here on part two of our conversation with...

This is why we produce Good Heavens! God's creation shows us His invisible attributes. He uses His creation to lead us to Christ, through whom and for whom the entirety of the heavens and earth were made (Colossians 1).

Dan recently met a former atheist who became a Christian and has recently completed the final edits on a remarkable docudrama film about the cosmos and how it all points us to Jesus. The film is called Universe Designed and it is the passion project of our guest on Good Heavens! for the next two episodes, filmmaker Michael Ray...

Neptune is the Roman name for the Greek god of the seas and of earthquakes. Poseidon, in Greek mythology, is the father of Polyphemus, the tyrannical, man-eating cyclopes of Homer's Odyssey. Because the Odysseus blinded Polyphemus, it was Poseidon and his wrath which ultimately made Odysseus' trip home a little more circuitous than was to the Big O's liking.

Thankfully, Poseidon and his offspring exist only in the long-gone minds and imaginations of Homer and the Greco-Roman world.

But there is a true King of king and Lord of lords, which even the wind, wave...

You don't hear much about Uranus these days. Probably because it's 1.8 billion miles away, or maybe because the last time an Earth-launched satellite probe visited the enigmatic ringed world was in 1986. A few years ago the James Webb Space Telescope took the beauteous portrait of Uranus you see in the thumbnail, but for the most part, most folks don't think much about the quirky planet that orbits the sun whilst rolling on its side.

Hopefully, this episode will at least make you think about Uranus as a work of art, the "handiwork" of God (Psalm 8 and 19), which...

What does the Bible say about the sun? What is the purpose of the sun? Why did God create it? How does the sun remind us of God's invisible attributes? How could there have been life on earth before the sun? How can we best understand both what the Bible says and what science says about our sun?

The sun was designed and created for God's glory; for signs and for seasons, for days and years, to govern the day, and to give light on the earth. Come and see with Wayne and Dan what the Bible...

Our thumbnail image this week is not a doctored or photoshopped image, but a genuine picture of the sun from October 2024. Taken in 193 angstrom light on Oct. 26, 2024, NASA captured our sun in a state of rejoicing, or so it seemed (image credit NASA/GSFC/SDO). The darker regions you see that comprise the eyes and mouth are actually regions of the surface of the sun that have been blasted off by coronal mass ejections that can trigger solar storms here on earth. In fact, solar storm warnings were issued because of this particular image. All that "missing" material is...

How might things like "spooky action at a distance" or mysterious as "dark matter" point us to the glory of God? Whether you are a theist or a non-theist or a Christian who believes in a young or an old universe, we can all agree on at least one thing.

The universe is a fascinating place in which we find ourselves. That the universe is intelligible to us is even more remarkable.

But here at Good Heavens! we like to think the cosmos is more than just fascinating. We believe, as the Bible reveals, that...

As human beings we occupy a wondrously peculiar size in the cosmos. With our unique stature, we are able to see and comprehend scales of the universe at the inconceivably huge and the unimaginably small. We here at Good Heavens! believe God has arranged this peculiar state of affairs and wants us to know and delight in what He has made. 

The heavens are telling of His glory and we want to be a part in getting His word and the works of His hands out there for everyone to contemplate, consider, and enjoy.

On t...

Black holes continue to amaze and surprise us. Just when it seemed the scientific community was settling in on how black holes form, a string of recent discoveries has begun to call those assumptions into question.

How about a triple black hole system? Or how about a black hole that is "feeding" itself many times faster than astrophysicists thought possible.

Here on part two Wayne and Dan delve into the mysteries of these entities to the best of their knowledge and ability and they consider how these recent discoveries point us to the glory of...

Black holes remain one of the most enigmatic and wondrous entities in the cosmos. We have only known about them for less than a century. And just when you think you've got a handle on what exactly they are, new discoveries begin to challenge these assumptions.

Just in the last decade, astrophysicists have not only photographed a black hole but have detected gravitational waves, the ripples in spacetime fabric created by the merger of two supermassive black holes.  (See a video on this at  https://www.youtube.com/live/aEPIwEJmZyE?si=tZhq0Gs-WKZfRvOX )

Here on...

The telescope technology of our time has revealed wonders in the cosmos our ancestors could only dream about. But have these discoveries in any way undermined the biblical account of creation? Our guest again this week, astrophysicist and author at Reasons to Believe, Dr. Jeff Zweerink tells us that we have nothing to fear, not even the multiverse! Many atheists and skeptics have tried to employ the multiverse as a means of explaining away God as the cause of the existence of our universe. Come and hear what Jeff has to say this week about how creation not only...

The universe is a fantastically wondrous place. There are more things in heaven and earth than are often dreamt of in our philosophies, to paraphrase Hamlet a little bit. And for the many things we can observe in the physical universe, science sometimes struggles to come up with an explanation as to what is really going on. How much more mysterious are those things which we cannot see? How should Christians think about things that the science of the heavens tells us cannot be seen, such as the idea of the existence of many different universes? That's the question...

Instead of just one topic, Wayne and Dan thought it would be fun to cover some current events in the heavens and call it "News from Space" for lack of a better segment title. On this episode they chat about astronauts stuck in space, some strange exoplanets, what it really means to be an "earth-like" planet, and there's even a black hole that shoots out a Death-Star like jet of plasma that seems to ignite supernovae!

And of course, how Wayne and Dan think it all points to the glory of God in Christ.

Part two with former 4th-generation Latter-day Saint James K. Walker and astrophysicist and Cosmologist Dr. Luke Barnes, plus some bonus surprise guests.

Make sure you listen to Part One for fuller context of our conversation!

There is a reason the Gospel has often been referred to as "the Greatest Story ever told." Here on part two, we flesh out a little bit more into the ideas of many universes, materialism, Mormonism cosmology, and how they compare to the Christian story and our place within it.

Come and see!

Something a little out of the ordinary for our Good Heavens! family. How about theories in physics and cosmology combined with a discussion about Mormonism and storytelling? Yes! That's a lot to process, but we hope you'll find it mildly interesting and encouraging.

This broadcast will also be airing on our sister podcast Apologetics Profile later next month.

On this episode and next we'll be featuring our president of Watchman Fellowship, James K. Walker, a former 4th-generation Latter-day Saint in conversation with astrophysicist and cosmologist from Sydney, Australia, Dr. Luke Barnes, discussing many worlds, multiverses...

As you certainly know by now, for the month of August, Wayne and I have taken a little break from the heavens for a very special focus on the Earth, specifically some spectacular geological evidence for the biblical flood.

Here on part three of our three-part series we are yet again grateful and honored to have as our very special guest one of the top creation geologists in the world Dr. Andrew Snelling of Answers in Genesis.

Whether you are a young or old-earth creationist, a skeptic, agnostic, atheist or whether you know next to...

For the month of August, Wayne and I are taking a little break from the heavens for a very special focus on the Earth, specifically some spectacular geological evidence for the biblical flood.

Here on part two of our three-part series we are once again grateful and honored to have as our very special guest one of the top creation geologists in the world Dr. Andrew Snelling of Answers in Genesis.

Whether you are a young or old-earth creationist, a skeptic, agnostic, atheist or whether you know next to nothing about geology, we think you'll...

For the month of August, Wayne and I are taking a little break from the heavens for a very special focus on the Earth, specifically some spectacular geological evidence for the biblical flood.  And in this three-part series we are honored to have as our very special guest one of the top creation geologists in the world Dr. Andrew Snelling of Answers in Genesis.  Whether you are a young or old-earth creationist, a skeptic, agnostic, atheist or whether you know next to nothing about geology, we think you'll find our three-part series fascinating and enlightening.

Ou...

We continue our discussion about the Hubble Constant and delve into a few other cosmic anomalies, including the assumption Albert Einstein made regarding the speed of light.

And, somehow, we also ended up talking about Noah's flood and the Whopper Sand. You'll have to listen to the end to find out how that happened!

Come and see how we think it all points to the glory and majesty of God.

Dan's very short video on the whooper sand.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r9COYBra94

Probably the only thing that is constant about the Hubble Constant is that it keeps changing! What is it? Why is it such a hot topic in cosmology today and why are some even calling it a "crisis"?

Come along with Wayne and Dan as they dive into the quest for the elusive magic number. What does it mean for cosmology and what might it all have to do with the way God made the universe?

The following links are not meant to imply the ideas contained therein reflect those of Good Heavens! or Watchman...

What explanations have astronomers come up with to explain the recent mysterious discovery of JuMBOs in the Orion Nebula?  Why so many? How did they form? Why so many in pairs? Why did the form in the Orion Nebula? Here on part two we discuss some possible "naturalistic" hypotheses but conclude that no matter what technical explanation astronomers might offer, we believe these wonderful little orbs are just a small part of how the heavens declare the glory of God and show forth His marvelous handiwork.

Come and see!

Wayne's article on the s...

The "Standard Model" of particle physics is science's attempt to explain the basic, fundamental building blocks of the universe. In many ways, the Standard Model has accurately predicted many groundbreaking discoveries at the subatomic levels.

But for everything the Standard Model has predicted and described, there are a great many things for which it cannot account. Never in a million years could anyone look at the intricacies of the atom and think that from this tiny Lego-block-like structure things like giant sequoia redwoods, or blue whales, or even enormous variegated swirling arms of stars in galaxies would...

Come and hear more on Saturn's rings and what scientists say about how they formed! Despite all science tells us about the sixth planet from the sun, the wondrously ringed world of Saturn, there is still much that remains unknown. And maybe we will never know all there is to know about it. And maybe that unknown is part of what the glory of God is all about, after all He is omniscient and we are not! But God has graciously enabled us to look at what He has made in the heavens in a very up-close and personal...

Wayne made up "eclipsnic" to describe our combination picnic and eclipse we watched with not a little awe and wonder in Waxahachie, Texas on April 8, 2024. On this special episode we try to put into words what words cannot finally adequately describe.

The event was truly wondrous - a carefully choreographed dance of the Sun, Moon, and Earth has to be experienced in person. If you did not get a chance to see this marvel, we try to give you a theater of the mind experience on this broadcast and make you feel like you were...

News clip from CBS https://youtu.be/ZSMiQQ7aQKI?si=2KKoL2ECu8YOgOln

Link to "The Journal of Creation" December 2023 issue, featuring Wayne's article on Saturn's rings. The article is presently through subscription to the Journal only. https://creation.com/journal-of-creation-373

Dan's article on the hexagon high atop Saturn.

Total eclipses are a spectacular and breathtaking wonder to behold. And a total eclipse is coming over the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as well as parts of the eastern United States on April 8th, 2024. Totality in the DFW area will last a little over four minutes.  If you are in the vicinity of DFW, come join Wayne and Dan in Waxahachie, Texas on April 8th, 2024 for the Discovery Institute event. You can find tickets here at this link.

https://www.discovery.org/e/eclipse/

Waxahachie, Texas will be nearly in the center of the moon's s...

Stereo repost.  Current models of how our universe came to be are based on a few assumptions the brilliant physicist-genius Albert Einstein made about the universe - things he could not finally physically test or demonstrate.  In order to do his calculations, Einstein simply assumed that matter would be evenly distributed throughout the universe and that the universe would look the same in any direction or location.  If Einstein's assumptions are indeed correct, astrophysicists and cosmologists calculate that the largest structures we should expect to see in the universe would not exceed 1.2 billion light years in size.  But discoveries in r...

How often do you think of the Roman Empire? If you are a believer in Jesus, you probably think about it quite a bit! But how often do you think about the Parthian Empire?  And what do the Romans and the Parthians have to do with cosmic superstructures?  Well, we aren't giving the answer to that question away here in the notes! You'll just have to listen to the broadcast and find out! 

Are these cosmic superstructures for real or just anomalies? We hope you'll start thinking about them, anyway! So come and see!

Links:
...

Current models of how our universe came to be are based on a few assumptions the brilliant physicist-genius Albert Einstein made about the universe - things he could not finally physically test or demonstrate.  In order to do his calculations, Einstein simply assumed that matter would be evenly distributed throughout the universe and that the universe would look the same in any direction or location.  If Einstein's assumptions are indeed correct, astrophysicists and cosmologists calculate that the largest structures we should expect to see in the universe would not exceed 1.2 billion light years in size.  But discoveries in recent dec...

"What are the chances of that happening?" we often say or hear whenever something remarkable or out of the ordinary takes place. When we use that phrase, we are invoking the design inference, even though we may not exactly call it that. Our guest again this week, philosopher, mathematician and senior fellow at Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture Dr. William Dembski shares with us how his more formalized design inference is indeed rooted in simple, everyday inferences we all make. But he also how it fits into the laws of probability, information theory, and specified complexity as w...

For centuries, Western natural philosophy, theology, the scientific tradition widely accepted that the physical cosmos and life within it was the creation of God. Arguably one of the most influential works which usurped the belief in God as the Creator was Charles Darwin's 1859 publication On the Origin of Species. It undoubtedly provided many with the intellectual framework for atheism, naturalism, and materialism. But in the late 20th and early 21st century, the concept of intelligent design has made a cultural comeback. This week and next we sit down with Dr. William Dembski, one of the leading founders and proponents of...

Telescopes certainly have opened our eyes to the wonders of the heavens. For Christians images from the deepest regions of the universe only serve to confirm what David in the 19th Psalm declares. The heavens are telling of the glory of God and the skies proclaim His handiwork.

But the big institutional astronomical organizations that design and build modern sophisticated telescopes seemed to have lost this particular focus. While the lenses and mirrors reveal the wonders of the cosmos in vivid details, many ironically can no longer see how it all connects to the glory...

The telescope has revolutionized the way we understand the universe. But in the four centuries since its invention, it seems astronomy science today has lost the original focus of those Christians who first laid eyes on the heavens through their spyglasses. 

On the next two episodes of Good Heavens! Wayne and Dan take a peek back on some of the highlights and discoveries of the earliest telescopes. Here on part one we chat about who really invented the telescope, what the basic kinds of telescopes are today, and what sort of discoveries had been made with this r...

While Wayne and Dan are certainly no professional cosmologists, they believe that scientists who study the universe need a bigger conceptual boat. There are "monsters" out there in the deep that don't seem to fit the current Big Bang dingy models of how the universe came into existence and slowly developed over 13.8 billion years. 

One astrophysicist has suggested the universe is more like 26 billion years old. Others believe there is no need to change the current age. What is the average person walking down the street to think of all this? 

As...

If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Wayne and Dan's generation, you probably have at least heard of the band Chicago. They have a few catchy tunes with some interesting titles, like 25 or 6 to 4 and Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

What do these songs have anything to do with the universe? Plenty! If Chicago were writing new songs today, they might do a remake of 25 or 6 to 4 and call it 26 or 13 Point 8. Turns out the age of the universe is up for discussion once again, raised by images of deep-space objects taken by...

Why does science explore the universe? If the universe has no ultimate purpose, why study it? But how can science know that the universe has no ultimate purpose? Can carbon from an asteroid really tell us where we came from and what our place in the universe really is? 

Recently, some 250 grams of carbon and other minerals gathered from Bennu, a near-earth asteroid, landed safely in a Utah desert. What can these elements really tell us about who we are and where we came from? Is debris from an asteroid really the place to look f...

You have likely at least seen pictures or videos of solar eclipses, perhaps you have been fortunate enough to see one as it happens. Either way, eclipses are quite a dramatic and awe-inspiring sight to behold. 

What do they mean? Anything? For non-Christians and those who hold to a completely materialistic view of the universe, sadly no. These events, while breathtaking, are not anything purposeful. They were not intended by anyone or anything. They are just chance alignments with no rhyme or reason for their occurrences. Science can tell us quite a bit about the nu...

If there are highly intelligent beings out there in the cosmos somewhere and they have perfected overcoming the impossible odds and dangers of interstellar and intergalactic travel, why do they always crash here on Earth? And is it even possible for such beings to defy the known laws of physics?

On part two of our conversation with astrophysicist and author Dr. Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe, we finish up our conversation about aliens, UFOs, and UAPs, and the problems they pose for a naturalistic worldview.  We also discuss some of the recent findings of the James W...

In case you have not been following the news in the recent months, there has been a resurgence of interest in UFOs, UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), and advanced intelligent beings from other dimensions or worlds visiting us. There has also been talk of "non-human biologics", allegedly the remains of the "pilots" of crashed UFOs and UAPs being secretly held by our government.

What are these things? How as Christians can we make sense of the claims being made once more by ufologists and those convinced aliens are among us? What is the evidence?

On the...

Be sure to catch the Perseid Meteor Shower this weekend (Aug. 12-13, 2023) , weather permitting! If the weather is bad or you can't see them, however, hopefully this episode will be the next best thing!

What is a meteor shower, anyway? What do they mean? Where can you see them? Wayne and Dan attempt to answer these and other burning questions about this weekend's Perseid fireworks! Come and see! 

Wayne's article on comets.  

Dan's article on the Perseids.   

Previous Good Heavens! Episodes on Meteors and Comets

Meteors (Sept. 2021)

If extraterrestrial life existed, how would it impact our faith in Christ? What would it look like? Would it be something like bacteria, plants or animals, or something more resembling intelligent agents like ourselves? Is the Earth specially designed to host biological life or are there other "Earth-like" planets in the universe today? This is part two of our special combined broadcast of Apologetics Profile and Good Heavens! with cosmologist and author Dr. Jeff Zweerink of Reasons to Believe. If you have friends or family interested in the question of extraterrestrial life, you don't want to miss this episode.<...

We have been asking the question as long as we have been able to look up at the stars. Is there life out there in the cosmos? What would it be like? What are the implications for us if there is? And especially, how might extraterrestrial life impact our understanding of the Bible and of the Christian faith? What might extraterrestrial life have to do with Jesus of Nazareth? There is presently no evidence for ET. So why are we talking about it? Find out from an expert cosmologist who has asked this question himself. Dr. Jeff Zweerink of...

This is part two of our two-part episode on the wondrous world of exoplanets. On this episode Wayne and Dan explore a "super Saturn" with a ring system of over 110,000,000 million miles in diameter. If this planet were where our Saturn is located, we could easily see the rings with the naked eye. They would appear four to five times larger than the full moon!

We'll also be looking at the darkest, blackest exoplanet discovered to date. Just a tad larger than our own Jupiter, It has baffled astronomers ever since its discovery. No one really knows...

For the next two episodes of Good Heavens! Wayne and Dan will be exploring four fantastic worlds outside of our solar system. For the most part, there have been over 5,000 newly-discovered planets outside our own solar system since the 1990s, with thousands more "candidates" that need further exploration and confirmation. 

Astronomers call these planets outside of our solar system "exoplanets." 

On this episode we'll marvel at the mathematical majesty of TESS Object of Interest #178 or TOI-178 for short and we'll try to stay upright as we have a look at the wobbly but wondrous world of...

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to make headlines with its marvelous head-scratching discoveries. On this episode, Wayne and Dan explore a recent JWST unexpected discovery of a disc and multiple rings around the star Fomalhaut. This discovery promises to challenge current theories about how stars and planets form.

Wayne and Dan not only discuss the science, but also how we see the star pointing to our unique and special place in the cosmos, all for the glory of God in Christ. 

Dan's article on fish, faith, and the fantastic findings of Fomalhaut. 

Wa...

(Galactic image in the thumbnail - NASA - the James Webb Space Telescope Cartwheel galaxy, previously imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope).

Galaxies, we might say, are kings of the cosmos. Their splendor and size has really only come to be known in the last 100 years, since Edwin Hubble finally determined that Andromeda, and many other galaxies just like it, were not just nebulae in our own universe.

Hubble's telescope, the Hooker Telescope atop Mt. Wilson in California, was the largest of its day. But it's main mirror was only 100 inches. We say "only" because...

Good Heavens! Dwarfs (not dwarves) have stolen Pluto's planetary status! Who are these mischievous entities? Why did they steal from Pluto? Where are they, exactly? And what do dwarfs, dancing, and astronomy have to do with each other? 

Join Wayne and Dan for this educational adventure in exploring these recently discovered miscreants of the solar system! Hopefully they've answered all of the perplexing questions on this episode. If not, it's still a fun chat about what's out there and how it all points to the glory of God in Christ. 

Easter episodes mentioned at the en...

Dan summarizes four fantastical new images from the James Webb Space Telescope and how he believes they reveal the glory of God.

Objects discussed you can see for yourself!

Pandora's Cluster

VHS 1256 b (only an artist's conception)

Wolf-Rayet 124

NGC 7469 A Star Wreath

Podbean enables ou

Did dragons ever really exist? Why is there a constellation of a dragon? Where'd it come from?

On this episode of Good Heavens! Dan breaks down the myths and legends behind Draco the Dragon, the 8th largest constellation in the night sky, Find out about its brightest stars and some of the deep sky objects within and about what Scripture has to say about the dragon of old. 

Don't miss this fascinating episode. Sit back, close your eyes, and imagine you're in a state-of-the-art planetarium. If you have some booming home audio surround sound or g...

See a wondrous alignment of planets at the end of March! Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Mars, and the Moon! 

What does it all mean for us? Find out on this special episode! 

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at htt...

What made Alice swim in a puddle of tears? 

Mathematics! 

As long division did for Dan in 4th grade. Math can bring tears, both of frustration and joy. What exactly is math? Why does it work so well in describing our universe? How can people explain mathematics apart from mind? And what's it all have to do with a grin without a cat? 

Come and see (or in this case, listen)! 

For more grinning from the heavens, see Wayne's article! 

https://creationanswers.net/answersblog/2023/01/27/the-grin-from-space/

Dan's full inter...

A special edition of Good Heaven! A heavenly event you don't want to miss! Mark your calendars for a special sight in the heavens coming soon. And you won't need a telescope or binoculars. You'll even be able to see it from a big city if your western horizon is clear and the weather is good. 

Come and see! 

Have you ever seen a grin without a cat? Come and see, or at least listen to the story about a fascinating object in the deepest recesses of Ursa Major, the Great Bear! 

Alice in Wonderland, Charlie Chaplain, Albert Einstein, invisible space-time fabric, and a grin that is kinda out of this world. 

For more grinning from the heavens, see Wayne's article!

The Grin from Space
https://creationanswers.net/answersblog/2023/01/27/the-grin-from-space/

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heav...

Part three of our discussion of the fascinating and inspiring life, imagination, and writing of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien includes Tolkien's concept of the eucatastrophe and the importance of friendships both in his life and in the characters of Middle Earth. 

Wayne's essay on Tolkien's Fantasy World
https://creationanswers.net/goodies/Tolkien_FantasyWorldvsRealWorld.pdf 

Some titles mentioned in the broadcast

https://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-4-Book-Boxed-Set/dp/0345538374/ 

https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-Illustrated-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0063280779/ 

https://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-Biography-Humphrey-Carpenter-ebook/dp/B00I7JFC7C/

Part two of our discussion of the fascinating and inspiring life, imagination, and writing of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien includes the moral nature of Tolkien's Middle Earth landscapes, true heroism, and Earendel. 

Wayne's essay on Tolkien's Fantasy World
https://creationanswers.net/goodies/Tolkien_FantasyWorldvsRealWorld.pdf 

Some titles mentioned in the broadcast

https://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-4-Book-Boxed-Set/dp/0345538374/ 

https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-Illustrated-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0063280779/ 

https://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-Biography-Humphrey-Carpenter-ebook/dp/B00I7JFC7C/

https://www.amazon.com/Tolkiens-Modern-Reading-Middle-earth-Beyond/dp/1

Part one of our discussion of the fascinating and inspiring life, imagination, and writing of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. Part one features Leaf, By Niggle, Tolkien's idea of the sub-creator, and how his work can remind us of Jesus as the Logos. 

Wayne's essay on Tolkien's fantasy world vs. the real world.
https://creationanswers.net/goodies/Tolkien_FantasyWorldvsRealWorld.pdf 

Some titles mentioned in the broadcast

https://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-4-Book-Boxed-Set/dp/0345538374/ 

https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-Illustrated-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0063280779/ 

https://www.amazon.com...

If contemporary astrophysics and cosmology has demonstrated anything conclusively about the nature of our universe it is 
 (1) We have a very special and unique place here on earth to observe and learn more about the universe and 
 (2) It requires intelligent agents to create even the simplest models of our universe or other theoretical universes. 

In short, despite what popularizers of science tell us, we are indeed significant in the cosmos and there is an intelligent being behind and beyond the cosmos.  As Christians, we know that the Creator of the cosmos Himself came down to us in...

The book of Job in the Old Testament tells of a prosperous man who was very good who lost much of what he owned and had 10 children die in one day.  Then he was struck with a terrible illness.  The book includes lengthy discussions between Job and his friends and tells of the gnawing questions and frustration Job experienced.  Job also contains the longest quoted passage of God speaking in the Bible, which ranges from high to low in creation.   

How does the beauty and majesty of the heavens and of creation fit in with our sorrows, doubts...

The book of Job in the Old Testament tells of a prosperous man who was very good who lost much of what he owned and had 10 children die in one day.  Then he was struck with a terrible illness.  The book includes lengthy discussions between Job and his friends and tells of the gnawing questions and frustration Job experienced.  Job also contains the longest quoted passage of God speaking in the Bible, which ranges from high to low in creation.  Was Job a real person?  What was God's answer to Job?  What did his friends think of Job in his su...

A short episode about seeing Jupiter this Monday, September 26th and a little background about meteor showers you can see this fall and how you can enjoy these declarations of God's glory. 

Meteor Shower Schedule Fall 2022 

Image of Jupiter is from the James Webb Space Telescope (NASA/ESA/CSA). 

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you wo...

The "science" of the universe is daunting for most of us, in fact, quite literally in not a few ways, it's "over our heads"! 

Recently, the new James Webb Space Telescope has revealed some pretty spectacular never-before-seen vistas of some of the deepest regions of the universe. On this episode Wayne and Dan try to break some of it down and how we think it points to the glory of God. 

A careful reading of Scripture leaves one with the impression that God intended that everyone not only know about the cosmos, but that He cr...

When we see a math problem in a text book or on a chalk or dry-erase board, we assume (quite rightly) it was written there by an intelligent agent. But when physicists discover the universe to be filled with mathematical laws, the implications are not a little disquieting, especially if one does not believe God exists. 

If God does not exist, from where do these laws come? Why is the universe intelligible? Why do our mathematics work so efficiently and elegantly in describing the universe? 

Modern science has few answers. But since we have only ever...

"Everything that begins to exist has a cause." 

So begins the classical argument for God's existence known as the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Contemporary sciences of the heavens have, at least for the time being, confirmed that the universe we currently inhabit did indeed have a beginning. 

But what caused our universe to come into existence? The secular literature on the origin of the universe mentions God only in passing, or often merely to claim that theists are arguing about a god of the gaps. But if God did not create the cosmos, what did? When you...

The Bible describes Jesus as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." God asked Job if he can hunt the prey for the lion, suggesting that it is God Himself who does the "hunting." And in the Gospels, Jesus calls His disciples to "come" as He will teach them to be "fishers of men." 

Our God is a Hunter and a Fisherman. C.S. Lewis described Jesus as the "Hound of Heaven" who unrelentingly came after the skeptical literary scholar over the course of many years. 

And in Lewis' beloved classic The Lion, the Witch, an...

While the search for extraterrestrial intelligence outside of our planet and solar system has not turned up a single bit of evidence, since the mid 20th century, there has been an increasing number of people claiming to have been abducted by aliens. Are these abduction stories just the byproduct of watching too many science fiction shows? Is there life out there in the cosmos, intelligent aliens who have figured out interstellar travel and have come to Earth to abduct people? Are alien abduction stories just fantastical tales told by individuals simply seeking attention or is there really something to...

We have all probably wondered at some point if there is life in the universe outside of Earth. Our ability to land probes on distant worlds and send satellites outside our solar system, coupled with the over 5,000 exoplanets discovered since the early 2000s have inspired scientists to speculate more seriously about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. 

But even more fundamental than space probes, satellites and exoplanets in influencing many to consider the existence of life elsewhere in the cosmos is Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection in addition to the speculative field of abiogenesis (the s...

In celebration of the Fourth of July and as 2022 is the year of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 moon landing, Dan sits down  for a conversation with Apollo 16 astronaut, the tenth man to walk upon the lunar surface, Charlie Duke.     

Duke is a retired Air Force Brigadier General and the CAPCOM "voice" of Houston for the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in July of 1969.     

It was such an honor and delight to speak with Charlie. It was like talking to family. His delight in telling his remarkable story is evident. We spoke for an hour a...

In celebration of the Fourth of July and as 2022 is the year of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 moon landing, Dan sits down  for a conversation with Apollo 16 astronaut, the tenth man to walk upon the lunar surface, Charlie Duke.     

Duke is a retired Air Force Brigadier General and the CAPCOM "voice" of Houston for the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in July of 1969.     

It was such an honor and delight to speak with Charlie. It was like talking to family. His delight in telling his remarkable story is evident. We spoke about his time...

In celebration of the Fourth of July and as 2022 is the year of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 moon landing, Dan sits down  for a conversation with Apollo 16 astronaut, the tenth man to walk upon the lunar surface, Charlie Duke.   

Duke is a retired Air Force Brigadier General and the CAPCOM "voice" of Houston for the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in July of 1969.   

It was such an honor and delight to speak with Charlie. It was like talking to family. His delight in telling his remarkable story is evident. We spoke about his t...

In celebration of the Fourth of July and as 2022 is the year of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 moon landing, Dan sits down  for a conversation with Apollo 16 astronaut, the tenth man to walk upon the lunar surface, Charlie Duke.   

Duke is a retired Air Force Brigadier General and the CAPCOM "voice" of Houston for the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in July of 1969.   

It was such an honor and delight to speak with Charlie. It was like talking to family. His delight in telling his remarkable story is evident. We spoke about his t...

In celebration of the Fourth of July and as 2022 is the year of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 moon landing, Dan sits down  for a conversation with Apollo 16 astronaut, the tenth man to walk upon the lunar surface, Charlie Duke. 

Duke is a retired Air Force Brigadier General and the CAPCOM "voice" of Houston for the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in July of 1969. 

 We will be releasing this conversation in five parts in the coming week, so stay tuned! 

It was such an honor and delight to speak with Charlie. It wa...

The best science of the universe seems strongly to suggest our universe did indeed have a beginning. Why are the best minds in astrophysics trying to create models of the universe without a beginning? Are these models anywhere close to explaining a beginningless universe? 

As we heard last week, there is indeed an anti-supernatural bias in the sciences today against the idea of God having anything to do with our universe. The late Stephen Hawking, Lawrence Krauss, are just a few examples of cosmologists who have openly expressed their intent to explain the cosmos without reference to G...

Moses knew it long before any of the best minds in physics and cosmology knew it. And what did Moses know? That "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 

Just a hundred years ago, the sciences of the heavens had stumbled across what appeared in the mathematical and observational data as evidence that our universe did in fact have a beginning. 

But like Moses, philosophers and theologians of earlier centuries understood our universe to have had a beginning. But the burgeoning skepticism of the 18th-century Enlightenment philosophy led many to believe the un...

A special edition of Good Heavens! There is a video version of this that will be available Friday (6-3-2022).
https://youtu.be/BIpyvSiUgZM

A theist wrote a 2017 article suggesting the fine-tuning argument is not evidence for God.   We take a look at the basics of the fine-tuning argument, how it began, what it is, and why  it remains a good argument, despite the article's conclusions.   

Original article can be found here.
https://nautil.us/fine-tuning-does-not-imply-a-fine-tuner-10235/ 

Books mentioned in the broadcast.  

Patrick Glynn God the Evidence 

David Alcalde

No one in the observatory on that increasingly foggy London evening had even imagined they were all about to be a part of an unexpected discovery of a supernova. But as students were munching away at their pizza, they decided to aim their telescope at a target near the Big Dipper 

Boom.  That's when they saw it. 

You just never know. While most of us will likely never be the first to discover a supernova, if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no end to the surprises and wonders He can and wil...

God's fireworks! Stars that explode. What could be more exciting? What are supernovae? Why do stars explode? And how do such wonders point us to God's glory? Find out on the next two episodes of Good Heavens! 

Wayne's article on supernovae. 

https://creationanswers.net/answersblog/2022/05/02/stellar-fireworks/

Some spectacular supernovae

What is a supernova?
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-supernova/

SN1987A (the views expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of Watchman.org or Good Heavens)

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/30-year-anniversary-supernova-1987a

From now through the beginning of June, you can see four planets closely aligned - Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn. 

On this special episode, we give you some pointers about how you can see these celestial diadems just before sunrise and we offer some thoughts about how they remind us of God's glory. 

One may not agree with Lewis's use of medieval symbol and pagan mythology as imaginative symbols pointing to Christ. We are not suggesting it is an appropriate apologetic approach for everyone. Certainly Christianity teaches the rejection of pagan idolatry in both the Ol...

No, we aren't talking about the Internet! But about the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), now roaming about the heavens a million miles from planet Earth.  It was launched Christmas morning, December 25, 2021 from a European spaceport in French Guiana, in South America.

A brand-new, ten-billion-dollar telescope venture, the James Webb Space Telescope is an infrared telescope and will be able to pick up some of the faintest light in the most distant regions of the cosmos. The James Webb telescope supercedes the Spitzer Space Telescope that went before it.  Spitzer was also an Infrared telescope.  Com...

As you know, we here at Good Heavens! can't stop talking about the heavens. So when a beautiful picture book comes out with the title The Heavens, how can we not talk about it! 

The heavens declare the glory of God. They are His creation, attesting to His invisible attributes of faithfulness, wisdom, love, power, and glory. 

Come and see the wonders of the heavens in a magnificent new pictorial book from astronomer Dr. Danny Faulkner of Answers in Genesis along with two backyard astrophotographers Glen Fountain and Jim Bonser (I mispronounced his name in th...

Spoiler Alert! 
On this episode Wayne and Dan debunk the "ancient alien" idea! 

What are some modern prejudices we hold about the ancient past? Were ancient people not as smart as we are? Did their civilizations require the intervention of highly advanced alien beings? Has modern scientific knowledge fully debunked the idea of God? Is God just a myth created out of the ignorance of our ancestors? 

We tackle these questions and a lot more, including how belief in UFOs and aliens often does lead into the occult and cult-like practices and beliefs. 

W...

Was there a first star? If so, how did it form? Believe it or not, the secular material sciences have no real evidence to support theoretical models of how the first stars came to be or how the stars we see today came into existence. 

How then should we as Christians best understand naturalist models of the cosmos that take no account for God's glory? 

On this special episode of Good Heavens! Dan offers some reflections about the nature of scientific models and Christian theology. 

Book mentioned by Dr. Emma Chapman 

...

This is a special combined Christmas episode with our sister podcast Apologetics Profile. 

The wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heav’n.
No ear may hear his coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in. How silently, how silently,

You have likely heard or sung these very lines over the course of the last few weeks. They are a verse from Philip Brooks' 1868 Christmas hymn O Little Town of Bethl...

The ancient way of understanding creation included a harmonious relationship between man and the cosmos we inhabit. This included the wonderful notion of creation being able to “sing” and declare the glory and radiant praise of the One who created everything, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Music and song are as much an integral part of creation as are the air we breathe and the food we eat.  But this enchanted and sacred way of understanding the cosmos is largely lost to our culture today. How might we recapture it?

On this special Christmas edition of Good...

This is a special combined Christmas episode with our sister podcast Apologetics Profile.  

When we think of stars today, the first thing that may often come to mind are celebrities, Hollywood stars. If one evening you found yourself underneath the glowing industrial-scale light pollution of Los Angeles, you're probably more likely to see a famous celebrity than any single star in the sky. We are more likely to follow celebrities nowadays than we are stars in the sky.

If you happen to be a professional or amateur astronomer, however, perhaps your interests lie in knowing wh...

The sun is blinding and deadly (if we got too close to it) yet it is also life-giving and sustains the planets in their orbits. How can something so lethal to our existence also be so necessary for our existence? 

The sun reminds us of God's attributes in this regard. God is holy and dwells in unapproachable light. No human being can look upon or be in the presence of God's unmitigated holiness and not perish. But God is also absolutely necessary for the existence of the universe, our solar system, our sun, and our very lives. W...

How does our sun point us to the glory of God? It's massive! It would take 109 planet Earths to cover the 864,000-mile diameter of the sun. It's blinding, powerful, and according to modern science, the sun sits on an invisible, fireproof canvass of space-time fabric! 

It is truly a wonder to behold. As long as man has lived and moved upon the Earth, humans have studied our nearest star, worshiped it, sweated underneath its heat, performed rituals by it, kept time with it, raised crops with it, and sent satellites and telescopes up into the heavens to o...

You may have mistaken them for the Little Dipper - a small little bluish-white cluster of stars that look like a cart, a plough, or to some even a question mark. It is the asterism (stars that are not a constellation but a smaller group of stars within a larger constellation) of Taurus the Bull, visible in the early fall mornings and clear wintry nights. 

Poems, stories, songs and myths surround this beauteous gem of the night skies. A Japanese auto manufacturer even features them as their main logo. The nineteenth-century English poet Alfred Lloyd Tennyson penned th...

If God does not exist, then why does the universe exist? Why is there something rather than nothing?  Any naturalistic theory about the existence of our universe inevitably finds itself addressing the concepts of infinity and eternity. It's unavoidable. You cannot explain the existence of the cosmos without invoking eternality. 

This is precisely the meaning of Romans 1:18-20. Through what God has made, all mankind has clearly seen God's invisible attributes, which would include His timeless and eternal nature. 

Discovered in the late 1970s and early 80s, the mathematical universe of fractals known as the Man...

In the late 1970s and early 80s, mathematicians and computer engineers made a remarkable discovery.  An entirely new universe of pure mathematics. 

Not a computer glitch. Not human design. Not a fluke of nature. Not anything that could be explained by chance. But an infinite series of stunning fractal patterns and designs that came from computer calculations of a very simple equation. 

 Z squared plus C. 

Plugging in different variables for Z, then substituting each answer back into the equation, the computers plotted out each answer on a graph. The results? Never-before scenes of brea...

This is a special extended broadcast of Good Heavens! featuring our very own Wayne Spencer (a BLAST from the past!). This is an excerpt from a message by Wayne about meteors from 1991.  Wayne discusses the Arizona meteor crater and the Tunguska meteor explosion over Russia in 1908.  A little something special for you, an extended bonus episode about our meteor series!  Enjoy!

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/good...

Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona, just over 30 miles outside of Flagstaff. 

What slammed into what is now part of the Arizona desert to make this giant three-quarter-mile-wide and some 600-feet-deep hole in the ground? Scientists believe the meteor was between 150 and 200 feet wide. 

Earth is impacted routinely by meteors and micrometeors, tens of thousands of tons per year in fact, but thankfully a majority of these are no bigger than a sand grain or fine dust. 

But once in a great while, KABOOM! The Earth gets blasted by a much larger meteor. There are...

Shooting stars. Meteors. Bright flashing streaks of light zipping through the heavens! 

They are a wonder and delight to all of us. If you've ever stood under the canopy of a pristine dark sky filled with stars and have seen even one meteor take you by surprise, you know the childlike delight that stirs the soul. 

But what exactly are meteors? From where do they come? What exactly are we seeing? What's the difference between meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites? And how might these celestial messengers declare the glory of God? 

Come along with Way...

This episode of Good Heavens! is part two of our conversation with physicist and author James Sinclair about God and cosmology. James has worked with Dr. William Lane Craig on a number of publications about cosmology and was integral in helping Dr. Craig and "team theism" prepare for this debate!   It was a delightful and wide-ranging conversation centered around the 2014 debate between cosmologist and atheist Dr. Sean Carroll and Christian philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig.  

On part one we talked about billionaires in space, science fiction, and Dr. Carroll's thoughts on theism in general.  On part two Jame...