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NASB | Psalm 102:26 "Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 102:26 "Even they will perish, but You endure; Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them and they shall be changed. |
Subject: The Bible and Science, #3 |
Bible Note: I'm not sure what you mean by anti-chance, but I agree with you that the 2nd law seems contrary to the chance assembly of life-sustaining complexity. Contrary to popular belief, the 2nd law is a mathematical summary of practical experience rather than an exact conclusion derived from first principles. In this sense it is quite different from the 1st Law, which states that the energy of an isolated system is constant. Also, the second law assumes a closed system, so it does not hold for open systems, i.e. those in communication with external energy sources. The way scientists get around this problem for cosmology is they redefine their new system to include whatever energy source was outside of the original system. If taken to the infinite limit, this means the 2nd law holds for the universe as an unbounded but closed system. To me, this is a paradoxical situation. Materialisms suggests that life could form spontaneously if the decrease in the local entropy, represented by the formation of a complex organism, was countered by an increase in the entropy of the overall system, represented by increased disorder someplace else. Chaos theory models how this could happen, i.e. order can arise from disorder so that energy can be dissipated efficiently. An example is the complex structure of a lightening bolt that discharges lots of energy quickly. Yet, how this redistribution of entropy works for life-forms is not clear, but in principle, its supposed to be the explanation. That's all well and fine if you accept the idea the universe is closed. As someone who knows that God is with us, I do not believe this. God is the ultimate energy source. Furthermore, His Creation is the basis for our understanding of thermodynamics, not vice-versa. This is similar to the idea that many people err when they interpret Scripture in the light of their experiences, rather then interpreting their experinces in the light of scripture. Parable |