Getting to Know the God of the Universe

“Man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God." - A.W. Tozer.

On Wednesday, October 16, Jeff Zweerink, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles, gave a lecture at APU titled “God’s Amazing Creation: What Can We Learn About God From the Universe He Made?”

“[When we look at] what’s out there in the universe, it gives us a bigger picture of what God is,” said Zweerink. His presentation focused on the extreme ranges of light, temperature, and matter in the universe. “We live in a very small range of what is out there,” he said.

Zweerink explained that the light we see with our eyes is around 5.5 percent of the known range of light; the temperature that can sustain life comprises 5.5 percent of the spectrum of temperature; and the type of matter on Earth makes up only .3 percent of the actual matter in the universe.

Zweerink showed images of the night sky as seen by non-visible light. “If we were able to see [these things] with our eyes, the galaxy would look quite different,” he said.

One of the phenomena he discussed was a gamma ray burst. Astronomers record these bursts of short-wavelength light happening about twice a month. When they occur, they “outshine the rest of the universe,” said Zweerink.

Zweerink’s lecture showed that as modern science allows us to learn more about the created universe, we are able to see that “God is much more powerful, and much more capable than we are.”

This lecture was part of the Science and Theology Lecture Series sponsored by the Center for Research in Science and took place in the Wynn Lecture Hall on East Campus. The Science and Theology Series lectures are open to the public.

Posted: October 23, 2002