NOTE on terminology: CDK implies that light was faster in the past, and then over time, gradually decayed. So, CDK refers to the DeKay (decay) of C (the speed of light): CDK.
This article is a continuation of the article Faster than light? 1 which explores the possibility of the speed of light being faster in the past.
One major argument against the young-earth creationist position has been the apparent great age of distant galaxies. Those galaxies are so distant that the light that we see would have taken billions of years to reach us at its current speed. Therefore, the argument goes that they would have to be at least billions of years old. Obviously, this is not in agreement with the young earth/universe creation position. However, this argument is not valid if the speed of light was faster in the past.
The redshift is an effect observed in astronomical data in which the color of light from distant objects is shifted toward longer wavelengths (the red end of the spectrum).
In this short article, we shall not try to examine thoroughly every attempted interpretation of the red shift, but we shall briefly examine a few generally well-known ones and primarily focus on a relatively new one.
The following are some well-known conventional explanations of redshift:
One problem for young-earth creationists (those claiming that God created the universe only thousands of years ago, rather than billions of years ago) has been the apparent great age of distant galaxies.
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking is Professor of mathematics at Cambridge University where he held the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge for 30 years. He is author of the best-selling book A Brief History of Time. Hawking suffers from ALS. His most recent book, The Grand Design, was published in 2010 by Bantam Books.
Scientists Travel U.S. Highway 441 Between Cherokee, NC and Gatlinburg,
TN to Test Hydrothermal Fluid Transport Model
for Polonium Radiohalo Formation
Good scientific theories are able to explain data and make testable predictions. For the Christian, a third element is required, that the theory be in harmony with the clear teachings of scripture. Some creation scientists even begin with scripture to formulate theories and hypotheses. In this essay, we will look at three predictions ultimately based on scripture, made by physicist Russell Humphreys of the Institute for Creation Research. The predictions deal with (1) the magnitude and dynamics of planetary magnetic fields, (2) the existence of a cosmic rotation axis, and (3) diffusion of helium through zircons. All of these predictions are in accord with a young earth interpretation of Genesis 1. As we will see, the data fit the predictions well.
D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D.
