Michael G. Strauss - The Creator Revealed: A Physicist Examines the Big Bang and the Bible

Heres a clear, concise, and extraordinarily compelling description of how cosmology and physics point toward a creator whose description fits the God of the Bible. My friend Michael Strauss integrates science and scripture in a masterful and illuminating way. Ill be giving this book to many skeptics and Christians alike.

Lee Strobel, New York Times best-selling author, professor at Houston Baptist University

The Creator Revealed is the product of thirty years of faithful research by Dr. Strauss as well as his journey in seeking the truth, a man who is qualified in both science and the deep teachings of the Bible. Refusing to separate faith from reason, Strauss realized he had to get into the details of how science and the Bible should be integrated. And this book presents fair, solid evangelical views on these topics. I know of no other book in print that does such a masterful job of taking very complicated issues and making them easy to understand by ordinary believers. The reader may not agree with everything in this book, although I believe many will. Nevertheless, if you approach your reading with the desire to give Strauss a fair chance to make his case, you cannot help but learn how to think about these issues more effectively. I highly recommend The Creator Revealed to anyone who wants to explore these issues.

J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

In The Creator Revealed , Michael Strauss writes about the mounting scientific evidence for the complete trustworthiness of the Bible and the Christian faith in a winsome, humorous style that puts the cookies on the bottom shelf so that children, youth, and science-challenged adults can understand his thesis that science is the ally of the Christian faith, not the enemy. Strausss strong biblical background is evident in The Creator Revealed . His words will help theologians and pastors resolve for their students and congregations several of the science-faith controversies that have divided Christians.

Hugh Ross, president, Reasons to Believe, author of The Creator and the Co smos

Michael Strauss has a rare combination of being a world-class physicist as well as a devout and sensitive reader of the Bible. Here he argues that the big bang theory not only is consistent with but actually supports the biblical depiction of creation. I recommend this well-written book for all who are interested in the relationship between science and faith.

Tremper Longman III, Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus, Westmont College

If you have ever had questions about the big bang and how it relates to Christianity, this is the book for you. Speaking as a particle physicist with strong grounding in the Bible, Michael Strauss provides a compelling look at how the big bang provides great evidence for the truth of Christianity. Yet you dont need a degree in physics to understand the contents of this valuable book!

Dr. Jeffrey Zweerink, astrophysicist, Reasons to Believe, author of Is There Life Out T here?

THE CREATOR
R evealed

A PHYSICIST EXAMINES THE
BIG BANG AND THE BIBLE

MICHAEL G. STRAUSS, PHD

Copyright 2018 Michael G. Strauss, PhD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 (866) 928-1240

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2994-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2995-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2993-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018906500

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/11/2018

Contents

To my wife, Julie,

the love of my life, who has expanded my understanding of the universe

in ways that science could not.

Preface

SCIENCE AND FAITH

I was mesmerized by the picture on my television screen that was being transmitted from about 240,000 miles away. The fuzzy black-and-white images of the two astronauts walking on the moon captivated me as I watched humans step onto a different world for the very first time. What an exciting and amazing moment for a ten-year-old boy! It seemed that through the miracle of scientific progress, humans could do almost anything. I was fascinated by the exploration of space and the advancements made by modern science.

I was also the son of a pastor and was being taught in church that the Bible was the Word of God, that the stories written in the Bible were true, and that they were an accurate reflection of a God who is always truthful. These two arenas, science and faith, were in perfect harmony, at least to a boy who was only ten years old.

But as I grew older, I became aware that many Christians believed that the findings of modern science contradicted the facts of the Bible. For instance, the story of creation in the Bible told of a God who spoke and the universe came into existence, whereas scientists generally believed that the universe began with an event known as the big bang. The apparent difference was confusing because science seemed to be so amazing and true, but I also knew that God was real and spoke the truth. It seemed to me that many, if not most, Christians were extremely skeptical of the claims of science, believing that some of the most profound conclusions of modern science contradicted their beliefs.

As a young adult, I read Christian and secular authors who wrote about these apparent contradictions between science and faith. Many Christian authors of that time wrote that when scientists studied anything about the origin of the earth and the universe, the scientists misinterpreted the facts of nature. These authors claimed that the universe was about six thousand to ten thousand years old and that if the scientists were not so biased, they would see this for themselves. Some writers claimed that the Bible clearly indicated the earth had been created pretty much in its current form a few thousand years ago, and they asserted that there was scientific proof for this young earth. They believed that the record of nature was compatible with the record of the Bible only when scientists interpreted what nature revealed in the context of this young earth.

Since I believed that the same God who wrote the Bible also created the universe, I also believed that the record of nature and the written Word of God should agree. I accepted the idea that there was an apparent contradiction between scientific discoveries and the words of the Bible because the scientists were not properly interpreting the data. After all, that is what most Christian authors whom I was reading at the time seemed to believe.