Biri: An island with mind-blowing rock formations & tide of pools ages from 5 to 23 million years

Biri Island is one of the most enthralling towns of Northern Samar, a true natural gem of the Philippine archipelago. It is known for its breathtaking rock formations engineered through time by big waves of the San Bernardino Strait that get a kick out of the eastern portion of its shoreline. It is situated at the northwestern tip of Northern Samar.

This peace-loving island is where Magasang Rock Formation could be enjoyably viewed, an amazing natural wonder composed of seven gigantic limestone rocks within four small and rocky islands. Its rocky panorama, actually one of the country’s most amazing geological beauties, bequeaths vast potential for adventure. The rock formation has been described as the place of the “battle of the gods” where pounding of strong winds, the movement from tectonic plates, frequent storms, the heat wave and huge death-defying waves smashing the rocks engineered this superb exquisiteness. The mighty of these natural forces brought the islands to take on only of its kind and remarkable shapes. Sightseer can enjoy dipping on tide pools fashioned by the sea and layers upon layers of sandstone beds gradually deposited into the sea overtime which have been exposed to the uplift of the rock formations. Geologists deem that the rocks date back from Early Miocene Period  and their ages range from 5 to 23 million years old.

A place of the battle of gods where pounding of strong winds conquer your fears!

From a distance another rock formation called Bel-at can be explored. These two gigantic, marvelously nature-engineered rocks are about the size of a three-story building, erect disjointedly on a wide flat rock. A big rock formation holding a bat cave underneath can be sited in Bel-at.

Enjoy dipping on tide pools sculpted by nature itself! 

These attention-grabbing spots have been creating a center of attraction for both foreign and domestic tourists. It became so popular when one of the scenes of  the romantic movie entitled "IIsa Pa Lamang"  starred by Richard omez , Dawn Zulueta  and Maricel Laxa hMaricel Laxa  was filmed. It also captured Film Director .Chito Roños heart to be the setting of his adventure-horror drama film called "Spirit Warriors II"  starred by Danilo Barrios, Vhong Navarro  and Chris Cruz. Likewise, these spots were featured in the 2001 Calendar poster of the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) as one of the Geological Wonders of the Philippines.

Simply irresistible!

In terms of financial resources, the island town is considered as fifth class municipality. Its average annual income from 1996-1999 reached up to Php 7.6 million. The Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the municipality amounted to Php 16.1 million in 2006. This translates to an IRA per capita of Php 1,493, the sixth biggest among the municipalities.

Wanna ride a boat, without encountering a congested traffic, for a change!

Concerning its education sector, the municipality has a total of 11 government elementary schools and 2 government secondary schools. In School Yea 2006-2007, both teacher to pupil/student ratio in elementary and secondary schools stood at 1:38.

As the boat docks at the port of Biri island!

Expect hundreds of sites and thousands of routes hanging around in this island for the fearless climber.

The island town has been much-loved for photography aficionados and excursionists, particularly on summer when the weather is quiet. Visitors spend the day taking pleasure on the site and enjoying a dip in the cool turquoise blue water. Likewise, it is fascinating to surfers during the months of October to January, with its wonderful rising and falling waves.

Serenity that everyone yearns, beyond the torrents from a distance!

Formerly, Biri was an island barangay under the jurisdiction of Bobon, Northern Samar until it was converted into a new and independent municipality under Republic Act No. 5500 on June 21, 1969. It became the 21st municipality of Northern Samar.

The island was accustomed to be Tingiao, as referred to in the Spanish Galleon navigational maps and was the entry point to Luzon and Visayas.

Approaching Lavezares from Biri Island, which is approximately an hour travel! 

As navigational landmark, the name “Biri” was drawn from the Spanish word “barrer”, which means to sweep. Consistently  when the Spanish captain of the Galleon would catch sight of the San Bernardino Isle and Biri of Tingiao, the captain would charge his men “barrer” or clean the galleon deck in preparation of their disembarking to the Capul Island for their voyage to Manila. Sporadically, the Spanish Galleon would anchor at Biri Bay prior to their navigation to Manila.

How could you resist such magnificence!

Whereas in the Island, inhabitants would hear the Spaniards naming the Island “verey.” Subsequently, the word “verey” had been prevalently known as “Biri”. Other accounts would claim that its name in the course of time developed simply as “Biri” depending on the person’s auditory efficacy.

Nature engineered, indeed! Spectacular!

During World War II, Biri was the site of the Japanese Garrison Signal Corps brought by its strategic location from the Pacific Ocean. Many Biri-anons turned to be the onlookers to the passing of the American submarine and other warships during  Leyte’s independence.

A bomb-made lagoon still exists inside the Biri Central Elementary School, which is my alma mater.

On spare time, my brother Marvin caught this beautiful blue starfish which can be viewed  basically underneath!

Geographically Biri is located in the northernmost tip of Northern Samar, facing the Pacific Ocean to the East and the famous San Bernardino Strait to the west.

It has a total land area of 24.6 square kilometers which is composed of 8 barangays namely, Pio del Pilar (also called as Macaret), MacArthur (also Called as Tampipi, Kauswagan (also called as Basud), Progress (also called as Talisay), San Antonio, San Pedro and Santo Niño (also called as Palhugan).

The island registered a total population of 10,987 in the 2010 Census of Population whose population density of 433 persons per square kilometer is the third highest among the 24 municipalities of Northern Samar.

A relaxing mood as my sister Christine enjoys her get away!

Biri inhabitants are a mixture of Waray and Bicolano culture. The inner occupiers speak Waray dialect while the outer island inhabitants speak Bicol-Waray vernacular.  

With regards to socio-economic endeavors, the natural resources of the municipality consist chiefly of fish and other marine products. Fishing evidently is the primary sour in the of revenue of the community. During the months of March to September, the Biri-anons are engaged in catching fish and squids like kulambutan, tabugok, tustos, muko-buko, kugita, tagbulakaw, tamala, and many more. The common  people are also into rice, root crop and coconut farming.

Through the Kaway Festival, Biri nurtures a culture of peace in harmony with nature, and hopefully be the access to the arts and culture of Northern Samar.

The captivating Biri Island can be reached in 14 hours by bus or private vehicle from Manila or roughly an hour and fifteen minutes flight from Manila to Catarman, the capital town of Northern Samar. The island can finally be reached in 30 minutes by sea from the town of Lavezares via motorboats.

Motorboats are used for inter-island transport while motorcycles are available in the town proper.

Island of Biri is facing Mount Bulosan of Bicol Region

GETTING TO BIRI: The nearest airport to Biri Island is Catarman, served by Air Philippines , Cebu Air , Zest Air, and Philippine Airlines.

From Catarman, take a jeepney going to Lavezares Port, about a 30-minute trip. Then take a boat to Biri Port, which may take approximately an hour. 

Source:

1. National Statistical Coordination Board, Regional Division VIII, Eastern Visaya, Biri: an island with magnificent rock formations, http://www.nscb.gov.ph/ru8/Profiles/Municipal_Profile/Municipal_Profile_Biri_Island_Northern_Samar.pdf 
2. http://opaep.com.ph/discovering-biri-island/, Discovering Biri Island

Creationism vs. Big bang

God created the world according to His wisdom (Wisdom 9:9) but not the outcome of any need whatever, nor of unsighted destiny or chance. It begins from God's free will; He desired to make His creatures impart in His being, wisdom and righteousness: "For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." (Revelation 4:11) 

Therefore the Psalmist cries out: " How varied are your works, LORD! In wisdom you have made them all;the earth is full of your creatures.i"; and " The LORD is good to all, compassionate toward all your works." (Psalm 104:24; 145:9. 

God needs no pre-existent thing or any help in order to create, nor is creation any sort of essential release from the divine substance. He creates generously "out of nothing.

If God had created the earth from pre-existent matter, what would be so bizarre about that? A human artisan makes from a given material whatever he desires, while God exhibits His power by starting from nothing to create all He desires.

Scripture bears witness to faith in creation "out of nothing" as a truth full of promise and hope. Thus the mother of seven sons encourages them for martyrdom: I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws. . . Look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being. (2 Maccabees 7:22-21-28)  

As God creates through wisdom, His creation is structured: "You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight." (Wisdom 11:20). The universe, created in and by the eternal Word, the "image of the invisible God", is destined for and addressed to man, himself created in the "image of God" and called to a personal relationship with God. (Colossians 1:15, Genesis 1:26) 

Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine power, can comprehend what God conveys us by means of His creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and His work. (Psalm 19:2-5; Job 42:3)  Because creation comes forth from God's goodness, it shares in that goodness - "And God saw that it was good. . . very good" (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21 31)  - for God desired creation as a gift addressed to man, a heritage destined for and entrusted to Him. On many circumstances the Church has had to secure the goodness of creation, including that of the physical world.  

God is immeasurably greater than all His works: "You have set your glory above the heavens." (Psalm 8:1; Sirach 43:28).  Indeed, God's "greatness is unsearchable". Psalm 145:3) But because He is the free and sovereign Creator, the first cause of all that exists, God is present to His creatures' inmost being: "In him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28). St. Augustine says, God is "higher than my highest and more inward than my innermost self".

With creation, God does not forsake His creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also constantly upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their destiny. Recognizing this utter dependence with respect to the Creator is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and confidence:

For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have made anything if you had hated it. How would anything have endured, if you had not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved? You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living  (Wisdom 11:24-26). 

Creation has its own goodness and appropriate perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created "in a state of journeying" toward an ultimate perfection yet to be reached, to which God has destined it. God guides His creation towards perfection through His divine providence” which

protects and governs all things which he has made, "reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and ordering all things well". For "all are open and laid bare to his eyes", even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free action of creatures. (Wisdom 8:1; Hebrew 4:13).

The truth that God is at work in all the actions of His creatures is indissoluble from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who functions in and through secondary causes: "For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13; 1 Corinthian 12:6).  Far from reducing the creature's dignity, this truth boosts it. Drawn from nothingness by God's power, wisdom and righteousness, it can do nothing if it is cut off from its source, for "without a Creator the creature vanishes." Still less can a creature reach its destiny without the help of God's grace. (Matthew 19:26; John 15:5; 14:13).

God is master of the world and of its history. But the approaches of His providence are often mysterious to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge stops, when we see God "face to face",(1 Cor 13:12) will we fully discern the ways by which - even through the tragedy of evil and sin - God has guided His creation to that definitive sabbath rest for which he created heaven and earth (Genesis 2:2).

The fact that God allows physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God sheds light by His Son Jesus Christ who died and resurrect to vanquish evil. Faith reassures that God would not permit an evil if He did not cause a good to come from that very evil, in manners that we shall fully discern only in eternal life. Amen!

Conclusion:

With both the big bang and stretching rationalizations, it is tough to picture time beginning, the sudden presence of matter and energy in a small universe, a brief period when laws of physics did not come into view, and space inflation. The big bang theory asserts that space inflated for a short fraction of a second from a mathematical point - trillions of billions of times faster than the velocity of light today. On the other hand, the stretching theory position is that, a much smaller universe than we have today was speedily stretched out, along with the matter and light in that space. Although no scientific explanation can be provided for both forms of inflation, explanation that fits the perceptible proof as presented herein is discernible.  

References: 

1. Denise Chow, The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy Step, shttp://www.space.com/, October 18, 2011 05:00pm ET 
2. Roland Michel Tremblay, Dark-Matter, Dark-Energy and the Big-Bang All Finally Resolved, http://www.grahamhancock.com/
3. http://www.space.com/. The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy Steps, by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer   |   October 18, 2011 05:00pm ET
4. Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB), http://www.bbc.co.uk/
5. Catechism of the Catholic Church, http://www.scborromeo.org/ 
6. Michael Finkel for National Geographic, Are We Living in a Black Hole?, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/black-hole-blast-explains-big-bang/ 
7. http://www.4thdayalliance.com/, Was there a Bib bang
8. http://www.sciencedaily.com, Mysteries of the neutrino: Physicists investigate the Big Bang particleNovember 9, 2012 University of Huddersfield

Pages 1 2 3 4

Creationism vs. Big Bang

CREATIONIST

Several scientists presuppose that in due course the universe stop inflating and start to subside inward. Then it will again explode and repeat its oscillating type of uninterrupted motion. This thought is an attempt to avoid an origin and destiny for the universe. For oscillation to happen, however, the universe must have a certain density or distribution of mass. So far, the dimensions of the mass density are 100 times smaller than expected. In fact, there are indications that the universe is accelerating outward instead of decelerating. The universe does not emerge to be oscillating. The significant mass or “dark matter” is “missing.” There is no mysterious infinitely small singularity from which the entire universe burst forth, no completely untraceable exotic ‘Dark Matter’ governing the universe, and no mysterious law-violating ‘Dark Energy’ accelerating the universe apart. In their place is a possibly stationary universe of likely infinite size and age, within which stars of regular matter go through perpetual births and deaths, with gravity-driven dynamics in ordinary three-dimensional space, (which has been erroneously proved) by the Nobel Prize evolutionists, including the time, and from entirely regular matter to apparently mostly imperceptible matter filling the   cosmos, from a static universe to one coasting apart, and up to accelerating expansion.) It was long thought that the gravity of matter in the universe would slow its expansion, or even cause it to contract.

EVOLUTIONIST

Edwin Hubble’s findings in 1900s divulged that the Universe was inflating than static. Astronomer Edwin Hubble made a world-shattering breakthrough about the universe in the 1920s using a newly constructed telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles, Hubble observed that the universe is not stationary, but rather is inflating.  In the 1960s and 1970s, astronomers started mulling over that there might be more mass in the universe than what is perceptible. Vera Rubin, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, examined the speeds of stars at diverse sites in galaxies.  In 1998, the prolific space telescope named after the famous astronomer, the Hubble Space Telescope, studied very far-flung supernovas and disclosed that, a long time ago, the universe was inflating more gradually than it is today.  David Spergel, a theoretical astrophysicist at Princeton University in Princeton divulged that as it expanded, it turned cooler and less dense. Light chemical elements were formed within the first three minutes of the universe's formation. As the universe inflated, temperatures cooled and protons and neutrons smashed together which formed into deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen. More of this deuterium merged to form helium.

Scripture		Evolutionist
	All elements made together		Elements beyond hydrogen and helium formed after millions of years
	Earth formed before stars		Earth formed long after the stars
	Plants formed before the sun		Plants evolved after the sun
	Birds created before reptiles,   mammals		Birds evolved from reptiles
	Sun formed on the 4th day after the Earth		Sun formed before the Earth
	Sun, moon, and stars formed   together		Sun formed from older stars

  

CREATIONIST
	Professor Laura Mersini-Houghton, scientist from University of North Carolina unveils of a mathematical proof that black holes as illustrated in the succeeding page  can't exist stating that it is impossible for stars to collapse and form a singularity. Previously, scientists thought stars larger than the sun collapsed under their own gravity and formed black holes as they died. The mass concentration theory would remain forever bound as a universal black hole which expansion is prevented by gravity. A black hole is at the center of at least every nearby galaxy. Black holes are so enormous that nothing can escape their gravity - even light. Astronomers divulge that black holes must have existed very soon after the universe started, the big bang theory exclaims that all matter was spread out uniformly after 300,000 years, before stars developed. This uniformity would prevent gravity from forming galaxies and black holes even over the alleged age of the universe. Nevertheless, stars and black holes could easily have developed or existed soon after the creation of matter and the universe, when the universe was much smaller and the heavens had not yet been stretched out. Had this stretching not happened, all the matter in the universe would have collapsed into a black hole. Life would not exist. The dimensions of black holes at the center of galaxies and the dimensions of the central bulges of galaxies are positively associated with the sizes of galaxies. The standard explanation for galaxy formation says that this should not be. However, if the matter that developed galaxies and black holes was once inside exceedingly compact space, the largest galaxies should have the largest black holes and central bulges. Black holes are the corpses of giant stars and if such a star runs out of fuel, its core subsides inward. Gravity pulls everything into a progressively violent hold. Temperatures arrive at 100 billion degrees. Atoms are shattered. Electrons are minced. Those pieces are further creased. Big bang theory requires the equal production of matter and antimatter.  However, only small traces of antimatter - positrons and antiprotons, for example are discovered in space. Anything atomically heavier than hydrogen and helium is considered to be a metal, including, for example, oxygen. It should be noted that Astronomers use the term metal differently as it is used in chemistry. Therefore, the first stars of the universe could have been made only from hydrogen and helium, and these stars are known as Population III stars. All stars perceived throughout the universe contain metals, such as Population I stars, which are metal-rich, and Population II stars that are metal-poor. Population I stars which holds approximately 2-3% metals are found in the spiral arms or in the disks of galaxies. Population II stars which holds only 0.1% metal content in their light spectra, are observed around a galaxy halo, in globular clusters, and in the central bulge of a galaxy. Furthermore, when we gaze across the universe, looking back in time close to when the Big Bang allegedly happened, the light which can be seen exhibits metal spectra. Vera Rubin, American astronomer found no disparity in the speeds of stars farther out. She discovered that all stars in a galaxy seem to surround the center at approximately the same speed.
	EVOLUTIONIST
	Dark energy is contemplated to be the bizarre force that is pulling the cosmos away at ever-amplifying speeds, but it remains invisible and mysterious. The existence of this indefinable energy, which is thought to make up 73 percent of the universe, is one of the most excitably disputed issues in cosmology. Basic Newtonian physics implies that stars on the borders of a galaxy would orbit more gradually than stars at the center.  This strange and undetectable mass became identified as dark matter, which is incidental because of the gravitational pull it wields on regular matter. This could be formed by unusual particles that do not interact with light or regular matter that makes it to be hardly detected.  There is a notion that dark matter makes up 23 percent of the universe. In comparison, only 4 percent of the universe is composed of regular matter, which includes stars, planets and people. The physics of the Big Bang avers that the only elements that the Big Bang could have generated are hydrogen, helium, and probably a trace of lithium, but no other metals.

CREATIONIST

On March 17, 2014, astronomers from the California Institute of Technology, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Stanford University, and the University of Minnesota made known their findings of signature patterns of polarized light in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), attributed to gravitational waves in the early universe. However, astronomers conveyed reduced confidence in these findings on 19 June 2014, and reported a further reduction in confidence on September 19, 2014.

EVOLUTIONIST

The Big Bang was not literally an explosion (as others claimed) but the appearance of space everywhere in the universe. Accordingly, the universe was born as a very hot, very dense, single point in space. Cosmologists are irresolute what occurred before this event, but with sophisticated space missions, ground-based telescopes and complicated calculations, scientists have been laboring to come up with a comprehensible image of the early universe development. Part of these origins from observations of the cosmic microwave background which contains the afterglow of light and radiation as residual of the Big Bang. This historical object of the Big Bang passes through the universe and is perceptible through microwave detectors, which allows scientists to assemble evidences of the early universe.

   

CREATIONIST
	The big bang theory forecasts that the universe’s inflation must be decelerating, just as a ball tossed upward must reduce its velocity as it moves away from the Earth. For decades, cosmologists attempted to gauge this deceleration. The shocking result has been rechecked in many ways. The universe’s expansion is not decelerating but accelerating Estimates of the universe’s actual mass always fell far short of that minimum mass amount. This “missing mass” is often called dark matter, because no one could see it or even detect it.
	EVOLUTIONIST
	For decades, big bang theorists assert that the quantity of mass in a swiftly inflating universe must be enough to prevent all matter from flying apart; otherwise, matter could not merge to form stars and galaxies.

Missing Mass 

   

CREATIONIST

Visualize seeing several rocks in outer space, moving drastically away from Earth. If the rocks were simultaneously exploded away from Earth, their masses, changing velocities, and distances from Earth would have a very precise mathematical relationship with each other. When a similar relationship is checked for billions of perceptible galaxies, an evident conclusion is that these galaxies did not explode from a common point in a gigantic “big bang.”  It is even more apparent that if such a blast happened, it must have been much, much less than billions of years ago. The assumption that the universe is filled with at least ten times as much as   can be seen  is sustained even though three decades of searching for this “missing mass” but have turned up nothing other than the findings that it does not exist.

EVOLUTIONIST

Evolutionists try to patch up this issue in two ways by an assumption that the universe is filled with at least ten times as much matter as can be seen.  The second assumption was that, the rocks (or, in the real problem, all particles in the universe) were for a short time, almost magically, accelerated away from a location. This process, called inflation, supposedly reached speeds billions of trillions of times quicker than lights’ velocity. In instant later, and for no obvious reason, inflation discontinued. All this occurred by an unknown, untestable phenomenon - not by a blast. Then this matter turned to be dominated by gravity after it reached just the right speed to give the universe an apparent age (based on one set of assumptions) of about 13.7 billion years.

Pages 1 2 3 4

Creationism vs. Big Bang

Facts

Accelerating Inflation

The redshift of far-off starlight suggests an inflation. However, a big bang should produce only a gradual inflation than rapid inflation observed. Stretching, ended on the creation week, could have produced the speeded inflation that is exposed by the light that has finally touched Earth from the edge of the visible universe.

Star Development. Astronomers identify that the thickest gas cloud spotted in the universe could not form stars in whatsoever manner, including gravitational collapse, unless that gas was once thousands of times more dense. Apparently, stars were developed as, or before, the heavens were stretched out. 

Central Stars. Approximately forty stars are orbiting within a few dozen light-hours of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. These stars could never have evolved that close to a black hole, which has the bulk of 4,000,000 suns. The black hole’s gravity would have stopped gas from disintegration to become a star.. However, those stars could have formed in a much denser environment, before space was stretched out on the creation week.

  

If spiral galaxies developed billions of years ago, their arms should be enveloped more firmly around their centers than they are. Likewise, closer galaxies should show much more “wrap” than farther spiral galaxies. Nevertheless, if space was recently stretched out, spiral galaxies could be perceptible as they do.

Heavy Elements in Stars

CREATIONIST

The stretching account clarifies that stars have had some heavier chemical elements. Telescopes that can see the farthest back in time perceive stars, galaxies, and quasars containing these heavier chemical elements.

EVOLUTIONIST

The big bang theory claims that there are three generations of stars, each with increasing amounts of heavy elements. The first generation would have held only hydrogen and helium.   After hundreds of millions of years, second-generation stars would start developing with heavier elements made inside first-generation stars that later erupted. Although some first-generation stars should still be perceptible, not one has ever been established.

Stellar Speeds

Stars in the external sections of spiral galaxies travel much quicker than they should based on physical laws. Nevertheless, if only thousands of years ago those stars were nearer the center of their galaxies before the heavens were stretched out, they could have had the higher speeds. These speeds would stay put even after the heavens were stretched out.

Speeding Galaxies. A comparable study can be made about tight clusters of galaxies. Galaxies in clusters travel much faster than they should, based on their distances from their clusters’ centers of mass.

Distant Galaxies

CREATIONIST

Massive galaxies and galaxy clusters are now discovered at such great distances that they must have formed soon after the universe began. The stretching explanation states that galaxies and galaxy clusters started before the heavens were stretched out, when all matter was relatively confined.

EVOLUTIONIST

The big bang theory cannot explain how such galaxy concentrations could have developed so hastily and so distant.

Strings of Galaxies. It is broadly recognized that gravity would not pull matter into long strings of hundreds or thousands of galaxies - even if the universe were incredibly ancient. Gravity acting over massive time and distances forms more spherical globs of matter. Yet, long, massive filaments of galaxies have been discovered.

These strings of galaxies can be comprehended if galaxies were developed when all matter in the universe was initially locked upd to a much smaller amount. (In that small amount, stars and galaxies formed either by the direct Divine Acts or by the powerful gravitational forces resulting from so much extremely confined mass.) Then, the heavens were speedily stretched out. Just as one might pull taffy into long strings, the stretched out heavens might hold long, massive strings of thousands of galaxies. A surprising number come into view connected or aligned with other galaxies or quasars, as prominent astronomers have recorded.

Star Streams.  Some stars within the Milky Way Galaxy are moving in paths and with velocities that exhibit they were captured from neighboring dwarf galaxies. The stars in every stream have common chemical characteristics too. These dwarf galaxies mostly have been totally “consumed” by the galaxy. However, one of them, Sagittarius, is still perceptible, but its orbit and its core of tightly packed stars are too far-off to be captured by the Milky Way’s gravity.

These can be enlightened in two ways: (1) before the universe was stretched out, Sagittarius and the consumed dwarfs were formed but much closer to the initial Milky Way Galaxy, or (2) dark matter (if it exists at all) was spread out in unknown process that formed these dwarf galaxies and placed them in different orbits that allowed them to be captured and disassembled by the Milky Way Galaxy. Between the two, hypothesis (1) is the uncomplicated.

Dwarf Galaxies. These are occasionally embedded in a smoothly rotating disk of hydrogen gas that is much larger than the galaxy itself. The mass, hidden or otherwise, of each dwarf galaxy and its surrounding gas is insufficient to pull the gas into its disk shape, however, if this matter was once extremely concentrated and the space it occupied was recently stretched out, all perceived characteristics would be explained.  

Dwarf Galaxy. An enormous hydrogen disk (blue) encloses the dwarf galaxy UGC 5288 (bright white). This secluded galaxy, 16 million light-years from earth, holds about 100,000 stars and is 1/25 the diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy, which has at least 100,000,000,000 stars. The dwarf’s mass is about 30 times too small to gravitationally hold onto the most far-flung hydrogen gas, so gravity could not have pulled the far-off hydrogen gas into its disk. Because the gas is too uniformly distributed and rotates so smoothly, it was not expelled from the galaxy or pulled out by a close encounter with another galaxy. 

Hydrogen gas would have assumed this form (as illustrated in the image above) if space was once more dense and was stretched out after. Before the stretching, gravitational forces would have been much more dominant, thereby creating this smooth rotational precedent. This would have happened recently, because the gaseous disk has not dispersed into the vacuum of space. (The galaxy is perceived in visible light while the hydrogen disk is by a fleet of 27 radio telescopes.)

Colliding Galaxies. Some galaxies hold two diverse rotating systems, as if a galaxy rotating one way collided with another rotating the opposite manner. Based on the velocities of galaxies perceived and their separation distances today, such union would take billions of years.

This means that the universe is not billions of years old. Before the heavens were stretched out, galaxies would have been nearer to each other, resulting in much larger velocities and regular collisions. Today according to astronomers’ calculations, galaxies are stretched too distant apart so collisions should rarely happen. However, past galactic unions are surprisingly common.

The mergings of some galaxies did not occur billions of years ago because the different rotations within a merged galaxy have not homogenized by now. 

With all the above-mentioned rationalization from the astronomers' expertise and findings provides major implication that, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."(Genesis 1:1) The Bible starts with these fervent words. The profession of faith takes them up when it professes that God the Father almighty is "Creator of heaven and earth" (Apostles' Creed), "of all that is, seen and unseen" (Nicene Creed). The church teaches to speak first of the Creator, then of creation and finally of the fall into sin from which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, descended to save humanity to restore its goodness.

Creation is the groundwork of "all God's plan of salvation," the "starting point of the salvation history" that ends in Christ. On the other hand, the mystery of Christ sheds irrefutable light on the mystery of creation and exposes the end for which "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth": from the beginning, God visualized the glory of the new creation in Christ. (Romans 8:18-23) 

If noticed on the readings of the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the new creation in Christ, start with the creation account; also in the Byzantine liturgy, the account of creation constantly comprises the first reading at the vigils of the great feasts of the Lord. Based on ancient witnesses the instruction of catechumens for Baptism abide to the same line up.

Creation is the foundations of human and Christian life: for it makes clear the response of the Christian faith to the basic question that men of all times ask about the origin of everything both visible and invisible and his/her destiny. The questions about the origin and the end are inseparable. They are significant for the meaning and direction of human’s life and actions.

The origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have marvelously nourished our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and man’s appearance. These discoveries admire us all the more for the greatness of the Creator which stimulates us to thank Him for all His works and for the understanding and wisdom He bestow to scholars and researchers. With Solomon they can say: " For he gave me sound knowledge of existing things, that I might know the organization of the universe and the force of its elements, The beginning and the end and the midpoint of times, the changes in the sun's course and the variations of the seasons. Cycles of years, positions of the stars, natures of animals, tempers of beasts, Powers of the winds and thoughts of men, uses of plants and virtues of roots - Such things as are hidden I learned and such as are plain; for Wisdom, the artificer of all, taught me. For in her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, Manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unstained, certain, Not baneful, loving the good, keen, unhampered, beneficent (Wisdom 7:17-22).

Is the universe dominated by chance, blind destiny, unknown need, or by an awe-inspiring, all-knowing and good Being called "God"? If the world does come from God's wisdom and righteousness, why is there evil? Where does it origin? Who is accountable for it? Is there any deliverance from this?

Ancient religions and cultures generated several myths regarding origins. Some philosophers have asserted that everything is God, that the world is God, or that the world’s development is the development of God (Pantheism). Others claimed that the world is a necessary giving off evolving from God and returning to Him. Still others have insisted the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, locked, in permanent conflict (Dualism), (Manichaeism). According to some of these perceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind (Gnosticism). Some disclose that the world was made by God, but as by a watch-maker who, once He has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). Finally, others refuse any awe-inspiring origin for the world, but perceive it simply as the interaction of matter that has constantly subsist (Materialism). All these attempts bear witness to the solidity and wide-range of the question of origins, which are typically human.

Human intelligence is definitely capable of looking for a response with regards to origins. The existence of God the Creator can be identified with firmness through His works, by the illumination of man’s reason, even if this knowledge is frequently concealed and flawed by mistake. That is why faith rolls up to substantiate and enlighten reason in the truthful comprehension of this reality: "By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear." (Hebrew 11:3). Beyond the natural knowledge that man can have of the Creator, (Acts 17:24-29; brought Israel out of Egypt, and who by selecting Israel created and formed it, this same God reveals Himself as the One to whom belong all the peoples of the earth, and the whole earth itself; he is the One who alone "made heaven and earth". (Isaiah 43:1;  Psalm 115:15;  124:8; 134:3).

Thus the exposition of creation is indivisible from the exposition and forming of the covenant of the one God with His People. Creation is exposed as the first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love. (Genesis 15:5); Jeremiah 33:19-26)  The truth of creation is likewise expressed with increasing dynamism in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People. (Isaiah 44:24; Psalm 104; Proverbs 8:22-31) 

The first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place about creation. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had varied sources. The inspired authors have positioned them at the start of Scripture to articulate in their solemn words the realities of creation - its beginning and its end in God, its sequence and righteousness, man’s vocation, and finally the tragedy of sin and the hope of deliverance. Creation, fall, and promise of salvation remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the "beginning," in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church.

" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. (John 1:1-3) The New Testament exposes that God created everything by the eternal Word, His beloved Son. In Him " For in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17). The Church's faith also professes the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the "giver of life", "the Creator Spirit," the "source of every good.

The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant exposes the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, (Psalm 33:6; 104:30; Genesis 1:2-3) indivisibly one with that of the Father.

  

The First Vatican Council enlightens that the one, true God, of His own goodness and "almighty power", not for amplifying His own beatitude, nor for achieving His perfection, but to manifest this perfection through the benefits which He gives to the creatures, with total liberty of counsel "and from the beginning of time, made out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the physical.

The definitive reason of creation is that God "who is the creator of all things may at last become "all in all", thus simultaneously ensure His own glory and our beatitude."(1 Corinthian 15:28)


Pages 1 2 3 4