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Galaxies and God

By Garry Davis

The slice of the heavens recently pierced by the Hubble space telescope was one-twenty-fifth of one degree, equivalent to the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length. Yet, in that relatively blank stellar sliver, astronomers reported counting 1500 to 2000 hitherto unknown galaxies-some old, some new, most white, some blue.

What does the inferred discovery of an additional 40 to 50 billion galaxies in the universe mean in regard to humans' concept of God? Three things: first, it further confirms the magnitude, grandeur and mystery of the universe itself whose time/space dimensions are unimaginable by the finite mind; second, it reaffirms that our species, as a part of the universe, is subject to the truth of the cosmic order; third, it humbles us utterly...or should.

When contemplating God as creator, our solipsistic minds tend to consider only the Earth. But in order to contemplate God as creator of the entire universe, with its billions of galaxies and all possible living beings therein, we are obliged to expand our conception exponentially while at the same time diminishing our human significance within the cosmic scheme.

In short, human dogmas and pretensions, especially in regard to a home-grown deity concerned only with human needs and salvation, must necessarily be crushed under the weight of this new and awesome knowledge.

In relation to the cosmic panorama, the Earth's sun is a speck, an inconsequential star on the outer fringes of one unremarkable galaxy. Humanity's entire history-encompassing a mere 30,000 years-is as nothing in comparison with the billions of years it took for the light from these galaxies even to arrive at Hubble's lens. That stellar glow began hurtling across the heavens countless ages before the Earth was formed!

That the God of galaxies should grant us humans special attention seems an increasingly improbable assumption. On the other hand, for humanity to ally itself with cosmic/world law is assuredly to fulfill our own spiritual purposes... not God's.


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