From "Answers in Genesis".
As usual, my comments are in red.
A Biblical Response to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Launch.
Actually, it's a Young Earth Creationist response. The Bible has very little to say about space, and what it does say is mostly mistaken. Most other Christians who revere the Bible are not in the thrall of Biblical literalist beliefs.
The expected benefits from the new telescope, the naturalistic assumptions integrated into its mission, and the only way to make sense of scientific investigation: God.
Remains to be seen.
by Rob Webb on January 8, 2022
After more than 30 years in the making and numerous delays (from faulty cables, bad weather, etc.), finally, on Christmas Day of 2021 at 7:20 a.m. EST, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) successfully launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.1 This $10B observatory is the largest (tennis-court sized) and most powerful telescope ever built. This launch officially marks the start of a one-month journey to its final parking orbit, which will be at the L2 Earth-Sun Lagrange point2 (about 940,000 miles away from the earth).
JWST is considered “the next chapter in space-based telescope astronomy” and the highly anticipated (and much larger) replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope (which is struggling to stay in operation in low-earth orbit today). Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope that has a single primary mirror, the JWST has an array of mirrors that have a collective diameter nearly three times larger in diameter (which translates to about seven times more light-gathering ability) than Hubble. This helps the JWST to gather more light from distant objects in the universe, thus allowing the JWST to gaze much deeper into space than any other telescope.
Furthermore, the JWST is equipped with instruments that are sensitive to infrared (heat) radiation3 that gives it the ability to detect light beyond the visible spectrum4 and allows astronomers to observe faraway distant objects (mainly in the “hidden” regions of the universe) at infrared wavelengths. And to keep any unwanted sources of infrared from interfering with the light being observed, all the onboard instruments will remain very cold (like -388ºF kind of cold!) primarily by using a large sunshade to keep the mirrors and instruments shielded from sunlight and by constantly keeping the telescope pointing away from the sun during operation.5
According to NASA, the JWST mission is designed to last only five years, but it could last more than a decade if the amount of onboard fuel (used for maintaining its orbit) is efficiently minimized6 (and based on the recent launch performance,7 it looks like it could last even longer than that). But before the JWST can start taking any official measurements or images of the cosmos, it (amazingly) needs to pass 344 single-point failures8 that could ultimately doom the mission at any one of these points, with the most difficult (and riskiest) part of having to “unfold” this massive telescope after separating from the launch vehicle (both the sunshield and mirrors had to be folded in an “origami” type fashion in order to fit in the rocket’s payload fairing). Talk about a nerve-racking engineering challenge!
The Evolutionary “Goals” Behind JWST
What's this nonsense? Evolution is about how and why life changes over time. It has no "goals". Evolutionary science, on the other hand, has the goal of understanding more about the process. If the JWST sheds light on the possible existence of life on exoplanets, and it's nature, this will be all to the good.
So obviously, there are some awesome observational science aspects (observable, testable, repeatable) to this mission, such as observing and studying the farthest regions of the visible universe that were previously hidden to us. However, as seen from the many news reports published by the media (especially from NASA), the overall objectives for JWST are saturated in evolutionary (and really naturalistic) thinking. For example, NASA states on one of their websites, “The primary goals of Webb are to study galaxy, star and planet formation in the universe. To see the very first stars and galaxies that formed in the early universe, we have to look deep into space to look back in time (because it takes light time to travel from there to here, the farther out we look, the further we look back in time).”9
I remember, way back in time, arguing with YECs who tried to maintain that exoplanets couldn't exist. They wanted to think they were so special, that "God" must have created just one planet where life could - er - live. Now,we know that exoplanets exist in unimaginably huge numbers. You YECs have gone very quiet on this subject now.
So obviously, there are some awesome observational science aspects (observable, testable, repeatable) to this mission, such as observing and studying the farthest regions of the visible universe that were previously hidden to us.
The prime contractor that developed the JWST spacecraft (Northrop Grumman) stated, “By extending our knowledge of the cosmos, the James Webb Space Telescope will play an important role in our quest to answer compelling questions such as: ‘How did the universe begin?’ or ‘When were the first stars and galaxies created?’ or ‘How do planets form?’ and ‘How do we fit in the cosmos?’”
Note, these objectives fall into the category of science that’s called historical science (making assumptions about the past based on evidence in the present), which, by the way, can be useful in certain applications (like in forensic science when analyzing crime-scene evidence) but only when used through a biblical “lens” and logical worldview.
Your opinion of "biblical lenses" is of little interest.
However, in this instance, these statements for the JWST are clearly secular (and unbiblical), which inevitably means they’re also fallacious (this is the result of every unbiblical worldview). Notice the claim of “looking” back in time (when looking at objects deep in space) in order to see how everything in the universe began through cosmological evolution (i.e., the big bang). But note that when making this claim, they’ve already merely assumed cosmological evolution (by assuming star/planet formation occurred in the early stages of galaxies) in order to prove cosmological evolution (via “looking” back in time). This is a logical fallacy called begging the question.
Hitchens' Razor applies throughout this whole piece. It is riddled with unsupported assertions. How is this for repeatable, observational evidence, observed in the here and now? Simple observations of supernova SN1987A reveal it to be roughly 170,000 light-years from us. Now, we all know that Ken Ham doesn't understand what a light-year is, but most of the rest of us do. It is the distance light travels is one year. How do we know that the speed of light has not changed over time? By direct, repeatable observations, in the here-and-now that pulsar rates do not change as they should have done, should the speed of light had changed. See https://web.archive.org/web/20210316220159/https://chem.tufts.edu/science/astronomy/sn1987a.html
What’s the Biblical Response?
So how should we (especially as Christians) respond to these claims? Aside from the arbitrary (circular-reasoning) nature of these statements, these goals are obviously antithetical to the biblical worldview. Rather than relying on (fallacious) assumptions about the past, it’s always better to start with an eyewitness account (i.e., someone who was actually there). And for this, we need to go to the very first chapter of the Bible.
Christians, in general, are not wedded to a wooden, kindergarten-level "interpretation" of Genesis, and it is dishonest of you to keep trying to insinuate that your fringe interpretation is representative of wider Christianity.
Rather than relying on (fallacious) assumptions about the past, it’s always better to start with an eyewitness account (i.e., someone who was actually there). And for this, we need to go to the very first chapter of the Bible.
In Genesis, we plainly read that God created everything in the heavens and the earth within six literal days approximately 6,000 years ago (per the biblical timeline), all for his glory. And he created the sun, moon, and all the stars in every galaxy and corner of the universe, on day four of creation week (three days after the earth was created) and called it good.
It's almost as if the writer had never come across the concept of irony. Here we have the epitome of irony. An assumption is made about the past, that an eyewitness was present and observed a god creating everything in the heavens and the earth within six literal days approximately 6,000 years ago. There is no supporting evidence whatsoever for such an assertion, and a mountain of evidence to say that it is mistaken. Indeed, if a god had made such a world and embedded false indications of deep time and evolution in it, unnecessarily, it would make that god out to be a liar and a deceiver. I cannot imagine a more insane, degenerate form of blasphemy than that.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14–19)
Your basic mistake is assuming that God said that, when clearly, all you can claim is that someone claimed that God said that. A fallible human that did not have access to all information.
And like many of the great Christian astronomers in the past have stated, such as Johannes Kepler, we should study the heavens! But it needs to be with the goal of admiring the handiwork and glory of God (Psalm 19:1) and giving thanks to him for creating and sustaining our universe (Hebrews 1:3).
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei
So, for this mission, the JWST will not actually be “looking” back in time. Rather, it’ll be examining distant galaxies (which indeed are very far away in space) that have been in existence since the beginning of creation for thousands (not billions) of years. These observations from JWST will not show us how (or when) these heavenly objects were formed, but rather what they look like by directly imaging Jupiter-size planets orbiting nearby stars and analyzing the molecular composition of atmospheres on extra-solar planets.
See the notes and link on SN1987A and pulsars above.
But note, this biblical stance should not be confused with some form of theistic evolution, which is currently being propagated by some in the program, attempting to mix the Bible with this evolutionary cosmology.11 Sadly, many in this particular camp (sometimes ignorantly) have actually compromised Scripture by accepting the secular ideas being pushed by the JWST media at NASA (i.e., the big bang and evolution), thus rejecting the plain (biblical) reading of Genesis 1 and instead reinterpreting the days of creation to long ages. This is an unbiblical way of thinking that essentially elevates man’s fallible ideas as the ultimate standard (i.e., humanism) over the infallible Word of God.
Again, what does evolution have to do with this? And please note, one of the most prominent early advocates of the big bang was a believer in God.
This Mission Shows the Foolishness of Atheism
What on earth does atheism have to do with any of this? You are insulting, not only atheists, but the enormous number of believers who work for and support one of the most promising projects ever, for increasing our understanding of our place in the world, not to mention benefits of the many spin-off technologies that are already being developed, thanks to the project.
On the other hand, the atheistic secularists advocating for purely naturalistic objectives have actually suppressed this biblical truth (Romans 1:18–21) and altogether rejected God as the ultimate authority. Instead of submitting to God, they have turned to the religion of materialistic atheism (and secular humanism) to answer the fundamental questions posed by the JWST program (“How did the universe begin,” etc.), thus further reducing themselves to absurdity and foolishness (Psalm 14:1).
Mumbo jumbo.
In this (irrational) worldview, the universe is simply “matter in motion” that’s just bobbing around in a chaotic universe, where everything only happens by chance (random) processes. Consequently, this worldview makes essential concepts required for science, like the order and uniformity in nature (i.e., the future being like the past) and even rationality, utterly impossible.
Your inability to understand science is no argument against it.
Nonetheless, many of the (very smart) atheists working on the JWST obviously still used scientific principles to develop and launch this amazing telescope into space (and were quite good at it). So, in reality, they had to be inconsistent with their own worldview and borrow these principles from the biblical worldview, including rationality and logic, thus exposing the complete foolishness of the atheistic worldview. This also shows that the “atheist” is not actually an atheist at all but is rather self-deceived and really does know God in their “heart of hearts.”
More nonsense. Both atheistic and theistic non-creationists understand how and why we are adapted to the regularities of the physical world. A "biblical worldview" adds nothing to that understanding.
On the flip side, God’s logic is built into the universe, which is why the universe operates in a consistent fashion by obeying natural laws (i.e., the way God upholds the universe) and is not simply random or chaotic.
Physicists prefer to talk of "regularities" in nature, rather than "laws". The appeal to the idea that a "law" requires a lawmaker, just because of the history of the usage of the term is a desperate one.
On the flip side, God’s logic is built into the universe, which is why the universe operates in a consistent fashion by obeying natural laws (i.e., the way God upholds the universe) and is not simply random or chaotic. In addition, God has given us reliable senses (Genesis 1:26) to discover and understand our universe. This is what makes the JWST mission a possible—and intriguing—scientific reality.
Logic is a human product.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that this accomplishment of successfully building and launching the JWST is an amazing feat of hard work and ingenuity that will continue to be a great challenge over the next several years of operation. As a former aerospace engineer, I take my hat off to all those involved with this exciting project. And even though the media at NASA continue to push its evolutionary agenda with JWST, this mission ultimately glorifies God and points to his creative works.
I understand your level of panic.
And just a side note to further show how awesome our God really is, as previously stated, the JWST uses an array of mirrors to gather light to see objects in faraway galaxies, but did you know that God designed scallops to see in the same manner? In other words, the JWST uses a similar mirror design that has existed in the eyes of scallops since the beginning (Day Five) of creation!
Nope.
But more importantly, the JWST mission (plus the amazing design of a scallop’s eyes) should direct us to the one that makes it all possible—Jesus Christ, who not only is the Creator (John 1:3) and Sustainer (Hebrews 1:3) of every star and galaxy in this entire universe, is also the Redeemer (2 Corinthians 5:19).
More babble.
If you haven’t confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 10:9), then the call of the gospel is to repent (turn from your sins) and put your trust completely in Christ, and you will be saved from the wrath of God to come (Romans 5:9). None of us know when we’re going to die so this is a time-sensitive message. Turn to Christ today for eternal life (John 3:16) and give the glory to Him who makes space-exploration possible by the mighty word of His power!
We are not little children, to be frightened by the ravings of an unhinged fanatic.
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