The Created Cosmos: What the Bible Reveals about Astronomy

by Danny R. Faulkner

This text investigates what the Bible has to say about astronomical objects and phenomena. The Bible contains many mentions of astronomical things, beginning with creation and concluding with end-time prophecies. Besides the sun and moon, the Bible names groups of stars, Orion, the Pleiades, and the bears. In addition to what the biblical record shows about astronomical phenomena, many people think that it teaches things that it actually does not teach. These concepts are examined in depth as well. - Unique among books discussing the intersection of biblical text and astronomy because of the range of questions explored and answered - Definitive work that explores many popular questions and misconceptions about the universe and the Bible - Sorts fact from fiction and truth from popular myths as the true purpose of these enigmatic lights in the night sky are revealed

Genres: Astronomy, Nonfiction

428 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 24, 2016

About the author

Dr. Danny Faulkner holds an MS in physics from Clemson University, an MA and a PhD in astronomy from Indiana University, and he taught at the University of South Carolina—Lancaster for over 26 years. He has published over 100 papers in various journals.

Reviews

[Rapier Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read if you’re looking to study astronomy from a biblical perspective. It’s broken into four parts:
1. What scriptures plainly teach about astronomy
2. What scripture says about unusual astronomical events
3. How scripture confronts recent questions about astronomy
4. Misconceptions about what scripture teaches about astronomy

There’s no reason why you must read these four parts in order if one topic interests you more, you can skip around.

My favorite quote:
“Psalm 19:1 makes it abundantly clear that what we see in the heavens above demonstrates God’s glory. As such, the study of astronomy is a God-honoring endeavor.”

[Megan Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book.
I liked the discussion of the calendars, and about the flat-earth controversy.
There was a lot to take in, and I enjoyed the read.
I'll be honest; though the information was fascinating, I'm unfortunately not as familiar with astronomical terms and such as I might be, so I fear some of the subjects and vocabulary were a bit over my head.
But all in all, a very cool book! I'm excited to read the second one by Mr. Faulkner.

[ScarlettShadw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I enjoy learning about science and theology, so to find a book that does both was amazing. Faulkner starts off by saying that for the past few decades or so several Christians who go about writing scientific books always seem to base their information on science then compare theology to it when, as Christians, we should be standing on our theology and comparing scientific discovers to it to see if these "discovers" hold up to the truth of God's word. He then goes about revealing astronomy facts found in God's word and showing how modern astronomy compares to it, explaining both why some modern astronomical discovers are true while other "discovers" don't hold water. Later in the book, he even dives into some of the theories and conspiracies that surround astronomy, such as aliens. I've heard several theories from Christians surrounding the existence of aliens and I've always been on the fence, so seeing all those theories thought out in a concise manner was enlightening and the way Faulkner concluded his theory on it was helpful for me to finally pick a side of the fence to fall upon.

I greatly encourage anyone who loves to learn or enjoys studying astronomy to pick up this book. If you do, please feel free to reply to this review, because I would love to hear your thoughts on some of the material Faulkner presents.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Specifically, Faulkner covers "What Scripture Plainly Teaches About Astronomy;" warnings against astrology; the unusual days of Joshua and Hezekiah; an analysis of what the "Christmas Star" may have been and what it definitely was not; the light-travel-time problem; and a detailed refutation of the "Gospel in the Stars" beliefs. Extremely well-researched, this book will be a valuable source for Christians who are interested in astronomy.

[Neil Draper · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good read, tedious at times

I enjoyed this book, it was very insightful and I gained valuable insights about thoughts on creation and opinions of those who oppose it. It got a little tedious at times when looking at the gospel in the stars. Even so, if this kind of detail suits you, I would recommend.

[Paul Vawter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Faulkner offers a decent survey of the biblical references to astronomical objects and deals with many common questions. Part 4 is dominated by his rebuttal of the "Gospel in the stars" concept. Since I have never encountered this theory before, it seemed like a bit of overkill to dedicate 3 chapters to address it. Still, it's a solid work.

[Josh Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long stretches are technical and hard to visualize. But operating from a biblical creationist grid is rare and valuable and helps Faulkner to be clear on what we know and don't know for sure. Appreciated his honesty and candor about what biblical creationists are still uncertain about when it comes to the science of astronomy.

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love science (specifically dinosaurs and astronomy lol) and I love theology, but this book was very confusing and repetitive. Maybe if I had a phd in astrophysics I’d understand it better, but it was very confusing. Part of the time, it just seemed to ramble on and on. Idk.

[Alicia Schulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative!