Brennan Manning on the Fine-Tuned Universe
The Ragamuffin Gospel (Questar Publishers : 1993), 32.
The slant of the earth, for example, tilted at an angle at 23 degrees,
produces our season,. Scientists tell us that if the earth had not been
tilted exactly as it is, vapors from the oceans would move both north
and south, piling up continents of ice. If the moon were only
50,000 miles away from earth instead of 200,000 the tides might be so
enormous that all continents would be submerged in water, even the
mountains would be eroded. If the crust of the earth had been only ten feet thicker, there would be no oxygen, and without it all animal life would die. Had the oceans been a few feet deeper, carbon dioxide and oxygen would have absorbed and no vegetable life would exist. The
earth's weight has been estimated at six sextillion tons (that's a
six with 21 zeros). Yet it is perfectly balanced and turns easily on
its axis. It revolves daily at the rate of more than 1,000 miles per
hour or 25,000 miles each day. This adds up to nine million miles a
year. Considering the tremendous weight of six sextillion tons rolling
at this fantastic speed around an invisible axis, held in place by
unseen bands of gravitation, the words of Job 26:7 take on unparalleled
significance: "He poised the earth on nothingness." The earth
revolves in its own orbit around the sun, making the long elliptical
circuit of six hundred million miles each year — which means we are
traveling in orbit at 19 miles per second or 1,140 miles per hour. Job
further invites us to meditate on "the wonders of God" (37:14).
Consider the sun. Every square yard of the sun's surface is emitting
constantly an energy level of 130,000 horse power (that is,
approximately 450 eight-cylinder automobile engines), in flames that
are being produced by an energy source much more powerful than coal. The
nine major planets in our solar system range in distance from the sun
from 36 million to about 3 trillion, 6,664 billion miles; yet each
moves around the sun in exact precision, with orbits ranging from 88
days for Mercury to 248 years for Pluto. Still, the sun is
only one minor star in the 100 billion orbs which comprise our Milky
Way galaxy. if you were to hold out a dime, a ten-cent piece, at
arm's length, the coin would block out 15 million stars from your
view, if your eyes could see with that power.
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