To the Editor:

I am writing this letter for the sakes of my fellow creationists and any questioning minds who may be concerned about an argument, by Neil deGrasse Tyson, mentioned in the last edition of “The Naturalist’s Corner.” I should note that I have great respect for Tyson’s work in the field of science, and I do not profess to have anywhere near his degree of knowledge and experience in this field. However, when presented with a direct attack on my views, for which I have a reasonable response, I believe I have a responsibility to make that response known.

The argument in question is stated as follows in the article:

“According to Tyson as narrator: ‘… But if the universe were only 6,500 years old, how could we see the light from anything more distant than the Crab Nebula? We couldn’t. There wouldn’t have been enough time for the light to get to Earth from anywhere farther away than 6,500 light-years in any direction. That’s just enough time for light to travel through a tiny portion of our Milky Way galaxy.

‘To believe in a universe as young as 6 or 7,000 years old is to extinguish the light from most of the galaxy. Not to mention the light from all the hundred billion other galaxies in the observable universe.’”

This argument supposedly proves creation impossible because it shows that the earth must be older than the time it would take for light to reach the farthest visible star. This may seem to be a daunting argument to young-earth creationists particularly, but there is a simply elegant answer which can be found by carefully reading the creation story as recorded in the Bible.

On the first day of the six days of creation, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). However, it was not until the fourth day of creation on which “God made two great lights — the greater light [the sun] to govern the day and the lesser light [the moon] to govern the night. He also made the stars.” (Gen. 1:16) Here we see that God made the light waves, the visible energy by which we see, before He made the physical light sources of the sun, moon and stars. Thus, it would take no time at all for the light from stars even billions of light years from earth to be seen on earth because it was already there, before the stars ever existed.

I cannot feign to answer all the questions science may raise. Although I trust in and rely on science daily, I am willing to admit that science is an invention of flawed mankind to help him discover the truth of God’s creation. Scientific views and principles change and alter, but God is truth, whether or not you believe in Him. It is my hope and prayer that all would come to know the glorious and loving God of creation.

Joshua Snead

Waynesville