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Quran and a Universe from Smoke: Difference between revisions
→Conclusion: Added an additional section specifically on the Creation of the Earth 'spreading' vs the scientific theory of it's creation.
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(→Qur'anic Verse in Context: Added paragraph on stars being made before the Earth a scientific error, as well as no differentiation of the creation of stars vs planets, which are both 'lamps' in the sky.) |
(→Conclusion: Added an additional section specifically on the Creation of the Earth 'spreading' vs the scientific theory of it's creation.) |
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:the gaseous products of burning materials especially of organic origin made visible by the presence of small particles of carbon.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smoke|title= Smoke|publisher= Merrian-Webster|author= |date=accessed December 19, 2013 |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Fsmoke&date=2013-12-19|deadurl=no}}</ref>}}There is no similarities between the early universe and smoke. There was no burning of material, especially of organic compounds in the early universe. Organic molecules would not exist for another 10 billion years. Even carbon did not exist at this stage and it would not exist for millions of years until it was first fused in the center of giant stars. The early universe was extremely dense and smoke is not dense at all; in fact smoke is completely vaporous. Smoke can be hot, but often is not. It is the hot gas close to the burning material that can make smoke hot, but the carbon particles that linger in the air can be quite cool. | :the gaseous products of burning materials especially of organic origin made visible by the presence of small particles of carbon.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smoke|title= Smoke|publisher= Merrian-Webster|author= |date=accessed December 19, 2013 |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Fsmoke&date=2013-12-19|deadurl=no}}</ref>}}There is no similarities between the early universe and smoke. There was no burning of material, especially of organic compounds in the early universe. Organic molecules would not exist for another 10 billion years. Even carbon did not exist at this stage and it would not exist for millions of years until it was first fused in the center of giant stars. The early universe was extremely dense and smoke is not dense at all; in fact smoke is completely vaporous. Smoke can be hot, but often is not. It is the hot gas close to the burning material that can make smoke hot, but the carbon particles that linger in the air can be quite cool. | ||
''(Separately the apologist's claim also relies on the word for the sky/heaven(s) (al-samaa السماء) meaning our Universe, which is itself highly problematic; see the analysis in: [[Science and the Seven Earths]]).'' | |||
===Single-Word Description=== | ===Single-Word Description=== | ||
The claim presupposes that the Qur'anic author must describe the earliest phase of the universe using a single word. However, no one would be convinced if a scientist, purporting to be an expert in cosmology, put together a paper on the formation of stars and only described it in a single word. Even apologists realize that a single-word description is not adequate to convey such a complex topic, which is why they use multiple words to describe this state of the universe and even a short paragraph to make their point. One has to wonder why the Qur'anic description is so sparse and inadequate given how easy it would have been for [[Allah]] to have conveyed such information. | The claim presupposes that the Qur'anic author must describe the earliest phase of the universe using a single word. However, no one would be convinced if a scientist, purporting to be an expert in cosmology, put together a paper on the formation of stars and only described it in a single word. Even apologists realize that a single-word description is not adequate to convey such a complex topic, which is why they use multiple words to describe this state of the universe and even a short paragraph to make their point. One has to wonder why the Qur'anic description is so sparse and inadequate given how easy it would have been for [[Allah]] to have conveyed such information. | ||
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Finally, in an attempt to provide some much needed credibility, the apologist makes an appeal to authority by claiming that a renowned geologist supports their views, when in fact he has never endorsed the Qur'an as being an accurate source of scientific information and was simply quote mined. | Finally, in an attempt to provide some much needed credibility, the apologist makes an appeal to authority by claiming that a renowned geologist supports their views, when in fact he has never endorsed the Qur'an as being an accurate source of scientific information and was simply quote mined. | ||
== Additional Points == | |||
=== Creation of the Earth === | |||
In many of these verses, along with the creation of the heavens, the Quran also describes the creation of the Earth as a process in which it was 'spread out' in a number of different ways. Other than describing a flat earth ''(see: [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth]])'', this is also at odds with the scientific view on the creation/formation of the earth. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|79|27-33}}|Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it. He raised its ceiling and proportioned it. And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness. And after that He spread the earth. He extracted from it its water and its pasture, And the mountains He set firmly As provision for you and your grazing livestock.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|91|5-6}}|And the heaven and Him Who built it, | |||
And the earth and Him Who spread it,}}{{Quote|{{Quran|50|6-7}}|Have they not looked at the heaven above them - how We structured it and adorned it and [how] it has no rifts? | |||
And the earth - We spread it out and cast therein firmly set mountains and made grow therein [something] of every beautiful kind,}}{{Quote|{{Quran|71|15-19}}|‘Do you not see how Allah has created the seven heavens atop each other?’ | |||
and has made therein the moon for a light and the sun for a lamp? | |||
Allah made you grow from the earth, with a [vegetable] growth. | |||
Then He makes you return to it, and He will bring you forth [without fail]. | |||
And Allah has made the earth for you as a carpet (spread out),}} | |||
See also {{Quran|20|53}}, {{Quran|15|19}}, and {{Quran|13|3}}. | |||
The current scientific consensus is when the solar system settled into its current layout about 4.5 billion years ago, Earth formed when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust in to become the third planet from the Sun.<ref>''[https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/ Earth Facts.]'' Science. NASA.</ref> | |||
The Earth, like all the other planets in the solar system, started out its life as a disc of dust and gas orbiting the young sun. The dust particles were brought together by the forces of drag to form clumps of rock that grew into what scientists call “planetesimals,” which are tens to hundreds of miles across, and then to Mars-sized “protoplanets” by colliding with each other. Earth grew to its final size through one last major collision with another Mars-sized object. This last collision, also known as the “moon-forming impact,” was so large that—in addition to adding lots of material to the Earth—there was enough energy to vaporize some of the rock and metal from both the proto-Earth and the impacting object. This vapor formed a disc around the Earth that eventually cooled and clumped together to become the moon.<ref>''[https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/formation-earth-and-moon-explained How the Earth and moon formed, explained.]'' Explainer Series. Sasha Warren. University of Chicago News. </ref> | |||
Therefore this coming together of dust and rock pieces smashing into each other to grow in size and form the Earth, does not match the various descriptions of 'spreading' in the Quran. | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||