Biblical Theology and the Study of Astronomy Lee Anderson Jr. Astronomy, one of the oldest of the sciences, is the study of objects and matter outside of earth’s atmosphere, and of their physical and chemical properties. T he Scriptures are limited in what they communicate about astronomy; however, what the Bible does tell us about astronomy is of unparalleled importance. From the Scriptures we know that the heavens and all they contain were created by God (e.g., Gen. 1:14–19) and that they serve ultimately to magnify His glory (Ps. 19:1). The tremendous vastness of the heavens, clearly implied by the Lord’s rhetorical request that Abram “number the stars” (Gen. 15:5), ought to leave the observer overawed by the power and majesty of the Sovereign Lord who spoke the astronomical realm into existence. Fittingly, David surmised in Psalm 8:3–4, When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Given the splendor of God’s heavenly creation, it is not surprising in the least that David was compelled to conclude this psalm with the exclamatory refrain in verse 9, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! In view of the stated purpose that the heavens have in magnifying the glory of the living God, we are correct to conclude that the study of astronomy is a worthy and God-honouring endeavor.
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