Recently, NASA’s Gravity Probe B project proved there is indeed a fabric of space the data also give strong indications that the fabric is substantive enough to be “dragged.” Superstring theory, another theory of modern physics, even predicts that the fabric of space can be torn and patched. General relativity was first demonstrated in 1919. But in either case, the object falls to the ground with increasing velocity. Newton says the Earth’s gravity pulls the object to the ground Einstein says it slides down the fabric of space, which has been warped by presence of the Earth. An object thrown out of a window is like this marble. Now a marble rolls down toward the bowling ball with increasing velocity (just as Newton observed). However, if a bowling ball is placed on the trampoline, it sinks to the center, distorting the fabric of the trampoline. If the trampoline is taut (and nothing else is on it), then a marble will stay wherever it is placed on the trampoline.
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The idea of gravity as a warping of the fabric of space can be visualized by a marble and a bowling ball on a trampoline. Nevertheless, Newton’s and Einstein’s equations for gravity produce the same result almost all the time. This is a subtle but significant departure from Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity, which suggests an attractive forcebetween any two bodies. General relativity suggests that gravity is a warping of the fabric of space in response to a massive object (see here and here for further descriptions of general relativity). Space possesses a structure with real physical characteristics it has a fabric that can be distorted by the presence of a massive object. Although one must be careful not to read too much science into Genesis, the ancient Israelites seem to have understood the word rāqîa‘ as conveying a contradictory complexity that might have foreshadowed this revolutionary concept of twentieth century physics.Īccording to general relativity, outer space is not nothingness. The purpose of this paper is to propose a plausibility argument that the seemingly contradictory character of rāqîa‘ might be consistent with Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Modern educated people know sky is not a solid and that outer space is a vacuum that we usually think of as nothingness. Hence, based on Easton’s explanation, we might say the word rāqîa‘ could refer to “an expansive (or expanding) solid such as inner and outer space.” This seems nonsensical. Genesis 1:8 says: “God called the expanse ‘sky’” 10 (NIV).
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It is plain that it was used to denote solidity as well as expansion” (emphasis added). They who rendered rāqîa‘ by firmamentum regarded it as a solid body…. This word means simply “expansion.” It denotes the space or expanse like an arch appearing immediately above us. This complexity is reinforced by the fact that modern translations often use different, contradictory words for rāqîa‘ in different passages. 8 These various translations seem to convey contradictory concepts which emphasizes the complex meaning of rāqîa‘.
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Yet other modern English Bibles translate rāqîa‘ in a variety of different ways: “expanse,” 1 “dome,” 2 “vault,” 3 “sky,” 4 “space,” 5 and even “horizon,” 6 “air,” 7 and “solid arch”. The King James Version (KJV) translates it as “firmament.” This curious word choice is carried over into the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and the New King James Version (NKJV). Yet was this concept already described by Genesis 1 many centuries earlier? A comprehensive analysis of the complex Hebrew word rāqîa‘ seems to suggest that it was! General Relativity and the Hebrew Word RāqîaĮxperimental physics has recently verified the prediction of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity that outer space has structure.