Neptune is the Roman name for the Greek god of the seas and of earthquakes. Poseidon, in Greek mythology, is the father of Polyphemus, the tyrannical, man-eating cyclopes of Homer's Odyssey. Because the Odysseus blinded Polyphemus, it was Poseidon and his wrath which ultimately made Odysseus' trip home a little more circuitous than was to the Big O's liking.

Thankfully, Poseidon and his offspring exist only in the long-gone minds and imaginations of Homer and the Greco-Roman world.

But there is a true King of king and Lord of lords, which even the wind, wave, continental plates and distant planets obey.

Who is this King of Glory? How do the heavens declare His glory? And what might the enigmas and mysteries of our solar system's most distant planet tell us about Him?

Come and see!

To see pictures comparing the actual colors of Uranus and Neptune see this article.

Music featured for the first 7 minutes of the broadcast comes from Gustav Holst, The Planets Op 32 Vii Neptune The Mystic https://youtu.be/cZt9oXP1OKc?si=d8ZYuTbYtSKuwXtN

CNN special episode of Voyager 2 arrival at Neptune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwb-o5N9LBM

Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BqnN72OlqA

Sarah Salviander article

Wayne's blog article on 'Easter - Then and Now'

You don't hear much about Uranus these days. Probably because it's 1.8 billion miles away, or maybe because the last time an Earth-launched satellite probe visited the enigmatic ringed world was in 1986. A few years ago the James Webb Space Telescope took the beauteous portrait of Uranus you see in the thumbnail, but for the most part, most folks don't think much about the quirky planet that orbits the sun whilst rolling on its side.

Hopefully, this episode will at least make you think about Uranus as a work of art, the "handiwork" of God (Psalm 8 and 19), which silently declares His glory.

The background music you hear in the introduction is from Gustav Holst's - The Planets, Op. 32 - VI. Uranus, the Magician [Copyright Free].

Uranus press conference original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAEUvts2F6g

Book on Uranus and Neptune (not Christian): https://a.co/d/8QlE8ur

Also, this is Wayne's blog with an article on Easter and Jesus' resurrection:

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

What does the Bible say about the sun? What is the purpose of the sun? Why did God create it? How does the sun remind us of God's invisible attributes? How could there have been life on earth before the sun? How can we best understand both what the Bible says and what science says about our sun?

The sun was designed and created for God's glory; for signs and for seasons, for days and years, to govern the day, and to give light on the earth. Come and see with Wayne and Dan what the Bible and the Parker Solar Probe can tell us not only about the sun, but about what God is like.

Audio clips used in this episode:

Grackles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLteSIxC1hs

Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OwP2MONfcE

Dr. Carl Sagan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPkpBN6bEI

Dr. Nour Rawafi Ted Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hktbamn2jX4

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

Our thumbnail image this week is not a doctored or photoshopped image, but a genuine picture of the sun from October 2024. Taken in 193 angstrom light on Oct. 26, 2024, NASA captured our sun in a state of rejoicing, or so it seemed (image credit NASA/GSFC/SDO). The darker regions you see that comprise the eyes and mouth are actually regions of the surface of the sun that have been blasted off by coronal mass ejections that can trigger solar storms here on earth. In fact, solar storm warnings were issued because of this particular image. All that "missing" material is fired off into space and some of it could (and did) strongly interact with Earth's atmosphere, creating the Northern Lights effect. The charged particles from the sun interact with the magnetic field of Earth, which shields us from just such ejections. Without the magnetic shield, Earth's atmosphere would be stripped bare by these solar ejecta.

This is a perfect analogy to what the Bible says about God in Psalm 84:11. "Our God is a sun and shield." The radiant and fiercely powerful light of the sun reminds us of God as a "consuming fire", while the Earth's magnetic field reminds us that God is a shield to us. We are protected by God's wrath through Christ on the cross. God provides us with His own righteous shield, in the person of His Son Jesus who, upon the cross, has taken away our sin.

Come and see what the Bible and the Parker Solar Probe have to say about our Sun, the handiwork of God.

EPISODE NOTE: In the beginning of part one, Dan mentions the faint, young sun problem but we forgot to get back to it. So here is an article about the problem you can check out if you're interested! https://creation.com/young-sun-paradox

Audio clips featured in part one

ABC DFW Northern Lights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM6FJbehp28

Solar Probe whistle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50kwxyFQalI

Solar Probe CME sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF_e5eYgJ3Y

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

How might things like "spooky action at a distance" or mysterious as "dark matter" point us to the glory of God? Whether you are a theist or a non-theist or a Christian who believes in a young or an old universe, we can all agree on at least one thing.

The universe is a fascinating place in which we find ourselves. That the universe is intelligible to us is even more remarkable.

But here at Good Heavens! we like to think the cosmos is more than just fascinating. We believe, as the Bible reveals, that the physical cosmos, at both the incredibly large and infinitesimally small scales, reveal to us something about God's invisible attributes. As both the psalms and Isaiah tell us, the whole of the heavens and earth are filled with the glory of God.

Often we are told that Christianity and science cannot possibly go together, however. But hopefully our special guests will continue to dispel that misconception.

As mentioned on part one, Dan had the remarkable opportunity this month (January) at the Defend 2025 apologetics conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to have a fun and inspiring chat with not one, but two Christians who are professionally and popularly published doctors of the cosmos (at the same time!), one who studies the subatomic scale and one who studies galaxies, some of the largest entities in the cosmos.

Dr. Michael G. Strauss is a particle physicist at CERN and the University of Oklahoma and Dr. Luke Barnes is a researcher and lecturer of cosmology and astrophysics at Western Sydney University in Sydney, Australia. Both have published works at the professional and popular levels.

It was a wonder and a privilege to get them both at the table together to hear their insights about the structure of the universe at the large and small scales and how they see God in all of it.

Here on part two, we chat about spooky action at a distance, the mystery of dark matter, and we'll glean some insights as to how we as Christians can have conversations about our differences in relation to the age of the universe.

Good Heavens! this was a fun conversation. We hope you'll enjoy it as much as Dan did putting it together for you!

Soli Deo Gloria.

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

As human beings we occupy a wondrously peculiar size in the cosmos. With our unique stature, we are able to see and comprehend scales of the universe at the inconceivably huge and the unimaginably small. We here at Good Heavens! believe God has arranged this peculiar state of affairs and wants us to know and delight in what He has made. 

The heavens are telling of His glory and we want to be a part in getting His word and the works of His hands out there for everyone to contemplate, consider, and enjoy.

On this very special episode of Good Heavens! Dan had the remarkable opportunity this month (January) at the Defend 2025 apologetics conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to have a fun and inspiring chat with not one, but two professionally and popularly published doctors of the cosmos (at the same time!), one who studies the subatomic scale and one who studies galaxies, some of the largest entities in the cosmos.

Dr. Michael G. Strauss is a particle physicist at CERN and the University of Oklahoma and Dr. Luke Barnes is a researcher and lecturer of cosmology and astrophysics at Western Sydney University in Sydney, Australia. Both have published works at the professional and popular levels.

It was a wonder and a privilege to get them both at the table together to hear their insights about the structure of the universe at the large and small scales and how they see God in all of it.

Here on part one, we chat about the standard models of cosmology and particle physics, the wonder of stars, and the unsolved mysteries facing doctors of the cosmos today. Whether you are a theist, non-theist, or take a young earth or old earth perspective as a Christian, we hope you'll find these episodes encouraging and informative. Above all, we hope it will inspire you to have thoughtful and respectful dialogue with others with whom you might disagree.

Good Heavens! this was a fun conversation. We hope you'll enjoy it as much as Dan did putting it together for you!

Soli Deo Gloria.

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

Black holes continue to amaze and surprise us. Just when it seemed the scientific community was settling in on how black holes form, a string of recent discoveries has begun to call those assumptions into question.

How about a triple black hole system? Or how about a black hole that is "feeding" itself many times faster than astrophysicists thought possible.

Here on part two Wayne and Dan delve into the mysteries of these entities to the best of their knowledge and ability and they consider how these recent discoveries point us to the glory of God in Christ. Come and see!

Mysterious Supermassive Black Hole mentioned on Part One

Triple black hole system

Super hungry black hole!

Sarah Salviander's video on the history of science's understanding of black holes:

Press Conferences mentioned this series.

First photograph of a black hole:

Gravitational waves discovery:

FREE! Four-page articles from Watchman Fellowship - These articles help you better understand the ideas and ideologies of our time that challenge our Christian faith. Each profile offers a history, critique, and solidly biblical response to the topics.

Scientism https://www.watchman.org/scientism/ProfileScientism.pdf

Naturalism https://www.watchman.org/Naturalism/ProfileNaturalism.pdf

Carl Sagan's Cosmos https://www.watchman.org/files/ProfileCosmos.pdf

UFOS/UAPS https://www.watchman.org/ProfileUFOs.pdf

Astrology https://www.watchman.org/files/profileastrology2018.pdf

If you like the profile articles, be sure to check out Watchman's comprehensive two-volume collection of all of our profile articles, nearly 700 pages. You can get a print or digital edition. Check out our preview video of the notebook at https://www.Watchman.org/Notebook. 

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

Black holes remain one of the most enigmatic and wondrous entities in the cosmos. We have only known about them for less than a century. And just when you think you've got a handle on what exactly they are, new discoveries begin to challenge these assumptions.

Just in the last decade, astrophysicists have not only photographed a black hole but have detected gravitational waves, the ripples in spacetime fabric created by the merger of two supermassive black holes.  (See a video on this at  https://www.youtube.com/live/aEPIwEJmZyE?si=tZhq0Gs-WKZfRvOX )

Here on part one, Wayne and Dan discuss the wonderful strangeness of black holes and a recent discovery of a black hole in a relatively young part of the universe. This black hole, based on current theories, shouldn't be there, as there were not enough stars or enough time for it to have accreted its mass.  So how did it get there? Astronomers are trying to figure that out.

Come and see how the Good Heavens! duo thinks these dark stars point us once more back to the glory of God in Christ.

Mysterious Supermassive Black Hole mentioned here on Part One

Sarah Salviander's video on the history of science's understanding of black holes:

How are Quasars related to Black Holes?

First photograph of a black hole:

FREE! Four-page articles from Watchman Fellowship - These articles help you better understand the ideas and ideologies of our time that challenge our Christian faith. Each profile offers a history, critique, and solidly biblical response to the topics.

Scientism https://www.watchman.org/scientism/ProfileScientism.pdf

If you like the profile articles, be sure to check out Watchman's comprehensive two-volume collection of all of our profile articles, nearly 700 pages. You can get a print or digital edition. Check out our preview video of the notebook at https://www.Watchman.org/Notebook. 

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

The telescope technology of our time has revealed wonders in the cosmos our ancestors could only dream about. But have these discoveries in any way undermined the biblical account of creation? Our guest again this week, astrophysicist and author at Reasons to Believe, Dr. Jeff Zweerink tells us that we have nothing to fear, not even the multiverse! Many atheists and skeptics have tried to employ the multiverse as a means of explaining away God as the cause of the existence of our universe. Come and hear what Jeff has to say this week about how creation not only is not threatened by modern science, but how it ultimately can encourage and strengthen our faith when we learn more about it. By faith we know that the physical universe and everything it contains, both seen and unseen, are all ultimately declaring the glory of God. 

Jeff's Bio

Astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink is a senior research scholar for Reasons to Believe (RTB), an organization dedicated to demonstrating the compatibility of science and the Christian faith. Jeff’s work focuses on helping people of all backgrounds bridge the perceived gap between science and the Christian faith.

Jeff has also made many media appearances, on television, radio, and in print. He earned a BS in physics and a PhD in astrophysics with a focus on gamma rays from Iowa State University. He taught and ran the planetarium at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, until postdoctoral research in gamma rays led him to the University of California, Riverside.

Prior to joining RTB, Jeff spent years working on the STACEE and VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes and was involved in research projects such as the Solar Two project and the Whipple Collaboration. He continues to work as a project scientist at UCLA on GAPS, a balloon experiment seeking to detect dark matter. Jeff is also a coauthor on more than 30 academic papers published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Astrophysical Journal, Astroparticle Physics, and Astrobiology.

Jeff's Bio: 

BLOG:  https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/author/jeff-zweerink

BOOK:  https://support.reasons.org/purchase/whos-afraid-of-the-multiverse

Free Resources from Watchman Fellowship

Scientism: https://www.watchman.org/scientism/ProfileScientism.pdf

Naturalism: https://www.watchman.org/Naturalism/ProfileNaturalism.pdf

The Story of the Cosmos: https://www.watchman.org/CosmosBook

The universe is a fantastically wondrous place. There are more things in heaven and earth than are often dreamt of in our philosophies, to paraphrase Hamlet a little bit. And for the many things we can observe in the physical universe, science sometimes struggles to come up with an explanation as to what is really going on. How much more mysterious are those things which we cannot see? How should Christians think about things that the science of the heavens tells us cannot be seen, such as the idea of the existence of many different universes? That's the question we tackle this week and next on the broadcast with astrophysicist from Reasons to Believe Dr. Jeff Zweerink. We talk about his 2008 book Who's Afraid of the Multiverse? Come and see! 

LINKS FOR JEFF  

BIO:  https://reasons.org/team/jeff-zweerink.

BLOG:  https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/author/jeff-zweerink

BOOK: https://support.reasons.org/purchase/whos-afraid-of-the-multiverse

Astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink is a senior research scholar for Reasons to Believe (RTB), an organization dedicated to demonstrating the compatibility of science and the Christian faith. Jeff’s work focuses on helping people of all backgrounds bridge the perceived gap between science and the Christian faith.

Jeff has also made many media appearances, on television, radio, and in print. He earned a BS in physics and a PhD in astrophysics with a focus on gamma rays from Iowa State University. He taught and ran the planetarium at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, until postdoctoral research in gamma rays led him to the University of California, Riverside.  Prior to joining RTB, Jeff spent years working on the STACEE and VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes and was involved in research projects such as the Solar Two project and the Whipple Collaboration. He continues to work as a project scientist at UCLA on GAPS, a balloon experiment seeking to detect dark matter. Jeff is also a coauthor on more than 30 academic papers published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Astrophysical Journal, Astroparticle Physics, and Astrobiology.

Free Resources from Watchman Fellowship

Scientism:  https://www.watchman.org/scientism/ProfileScientism.pdf

Carl Sagan's Cosmos:  https://www.watchman.org/CosmosTV

Naturalism:  https://www.watchman.org/Naturalism/ProfileNaturalism.pdf

The Story of the Cosmos:  

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed by Jeff regarding the multiverse or the big bang or the age of the universe do not imply an endorsement one way or the other by Good Heavens! and Watchman Fellowship, Inc. and its board of directors. We seek to present the best scientific information available to the body of Christ on these topics from Christians who are knowledgeable in their field who hold different perspectives. We have featured guests in the past who hold to both a young-earth and an old-earth view. 

Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.