Since the beginning of its discovery around 1940, the low grade background heat now known as the cosmic background radiation has been used to support the theory of the Big Bang. The Urantia Book mentions this deep space heat and attributes it to gravity presence and action. Initial measurements by scientists suggested this heat would form the curve of a black body radiator when graphed. Recent measurements taken above the atmosphere do not fit the graph however. Research is ongoing to explain the new findings that are not aligned with old theory, but seem to support The Urantia Book.
REFERENCES: The Urantia Book, p. 473; Harwit, M. 198 1. Cosmic Discovery, (Basic Books, Inc. N.Y.); Merken, M. 1985. Physical Science with Modem Applications. (Saunders Pub. Philadelphia); “Update: The Master’s Voice”, Discover, p. 20, Oct. 1988.
The Urantia Book contains much scientific information. Since its publication some of this data has been discovered and confirmed and some has not. It gives me an indescribable feeling when I read something in the book that has since been shown to exist by way of the scientific method. Even when the short term interpretation of some data does not align with the explanation given, the book proves over and over again that its authors are privy to a range of information that would revolutionize science as we know it today.
On p. 473 (42:4.6) The Urantia Book states,
“Gravity presence and action is what prevents the appearance of the theoretical absolute zero, for interstellar space does not have the temperature of absolute zero.”
This small statement might go unnoticed to someone not familiar with cosmology or astrophysics. But to someone trained in these fields, this information, coming as it did in 1934 and published in 1955, is revelational.
Before 1940 most scientists assumed that interstellar space was without heat. It was believed that space existed at a temperature of absolute zero. Absolute zero is the temperature of an object whose molecular motion is at a minimum. Molecular action does not cease at this coldest possible temperature (-273 degrees Celsius, -459 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0 degrees Kelvin), but kinetic energy, the motion of matter, can go no lower as we know it. It was also widely believed that space was empty, although complex molecules have subsequently been discovered in deep space. The Urantia Book states on p. 473 that the emptiest space known in Nebadon, our local universe, would yield about one hundred ultimatons, the equivalent of one electron, in each cubic inch.
The scientific world began to discover traces of infrared radiation, heat, in unexpected areas. In 1940 while working at Mt. Wilson, Dunham and Adams discovered puzzling interstellar absorption lines. After analysis of their data, it was suggested that the molecules observed were being kept at a temperature of 3 degrees Kelvin. This theory seemed too simple to be taken seriously at the time. The data lay dormant for 25 years as the technology of astrophysical instrumentation progressed.
In 1946 Gamow and associates, from John Hopkins, suggested a vestigial cosmic radiation bath might still persist if the universe had an explosive origin. Then in 1965 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of Bell Telephone started testing a New radio antenna. They found an excess noise corresponding to radiation at a temperature of about 3 degrees impinging on Earth from all directions. In 1978 Penzias and Wilson were awarded a share of the Nobel prize in physics for their discovery of this microwave background radiation.
To explain this mysterious background radiation it was postulated that this evenly distributed low-grade space temperature was a remnant of the Big Bang. It has since been used as the main evidence to support this theory. It is even used to trace the cosmos back to the very first milliseconds of the universe’s existence! Of course, The Urantia Book seems to indicate that there was no Big Bang, and the very latest measurements of the cosmic background radiation do not fit the theory either.
It seems that the scientists have predicted the measurements of the cosmic background radiation to form the roughly bell-shaped curve of a blackbody radiator when graphed. Deep space should act like a blackbody, a perfect absorber or emitter of radiation. However, before 1988 only part of the spectrum of this background radiation had been measured. All of the measurements had been made on one side of the curve as the atmosphere blocks out shorter wavelengths and the Earth itself radiates profusely and swamps the subtle cosmic signal. So the other side of the curve had been conjecture for 25 years. It was just assumed that this side also fit the blackbody curve.
In 1983, two scientists finally succeeded in measuring points on this unknown side. Their findings are causing trouble for many of their colleagues. They do not fit the blackbody curve. They are about IO percent higher than expected. So New conjecture has arisen to account for this irregularity. It will take cosmologists some time and more work will need to be done to confirm the recent findings. The next few years should prove interesting as New data from this area is collected and analyzed.
It is more than coincidence that the latest scientific evidence does not support popular scientific theories like the Big Bang. For now, it is sufficient to say that the latest evidence does support the information given in The Urantia Book.
REFERENCES: Frank Wright in Pursuit of Wisdom, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1989; Brotherhood of Man Library file POW03. NL; Harwit, M. 1981. Cosmic Discovery, (Basic Books, Inc. N.Y.); Merken, M. 1985. Physical Science with Modern Applications. (Saunders Pub., Philadelphia); “Update: The Master’s Voice”, Discover, p.20, Oct. 1988.
Assuming no trickery, a coin toss has only two possible results. Despite our prejudice to the contrary, what happened on the previous trials has absolutely no effect on the outcome of the next trial. So if I lose four times in a row, the chances on the next trial are still even. Many a hopeful gambler has been bankrupted by assuming the contrary. In such cases the odds are easily calculated. To win twice in a row, there is one chance in four, to win three times in a row, there is one chance in nine, and for four in a row, it is one in sixteen. Those with some mathematical knowledge will recognize that the odds are one in 2 raised to the power equal to the number of trials — i.e. 1 x 2n. If there are six alternative results, as with dice, then the chances of achieving the same result twice in a row are 1 in 62, that is 1 chance in 36, and for n number of trials it is I in 6n.
The examples given are simple, clear cut cases for which estimating probabilities is no problem. In cases where the amount of prior knowledge becomes a factor, then the difficulties are often quite subjective. For example, in the early 1930’s or even 1950’s, virtually all professional geologists on the North American continent would have rejected the concept of continental drift. By the 1960 period, perhaps fifty percent would accept it as highly probable, and by 1990 there would be little argument against the concept. So, in being totally dogmatic about continental drift in the mid 1930’s, the authors of The Urantia Book have not only gone against all professional opinion, but have gone even further by nominating the date of commencement as 750 million years ago. This was done in spite of opinion by its proponents that the continental drift commenced only 200 million years ago. Current opinion is that both dates are approximately correct, the first break up occurring at about the time nominated in The Urantia Book, but that the land masses drifted back together again, then drifted apart approximately 200 million years ago. There is no way to make a mathematical assessment on the probability of making the correct guess in the mid 1930’s. In a subjective assessment, most of us would say ‘extremely remote’.
In the case of the dates for the Star of Bethlehem, assessment is more straight forward. Allowing that we have chosen the year correctly, and no other information is available, we have to guess three independent dates for the same year. Hence we have one chance in 3 65 of getting the first date correct, one chance in 3652 of getting the next one as well, and one chance in 3653 of getting all three correct, which comes to one chance in 48,27,125. It so happens that the computer estimated dates are the same as The Urantia Book for two of the days and out by one day for the third. It is not known which is correct; for two different reasons, only seconds may make the difference about which day is selected for the conjunction. A knowledgeable astronomer might have been able to reduce the odds somewhat of guessing these dates correctly prior to super computers becoming available, but the chances would remain in the order of one in many millions.
Not all the information in The Urantia Book is correct, and this problem has been discussed earlier. Undoubtedly some of the apparent errors are because of the mandate given to the authors in that they were not permitted to disclose unearned knowledge — with some exceptions. For those having virtually no knowledge of the mathematical theory of probability and knowledge of only basic generalities in science, it may help to consider the weighting to be given to the various apparently prophetic statements. If we read The Urantia Book statement about planetary atmospheres on Venus and Mars, we find we could make two guesses, each with three possible results. So, with no prior knowledge being available, we have I chance in 3 of getting one correct, but only I chance in 9 of getting both correct. But this also means we have eight chances of being wrong compared to only one of being right. And of course in those instances in which there is only a one in a million chance of being right, we could have made 999,999 wrong guesses. In other words it is far easier to be wrong than it is to be right. At a time when scientists believed the whole universe was about 2 billion years old, The Urantia Book stated that our solar system commenced to be formed 4.5 billion years ago. Present estimates for the age of out solar system are given as 4.55 billion years! What were the chances of guessing this correctly? The answer no chance.
Urantia Evidence 