© 2002 Dick Bain
© 2002 The Brotherhood of Man Library
As astronomers have mapped the universe, they have discovered that the galaxies are arranged in long filaments, and they theorize that the filamentary structure is due to the presence of a mysterious substance known as dark matter. How could the hypothesized dark matter be responsible for the structure of the universe?
One current theory of universe building is as follows: Dark matter appeared before ordinary matter and assembled into long filaments. When ordinary matter appeared, it was attracted to the dark matter and collected along the filaments of dark matter. Then the ordinary matter formed into galaxies, perhaps at points of dark matter concentration within the filaments. But what is this dark matter, and how do we know it even exists?
In 1933 astronomer Fritz Zwicky noted that the apparent mass of the Coma cluster of galaxies seemed higher than calculated from the luminosity (brightness) of its constituent galaxies. He surmised that 90% of the matter in the cluster is not visible. He named this invisible substance “dark matter.” Later on, after astronomers were able to measure the rotational speeds of galaxies, they noted that there didn’t seem to be enough visible matter to prevent galaxies from flying apart due to their rotation. The fast moving outer stars of the galaxy ought to be thrown off into intergalactic space due to centrifugal force. Astronomers still agree with Zwicky that 90% of the matter in the universe is dark matter.
Another sign of dark matter presence is so-called gravitational lensing. A prediction derived from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is that light should be bent around a massive object. When a massive cluster of galaxies lies between a more distant galaxy and us, the collective gravitational field of the group of galaxies can magnify the light from the more distant one like a magnifying glass. This was observed first in 1979 by astronomers when they found four identical images of a distant quasar.
These sorts of magnified images have been observed many times since then, especially by the Hubble Space Telescope. The visible matter in such massive galactic groups is not enough to account for the amount of magnification observed, so astronomers theorize that the effect must be due to dark matter associated with each galaxy in the group. Furthermore, galactic groups, like individual galaxies, apparently do not have sufficient ordinary matter to keep them from flying apart, and astronomers again suspect that it is dark matter supplying the extra gravitational force to keep them together. But though we can see the effects, so far we can’t detect the dark matter.
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Chinese Proverb.
Of course, there is some dark matter that we know is ordinary matter, but is not visible—such as clouds of gas and dust that don’t radiate visible light. However, some of this sort of dark matter can be seen in the infrared portion of the light spectrum. Researchers can see enough of this material to estimate how much of it there is, and they calculate that there is only enough gas, dust, and non-luminous bodies to account for a small percent of the dark matter in the universe.
Other researchers have theorized that the missing dark matter may be simply large numbers of dark bodies such as so-called brown dwarfs, bodies that aren’t quite large enough to become a star. But by observing in infrared light and using other methods, astronomers have been able to detect some of these bodies. It does not appear that there is nearly enough of this type of dark matter to account for the observed effects.
Another theory holds that most of the dark matter is composed of WIMP’s, Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. WIMP’s are supposedly very massive, but we are unable to detect them because they interact only slightly with ordinary matter, except by way of gravity. No one seems to have one theory adequate to explain the observed effects that explains everything, satisfies everyone, and is verifiable. But there is another concept that can explain why the galaxies are assembled into long filaments. This concept is called Paradise gravity.
The authors of The Urantia Book tell us that Paradise gravity works by providing paths of lessened resistance to the passage of galaxies. (UB 11:7.6) The authors claim this is how the galaxies are kept within the confines of what they term the superuniverse level and the first outer space level. This would also explain why they claim there is a clear zone between the superuniverse level and the first outer space level. But there is a problem with the astronomy of The Urantia Book. Our astronomers do not see things that correspond to the description of seven superuniverses and an outer space level. And to further complicate matters, the descriptions in the book are so ambiguous that there are many different opinions as to what a superuniverse or outer space level is. It may be, as Dr. Ken Glasziou speculated in a recent issue of Innerface International[1], that the authors had to tell the Forum something to answer their questions back in the 1930’s, so they gave them a simplified story. They weren’t permitted to give us unearned knowledge, so they did what we do when a child asks a question that we can’t answer in detail.
We might tell our child that the sun is a giant burning ball of gas. While it isn’t literally true, it is figuratively true, and it satisfies the child without trying to explain the fusion of hydrogen into helium. This way, the authors would remain true to their mandate to not reveal any advanced information that we haven’t discovered for ourselves, but yet be able to answer our questions. But I don’t think that would prevent them from salting the science of the Urantia Papers with a few concepts that we would understand only after we had discovered them for ourselves.
Surely the authors knew that the Universe is a three-dimensional tangle of filaments, even if the limitations of revelation prevented them from saying so. But consider this one statement in (UB 11:8.1):
“Gravity is the all-powerful grasp of the physical presence of Paradise. Gravity is the omnipotent strand on which are strung the gleaming stars, blazing suns, and whirling spheres which constitute the universal physical adornment of the eternal God. . . ”
Now compare that to this from Sky and Telescope magazine[2]: “Apparently galaxies themselves formed when the universe was only about a billion years old. Like pearls on a string, they gathered along filaments of dark matter. . . ” Were the authors of The Urantia Book saying something like the astronomer was saying, that the galaxies gather in filaments? Can it be that Paradise gravity acts to hold the galaxies into filaments strung throughout the universe?
The whole concept of Paradise gravity may sound very exotic, but is it any more exotic than a mysterious dark matter that can’t be proved or disproved and which somehow conveniently appears before ordinary matter and forms itself into filaments? If we accept that God is in charge of the universe, is it not logical that God exerts some form of control over time and space? Many of the scientists who do believe in a deity seem to subscribe to the “wound up clock” theory, i.e., God started the universe going and then went off on a permanent vacation.
The best way to win an argument is to begin by being right.
Jill Ruckelshaus
If God is the “ground of all being” as Paul Tillich said, isn’t it logical that this Source of all being in some way shapes and directs the growth of our universe? Given this, isn’t it logical that the universe has purpose and meaning and is unfolding in accordance to some master plan? If so, then it shouldn’t be difficult to accept that God directly or indirectly exerts some degree of over-control. Yes, from our perspective, the universe seems to be quite random, but yet we recognize that even the randomness operates within the constraints of natural law. The Urantia Book pictures a God who not only has endowed the universe with natural laws, but who also exerts some degree of control through various agencies to maintain the universe as a going concern. The Urantia Book picture is that of a participatory God.
From what our astronomers can see now, it appears that the simple picture of a tubular first outer space level and seven superuniverses given in The Urantia Book may be only a metaphor for the actual structure of the universe. Astronomers have only mapped a small percent of the universe in detail at this point. We can see structure emerging, but we do not yet have enough information to know what the entire visible universe looks like. So apparently we will have to wait patiently till the whole thing is mapped to see what “God hath wrought.”