3. Eternal or Subject to Decay?

Aristotle believed that there was an enormous distinction between the heavens and the earth. The earth, he said, is subject to change, decay, and deterioration, whereas the ether of which the starry heavens are made is utterly changeless, eternal. Aristotle’s crystalline spheres and the heavenly bodies attached to them could never change, wear out, or die.

Is that what the Bible teaches? Psalm 102:25-27 reads: “Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth itself, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They themselves will perish, but you yourself will keep standing; and just like a garment they will all of them wear out. Just like clothing you will replace them, and they will finish their turn. But you are the same, and your own years will not be completed.”

Note that this psalmist, writing perhaps two centuries before Aristotle’s time, does not contrast the earth with the starry heavens, as if the earth is subject to decay while the stars are eternal. Rather, he sets both heaven and earth in contrast with God, the mighty Spirit who directed their creation.d This psalm suggests that the stars are as subject to decay as anything on the earth. And what has modern science found?

The science of geology supports both the Bible and Aristotle in saying that the earth is subject to decay. In fact, the rocks of our earth are ever wearing down through erosion and being replenished through volcanic and other geologic activity.

What, though, about the stars? Are they naturally subject to decay, as the Bible suggests, or are they inherently eternal, as Aristotle taught? European astronomers began to doubt Aristotle’s notion of eternal stars in the 16th century C.E. when, for the first time, they observed a supernova, the spectacular explosion of a star. Scientists have since observed that stars may die violently in such explosions or burn out slowly or even collapse on themselves. However, astronomers have also observed new stars forming in ‘stellar nurseries,’ clouds of gas enriched by the explosions of old stars. Hence, the Bible writer’s image of clothing wearing out and being replaced is entirely appropriate.e How remarkable that this psalmist of ancient times managed to write words that harmonize so well with modern-day discoveries!

Still, you might wonder: ‘Does the Bible teach that the earth or the starry heavens as a whole will one day come to an end or need replacing?’ No, the Bible promises that they will last forever. (Psalm 104:5; 119:90) But that is not because such creations are eternal in themselves; rather, the God who created them promises to sustain them. (Psalm 148:4-6) He does not say how, but does it not stand to reason that the One who created the universe would have the power to sustain it? In a similar way, a master builder might lovingly maintain a house he built for himself and his family.