The July 2026 DMW’s Monthly Website Update

This July 2026 DMWs Website Update is an Exploration of Hugh Ross’s Book Why the Universe is the Way It Is? Ross is an astronomer, an astrophysicist and a Cosmologist (a cosmologist is a scientist or physicist who studies the universe.). He is also a Christian Apologist.

He wrote his book Why the Universe is the Way it is? in 2008. I first read his book in about 2016 and then again in 2026. This book of Ross’s is a layman’s discussion of why the universe is the way it is, and also shows how the Bible supports the origin of the universe by a Creator through the use of an extremely precise Big Bang and also follows this Creator as he continues the creation story of the earth and its inhabitants that includes man.

All the quotes that follow are from Hugh Ross’s Why the Universe is the Way It Is? unless otherwise noted.

For many years I have believed that the Big Bang was not a random unguided event, but as the scientific mechanism that God used to bring the universe into existence. In about 2016 I read Eric Metaxas’s book Miracles where his chapter 5 was titled The Miracle Of The Universe. He says on page 48, “…the Big Bang—the primal ka-boom that created the hundreds of billions of galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars and planets—was a dramatically different kind of explosion. It was an explosion that was so extremely and precisely controlled that we cannot really fathom it. Nothing human beings have ever been able to do can begin to approach the precision of it. And it is only because it was precisely as controlled as it was that the universe exists.”

On page 95 Ross starts a chapter Why a Decaying Universe? In that chapter he describes how the second law of thermodynamics, also called the law of increasing decay, will ultimately lead to the constantly expanding universe to die a “heat death.” Of course that won’t happen until trillions of years from now. Certainly, no concern for man at all because mankind’s demise will be from a hotter sun in about 500 million years from now. Again, way too far away for any concern from us. But it does put time in perspective for mankind. As Christians we have been waiting for Jesus to return to earth for only 2000 years, and we are showing impatience. That seems silly given mankind’s timeline. And perhaps Christ will come when there are enough followers of Jesus to fill the New Heaven and New Earth? And how long will that take? Another 4 years? Another 100 years? Or another 1000 years?

Ross in his book on page 119 says, “During the past several years of research, scientists have gathered a substantial body of evidence showing that the universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, the solar system, and Earth are, or at least have been, an essentially perfect vehicle for humanity. Though each astronomical component manifests features that may essentially seem strange or out of place, in the context of humanity’s needs, each characteristic is just right.”

On page 120 he says, “Previous chapters describe how the universe’s size, mass, age, and distribution of matter must be fine-tuned to allow life to exist. Some sections focus specifically on the fine-tuning for humanity and advanced civilization, including humanity’s opportunity to observe the entire extent and history of the cosmos. Such fine-tuning certainly suggests that the universe may have been designed not just for any kind of life but for human life in particular.”

On page 121 he says, “For more than twenty years, with assistance from Reason To Believe staff and volunteer scientists, I have been cataloguing evidences of fine-tuning for the survival and support of various kinds of life. Such classification spectacularly demonstrates that the more scientists learn about the laws of physics and the structure and substructures of the universe, the more evidence they compile in support of the conclusion that the universe was designed to make physical life possible, including intelligent physical life capable of launching and sustaining a global high-tech civilization.”

On page 123 he says, “According to the research data, an astronomical body capable of supporting human beings and equipping them to launch and sustain a global high-technology civilization demands at least 10 to the 700th power times more fine-tunning precision than is necessary for support of ephemeral life. To put this number (10 to the 700th power) into perspective, the total number of protons and neutrons in the entire observable universe amounts to 10 to the 79th power.”

On page 124 he says, “Such a dramatic difference compels the conclusion that the entire universe and all it contains exists and has been exquisitely designed for the purpose of making possible a global high-tech human civilization. Such a conclusion implies enormous significance and high purposes for the human species and their civilization.”

In addition to being an astronomer, astrophysicist and cosmologist, Hugh Ross is considered to be an excellent Christian Apologist. A unique feature of his book is that he combines these skills and shows how the God of the Bible is the Cosmic Designer of the universe.

On pages 125 and 126 he says, “The Bible claims to come from the Cosmic Manufacturer (God). So, although its primary purpose is not to describe the physical details of the universe and Earth, what it says about them should match observable reality. Checking those details can be done more easily today than in the past because so many more characteristics of the universe, Earth, life, and humanity have been discovered—including the physics of our cosmic beginning. If authors writing 2000 to 3500 years ago accurately recorded detailed information about the universe, Earth, and life not found in any other ancient text, and if modern scientific discoveries consistently prove all that information correct, then we have powerful evidence those details must have been inspired by a Source beyond humanity. Such demonstrated reliability also would give reason to trust what the Bible says about why the universe is the way it is.”

Ross talks about the New Creation which is described in Revelation 21 & 22 as the New Heaven and New Earth. Ross on page 197 says, “John describes being carried away in the spirit to an enormous mountain on the “new earth” where he witnessed the New Jerusalem descending out of the “new heavens.” Given the New Jerusalem’s dimensions, this “new earth” must be vastly larger than the present earth, with immensely larger geographical features.”

This New Creation that Ross describes reminds me of the Heaven that the 100 people who had a near-death event and went to Heaven during the time they temporarily died as described by John Burke in Imagine Heaven which he published in 2015. But there is one major difference between Ross and Burke. Ross says that the New Creation does not occur until the end of the age whereas Burke’s people who have been to Heaven recently during their near-death events say it exists now for the followers of Jesus who die today. Go to my website at douglasmwebb.com and in the Writings section look up Description of Heaven Cliff Notes. You will find a shortened version of Imagine Heaven organized by the topics the NDErs saw in Heaven. And look up The City of New Jerusalem you will be amazed.

I really think what is going on here is that the heaven Burke’s NDErs describe is where we go today when we die and then when Jesus comes back at the end of the age it is enhanced into the New Earth and New Heaven (what Ross calls the New Creation), but in some ways the heaven we go to today seems to be already much like Ross’s New Creation.

For example, one of Burke’s NDErs on pages 284 & 285 described what he saw as he, and his angel escort, neared the planet the Heaven we go to today is on: “I asked the angel, Why did we stop? Turn around, the angel said. I turned around to face a most amazing sight…My eyes feasted on a huge spherical globe! I fixed my eyes upon a spectacular, panoramic view of God’s house…The whole thing was bright and rich. Its sacred beauty filled my soul…The angel explained to me that, the city you see inside is the New Jerusalem. It is Heaven’s Heart. The Father and the Lord Jesus are inside on their thrones. The surrounding land is called Paradise. The city’s shape had the look of a colorful, bright cube. The diameter of the sphere is enormous. I calculated from the center of the sphere to the edge, there could be fitted twenty New Jerusalem’s. Therefore, the distance from the city to the outer edge of the sphere would be thirty thousand miles. The diameter of the sphere would be sixty thousand miles across…Earth is only eight thousand miles in diameter.”

Ross does answer one question that was not discussed by Burke, and that is that the New Heaven and New Earth (the New Creation), are not in the universe that our current Earth is in. Nor is it in any universe. It is somehow in a special place of God’s choosing, a place where there will be no decay, that I am sure we will learn more about when we are in the New Creation.

Ross discusses the end of the universe at the end of the age when Jesus returns on page 195, “The Bible clarifies that both heaven and hell continue after the moment God commands the cosmos to be “rolled up like a scroll” (Isaiah 34:4), to “disappear with a roar” (2 Peter 3:10), and to “melt in the heat” ( 2 Peter 3:12).

I do want to end with the last few paragraphs of Ross’s book, where he on pages 205 and 206 says, “A few glimpses of the new creation rewards God will pour upon all humans who accept his redemption make all of his revealed purposes for this creation that much more understandable. How much the Creator has invested and will continue to invest for humanity’s sake is astounding beyond all comprehension. The Creator is also gentle and respectful. He will not force his gift on anyone who doesn’t want it. Nevertheless, he challenges each individual to consider the magnitude of what he offers and what could be lost by refusing his generosity. As the author of Hebrews declares, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3)

I strongly recommend you read Hugh Ross’s book Why the Universe is the Way It Is?