At a glance
The cited passages affirm God’s faithfulness and the present creation’s condition. They do not list decay rates or prove that every physical constant has always had exactly its present value. That limits Ross’s biblical inference. It also leaves a positive burden on any YEC proposal to vary a constant: the proposal must address the physical consequences and measurements.
The claim being answered
Ross reads Jeremiah 33 as establishing immutable physical laws from creation onward. He links Romans 8’s bondage to decay with thermodynamics and appeals to Ecclesiastes’s recurring patterns. He then argues that the record of nature independently confirms physical constancy. [1] [2]
This response agrees that God sustains an ordered creation suitable for investigation. It disputes the additional step from that theological claim to the exact historical value of every physical parameter.
Read the promises in context
Jeremiah 33:19–26 uses the dependable sequence of day and night to assure God’s commitment to David and Israel. The comparison depends on a recognizable, reliable order. It does not explicitly enumerate gravity, radioactivity or numerical bounds on their past values. Ross’s application is an inference, not the wording of the promise.
Romans 8:18–25 concerns suffering, creation’s subjection to futility and its future liberation alongside the redemption of God’s people. “Decay” or “corruption” is not a measurement of thermodynamic entropy. The passage does not itself identify the onset of every physical process. The Fall response explains the YEC connection to Genesis without equating digestion, moral corruption and animal death.
Ecclesiastes 1:4–11 and Ecclesiastes 3:14–15 describe recurring patterns and enduring divine work in a reflection on human life. Genesis 8:20–22 promises continuing seasons after the Flood. These are substantial theological assurances, but they do not replace measurements of particular constants or prohibit every exceptional divine act.
What the gravitational-wave comparison measures
The associated GW170817 and GRB 170817A study constrains a difference between the propagation speeds of gravity and light using a particular event and its timing assumptions. The abstract gives bounds of −3 × 10⁻¹⁵ to +7 × 10⁻¹⁶ times the speed of light. [3] It does not thereby prove that light, gravity and neutrinos have each been unchanged through all cosmic history. The cited reference is the joint gravitational-wave/gamma-ray paper; a separate discovery report would not establish every constancy claim.
The burden on both accounts
Tests of dimensionless constants, decay processes and astronomical signals can constrain specified alternatives. Their sensitivity, historical reach and assumptions must be stated separately. The discussion here is limited to the cited abstract, rather than a full assessment of other measurements.
Disputing Ross’s use of Scripture does not demonstrate accelerated radioactive decay, changing light speed or a recent creation. A YEC model making such proposals must explain its predicted heat, radiation, timing and biological effects. Appealing to God’s ability to act is a theological statement, rather than a measured solution to those problems.
References below identify sections of the 2025 RTB Press first edition; they do not supply printed page numbers.