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Science and the Bible
In the twentieth century it is commonly presumed that the Bible is fraught with scientific inaccuracies and misconceptions. Students are often given the impression that numerous scientific fallacies, including a flat earth and a geocentric universe, are contained within the Bible. However, when the biblical text is carefully examined the reader will quickly discover an uncanny scientific accuracy unparalleled by any document of antiquity. Within the text of the Bible are an extraordinary number of unambiguous statements regarding the creation and design of the universe, planet earth and its life forms. The Bible does not use scientific jargon nor is it a scientific text per se. However, as we will see, the Bible does describe scientific phenomena in common terminology with unmistakable clarity. While it is true that statements about the physical universe are common in ancient religious documents, those found in the Bible are unique. In virtually all ancient religious documents it is common to find scientifically inaccurate myths about the nature of the universe and the life forms on planet earth. Any cursory review of ancient mythology will readily confirm this statement. However, the Bible is unique because of the conspicuous absence of such myths. In fact, throughout the Bible we find scientifically accurate concepts about the physical universe that were not "discovered" by modern scientists until very recent times. This scientific foreknowledge, written thousands of years before its modern discovery, is evidence that the men who penned the Bible had "inside information." We intend to show that the author of life and the physical universe is, in fact, the author of the Bible and the source of that "inside information." In the final analysis, when its text is carefully examined, the reader will discover that where the Bible speaks on scientific issues it is one-hundred percent accurate.
Cosmology Throughout the Bible we find statements about the origin, design and destiny of the universe. In chapter two we saw the concepts of an expanding, finite, decaying universe clearly elucidated by the biblical authors thousands of years before these facts were discovered by twentieth-century astrophysicists. Moreover, the fact that matter can neither be created nor destroyed (the First Law of Thermodynamics) and the universal law of decay (the Second Law of Thermodynamics) are also clearly taught in the Bible. Beyond this, in the biblical text we find a number of incredibly accurate scientific statements about the nature of the physical universe.
Time, Space and Matter In the very first verse of the Bible we find remarkable evidence of supernatural authorship.
For thousands of years scientists and philosophers have speculated about the basic components or makeup of the universe. In the twentieth century, physicists have confirmed that the universe, at its foundation, consists of space, time and matter. In fact, space and time are so tightly linked that astrophysicists now speak of space-time. While scientific and philosophical speculations about the basic structure of the universe has varied widely, the fact that the universe consists basically of space, time and matter was clearly foreseen in the very first verse of the Bible.
"The Hosts of Heaven" At the time the Bible was penned (1,500 B.C.-100 A.D.) there were no telescopes to aid in the study of the cosmos. On a clear night, unencumbered by the light of the moon, only about 3,000-4,000 stars could be seen with the unaided eye. Yet in the eighth century B.C. God told the prophet Jeremiah that the number of stars could not be numbered:
When Jeremiah wrote this verse there was no way he could have known that the stars were innumerable. In fact, in the eighth-century B.C., astronomers believed that it was possible to number the stars. As evidence are the many star charts that were done prior to the advent of the telescope. Astronomers now estimate that there are at least 100 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the universe. For anyone to number the "hosts of heaven" (the total number of stars) would be a truly impossible task. Counting at a rate of ten stars per second it would take over 100 trillion years. Surely the host of heaven cannot be numbered!
The Rising of the Sun? Some of the most accurate scientific statements in the Bible concern the nature of our solar system. Nearly 3000 years ago the psalmist wrote that the sun follows a circuit or circular path through the universe:
For centuries critics argued that the psalmist was here proclaiming that the sun rotated around the earth. However, the term "sunrise" is a common phrase used by all, even astrophysicists, and is not intended to be a scientific declaration. Secondly, since the advent of powerful telescopes astronomers have determined that the sun is part of an enormous spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. We now know that the sun moves in a "circuit" or circular course, at speeds approaching 600,000 miles per hour, within one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy. In turn, the Milky Way is hurtling through space at an estimated speed of 2,000,000 miles per hour! These facts are remarkably compatible with the psalmist’s understanding of our sun’s path through the cosmos! Without "inside information" from an extraterrestrial source, there is no way that the writer could have possessed such incredible knowledge.
The Flat Earth? The belief in a flat earth is often erroneously traced to the Bible. However, nowhere in its text is a flat earth proclaimed. In fact, the scientific descriptions of the earth are so accurate they could comfortably fit in the pages of a contemporary astronomy textbook. The idea that the Bible teaches a flat earth might be traced to a verse in Revelation 7:1, where the Apostle John speaks of the "four corners" of the earth:
When the King James Bible was translated in 1610, the Greek words translated to the English, "four corners," were mistranslated. The literal meaning in the original Greek text is the "four quarters" of the earth. Translated correctly, the phrase is representative of the four directions (north, south, east, west) used in standard surveying and mapping today. Christopher Columbus is often erroneously credited with proving that the earth is spherical with his voyage to North America in 1492. In fact, the Greek mathematician Pythagoras proposed that the earth was a sphere in the sixth century B.C. The Greek philosophers Hipparchus (second century B.C.) and Aristotle also came to the same conclusion. Eratosthenes (third century B.C.) was the first to prove scientifically that the earth was a sphere. At the same time he measured the size of the earth’s circumference. Although his measurements were off by about fifteen percent they are impressive considering the information he had to work with. Prior to this time the belief in a flat earth was quite prevalent. Despite contrary assertions, the fact of a spherical earth was clearly proclaimed in the Bible by the prophet Isaiah nearly twenty-eight centuries ago. In the fortieth chapter of the book of Isaiah we read:
When Isaiah wrote this verse he used the Hebrew word khug to describe the shape of the earth. Although this word is commonly translated into the English word "circle," the literal meaning of this word is "a sphere!"
Atlas, Elephants, Turtles or Job? Throughout the centuries philosophers, theologians and scientists have speculated about the resting place of planet earth. Upon what or whom the earth is resting became an important part of mythology in many ancient cultures. To the ancient Greeks the candidates were Atlas or Hercules. The Hindus believed that elephants or turtles were the pillars upon which the earth rested. The fact of a free floating earth was apparently foreign to most ancient cultures. In a world where all objects fall rapidly to their destruction, such a suggestion must have been terrifying. However, in the book of Job, commonly believed to be the oldest book in the Bible, we find an astonishing piece of scientific foreknowledge. While speaking of the incredible power of God, Job states of the earth:
When we consider that twenty-eight centuries ago the prevailing view of the earth was that it was flat and resting on the back of an animal or Greek god, the biblical view of a spherical earth suspended on nothing is astonishing. A good guess? No way. In the book of Job alone there are a mere two dozen disclosures of such scientific foreknowledge. Far from being a scientifically inaccurate book, the Bible exhibits knowledge about the earth and the universe that appears to have come from a being with an extraterrestrial perspective.
Physics One of the greatest discoveries of the last one hundred years is the elucidation of the structure of the atom. All matter in the universe consists of atoms, or their components parts, protons, neutrons or electrons. These are in turn composed of smaller sub-atomic particles such as quarks, pions, gluons etc… There is a fascinating verse in the New Testament that seems to anticipate atomic structure:
At a time when the basic structure of matter was unknown, nearly two thousand years ago, the author of the book of Hebrews accurately described the fact that the matter we can see is made of particles which are not visible in natural light. It is a fundamental fact of physics that any particle that is smaller than the wavelength of light will in fact be invisible to the naked eye or light microscopes. The atom and its sub-atomic particles, are smaller than the wavelength of visible light and therefore, are invisible! In the New Testament, 2 Peter 3:10, we find an eerie verse which seems to anticipates another discovery of twentieth-century physics:
Atomic fission, the reaction that occurs in nuclear power plants and certain atomic bombs, occurs when the nucleus of radioactive elements are split with the release of enormous amounts of energy and radioactivity. The result of an atomic explosion is that the elements involved "will melt with fervent heat!" Could it be that the Holy Spirit had the process of atomic fission in mind when Peter wrote this verse. It is unlikely that a more accurate description of the results of an atomic explosion could be found within the archives of our twentieth-century libraries. When the New Testament was written (circa. A.D. 50-100) the beliefs regarding the nature of matter were very crude. The Greeks, for example, believed that the basic elements of the universe were fire, water and earth. In the face of this view, so dominant during biblical times, it is truly remarkable to find the biblical authors accurately describing aspects of subatomic structure as well as the results of nuclear fission! Could it be that the author the Bible was also the author and designer of protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks etc..?
Oceanography In 1855 Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873), the "Father of Oceanography," published a book on his remarkable discovery that the oceans possess predictable currents or paths. He encouraged sailors to use these shipping paths to increase efficiency and decrease the number of accidents. Eventually, Maury was dubbed "Pathfinder of the Seas." In the book, Matthew Fontaine Maury: Pathfinder of the Seas, C.L. Lewis recounts the entire story. Though Maury’s discovery was indeed important to his time, it was hardly a new revelation. Nearly twenty-eight centuries earlier the psalmist wrote:
In the eighth century B.C. the prophet Isaiah echoed this when he wrote:
When these verses were written (circa. 1100-703 B.C.) the only seas known to the ancient Hebrews were the Mediterranean and Red Seas as well as the large inland lakes (The Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee). None of these bodies of water possess significant observable currents. Furthermore, at that time there was no empirical knowledge of "paths in the seas" or shipping lanes in any sea. Matthew Maury’s discovery was based on observational data collected from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries A.D., thousands of years after that very concept was penned by the psalmist!
The Hydrologic Cycle Nearly 300 years ago European scientists Pierre Perrault and Edme Mariotte collected evidence about the flow of the Seine River that eventually led to an accurate and detailed understanding of the water cycle on planet Earth. During the Middle Ages the source of rain water was something of a mystery. The observations of Perrault, Mariotte and others eventually led to the discovery that rain clouds develop from evaporation of ocean water. In the twentieth century the nature of the water cycle is now well understood even by the average grammar school student. Although their discovery was important to our understanding of global weather, it turns out that they were "scooped" by several thousand years. In the book of Job we find the earth’s water cycle accurately described at least four thousand years before the discoveries of Perrault and Mariotte!
Centuries later King Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes:
King Solomon lived around three-thousand years ago and yet he had an astonishing understanding of global wind currents and the earth’s water cycle. The phrase, "The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit," is an accurate and astonishing description of the circular flow of air around the earth, called the "jet stream," well known to anyone who watches the evening news and weather reports. This verse also reveals that Solomon understood that the source of river water is the oceans. He states that the "sea" is " the place from which the rivers come, there they return again." Finally, nearly 2,700 years ago the prophet Amos stated:
Again we see an uncanny knowledge that the source of rain-water is oceanic evaporation. When we consider that scientists did not discover these facts (oceanic evaporation and the global circular wind currents) until nearly twenty-five hundred years after the prophet Amos penned his book, these biblical passages stand as truly astonishing.
Medical Science In the book of Genesis God specifically directed Abraham to circumcise all newborn males on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12). For thousands of years this tradition has been faithfully exercised by Orthodox Jews. Why the eighth day? A remarkable discovery by twentieth-century scientists has shed light on a possible reason for circumcision on the eighth day. When an infant is born the blood clotting mechanism is immature. Any cut or injury in the first few days of life can result in excessive bleeding. After several days of life, the vitamin K in the infants diet allows an important blood clotting factor, called prothrombin, to be produced in sufficient amounts to effect efficient clotting of the blood. Today infants are given an injection of vitamin K at birth. Consequently, efficient blood clotting is established within hours. Without such therapy, it turns out that the prothrombin concentration reaches its peak on the eighth day of life! What a coincidence. The skeptic might argue that the Jews deciphered the correct day by trial and error. However, there are many cultures that circumcise their young on the first, fourth, sixth, seventh and twentieth days of life. If the Jews determined by trial and error that the eighth day was best, why did these cultures come to such different conclusions? Could it be that Abraham was given "inside information" from the One that created the clotting mechanism in the first place? There are dozens of additional examples of advanced Bio-medical knowledge in the Bible. In the book of Deuteronomy 23:12-14, Moses instructed the Israelites to bury human waste products for hygienic purposes. While the merits of this procedure seem obvious to us now, during the Middle Ages Europe was nearly wiped out because they failed to heed this advice. As a direct result of dumping human waste into the streets, millions of people died from the "Black Plague," a disease caused by the microscopic organism Yersinia Pestis. These organisms thrived in the human waste and were carried into the homes by fleas on the backs of rats! Had they simply followed the biblical teaching these horrible plagues would never have occurred. In Leviticus 17:11 God stated that "…the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." This statement, "the life of the flesh is in the blood," implies that the blood contains vital ingredients that sustain the life of animals and man. Though this statement may seem obvious to us now, this has not always been the case. In recent times it was believed that the blood needed to be "let out" when people fell ill. Consequently, for centuries physicians practiced "blood letting" (draining the blood out of an individual) in an attempt to rid the body of unwanted poisons. As you might guess many of these people died from the procedure. In fact, George Washington was a victim of this very procedure at the end of his life! In the twentieth century, medical science has proven true this statement of Moses. The blood of man and animals carries all of the necessary nutrients for the maintenance and repair of living systems. Without a functioning cardiovascular system and an adequate supply of blood, there can be no life–something that Moses understood nearly 3,500 years ago!
An Amazing Discovery! Imagine yourself on an archaeological expedition in the Dead Sea region of Israel during which an absolutely astonishing discovery is made. In a recently discovered cave you find an ancient papyrus containing a complete set of plans which accurately describes the structure and function of a Boeing 747! Would you be impressed? You turn the scrolls over to ancient manuscript experts who conclude that the scrolls were written in Hebrew nearly 2,200 years ago! Skeptical, you transfer the plans to the local university radiometric dating lab. The results are the same. The ink and the papyri are found to be from before the time of Christ! The press immediately reports the story and the academic community begins their analysis. Some assert that an advanced civilization of extraterrestrials took the plans back in time and planted them in the caves. The skeptics assert that the whole thing is an elaborate hoax. However, the evidence is clear. The scrolls are ancient. Still others declare that a supernatural transcendent being gave this twentieth-century scientific knowledge to the ancient scribes who recorded it only to be found centuries later. Each of these analyses share a common thread. Each theorist knows that ancient scribes could possess no knowledge of 747’s unless they were instructed by someone with twentieth-century scientific and engineering know-how. According to the UFO proponents, this knowledge was transported into the past by extraterrestrial beings which have the ability to transcend time. On the other hand the skeptic knows that, under natural circumstances, such scientific foreknowledge is impossible. Since the skeptic does not believe in the supernatural realm, and since time travel is also, in effect, "supernatural", he is forced to conclude that the scrolls are fraudulent. To the believer in a transcendent Being, the answer is obvious. The detailed scientific knowledge required to design and build a 747 was sent back by a Creator, who transcends our time domain, to a time where such knowledge was otherwise unknowable. This story serves to illustrate the incredible, supernatural nature of the biblical text. The possession of twentieth-century scientific foreknowledge (the 747 plans) by ancient scribes could only have come about through a miraculous disruption of the space-time continuum. Likewise, the scientific foreknowledge within the biblical text must have come from a Being with a transcendent nature as well. This knowledge, while always possessed by the Creator, was "faxed" into our space-time domain to a people and time where such knowledge was, under natural circumstances, impossible. How are we to interpret such scientific foreknowledge in a non-theistic world view? The skeptic might assert that the biblical writers, though mere mortals, "got lucky." Over thousands of years, from three continents, the forty authors of the Bible just happened to describe, by chance, the nature of our universe, the laws of physics, planet earth and its life forms in a way that is in complete harmony with twentieth-century science. Such an assertion is at best incredulous. Surely no one would contend that the ancient scribes who wrote the plans for a 747 got "lucky" as they doodled on ancient papyri. And yet the scientific foreknowledge in the Bible is also, as we have see, quite specific and accurate. What about collusion? Because such scientific foreknowledge is "anticipatory," or ahead of its time, we cannot argue that it was placed in the Bible as a result of collusion. This would be akin to arguing that two ancient scribes, who know nothing about twentieth-century aeronautical engineering, colluded to draw up plans for a 747! When the arguments are broken down we find that the ancient scribes were either incredibly lucky (i.e. chance) or they were guided by an extra dimensional Being with extraordinary "inside information." In this chapter we have examined only a small number of the many verses in the Bible that reveal an uncanny scientific foreknowledge. This alone is powerful evidence for a supernatural origin. However, in addition to this, though it was written at a time when scientifically inaccurate mythology was rampant, the Bible is remarkably free of such concepts. Far from being an inaccurate book of scientific mythology, the Bible, with its ability to anticipate twentieth-century science, carries the "fingerprints" of a Being with incredible "inside information"–the Being who created the universe in the first place–the Creator beyond time and space! |