The Bible and Science
The Bible, the Word of God, the Holy scriptures, made many scientific claims before mankind knew them to be true. The odds of all the scientific facts claimed by the Bible before they were know to be true far exceeds, what scientists determine impossible or beyond reason which is 1 in 1050. That is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. This is like someone correctly guessing a sequence of lottery numbers 7 times in a row without inside knowledge “special knowledge”. The writer’s of the Bible made many scientific statements that were not known to be true, or even known about at the time of the writings. They were able to make their claims because they had “special knowledge.” Insights into things they did not know due to God leading and directing them in their writings.
Here are some scientific statement made in the Bible before they were know to be true:
The Earth is suspended in space – At the time of the writing of the Book of Job around 2000-1800 BC, there were many different beliefs about the earth location thought to be fact. Some believed the earth was on the back of a turtle, others the earth was floating as a boat beneath a dome like structure, yet others believed the earth was held up by four pillars. But the Book of Job claims that the earth hangs on nothing, Job 26:7 “God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing” (NLT) (italics added). This discovery was made by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1475 along with other astronomers.
The Earth is round – At the time of the writing of the Book of Isaiah between 700-680 BC the earth was thought to be flat. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras surmised the earth to be round about the 6th century BC. Aristotle is given the credit for proving the earth was round in the mid 300’s BC. Many continued to believed the earth to be flat including scientists and educators for many more centuries. Christopher Columbus’ crew thought that they might fall off the edge of the earth. But the Bible claimed the earth to be a circle. The Hebrew word “khug” translates as circle, but some scholars believe it could also be translated as sphere. Isaiah writes “God sits above the circle of the earth” Isaiah 40:22 (NLT).
Light travels through space – Light moves at 186,262 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second) or 670,616,629 mph, and it was thought to be instantaneous. It wan’t until the 1600’s that the movement/motion of light was confirmed. Job around 2000-1800 BC implies light has motion, “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?” Job 38:19 (NLT) (italics added).
The First Law of Thermodynamics – No reputable, knowledgeable scientists would dispute the first law of thermodynamics which states energy cannot be created or destroyed. This was discovered in the year 1842, by two scientist separately in the same year, Mayer and Joule. Although in the Bible in the book of Genesis written by Moses around 1450 BC, states that God finished the creation process and implies that no energy or mass has be added to creation since that time. The Hebrew word Kâlâh (kaw-law’) translated completed can also be translated, to cease, to be finished, to be done. “1.So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” Genesis 2:1-3 (NLT)
The Second Law of Thermodynamics – or entropy which means to move from a state of order to disorder, from organized to randomness, that things decay over time. Was identified by Clausius in 1850, like this first law no knowledgeable scientists dispute this. The only way things go from disorder to order, from random to organized or things stop deteriorating is only when energy is purposely added. Just this one law alone can be used to argue against evolution. The book of Isaiah states “Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth below. For the skies will disappear like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing. The people of the earth will die like flies, but my salvation lasts forever. My righteous rule will never end!” Isaiah 51:6 (NLT) The Hebrew word for ‘disappear’ is malach (mä-lakh’) which means to dissipate. The star will dissipate, vanish like they do but God’s righteousness will never end. ‘Never end’ in Hebrew is châthath (khan-thath’) which translates to never break down.
Currents in the Oceans – In 1855 Matthew Fontaine Maury the “Father of Oceanography” published his research, the discovery and mapping of ocean currents. Maury who trusted the Bible reasoned that if the Bible stated in Isaiah “opened away through the waters, making dry path through the seas” Isaiah 43:16 (NLT), and Psalm 8:8 “paths of the seas” (KJV) [ocean currents – NLT]. Then the Bible had to be correct, so he set out a path to discover the ‘paths of the seas.’ His research on ocean currents improved safety and efficiency in sailing and has been a proven priceless in the world of sailing.
Trade Winds – Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) is given credit for the discovery of the trade wind patterns. Yet it was King Solomon son of King David that wrote around 935 BC in Ecclesiastes that “The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.” Ecclesiastes 1:6 (NLT) Clearly stating the trade winds or global wind patterns.
Here are some Medical truths mentioned in the Bible before they were know to be true:
The Bible also mentions other scientific truths in the field of medicine. Practices of proper sanitation the disposal of human waste was not always properly practiced until the 1600’s, but the Bible mentions in the Book Deuteronomy 23:12-14 how to properly handle human waste. The principle of quarantining when sick is stated in the book of Leviticus 13:45,46 commanding that those “cover their mouths and call out, Unclean, Unclean!” They were also commanded to live in isolation out of the camp, until the sickness passes. This practice was not put into place and understood until the 1500’s. William Harvey in 1682 was the first to recognize the full circulation of the blood in the body and that the blood was our life source. It was common practice to try and drain someones blood if they were sick. This is the practice that resulted in the death of George Washington, first President of the United States, and Commander of the Revolutionary Army. Yet the Bible states in Leviticus 17:11 “for the life of the body is in the blood” Also the Jewish practice of circumcision on the 8th day. In Genesis 17:12 God commanded that “every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth.” But why on the 8th day? Because on the eighth day there is enough Vitamin K in the body to produce enough blood clotting agents, that the baby will not bleed to death. On day 3 the babies body has 30% of the agents need, but on day 8 there is 110% of the clotting agents need to protect the body. The eighth day is the safest day to circumcise the baby. This is just a few of the practices mention in the Bible that God set in place for mankind, before mankind knew why.
Archaeological discoveries prove the Bible true:
People and places that were thought to be of legend have been found to exist because of archaeological finds. In 1990 the Caiaphas ossuary was found in Southern Jerusalem, it mentions the High Priest Caiaphas. He is also mentioned on the Miriam ossuary found in 2011 in the valley of Elah. Caiaphas is the High Priest who is responsible for the arrest and conviction of Jesus. The Pilate stone has a carved inscription attributed to Pontius Pilate, the perfect of Judaea who sentenced Jesus to be crucified. Also finding the remains of the Pool of Bethesda in the nineteenth century, corresponding to the description found in the Gospel of John.
With all the outside evidence of things stated in the Bible, now proven to be true, we can believe that the Bible really is the Word of God and that the Scriptures are Holy. We can know, without a shadow of a doubt, that when the Bible states that, “unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” JOHN 3:3 (NLT), that it is true. God the Father said the the only way to Him was through His Son Jesus Christ. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16 (NLT). If we believe in His Son, we can have eternal life, for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13 (NLT). We can believe this is true because , “you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life” 1 John 5:13 (NLT). Since we know God’s word is true with scientific, medical, and archaeological statements, we also can trust its truth with matters of spiritual statements. God wants you to spend all eternity with Him and He provided the way for us to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. He gave us the Bible as a roadmap to learn about Him and find our way to Him. For more on this click on the ‘Plan of Salvation’ link in the header above.