QUESTION:
Is the Bible scientifically accurate?
ANSWER:
: The word science is from a Latin word meaning knowledge or what is known. Unfortunately many people believe everything a scientist says is scientific or factual, just because he said it. That is not necessarily the case. Ascientist may express his opinion knowing that what he says is actually not a proven fact. The evolutionary hypothesis, for example, is often called science, but in reality is only a theory and nothing more. While the bible is not a textbook on science, it is nevertheless scientifically accurate. Modern science has never disproved the bible. The mind that directed the bible put into it many thoughts that were beyond the range of human comprehension and knowledge at the time they were written. The foes of the bible declare it to be antiquated, out of date and erroneous, a book that does not deserve serious consideration by modern man. The writers of the bible, on the other hand, claimed inspiration, 2Timothy 3:16-17. If their claims were false, there are two options open to us: (1) these men were deluded, that is they really thought what they wrote was inspired, but it was not. or (2) they were deceitful, they knew what they wrote was not inspired, and they lied. Which is correct? The only way to determine is to examine the evidence that either proves or disproves the claim. One way to test the claim of inspiration is to consider the scientific accuracy of the bible. In speaking of God Isaiah said “It is he who sitteth upon the circle of the earth” Isa. 40:22. The word “circle” is from a word that indicates a sphere that is round, as opposed to something flat, square or rectangular. For years man believed the earth was flat. Columbus believed that. Magellan, however, sailed to prove that the earth was spherical in shape. Long before Magellan sailed the bible had affirmed the rotundity of the earth. How did Isaiah know this before science proved it? Obviously, he knew it by inspiration. Another example of the bible’s accuracy is found when Moses told the Israelites in Lev. 17:11-14 that “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” He was correct. Life is possible because red blood cells carry oxygen (thanks to the hemoglobin found within those cells). In human red blood cells there are approximately 270,000,000 molecules of hemoglobin per cell. If there were any less, a person would not have enough residual oxygen to sustain life after an accident that knocks the breath out of them. Today we know that the “life of the flesh” is literally in the blood. Yet this was unknown as recently as George Washington’s day. He died of “blood letting”. That is his doctors “bled” him in an attempt to cure him of his illness. In stead of saving him, it actually led to his death. Moses knew what his doctors did not. In Gen. 17:12 God told Abraham that on the eighth day newborn Hebrew males were to be circumcised. But, why on the eighth day? Why not the fifth or third day? The answer is found in the fact that Vitamin K is responsible for the production of prothrombin by the liver, and if this vitamin is not at proper levels there will be a probhrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur i.e. the blood will not clot. However, it is only on the 5th-7th day of a newborn male’s life that Vitamin K begins to be produced by the various bacteria in the intestinal tract. And on the eighth day the percent of prothrombin rises above 100% of normal. The only day in the entire life of a male that the bloodclotting element prothrombin is above 100% is day eight. The best day for circumcision. How did Moses know? Obviously only by inspiration. Moses also stated in Genesis 1:11, 12, 21, 24 that things reproduce “after their kind.” That is no surprise to us today because we understand genetics and the laws of heredity. The buffalo never gives rise to a horse, a banana does not give rise to a tomato, a dog does not give rise to a cat. Things always reproduce after their own kind and even today that holds true. But how did Moses know that, long years before the science of genetics, which only began in earnest in 1900? The obvious answer is that God was the controlling mind behind it all. The items we have mentioned could be multiplied. They represent only a meager sampling. The men who wrote the bible were neither deluded nor deceitful, they were inspired. The bible is true historically, scientifically, geographically, spiritually and otherwise. It comes from God and not man. It is free of error and misrepresentation. It should be the guide of our lives, and the foundation upon which our faith is built. It will stand resolute and true to the end, and ultimately judge us in the last day.