07: Science and the Bible Part 1

Science and the Bible (Part 1) For many years now, critics have contended that the Bible is full of scientific inaccuracies and errors reflecting the naivete of the ancient authors. Others, including some professing "Christians", would argue that since the Bible is a religious book, it need not be accurate in matters of science, history, etc. Therefore, when the Bible speaks of scientific matters, it can be interpreted spiritually or allegorically instead of literally. Both of these views must be rejected by the logical Bible believer, however. As we have seen earlier (lesson 3), the Bible claims to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. If it is what it claims to be then it cannot contain errors of any kind. If it is not what it claims to be then it cannot even be trusted in maters of theology, much less science and history. Therefore, we must conclude that although the Bible is not a science book, per se, it is nonetheless accurate when it speaks on matters of science. The Bible and modern science do not contradict one another, but in fact supplement one another very nicely. Although the Bible does not use modern scientific terminology it does speak of basic scientific principles in everyday language that should be comprehensible to most readers. Let us examine some of the Biblical references to the sciences.

Natural Laws and Sciences in the Bible The Bible is full of references to natural laws and processes. Furthermore, there are many branches of modern science that are touched on in Scripture long before their discovery by modern science. Examples include:

Astronomy. Before the discovery of the telescope, references such as Jeremiah 33:22 (As the host of heaven can not be numbered) and Genesis 22:17 (which compares the stars of the heaven to the sand of the sea in multitude), must have seemed like serious mistakes. Men had always been fascinated by the stars and many had tried to count them. Ptolemy came up with 1,056. Tycho Brahe counted 777, while Johannes found 1,005. The maximum number of stars visible to the naked eye is around 4,000, if one counts every star that is visible from every point on the globe. [1] All would agree that 4000 is certainly not an "innumerable" number, and certainly not a number to be compared to the number of sand grains on the sea shore! However, with the discovery of the telescope, came the discovery of countless more stars. Scientists now estimate that the universe contains at least 1026 stars, which is a number that reflects the same order of magnitude as the number of sand grains on the earth. [2] The universe itself is implied to be immeasurable in Jeremiah 31:37. Even today, with our sophisticated telescopes, this Biblical statement is still true. Another interesting verse is 1 Corinthians 15:41 that tells us that "one star differeth from another star in glory." Although at one time this may have seemed like a mistake, we now know that no two stars are alike. As far as our solar system is concerned, some Biblical references such as Psalms 19:6 are claimed to be scientifically inaccurate since they seem to describe the sun as revolving around the earth. However, we must keep in mind that even in our modern, scientific culture we use the phrases "sunrise" and "sunset", without being accused of scientific inaccuracies. They are simply everyday expressions that everyone understands. Furthermore, we now know that our sun is no more fixed in space than the earth is. It is revolving around an unknown center of the Milky Way galaxy. Therefore, all motion is relative motion anyway, and the best way to describe it is to arbitrarily select a point of assumed zero velocities and measure all velocities relative to that point. [3] So, once again, in relation to astronomy the Bible is found to be accurate.

Biology. The circulation of blood was not discovered until 1616. Yet thousands of years previous to William Harvey’s great discovery, the Bible said in Leviticus 17:11 that "the life of the flesh is in the blood." Only recently has science grasped the full impact of this verse. We now know that life does depend upon the blood to supply the food, water, and oxygen that cells of the body must have to survive. Another significant aspect of Biblical biology is the origin of life itself, as described in Genesis 1-2. This will be discussed briefly in the next chapter.

Geology. Only a few centuries ago most scientists believed in a flat earth. Today, many critics still believe that the Bible teaches such a concept. However, it is fascinating to note that not one verse of Scripture teaches such a concept even though the Bible was written thousands of years before Columbus’ discoveries. As a matter of fact in Isaiah 40:22, the Bible describes God as sitting "upon the circle of the earth". This verse definitely seems to imply the sphericity of the earth. An even more fascinating verse is found in Job 26:7, where God is said to hang the earth "upon nothing". Even today, scientists do not know why gravitational forces work as they do. They can explain how it acts but not why! Thousands of years before Newton discovered gravity, however, the Bible describes the earth as resting on nothing (also see Job 38:6). Another reference to Biblical geology is Job 14:18-19 where rock erosion is described. The most significant aspect of Biblical geology, however, is the account of Noah’s flood. If this account is accurate, then it must necessarily be the cause of nearly all the major geological formations and layers that we witness today. In addition it would be the cause of the fossil record, as well as our coal and oil reserves. It is significant to note that in 2 Peter 3:4-6 we have God’s condemnation of the modern, evolutionary theory of uniformitarian geology. This will be discussed more thoroughly in the next chapter.

Hydrology. The field of hydrology ("science of water") has many Biblical references. For example the water cycle (the process by which water vapor is condensed and precipitated as rain or snow, drained off the land through a system of streams, rivers, etc. until it eventually reaches the sea, and is finally returned to the skies through evaporation) is mentioned in both Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 and Isaiah 55:10. This is significant because the water cycle was not demonstrated scientifically until recent times. Evaporation itself is alluded to in Psalms 135:7 and Jeremiah 10:13.

Thermodynamics. The first and second laws of thermodynamics are two of the most basic and established laws of science. The first law, which can be referred to as the Law of Conservation of Mass-Energy, states that the total quantity of mass/energy in the universe is always constant. It can neither be created nor destroyed. This law is hinted at in many Scriptures including Nehemiah 9:6, 2 Peter 3:7, Colossians 1:17, and Hebrews 1:3. The second law states that the amount of unavailable energy or "entropy" is always increasing. In other words, the universe is running down and constantly becoming more disorderly. This principle is taught in Psalms 102:25-27 and Romans 8:20-22, among other places. It is interesting to note that these fundamental laws of science harmonize very nicely with the creation/fall of man account in Genesis 1-3. In contrast, they render the theory of evolution, which must have the creation of matter/energy out of nothing and increasing order without the help of any outside intelligence, totally infeasible and unscientific.

Supernatural Events in the Bible (Miracles)

Many critics will argue that the Bible is necessarily unscientific because of all the miracles that are recorded in its pages. They will argue that since miracles are scientifically impossible, they simply cannot occur. Therefore the Bible must be unscientific and full of errors. Fortunately this argument is easily answered because it simply begs the question. By definition, a miracle is a supernatural event that cannot be explained by the laws of science. It is not an antinatural event, which would necessitate a contradiction, but rather a supernatural event, which necessitates the intervention of a supernatural cause. In other words a miracle is not an assertion that the same causes produce different results (in contradiction to scientific principles) but that a new cause has intervened (i.e., God) to produce a new and different result. The real question at issue then is not science but theism! If a theistic God exists, then certainly miracles must be possible. In an atheistic, deistic, or pantheistic world view miracles are indeed impossible. Therefore, any investigation into the validity of a miracle must be a historical one not a scientific or philosophical one. In other words one should ask did the miracle occur, not could it occur, and based upon the reliability of the Bible (as studied in lesson 4) we have no valid reason to doubt the reality of the recorded Biblical miracles. If one assumes that miracles cannot occur then he has started with an a priori assumption that there is no God (refer to lesson 1 for arguments on the existence of God). In the Bible there are basically two types of miracles. They are:

Miracles of creation. These types of miracles can be defined as occasions "when God has seen fit to set aside even His basic laws of conservation and decay, and to perform special acts of creation of matter or energy (in contradiction to the first law of thermodynamics) or special acts of instant increases of order in closed systems (in contradiction to the second law)." [4] These miracles could be classified as "Grade A" miracles. One author has counted 89 of these "Grade A" miracles in the Bible. [5] Examples would include the raising of the dead, Jesus feeding the 5000, Jesus walking on the water, and the blind men whose sight was restored by Christ.

Miracles of providence. These type of miracles are "accomplished strictly within the framework of the two basic laws but involves special control or adjustment of one or more natural processes for a specific purpose at a particular time." [6] In other words these miracles can be explained using natural laws. They are statistically possible but statistically improbable. Such unusual events can be classified as "miracles" if they can be best explained by "invoking the supernatural". [7] In other words, based on the moral and theological contexts, would there be a good reason for God to cause this "miracle" to occur at this particular time. One author has counted 127 of these "Grade B" miracles of providence in the Bible. [8] Examples include the plagues of Egypt, the three and a half year drought and subsequent rain in the days of Elijah, the Philippian earthquake, and the abnormal catch of fish by the disciples. In one final note, we must always be leery of extra-Biblical miracles. Although God is certainly able to perform miracles today, we must be on guard against accepting every miraculous claim as from God. First of all, we must realize that Satan and his demons are powerful creatures capable of minor miracles and major deception. Secondly, we must realize that miracles can be counterfeited by human agency (as with the magicians in Exodus 7). Therefore we must examine all miracles with two tests. First, are the witnesses trustworthy and reliable and, second, does the alleged miracle support the clear teaching of Scriptures? We can be sure that any miracle professed to verify false teaching or that is associated with immoral conduct is not from God.

Conclusion: From this study we can conclude that the Bible and true science do not contradict. Certainly the Bible does contradict the man-made pseudo-scientific theories of origins and organic evolution. These matters, however, will be discussed more thoroughly in Chapter 7. For now, however, let it suffice to say that science, like archaeology, has proven to be an external confirmation of the reliability of the Biblical record.