BIBLE IS NOT ONLY A BOOK OF SCIENCE

THE BIBLE IS NOT A BOOK OF SCIENCE is a statement often made. If this is interpreted to mean the Bible is above science and therefore should direct science, it is a good statement. Too often it is used to imply the Bible is inferior to science, and given a choice, we should follow the lead of science. We call your attention to Colossians 1:18 where we are told that Christ is to be pre-eminent in all things and Colossians 1:20 where it is stated that Christ reconciles all things in heaven and earth. This indicates that the Bible, as is Christ, its author, is perfect and should be pre-eminent in the sciences as Christ should be central in the life of the scientist.

DOUBLE-REVELATION THEORY. This view is held by many neo-evangelicals of today who say God reveals Himself through both the Bible and science, and in a seeming conflict, the Bible must give way to science which is superior.

THE BIBLE IS A BOOK OF SCIENCE. Though we can accept the statement that the Bible is not a book of science, being superior to science, we can also claim it is a book of science in that its statements regarding science are amazingly accurate. When we realize the scientific accuracy of the Bible, science can move ahead as it should. When there is change, it is in science, not in the Bible. Let us demonstrate by some examples.

ASTRONOMY
A Spherical Earth

Contrary to Bible interpretation of the middle ages that the earth is flat, we find statements suggesting the earth is spherical. Proverbs 8:27 states "When he set a compass upon the face of the depth" and Isaiah 40:22 says "It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth." In both instances the Hebrew word "khug" is used, which may be translated to refer to the circle of the horizon, but may also be translated as "spherical." In Job 22:14 the same word is translated in the King James version as "circuit of the heavens." An authority on Bible Hebrew, Gesenius,(4) translates this word in Job and Proverbs as "vault of the heavens," and suggesting that in the Isaiah passage it might refer to the circle of the earth, meaning a spherical earth. Another authority on Bible Hebrew, Brown, translates all three passages as "vault of the heavens." See Has God Spoken? by A. 0. Schnabel (1965).(5)

Earth Revolves Daily

In the book quoted above, on page 5 Schnabel refers to Job 38:12-14a where the reference is to the earth turning as under a signature ring. G. Rawlinson in Pulpit Commentary(6) and Thomas Robinson in Homiletic Commentary(7) in referring to this passage indicate these rings exude a beauty not present in the clay which is observable only in the daytime. Robinson admits it can be a reference to the earth's rotation as it is used by Schnabel.

Psalm 89:36-37 is another passage used by Schnabel and he begins his explanation by stating that Hebrew poetry consists of parallelism. According to parallelism the moon is a faithful witness in the sky, showing the sun shines also during the night, the moon reflecting the sun's light. According to Schnabel this is proof of the earth's turning.

Earth Is Not Supported

Job 26:7 states the earth hangs on nothing. Schnabel points out this demonstrates the earth is held in place by gravitation but is not otherwise supported.

Universe a Continuously Spreading Expanse

Astronomers today are suggesting an expanding universe based on the red shift in the spectrum. The more red indicated in the spectrascope, the faster the object is receding is their contention.

According to the red shift, the most distant galaxies and quasers seem to be receding fastest, quasers recede at 149,000 miles per second. Quasers are quasi-stellar objects seemingly as large as our entire solar system.

Possibly this is suggested in the Bible. The Hebrew word for "firmament" is "raquia" and in its verb form means "to beat as with a hammer, to spread out" according to Gesenius in his Lexicon.(8) We are reminded of a coppersmith beating out a piece of copper until it becomes a plate. Psalm 104:2 states that God "stretches" (imperfect, continued tense) the heavens as a curtain, and may still be so doing. In Jeremiah 31:37 and 33:22 we are told that we shall never be able to count all the stars. Isaiah 40:22 and 42:5 also speak of the heavens still being stretched out. These references may indicate an expanding universe.

Stars Cannot Be Numbered

According to Jeremiah 31:37 and 33:22 we shall never be able to count all the stars. Abraham could not when God asked him to (Genesis 15:5, 22:17, Hebrews 11:12). In 150 A.D. Ptolemy counted 1,056 stars, claiming the number could not exceed 3,000. Today 500 billion plus are counted with the aid of the huge Mt. Palomar 200-inch light telescope and radio telescopes, and we are still counting. The Bible compares the innumerable stars with the sands on the seashore, and this is about all to which the vast number of stars can be compared.

Stars Emitting Sound - The Radio Telescope

On page 12 of Has God Spoken? Schnabel states that in 1942 U.S. Army scientists were testing radar equipment at wave-lengths of 400 to 600 centimeters. In February of 1942 their sets received extremely high noises of such density the sets could not be operated. They discovered this was not jamming by the Germans, but high-frequency noises from stars. This is utilized in radio telescopes today, reaching out farther into space than light telescopes.

Job 38:7 states "the morning stars sang together." Gesenius(9) interprets this verb to mean "to make a shrill noise." This is exactly the sound of noises coming over the radio telescopes. Some have interpreted the word stars in this passage to mean angels, unaware that stars do emit sounds. Others find difficulty in either stars or angels being present when the foundations of the earth were laid. Psalm 104:4 may hint that angels were created on the second day, therefore being present when foundations of the earth were laid on the third day. Though stars were not created until the fourth day, God might have continued laying foundations also on the fourth day.

Ordinances of Heaven

Job also speaks of the "ordinances of heaven" (Job 38:33). Copernicus and Newton suggested that laws of inertia and gravity are holding up the world. If this be true, these laws might be called some of the ordinances of the heavens.

Mazzaroth

"Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?" is asked in Job 38:32. "Mazzaroth" might better be translated "twelve signs of the zodiac" as Harold Clark does in his filmstrip Evolution and the Bible.(10) Clark points out the ancients were unable to explain the changing of these signs each month and that it was Galileo's discovery of the earth revolving around the sun which provides the explanation.

Binding the Pleiades

We read in Job 38:31 "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?" According to Clark "modern astronomy has discovered the fact that the stars of this cluster are actually bound together as if by chains. If their speed could be multiplied a billion times, they would appear like a swarm of bees in a great circle and held in their circuits by unseen forces." page L 1-9.(11)

Color Beauty of Heavens

Another statement in Job is "God has garnished the heavens" (Job 26:13). A better translation is "God has made the heavens beautiful." With our newer photographic sensitive plates we now find color in the constellations of the sky we did not know existed, substantiating this statement of Job.

Measuring the Heavens With a Span

In Isaiah 40:12 we read that God "marked off the heavens with a span." Today we understand the meaning of this "span." We measure the heavens with light years (the speed of light - 186,000 miles per second, multiplied by the number of seconds in a year, for a total of five trillion and 585 billion, or nearly six trillion). This is 66,000 times the distance from the earth to the sun, calculated at 93,000,000 miles. The heavens seemingly are so vast even this great distance is not enough, so we measure with a parsec which is three and one-half light years.

Earth Made for Habitation

Again we quote from Isaiah (45:18). "He formed it (earth) to be inhabited." Today we truly understand how the earth is made for habitation. If it were ten percent larger or smaller, the laws of gravity would prevent our living upon it. If it were ten percent nearer the sun, it would be too hot for our form of life. Were it ten percent farther from the sun, it would be far too cold. At this point there is no real evidence of water outside our earth and we know how basic water is for our form of life.

Is there life outside of earth? We do not know. There is as yet no evidence of it. Still there may be. We know only that this earth is remarkably and delicately made for life, as the Bible says it is.

The Moon Is Made to Give Light and to Direct Seasons

This is true of many constellations in the sky. This is stated in Genesis 1:14-18. The moon performs this function well and we set our clocks by the time of the stars.

Glory of God in the Sky

We quote from Job 26:14: "Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways; and how small whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?" The implication is that the vast glories of space are merely a whisper of the real power of God. Surely, we ought to use space to glorify God and to learn from it the amazing scientific accuracy of His word.

GEOLOGY
Foundations of the Earth

Again we refer to A. 0. Schnabel's book "Has God Spoken?," pages 15 ff. In Job 38:6 the word for foundation is really "Eden" and is used 53 times in passages such as Exodus 26-40, Numbers 3 and 4 and in Songs 5:15 to mean sockets into which the pillars of the tabernacle were placed. The author indicates that seismography has developed use of the push-wave which will pass through the earth and liquid and the shock-wave which does not pass through liquid. Using these, the characteristics of the inside of the earth can be determined. It is estimated that mantle rock under the sea is two miles thick in places, but under the continents it is estimated at three hundred miles. This would form a veritable socket for each of the seven continents. Again this illustrates how scientifically accurate the word "foundation socket" is in this Job passage and how we are just now beginning to catch up with the science of the Bible.

Mountains Went Up - Valleys Went Down

In Psalm 104:8 (RJSV) we read: "The mountains rose, the valleys sank down." The third day of creation and the period immediately following the flood were similar in many respects. Both times saw the earth completely covered with water. Both times the mountains went up and the valleys went down. This is suggested in Psalm 104 as the way by which God separated water from land. This happened also following the Flood of Noah, and we can easily conceive that our high mountains may not have existed prior to the Flood. The seas contain enough water to cover the earth to a depth of one and one-half miles. The water is restrained from doing this because according to Psalm 104:9 God has set bounds for the sea that they cannot pass over as during Noah's flood. (Cf. Frank Marsh Life, Man and Time, page 121).(12)

On page 21 of his book(13) Schnabel points out that canyons have been discovered off the Philippine coast which are five times deeper than our Grand Canyon of Arizona. This canyon holds the water.

Entire Earth Under Water

Genesis 1:2 indicates water was everywhere. we read in Genesis 1:9 that dry land appeared out of the water. Genesis 7:20 says that during the flood all high hills and mountains were covered with water fifteen cubits deep and upwards. Psalm 104:6-9 implies that waters stood above the mountains. One of the first geologists to show that all land masses have once been under water was Edward Suess (1885) described on page 19 of "Has God Spoken?"(14) Consistently sea fossils are discovered on mountain tops, indicating they once were under water.

All Seas Lie in One Bed

According to Genesis 1:9-10 the waters of the earth were gathered together into one place and this was called seas. On pages 19 and 20 Schnabel states that all seven seas are connected and actually, form one sea.

METEOROLOGY
Water-Vapor Circle

In Job 37:27-28 we read: "For he draweth up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor, which the skies pour down upon man abundantly." Ecclesiastes 1:7 states: "all the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, together they return again." Both the Hebrew and English definition of the word distill is to have small moisture droplets of steam or vapor condensate and collect into water drops large enough to become heavy and to fall. Biblical writers understood this cycle which we study scientifically - droplets of steam or vapor condense, fall as rain, rivers empty into the sea from higher ground. From the sea drops of water are drawn up, and the cycle begins once more. See Schnabel(15)

Air-Circulation

Job 28:25 states that wind has weight. And in Job 37:9 we read: "Out of the chamber of the South cometh the storm and cold out of the scattering wind." Ecclesiastes 1:6 says: "The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth to its circuits." These Bible statements are substantiated by the fact that warm air rises at the equator because of the heat. Pressure moves it northward where cold air and other pressures cause it to flow downward. Once more it flows southward to warmer regions. This general circulation of air follows exactly as the Books of Job and Ecclesiastes say. See Schnabel Page 26.(16)

Clouds Have Balance

We quote from Job 36:29: "Can any understand the spreadings of the clouds?" and Job 37:16: "Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds?" and Job 38:37: "Who can number the clouds by wisdom?"

On page 2717 of his book Schnabel says: "High-altitude airplanes in 1950 noted a high electrical energy flow upward from the top of a thunderstorm to the ionosphere (upper atmosphere). This showed a thundercloud may be considered as a negative electrical pump conveying a negative charge to the earth and a positive charge to the upper atmosphere. It was learned that the ionosphere continually discharged a current of 1800 ampers to the earth over the whole globe. Instrumental warheads on research missiles reveal the total charge of the ionosphere would discharge completely in five minutes. Thunderstorms supply the reverse current necessary to maintain potential between the earth and upper atmosphere. It was estimated to take 1,800 thunderstorms at anyone instant to do this." The Tiros Weather Satellite indicates there are approximately 1,800 thunderstorms at anyone given time. Again, this is a substantiation of the scientific accuracy of the Bible.

Lightning Causes Rain

Another passage is Job 38:26-27 "the lightning of the thunder causes it to rain." In 1964 in the Grand Bahama Islands, using Denimetric Radar it was discovered that large drops of water necessary for rain were not present before lightning occurred. Laboratory experiments in 1965 demonstrated that in the presence of an electrical field, water droplets will combine to form raindrops. Schnabel says: "Tiny droplets like those in a cloud shot from a hypodermic needle will simply ricochet off one another under normal conditions. But in the presence of a comb charged with static electricity they combine and become a single large drop." (page 29)(18)

BIOLOGY
Basic Forms of Life

In studying Genesis One we find nine basic forms of life: grasses, trees, herbs, fishes, birds, wild animals, domestic animals, creeping things and man.

Darwin writing his first edition of Origin of the Species suggested about nine basic forms of life and that these had developed after a Great Intelligence had begun life. This thought is not found in Darwin's later editions.

In his book Zooegenesis, Austin H. Clark already thirty years ago suggested eight basic forms of life developing independently, and all other forms developing from these eight. This is being accepted in the scientific world today. Richard Goldschmidt is one. Heribert Niellson is another as evidenced by his Synthetische Artbuildungen. Many scientists considering themselves to be evolutionists are accepting the separate development of the basic forms of life. They are catching up with the position of the Bible.

Three Biological Kingdoms

Genesis 1 suggests a vegetable kingdom (vv. 11-13), an animal kingdom (vv. 20-31) and a mineral kingdom (vv. 1-10)19. Citizens of Babylon, Assyria, Egypt and Greece were not aware of such division of nature. It was Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, who made this discovery and classified nature as Genesis One does.

Male and Female Each Have Seed of Propagation

Bible passages Genesis 3:15 and Hebrews 7:9-10 suggest that seed for development of offspring is inherent in the female as well as in the male. Only recently has science recognized that both male and female contain the seed for propagation and that both are necessary. (Schnabel page 37)(20)

Animals Reproduce Only After Their Kind

Genesis 1:21 ff relates how God made living things after their kind. Ten times the words "after his kind" are mentioned. Gregor Mendel proved that variety is possible within a kind, but there is no possibility of development from kind to kind.

All Flesh Is Not the Same

In 1 Corinthians 15:39 we are told all flesh is not the same. Science once thought it was. Invention of the electron microscope magnifying to two million times, shows an amazing difference between cells. (Schnabel page 40)(21)

Waters Swarm With Swarms of Living Creatures

Genesis 1:20 states that waters swarm with swarms of living creatures. Since Leouwenhauk's invention of the microscope, we are able to view swarms of many sorts of creatures found in one tiny drop of water.

Life Is in the Blood

In Leviticus 17:11 we are told that life of flesh is in the blood. At one time people considered blood to be the carrier of disease and drew blood for health reasons.(Schnabel page 41)(22)

Mankind Is One Blood

Paul on Mars' Hill (Acts 17:26) says "He hath made of one blood all nations of men." Before 1775 it was believed there were five distinct races each with different blood. (Has God Spoken? page 42)(23) In 1900 Karl Landsteiner discovered that all human blood has one common base, namely plasma.

Health and Sanitation

Look up the following Bible sections on health and sanitation: Leviticus 11:32-43; 7:19; 3:17; 17:13b; Deuteronomy 23:13; Leviticus 13:14-17; 13:45-46; 13:52; 14:8-9; 14; 40-47; Leviticus 15. These deal with prohibitions on eating pork, anything of unclean animals, of creeping things, eating of blood. There are also regulations on treatment of infectious diseases such as leprosy. These regulations were part of the ceremonial law but they also had health and sanitation value as we know in science today.

The Ostrich

Job 39:13-18 gives a description of the ostrich which leaves her eggs, forgets that her foot may crush the eggs, is hardened against her own young, has been deprived of wisdom by God, scorns the horse and rider, and lifts herself up on high.

Dr. George Howe, biologist with Westmont College in Santa Barabara, California, is author of an article appearing in a 1963 issue of the American Scientific Affiliation. In it he demonstrates how biological studies of the ostrich have proved Job to be right.

PHYSICS
Entropy

According to the Genesis account God created a perfect world (Gen. 1:31) and that when sin entered, not only was man affected, but "thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Gen. 3:18. Uniformitarians and general evolutionists today claim our world is ever advancing and developing from simple to complex. The Two Laws of Thermodynamics argue for a world which is degenerating rather than building up. These laws are described in The Genesis Flood by Morris and Whitcomb(24), the Twilight of Evolution and in Studies In Science and Scripture by Henry Morris. Wildersmith in his book Herkuft und Zukunft des Menschen(25), says these laws apply also to the life cell.

The first law is called conservation of energy and means that energy is never destroyed or added to, but simply goes into another form. The second law is entropy which means that when energy is converted from one form to another in a closed system, it becomes less useful. If energy is not destroyed or added to, it is an argument for creation. If the world is running down, this argues for a creation and a degeneration since creation.

Christ Supports All Things

Colossians 1:17 says that in Christ all things are "held together." In Hebrews 1:3 we read "all things are upheld by the word of His power."

D. Lee Chesnut, author of The Atom Speaks and Echoes the Word of God26, finds a terrific force, one billion to the fourth times greater than gravity, holding the world together and he believes this power to be Christ. Recently Japanese scientists have discovered that the exchange of two of the new forces found within the atom, the Pi-Mesons, might be this terrific force. Christ is still directing these forces. In 2 Peter 3:11 we read that at the end of the world all things will be dissolved or "unloosed." By removing this terrific binding force, God could blow up the earth like an atom bomb. 2 Peter 3:10 states that the world will be destroyed by fire. We do not know how God will destroy the world, but Physics shows us a way God could use if He so chose.

Light and Magnetic Wave Pattern

Genesis 1:3 speaks of God creating light by His Word. Psalm 104:2 says that God covers Himself with light as a garment. Wm. Overn, physicist of St. Paul, Minn., suggests that behind all ordered substance is a magnetic wave pattern which may be what is meant when God created "light." "Light" then would have a much broader meaning than we generally ascribe to it and again demonstrates the scientific accuracy of the Bible.

Conclusion

We hope this will indicate that the Bible is always scientifically accurate, perfect in every respect and wholly reliable. We should not hesitate to defend it scientifically provided we recognize that science may change and we may need to revise our scientific proofs because of the change.