The Scientific Accuracy of Bible

Many ignorantly dismiss the Bible as unscientific.  In fact, it differs from the writings of other religions in that it has no unscientific statements!  In fact it reveals scientific knowledge that is well ahead of its time and only recently discovered.  In this Part 1, we will point out some of these insights.    How did the Bible writers know it?   Because God inspired them!

(1) What supports the earth?   Hindu Vedas say it is on elephants who stand on a turtle swimming in a huge sea!   The Greeks said the earth was supported by Atlas!   But Job 26:7 says: He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.  4000 years ago, Job made the amazing claim that nothing is holding the earth up and that the N.S axis of the earth extends into emptiness..

(2) The Shape and Spin of the Earth.   Even until a few hundred years ago men thought the earth was flat and were afraid to sail too far!   But the Bible says the earth is a sphere: It is He who sits above the circle (sphere) of the earth (Isa 40:22).

Moreover the earth spins around its axis every 24 hours in relation to the sun (Job 38:12-14): It is turned as clay to the seal (v14).  As a clay cylinder is rolled over a seal, producing an impression so the earth is turned in relation to the sun bringing forth new features as dawn moves over the surface of the earth.

A spherical Earth spinning on its axis also meant that half the earth was in day, the other half was in night.  Now in Jesus time  they could not know that because you need to travel very fast and have accurate clocks to verify it.   But in Luke 17:34,35 Jesus says that the moment of the Rapture will be at night for some and day for others!  
I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.

(3)  The Universe's Structure and Expansion:  Only since Einstein's theory of Relativity has man realised that the universe is a triune space-time-matter continuum.    Space-Time and matter had to come into existance together.  Yet this is exactly what Genesis 1:1 claims: In the beginning (TIME) God created the heavens (SPACE) and the earth (MATTER).

Even more recently we have found that the universe is expanding which is stated in the Bible many times (Psa 104:2, Isa 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; 51:13; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Zech 12:1).

(4) The number of the stars. Until telescopes it was easy to number the stars visible to the naked eye at about 1000 stars, but the Bible claimed that it was not possible for man to number them! Jeremiah 33:22: ‘As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant.'   Now as telescopes get more and more powerful this is confirmed.

(5) Job 38:31-33 contains amazing scientific insight:
Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth (the constellations of the Zodiac) in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?  Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?   Here God accurately describes the nature of two star clusters.  The Plaiades (the 7 Sisters) are indeed a bounded, closed system, held together by gravity whereas Orion is an open system with its stars scattering away from each other.

Morover these verses anticipate the universal law of gravitation.   For it says that the stars are held together by an invisible force (gravity), which is the same force that has dominion on the earth.  Thus the laws of science apply in the heavens as they do on the earth - which is a basic assumption of modern science.

(6) In Psalm 19:5,6 the Sun moves through space.

(7) Job 25:5 tells us that the moon does not shine with its own light, which was against much ancient wisdom.

(8) Job 38:35 anticipates that messages can be sent by Electricity.

(9) Nuclear Fission is well described by 2 Peter 3:10:  The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

10. The Ocean Floor   In Bible times exploration of the sea floor was impossible yet the Bible speaks of mountains on the sea floor which Jonah described as he descended to Hades: The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed  behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God (Jonah 2:5,6).  Psa18:15,16 also describe deep channels and canyons and Job 38:16 says that there are remarkable springs of waters there.   All of this was confirmed recently.

11.  Ocean Currents were discovered by Matthew Maury, 'the father of oceanography' on the basis of scriptures like Psalm 8:8: The fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. By mapping these paths he found the best routes for sea travel. Isa 43:16: Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters.  From Psalm 107:25 he also discovered the connection between the air circulation system and the oceanic currents.

12.  The strata (layering) of the earth and the atmosphere is in Amos 9:6:
He who builds His layers in the sky, and has founded His strata in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth- The LORD is His name.

13. Amos 9:6 is one of many that show an advanced understanding of the Hydrologic Cycle which describes how water circulates around the world.  In particular the fact that the rains on land originate in the waters evaporated from the oceans and then carried by the winds is a discovery from modern times.   Yet Ecclesiastes 1:6,7 describes it well:  The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.

See also Ps3 3:7, 135:7, Prov 8:26, Job 26:8, Isa 55:10,

Job 36:27,28:  For He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man.

14.  The fact that the air has a weight Job 28:24-27 was discovered by Torrichelli 300 years ago.

15.  The Bible describes dinasours (Job 40,41, Ps 74:14) in agreement with recent fossil finds.

16. The Bible has an accurate value for PI (the ration of the Circumference to Diameter of a circle) in 2Chronicles 4:2-5.  A cubit is 18 inches, a handbreath is 4 inches.   The circumference of the circular laver is 30 cubits and the diameter, 10 cubits which seems innacurate, but when the width of the rim (a handbreath) is taken into account the result is amazingly accurate.

17.  The Life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11) -confirmed by Harvey 1628!

18. The growth of the body comes and is controlled from the head (Colossians 2:19). Confirmed- growth is contolled through the Pituatry Gland in our brain.

19.  The Laws of Hygene in Leviticus were well ahead of their time.
This included: washing hands,  burying excrement, not touching a dead body and if you do then wash your clothes (which can carry infection) and lay them out in the sun (which kills the infection).

The Bible has laws identifying and dealing with contageous diseases through Quarentine (Lev 13:45,46). These principles were only used in the last 100 years in Europe.

Dr Weiss in Vienna (1840) in charge of Maternity in his hospital, told his doctors and nurses to wash their hands after operations.  Because of lack of hygene one in 6 women died in childbirth.   The month after it dropped to 1 in 42, then 1 in 84.  But they all complained and he got sacked.  The same happened again in Budapest.   Only later did Louis Pasteur found out why these proceedures were necessary.

The Plague (Black Death) in Europe hardly touched the Jews because they were obeying Leviticus.  Sadly people saw it and blamed on Jews for starting the plague and anti-semitic persecution broke out.

20.  Genesis 10:25 describes continental drift

Conclusion: The scientific accuracy of the Bible confirms it to be the Word of God. In fact most of the great scientists of past centuries (like Newton) were Bible Believers and were often led to their discoveries by the scriptures.