The Bible and Scienceby Brett Hickey, sermon #8641 of 5
The Bible and Science
Last week we noticed, “Why I Believe the Bible is the Word of God.” We reinforce and expand on that theme this morning. Why is this so important? Some may be thinking, “Let’s move on; let’s look at a more meaty biblical topic.” If so, consider this. You likely know someone from a large segment of the church (I use the term loosely) who has abandoned the faith. Have you considered the possibility that this may be because they never understood the ABC’s of the gospel? Is it possible that they were never thoroughly convicted that the Bible is the Word of God? David wrote in Psalm 11:3, “If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” If one is never confident in the Scriptures as the inerrant, inspired Word of God, it will be impossible to ground them in the truth.
I am convinced young people are growing up in Bible-believing homes without a solid understanding of inspiration. Satan’s attacks against the word of God have been effective in this respect, unfortunately, because too often we assume that for which we should provide abundant evidence. Even experienced Bible teachers and preachers lose sight of the “milk first, meat later” approach taught in the Scriptures.
The apostle wrote in 1 Peter 2:2, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…” Milk first, meat later. The apostle Paul tells the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 3:2, “I fed you with milk and not with solid food (meat – King James Version); for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able…” Milk first, meat later. Finally, the Holy Spirit instructs in Hebrews 5:12-14, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Whenever we violate this biblical pattern, this fundamental principle of “milk first and meat later,” we imperil the spiritual welfare of those who are young in the faith. Of course, it is difficult to find a more basic topic to address than that of demonstrating that the Bible is the Word of God. We hope to attain that objective this morning. But first, enjoy our song…
Last week we noticed strong evidence that the Bible is the Word of God. We noted many Messianic prophecies (acknowledged by Jewish rabbis) being fulfilled in Jesus. We pointed out what Jesus himself said about the Old Testament. We also considered Jesus’ words and His endorsement of the words of the apostles which constitute the New Testament. We noticed the remarkable influence Jesus has had on the world through the Scriptures, the unity and cohesiveness of the sixty-six books written over a period of fifteen centuries by dozens of authors and the resilience of the Bible amidst the unrelenting attacks of its enemies.
This morning, though, we focus on the oft unexpected Scriptural support from the field of science. The Bible was not written as a science textbook and we should not view it as such. However, if it was not merely written by men but inspired by God who created this world, whenever it addresses an issue related to science, we would expect it to be accurate. Put another way, if the Author of Nature and Scripture is the same God, the two should correspond, not contradict. We find this repeatedly.
Contrary to the testimony of atheists and agnostics, the Bible harmonizes with science. For this reason, no wonder so many prominent scientists have been believers. Consider the following list of “big hitters.” Copernicus, the Polish astronomer who put forward the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun; Sir Frances Bacon, the philosopher who developed the scientific method based on experimentation and inductive reasoning; Johannes Kepler, the brilliant mathematician and astronomer who established the laws of planetary motion about the sun; Galileo, a physicist, mathematician, and astronomer who has been called "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the Father of Modern Science"; Descartes, mathematician, scientist and philosopher who has been called the father of modern philosophy; Isaac Newton; Robert Boyle, who gave us “Boyle’s law” of gases; Michael Faraday; Gregor Mendel, the genetics mastermind; Lord Kelvin, the brilliant physicist; Max Planck, the physicist known for quantum theory. These great men of science (and more like them) recognized the God of the Bible. The Bible is not an enemy to science, but a friend.
S. Bartlett White writes in The Significance of Essence of the English philosopher, biologist, and sociologist, Herbert Spencer who describes “five fundamentals of science: time, force, action, space and matter.” Spencer, not Darwin, is responsible for the phrase “survival of the fittest.” Interestingly, Spencer’s five fundamentals of science had been described thousands of years earlier when Moses penned the words of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning (time) God (force) created (action) the heavens (space) and the earth (matter)…’
Similar discoveries where Scripture harmonizes with scientific truth (thousands of years before our brilliant scientific minds articulated them) are found in the fields of astronomy, oceanography, physics, medicine, biology, geology, archaeology and physics.
Consider first the field of astronomy. The Bible teaches in Job 26:7, “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.” Greek mythology taught that Atlas the Titan held the earth on his shoulders. How is it that the writer of the book of Job understood thousands of years ago that the earth was not hanging from a very strong rope, that it was not sitting on the backs of four elephants or on the shoulders of Atlas? Just a coincidence?
Henry Morris adds in Science and the Bible, “Since ancient times people have been fascinated by the stars and many astronomers have tried to count them. Ptolemy counted 1,056. Tyco Brahe catalogued 777, and Johannes Kepler counted 1,005. The total number of stars visible to the naked eye is perhaps 4,000, counting all that are visible from every point on earth.
Yet the Bible had said that the ‘hosts of heaven cannot be numbered’ (Jeremiah 33:22), while also comparing ‘the sand which is upon the seashore’ to ‘the stars of the heaven’ in multitude (Genesis 22:17). Before the invention of the telescope, this must have seemed like a serious scientific mistake in the Bible. Now, however, it must be recognized as a supernatural scientific insight. Astronomers estimate that there are at least 10^26 stars (that is, a hundred-million-billion-billion stars), which reflects the same order of magnitude as the number of grains of sand on the earth. Truly, the stars cannot be numbered. If one could count 10 numbers per second, it would take him at least a thousand-million years to count up to 10^26.”
Morris continues,
“Look also at 1 Corinthians 15:41: “One star differeth from another star in glory.” This must also have once seemed like a mistake, since every star (except the sun) looks just like a point of light, even through a telescope. Now, of course, it is known that there are many different types of stars, and no two stars are alike.” Many more apparent contradictions have been resolved when human knowledge has caught up to the testimony of Scripture.
From the field of Geophysics we find the following ancient biblical comments. In Proverbs 8:27, the Bible says, “When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep…” Isaiah 40:22 adds, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth…” Many have insisted vigorously that the earth was flat. In fact, this error is considered one of the most common misunderstandings of history. Some still cling to this idea as members of the Flat Earth Society. These two Scriptures, however, accord with the facts of the case that the earth is spherical, not flat.
In the Handbook of Biblical Evidences (338) by John Ankerberg and John Weldon, the authors touch on the biblical connection with the field of hydrology. The authors write:
“In Psalm 8:8 we read about ‘the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” But it wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century when Matthew Fontaine Maury, the ‘father of oceanography,’ published his discovery that the ocean possesses predictable paths or currents. When Psalm 8 was written, the only seas known to the Hebrews were the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea. These bodies of water did not possess ‘paths’ or significant observable currents. It took Matthew Maury a great deal of time to collect the crude observational data that existed from the fifteenth to nineteenth century to make his own discovery. And yet the Psalmist wrote of ‘the paths of the seas.’”
Three U. S. Navy ships have been named USS Maury. More impressive is the statue of Maury in Richmond, Virginia. Next to Maury's left foot is a copy of the Bible and his book, Physical Geography of the Sea which is referred to as the "first textbook of modern oceanography." How could David have known about the “paths of the seas” discovered thousands of years later by Maury unless it was given to him by God through inspiration?
Ankerberg and Weldon add,
“In Job 36:27 and 28 is the statement, ‘He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind.’ Here we find an accurate description of the earth’s hydrologic cycle. Even during the Middle Ages, the source of rain water was something of a mystery. But in approximately 2,000 B.C. we find Job accurately describing the rain cycle.
We read in Ecclesiastes 1:6-7, ‘The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.’ Here, King Solomon, writing 3,000 years ago, speaks of global wind currents and the earth’s water cycle. ‘The phrase, ‘the wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course’ is an accurate and astonishing description of the circular flow of air around the earth, called the ‘jet stream,’ well known to anyone who watches the evening news weather reports.”
In the realm of physics, we read in in 2 Peter 3:10, “But 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.” Commenting on this verse, Ankerberg and Weldon write, “Written 2,000 years ago, when the beliefs concerning the nature of matter were quite crude, isn’t it amazing to find descriptions such as these? Second Peter certainly seems to be describing what happens when the nucleus of radioactive elements are split, releasing incredible amounts of energy and radioactivity.”
Moving on to medicine, we learn circumcision was to be performed on the eighth day of a newborn male’s life(Gen. 17:12). Why the eighth day? S. Bartlett White cites Bert Thompson’s Scientific Evidences of the Bible’s Inspiration which reads, “In 1935 Professor H. Dam proposed the name ‘Vitamin K’ for the factor in foods that helped prevent hemorrhaging in baby chicks. We now know that Vitamin K is responsible for the production of prothrombin by the liver. If Vitamin K is deficient, there will be a prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur, since both Vitamin K and prothrombin are necessary for proper blood clotting. Oddly enough, it is only the 5th through the 7th days of the newborn male’s life that Vitamin K begins to be produced (usually by bacteria in the intestinal tract)….The only day of the entire life of the newborn that the blood-clotting element prothrombin is above 100% is day eight. The best day for circumcision is the eighth day. Did Moses have access to modern day scientific knowledge, or did God tell him to write this?”
Thompson continues, “[Genesis 3:15] plainly teaches that both the male and the female possess the ‘seed of life.’ However, this was not the commonly-held position in Moses’ day. Nor was it the commonly-held position until just a few centuries ago. Several writers of days gone by, including some of Moses’ day, felt that only the male possessed the seed of life, and that the woman was a little more than a glorified incubator.
One Greek writer, Democritus, even went so far as to suggest that the male seed could be deposited in warm mud, and the end result would be the same. But Moses knew all along that both the male and the female possess the seed of life. How did he know that?
Next, we find the teaching of Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…” Henry M. Morris writes in Science and the Bible, “Continuance of life is now known to depend upon the continued supply of oxygen, water, and food to the cells of the body. This essential function is accomplished in a marvelous manner by the blood as it circulates constantly throughout the body, year after year. The role of blood in combatting disease-producing organisms and in repairing injured tissues is one of the most significant discoveries of medical science, and the use of blood transfusions as one of the most beneficial treatments for many medical needs further testifies to the supreme importance of blood in the life of the flesh.”
Thompson writes, “In fact, human red blood cells can carry 270 million molecules of hemoglobin, each. If there were any less, there would not be enough residual oxygen available to sustain life after, say, a good sneeze, or a hard pat on the back. We know today that “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” But it wasn’t known as recently as George Washington’s day. He bled to death through the bloodletting process of that day’s doctors. How was Moses so accurate?”
Incidentally, the idea “the life is in the blood” is true spiritually as well. Hebrews 9:22 teaches us “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” In other words, no forgiveness can be obtained without bloodshed. The Jews learned this from the constant flow of blood in animal sacrifices. The Bible steps this up a notch when it speaks of the transition from animal sacrifices to that of the lamb of God in Hebrews 9:12, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His OWN blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Truly, the life is in the blood! Have you contacted the blood of Christ in baptism (Rom. 6:3-5)? If not, why not do so today. We’ll tell you how to get a free copy of this message after our song…
Thank you for watching Let the Bible Speak. We hope you will join us every Lord’s Day and then worship with us at one of the congregations to follow. If you’d like a copy of this sermon, #864 “The Bible and Science,” please write us at the address on your screen. We also offer our free Bible study by mail that you can complete at home. We always welcome your comments and questions. Please visit LetTheBibleSpeak.com and watch videos of the program at your convenience. Finally, we echo the sentiment of the apostle Paul when he wrote in Romans 16:16, “the churches of Christ salute you.” Until next week, goodbye and God bless.
Are you searching for the truth of God's word and have a sincere desire to learn about the Bible? Do you want to know what the Bible says about salvation and about Christ and His church? If you are looking for Bible Founded discussion on these topics and many others, then please accept this invitation to explore "Let the Bible Speak" and then contact us for additional studies.
We are members of the church of Christ as found in the New Testament. We are not members of a denomination or earthly religious organization. We are a brotherhood of believers, joined by a common bond, Jesus Christ. We try to live and worship following the patterns found in the New Testament.
(For manuscripts of other sermons visit: )
COPYRIGHT © Let The Bible Speak. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
Express permission is granted to distribute any video, audio, or transcript of any broadcast message as long as the material is: unedited and attribution is given to Let The Bible Speak; a hyperlink to LetTheBibleSpeak.com is included for electronic distribution; a text reference is included to for printed distribution; and the original author receives attribution. An irrevocable, world-wide, royalty free license for distribution is granted as long as such distribution has the intent of: supporting the truth as presented; giving glory and honor to God; and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.