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Scientific details declared long before being discovered by scientist

by Robert Kiser  
3/09/2010 / Christian Apologetics

The Bible unlike any other writing is unique in the fact that is surpasses mankind's abilities. The prophecies in the Bible that have already been fulfilled are what most point to for the Bible actually being the word of God. No man has ever been able to predict the future with the detail and accuracy that the Bible has shown. However the Bible is in no way limited in providing evidence to the fact that it is indeed the word of God. Another area that can be pointed to for the authenticity of the Bible is science.

Most informed Christians will readily admit the Bible is not a text book on science. You cannot prove the Bible to be the word of God based solely on science. Then again science does not refute the Bible either. Some people think of it as Religion VS Science. Well the fact is the Bible has never been proven scientifically wrong. The same cannot be said about some theories proposed by scientist. Science and the Bible are in harmony in areas where they do meet. However the Bible was written to reveal God to mankind. The Bible was not written to teach anybody about science.

I want to give you a few of the many examples where the Bible mentions scientific facts that today we know are true. Yet what is amazing about these examples is that the Bible declared them as fact long before mankind discovered they were true!

Job 26:7 "He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing."

Keep in mind that Job lived almost 2000 years before Christ. This idea that the earth was suspended on nothing was not even thought of by scientist for thousands of years after Job. Now with our satellites and trips into space we know this to be true. But that was not known in Job's day. The Egyptians declared the earth rested on pillars. The Greeks said it was carried on the back of Atlas. People believed many things but they did not come close to what we know to be true today, and what Job declared a few thousand years ago. How did Job know this was true when science had not yet discovered it?

Job 28:25 "When He imparted weight to the wind, and meted out the waters by measure,

Does air have weight? In 1643 a mathematician named Evangelista Torricelli performed an experiment to learn if air has weight. His experiment is what led to the making of our barometer.

The relative weights of air and water are needed for the efficient functioning of the world's hydrologic cycle, which in turn sustains life on the earth.

Nasa.gov tells of an experiment that kids can do to verify this fact in school. Simply make a scale that pivots and balances correctly. Hang two empty balloons on each side and balance it out. Then remove one balloon and blow it up then hang it back in the same place. The side with the blown up balloon will go down because it has the weight of the air inside it.

Here again we find that air has weight discovered in the 16th century however Job lived almost 2000 years before Christ. The book of Job told us air has weight before science discovered this was true.

Lev 17:11 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.'

During George Washington's time, the practice of blood-letting to treat various kinds of illnesses was common. This practice is actually what killed him. The understanding of this verse could have spared his life. In today's world it is common knowledge that blood circulation is vital for our survival. William Harvey is accredited for being the first to introduce the importance of blood circulation in 1616. Yet all critics will agree that the Book of Leviticus was written a few thousand years ago. Any year that falls in B.C is long before 1616 and William Harvey.

William Harvey (1 April 1578 3 June 1657) was an English physician who was the first to describe correctly and in exact detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart. (wikipedia.org)

So we learn that the life of the flesh is in the blood in Leviticus long before science discovered the details of this truth.

Job 36:27-30
27 "For He draws up the drops of water, they distill rain from the mist,
28 Which the clouds pour down, they drip upon man abundantly.
29 "Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thundering of His pavilion?
30 "Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him, and He covers the depths of the sea.

This bible reference clearly describes evaporation and its cycle which we now refer to as the hydrological cycle. We also see that the context includes the sea. However the Greeks thought that spring water came from the oceans and was purified in the ground somehow making fresh water.

The understanding that it was through the evaporation process as described in the Book of Job was not discovered and understood until the 17th century. Yet Job was written long before Jesus was even born.

I have personally found the knowledge of this process very comforting when hiking in back country. Using this principle and a clear sheet of plastic a person can obtain purified water from anywhere. Most survival manuals teach this concept in the making of a solar still.

Here is a short related quote you may find interesting.

Brief historical overview of the hydrologic cycle
" Before the 17th century, many natural philosophers accepted the Greek theory (proposed by people who lived in a semiarid climate on limestone hills) that rainfall was insufficient to feed springs and rivers. It was thought that spring water was purified sea water from deep within the earth (reverse osmosis?).
However, in 1580, Bernard Palissy proposed the theory of the hydrologic cycle. Pierre Perrault (16081680) made careful observations of rainfall and streamflow in the Seine River basin, confirming Palissy's hunch and thus began the study of modern scientific hydrology"

Chapter 11 of the 1999 NGWA Press publication, Ground Water Hydrology for Water Well Contractors.
(ngwa.org)

Here in Job we find the Bible describes the hydrological cycle long before science discovers the reality of it.

Job 38:16
"Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

Think how this must have sounded to Job. There is no way that anybody in his day that could know there were springs in the ocean. It is not like anybody went deep sea diving or any other type of underwater exploration in his day.

Today we find that hot springs or hydrothermal vents coming from the ocean floor. Scientist first discovered these in the 1970's. How could Job possibly know there were springs of any kind on the ocean floor?

Eccl 1:6
Blowing toward the south, then turning toward the north, the wind continues swirling along; and on its circular courses the wind returns.

A study of Jet Stream & Trade Winds will show you that the wind does go in the circular course as described in this verse that was written in between 930-970 BC.

Jet Stream was discovered during World War 2.
The Trade Winds were discovered during the time of Christopher Columbus 1451-1506
(earthguide.ucsd.edu & Wickipedia.org)
How did Solomon know about this in 900 BC?

Isa 44:24
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by myself, and spreading out the earth all alone,

There are a number of Bible references speaking of the stretching out of the heavens. Isaiah is not the oldest reference, but it was written about 746-680 BC.

With the discoveries found with the Hubble Telescope and studies of redshifts most scientists today will agree that the universe has expanded. This is something that has just been discovered in our life time, but the Bible declared the heavens were stretched out in about 17 different passages several thousand years ago.

When we look at the Bible there is no other document rather it be religious or non religious that has this kind of credentials or uniqueness. In prophecies we see the Bible tell world history in advance and much of it has already happened. So the sincere student can check out if the Bible really can foretell the future by looking to see if it was accurate on predictions in the past. Well it does not end there. As you can see here the Bible also had knowledge of scientific details long before they were discovered by mankind. How is that possible? Well perhaps it is because it is what exactly what it claims to be; the written word of God!

ReasonableAnswers.org

Robert Kiser is the author of a few free pdf books and the .
Roberts books explains and defends the Christian Faith. His book also includes a section on Cults including Mormonism and Jehovah Witnesses. https://archive.org/details/@robert_kiser

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