Home > The Bible as the Word of God
The Bible is not a scienific textbook to explain everything. The examples given here are often seen by Christian apologists as indirect scientific foreknowledge given by God before discovered by modern science centuries later.
These passages show a level of insight into the natural world that was often far ahead of the surrounding cultures of the time. Some scientific context is given as well.
- Earth is a sphere (Isa 40:22) Hebrew word chūg, which can mean "circle" or "sphere." Some argue it implies a flat disk, others note it describes the horizon as seen from above.
- The free float of Earth in space (Job 26:7). This is remarkably consistent with the modern understanding of gravity and planetary suspension.
- Number of stars exceeds the number of grains of sand (Jer 33:22). Before telescopes, people counted about 3,000 stars. Modern science confirms there are sextillions (1021), making them effectively "innumerable."
- Every star is unique and different (1Cor 15:41)
- Air has weight (Job 28:25). "To establish a weight for the wind." Atmospheric pressure was not scientifically quantified until Torricelli in 1643.
- Winds blow in cyclones (Ecc 1:6)
- Blood is the source of life (Lev 17:11). Until the 19th century, "bloodletting" was a common medical practice to cure disease. We now know blood carries oxygen and nutrients, making it the literal "source of life."
- Conservation of mass and energy (Ecc 1:9, Ecc 3:14-15)
- Gravity (Job 26:7; Job 38:31-33)
- Pleiades and Orion as gravitationally bound star groups (Job 38:31). The Pleiades is a gravitationally bound star cluster, while the stars of Orion’s belt are drifting apart—a fact only discovered with high-powered telescopes.
- Effect of emotions on physical health (Pro 16:24, Pro 17:22)
- Control of contagious diseases (Lev 13:45-46). The Bible describes isolating the sick long before the "Germ Theory" of disease was established.
- Importance of sanitation to health (Lev 7; Num 19; Deu 23:12-13)
- Washing under running water to remove disease (Lev 15:13). Most ancient cultures washed in standing water (which breeds bacteria). The Bible specifies "running water," which is the modern medical standard for decontamination.
- The seas have paths and currents which carry fish and water around the Earth (Psalm 8:8). Mentions "paths of the seas." Matthew Maury, the father of oceanography, was famously inspired by this verse to map major ocean currents.
- The perfect dimensions of ships for ship building (Gen 6:15). The dimensions of Noah's Ark (300 x 50 x 30 cubits) give a ratio of 30:5:3. In 1993, a South Korean study found that this specific ratio is nearly ideal for stability and sea-keeping in heavy waves—ratios still used in modern tankers.
- Dinosaurs (Job 40:15-24). While "Behemoth" has a tail like a cedar, mainstream scholars argue it describes a hippopotamus or elephant. They suggest "tail" might be a euphemism for trunk or strength, or that the "cedar" comparison refers to its stiffness, not its size.
- Antibacterial Lye Soap (Num 19). The ritual of the "water of purification" involved ashes of a heifer and hyssop. Ashes contain potash (lye), and hyssop contains antiseptic oils (thymol), essentially creating a primitive antibacterial soap.
- Advanced Ship building by a desert dwelling people
- Bread of Ezekiel 4:9 covers all nutrient needs.
While originally a siege ration, the combination of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt provides a complete protein source and high fiber, fulfilling modern nutritional requirements. The doesn't allow for a "health food" recommendation!
There is a pattern of accuracy for mainly desert-dwellers. How did a wandering, non-maritime, non-scientific tribe avoid the massive medical blunders of their "advanced" neighbors (like the Egyptian practice of treating wounds with crocodile dung) while stumbling upon the exact protocols for germ theory and naval architecture?