Science! and the Bible
A. WE ARE TO BE READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE.
B. WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE, INSPIRED OF GOD, IS THAT REVELATION.
C. IN THIS LESSON WE EXAMINE THE HARMONY OF SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE
AS EVIDENCE OF THE BIBLE’S INSPIRATION.
A. DR. CARL F. H. HENRY’S QUOTE: “No claim is made that the sacred writers, as individuals, were personally exempt from the naïve world-view of the own day, nor that their writings articulate a classified and systematized science involving general laws. What is claimed is that, as the messengers of holy revelation, they were lifted beyond their own capacities, and that their declarations bearing upon nature and upon man are as reliable as their teaching about God and His activity.” (Contemporary Evangelical Thought, “Science and Religion,” pg. 269)
B. THE BIBLE DOES NOT CONTAIN THE ERRORS OF SCIENCE WHICH WERE
COMMON AT THE TIME OF ITS WRITING.
1. Moses (Acts 7:22). Yet no hint of Egyptian theories of origins.
a. The world came from a flying egg, man from white worms of the Nile.
b. Instead: Gen. 1:1, 26-27; 2:7.
2. Daniel (Dan. 1:14, 17-20). None of the Babylonian myths, magic, or mysteries in
his writing. They came to him for wisdom (1:20; 5:11-12).
C. CLAIMS OF MEN THE BIBLE NEVER MADE:
1. Life arose from inorganic matter – The Bible claims life from life.
2. The earth is the center of the Universe (Ptolemy, an Egyptian, ancient astronomer,
geographer, and mathematician who considered the Earth the earth the center of the
universe – the “Ptolemaic system”).
3. Superstitious medical remedies (Lizard blood, swine teeth, putrid meat, etc. )
D. REGARDING ALLEGED CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE.
1. The Bible and theories of science may (& do) conflict (Genesis and evolution).
2. Facts of science and theories about the Bible may conflict.
3. TRUTH OF THE BIBLE AND FACTS OF SCIENCE DO NOT CONFLICT.
A. SCIENCE: the study of the physical and natural world and phenomena, especially by
using systematic observation and experiment. (Encarta Online Dictionary)
1. SCIENCE DEALS WITH THAT WHICH IS
a. Repeatable
b. Testable
c. Demonstrable
2. Examples of Science:
a. tadpoles and frogs
b. Gravity
c. Bernoulli's principle
B. THEORY:
1. An unproven conjecture. (Wiktionary)
2. Idea formed by speculation – an idea or belief about something arrived at through
conjecture. (Encarta Online Dictionary)
C. HYPOTHESIS: 1. theory needing investigation: a tentative explanation for a
phenomenon, used as a basis for further investigation
2. assumption: a statement that is assumed to be true for the sake of argument
(Encarta Online Dictionary)
D. FACT: something that has reality, that exists, or that happened or is
happening(Wordsmyth)
E. FAITH:
1. Heb. 11:6 “...a belief that he is, and that he is a rewarder ...” trust.
2. Heb. 11:1 “Conviction – assurance.
3. Comes from where? (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30-31). Evidence presented.
F. REGARDING ALLEGED CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE.
1. Proclamations outside one’s field of expertise often present conflicts.
2. Conflicts occur between the Bible when the theories of science are
brought against the Bible.
3. Sometimes faulty Bible exegesis causes conflict between the Bible and science
(cf. Isa. 11:12).
4. When the Bible is understood, it is not in conflict with the proven facts of science.
The God who created the universe is the same God who wrote the Bible. We should
be surprised to see a remarkable harmony between his creation and his revelation
(Psa. 19:1, 7-9).
A. A ROUND EARTH (Prov. 8:27 – 1000 BC; Isa. 40:22 – 740-690 BC)
1. 384-322 BC: Aristotle argued for a spherical earth, but few were convinced.
2. 1520 AD: Introduction of the compass and the voyages of Columbus and Magellan.
B. THE SUSPENSION OF THE EARTH (Job 26:7 – 2000-1600 BC)
1. When men thought the earth flat and supported.
2. 1686 AD: Sir Isaac Newton – Law of Universal Gravitation.
The earth is suspended in its orbit by the attraction of the sun.
C. NUMBER THE STARS (Gen. 15:5 – 1400 BC; Jer. 33:22 – 600 BC;
Isa. 40:26; Psa. 147:4 ).
1. 150 BC: Hipparchus taught there were less than 3,000 stars. He was a Greek
astronomer and mathematician who discovered the precession of the equinoxes,
calculated the length of the year to within 61/2 minutes, compiled the first known
star catalog, and made an early formulation of trigonometry.
2. 150 AD: Ptolemy counted 1,056 and claimed the number was not over 3,000.
3. 1608 AD: Galileo use a telescope and announce the number of stars innumerable.
D. THE PATHS OF THE SEA (Psa. 8:8 – 1000 BC).
1. 1855 AD: Matthew Fontaine Muary, upon hearing Psa. 8:8 read to by his son, set
out to discover and chart the ocean’s sea lanes and current.
E. CHANNELS IN THE SEA (2 Sam. 22:16 – 1000 BC).
1. 1504 AD: Juan de la Costa made the first ocean soundings, but nothing to change
the universal view that the ocean floors were flat, sandy beds like our deserts.
2. 1840 AD: James Clark Rose made oceanic soundings to a depth of nearly 2,000
fathoms. (12000 ft.)
3. 1971 AD: First complete map of the ocean floors showing the resesses of the deep.
F. SPRINGS IN THE SEA (Job 38:16 – 2000-1600 BC; Gen. 7:11; 8:2 – 1400 BC).
1. 1930 AD: Fresh water springs discovered in the ocean floor.
2. 1945 AD: Underwater volcanoes discovered.
G. THE WATER VAPOR CYCLE (Job 36:27-28 – 2000-1600 BC; Ecc. 1:7 – 1000 BC).
1. Sea is not full, Evaporation and rain.
2. 350 BC Aristotle comprehended the water vapor cycle and published Meteorlogica.
3. 1770 AD: Benjamin Franklin observed movement of water by storms.
H. LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD (Lev. 17:11 – 1400 BC).
1. 350 BC: Herophilos advocated blood letting as a cure of disease. They thought that
blood was the cause of disease.
2. 1616 AD: Dr. William Harvey, British physician, discovered blood circulates and
is used over and over.
3. 1800 AD: Barbers were surgeons and blood letters. ( Red stripe on barber pole.)
I COSMOLOGY – ASTROPHYSICS.
1. Time had a beginning (2 Tim. 1:9: Titus 1:2; 1 Cor. 2:7; Gen. 1:1).
2. The Universe created from the invisible ( Heb. 11:3).
3. An expanding Universe ( Job 9:8; Jer. 10:12; 51:15).
4. The Universe is winding down (Psa. 102:25-27) 2nd law of thermodynamics.
5. Stars like snowflakes are different ( 1 Cor. 15:41)
6. Stars sing (Job 38:7)
7. Orion and Pleiades are bound star groups (Job 38:7) Gravity.
8. The earth is a sphere ( Isa. 40:22; Job 26:10).
9. The earth is suspended (Job 26:7).
J. AIR HAS WEIGHT (Job 28:5).
K. THE WIND BLOWS IN CIRCULAR PATHS (Ecc. 1:6)
A. NONE OF THE MISTAKEN NOTIONS OF THEIR AGE WAS INCLUDED BY THE
WRITERS OF THE BIBLE.
B. THERE ARE STATEMENTS IN THE BIBLE THAT INDICATE AN
UNDERSTANDING BEYOND THE MOST ADVANCED OF THEIR DAY.
C. THE BIBLE IS A SPECIAL BOOK. INSPIRED OF GOD (1 Thess. 2:13).