Why the Conflict Between Science and The Bible?

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It is a common fallacy among people today to say that the Bible and science contradict one another.  My goal this morning is to emphasize the fact that Faith and Science are NOT enemies.

 

Since those who oppose religion don’t want to admit the scientific accuracy of Scripture, I thought it would be advantageous this morning to look at a number of scientific facts which were revealed in Scripture before their discovery by scientists in recent years.

 

The skeptic would be quick to dismiss such an idea, but in fact the Bible does provide a number of these indisputable facts.

 

I.              THE ROUNDNESS OF THE EARTH. (Isaiah 40:22) p. 293

 

Bear in mind that this was written approx. 750 B.C.  So, who told Isaiah that the earth was round?  Many people in the past, and surprisingly, even some in our own day, believed the earth to be flat.  When Columbus made his famous voyage there were those who thought that he might risk falling off the ends of the earth; and consider that, that was in the year 1492. 

 

But they had Scripture that told the truth of the matter.  When Isaiah spoke of the circle of the earth, he used a Hebrew word that means "a ball, a circle, a sphere, something round." (B. Thompson)  He was not talking about something flat, but about something circular (like a basketball). (Ibid.)  We can trust the Bible because it is always right.

 

II.            THE SUSPENSION OF THE EARTH. (Job 26:7) p. 215

 

It is believed that Job was written approx. 2500 B.C., and yet revealed the truth of the

suspension of the earth by gravity.  In that day, there was the strange belief that the four corners of the earth were held up by elephants.  The truth of Job 26:7 wasn’t actually realized until about 1475 A.D. by Copernicus, 3,975 years after Job penned his words.  So we return to a familiar question: Who told Job that the earth hanged on nothing?

 

III.           THE WEIGHT OF AIR (Job 28:25) p. 215

 

It was once believed that air was weightless and now it is believed that air has weight.

 

IV.          THE TRAVEL OF LIGHT (Job 38:19-20) p. 219

 

It was once thought that light is fixed in place.  But, now it is known that light travels.

 

V.           MESSAGES SENT BY LIGHTNING. (Job 38:35) p. 219

 

 Of interest, lightning is the only word that the Hebrews had which referred to electricity as we know it.  It is fascinating to think that Job was writing about the ability to send a message in such a fashion.  Who would have imagined that God would have revealed such an ability long before the modern radio that actually proves this scientific fact.  Who told Job about radio waves?

 

VI.          THE INNUMERABLE STARS. (Gen. 15:4-5, Jer. 33:22) p.5/p.322

 

Hipparchus said there were only 1,022 stars. Ptolemy is reported to have said that there were 1,026. I have to admire the patience of any individual who is insane enough to stand outside and count the stars at night.

 

Actually it was Galileo who was the first to openly teach that the stars cannot be numbered.  Of interest in our day, “the Hubble Guide Star Catalogues contain entries for 15 million stars.” And that is just the ones that have been cataloged. 

 

Isn’t it something that Moses and Jeremiah informed us the stars were innumerable long before man finally admitted it.

 

VII.         THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS IN THE BLOOD. (Lev. 17:11) p.49

 

Throughout history, there have been those who believed that disease and spirits reside in the blood. In fact the only remedy was to bleed the patient.  In 1618, William Harvey was appointed the personal physician to James 1st.  His famous document regarding blood was published in 1628 and remains one of the marvels from that era.

 

“The heart of animals is the foundation of their life…that upon which all growth depends, from which all power proceeds.  The heart, it is…the centre from which life is dispensed to the several parts of the body…For it is the heart by whose virtue and pulse the blood is moved, perfected, and made nutrient, and is preserved from corruption and coagulation; it is the household divinity which, discharging its function, nourishes, cherishes, quickens the whole body, and is indeed the foundation of life, the source of all action.”

 

It is remarkable that William Harvey came to these conclusions in 1628, centuries after Moses penned Leviticus.

 

Remember, when it comes to science, God knows everything since before time began and Scientists have to learn facts the hard way—they have to discover them.  And what may seem like an erroneous statement in the Bible when it was made, has later proven to be correct when science finally got its act together.

 

Christianity is not a baseless faith, we have abundant evidence to believe that God is real and the Bible is His Word.

 

Romans 1:20

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