8. Physical Support for the Bible
Throughout the Bible, many passages very accurately describe the universe and earth. However, other ancient mythologies do not align with science. For example, ancient mythologies describe the origin of the universe using common topics like a primordial chaos. So, this chapter shows compelling evidence that the Bible is no ordinary book.
The Bible Describes Creation
From the very beginning, the Bible describes the universe and Earth as being unique. For example, the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This verses agrees with the modern scientific theories which states that the universe and Earth had a beginning. However, these modern scientific theories were developed approximately 3,000 years after the book of Genesis was written.
Also, it is very important to remember that the book of Genesis was written approximately 1,400 BC. However, modern science did not understand the concept of the universe as a vast expanse of galaxies until the 1920s when Edwin Hubble discovered other galaxies and the expanded universe. So, it is simply amazing that the book of Genesis agrees with modern science.
Also, the book of Genesis completely disagrees with other cultures. For example, Babylonian myths describe a disorderly, polytheistic battle of gods creating the universe. Egyptian myths described natural forces as being personified gods. For example, the sky is the deity Nut, the sun is the deity Ra, and the ocean is the deity Nun. So, Genesis 1 describes a very unique worldview that presents a basis for the Bible.
The Bible Describes the Earth
The Bible also presents several scientific facts about the Earth. For example, Job describes the Earth as floating in space: “He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing” (Job 26:7). Here, the Bible describes the Earth as simply floating in space without any constraints, but this description dramatically contrasts how ancient mythologies described Earth. For example, ancient mythologies described a flat Earth that was supported by animals or pillars. Now, we understand that the Earth is round, and the Earth floats freely in space.
The Bible also describes the Earth as being spherical. For example, Isaiah wrote: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in” (Isaiah 40:22). Here, Isaiah describes Earth as being a “circle,” a concept that agrees with current knowledge.
However, this verse is unique because it completely contradictions ancient knowledge. For example, ancient mythologies had vastly different concepts about the Earth. For example, ancient mythologies, including the Babylonians and Egyptians, considered the Earth to be flat and encircled by water. Only the Bible accurately described the Earth as being a sphere.
God Created Light and Matter
The Bible also described the incredible power and holy nature that God possess. The Bible’s description of God is in dramatic contrast to ancient mythologies. For example, Babylonian and Egyptian mythologies taught polytheism. Also, the Bible describes God’s eternal power: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).
The Bible also relates how God created light. The Bible says: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day” (Genesis 1:2-5). These verses detail how powerful God is because God simply said “let there be light,” and there was light. However, ancient mythologies describes several deities creating the universe through conquests.
Also, the Bible details how God created the heavens and Earth (Genesis 1:1-2:3). The Bible describes a creation account which agrees with the current scientific models. For example, scientific models state that the universe started with matter inflating. It is amazing that the Bible accurately describes creation because ancient creation mythology was dramatically different. For example, Greek creation mythology taught that the universe emerged from Chaos. So, the Bible is a document that accurately describes history.
The Bible Describes Life
The Bible has many verses which depict life and creation. For example, the Bible accurately describes God creating life: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). This verse is unique because it radically disagrees with ancient mythologies. Ancient mythologies describe the origin of life from water or mud or the appearance of a celestial egg.
God also provided the Israelites very detailed instructions for preventing diseases. For example, the Bible describes laws regarded clothes washing and bathing (Leviticus 15:1-27). The Bible also describes very specific laws about human waste and containment (Deuteronomy 23:12-14). The Bible also mentions that clothes and hands should be under running water (Leviticus 15:13), but modern doctors did not recognized the benefit of using running water before the 1800s.
The Bible also provided strict quarantine guidelines. For example, the Bible says: “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:45-46). Here, the Bible says that infected people must live in isolation outside the city. However, ancient mythologies simply saw pestilence as an act by deities, and they performed acts to pacify their deities.
The Bible Describes the Universe
The Bible also contains several verses which accurately describe the number of stars in the universe. For example, the Bible says: “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” (Genesis 22:17-18). The Bible also says, “I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore” (Jeremiah 33:22). So, telescopes for looking at the universe were developed in the 17th century, but the book of Genesis was written approximately 3,000 years ago. So, it is simply amazing that the Bible accurately describes the number stars in the sky as being countless.
The Bible also describes the earth as being round and the expansion of the universe. For example, the Bible says, “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in” (Isaiah 40:22). Here, the Bible describes the “circle of the earth,” but ancient mythologies believed that earth was flat. Also, the Bible says that God “stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in,” but science did not discover that the universe was expanding until the 1920s.
Also, the Bible says that earth is spherical. For example, the Bible says, “He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness” (Job 26:10). So, here the Bible says that God made a sphere on the waters on the dividing line of darkness and light. This dividing line between darkness and light is the terminator. So, the terminator is a circle because the earth is a sphere.
The Bible also describes the universe as following laws. For example, the Bible says, “This is what the Lord says: ‘If I have not made my covenant with day and night and established the laws of heaven and earth (Jeremiah 33:25).’” Nature and the universe follow laws that God created. For example, the laws of physics are instances of the laws of heaven and earth. Another example is the precision of the solar system as it orbits the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
Finally, the Bible describes God as creating the universe and the earth, and the order of creation is very logical. For example, the Bible described creation in Genesis 1: God made light first (verse 1), then God water (verse 6), God then made soil (verse 9), God then made plants (verse 11), then God made animals (verse 24), and God then made humans (verse 26). So, this order of creation is very logical, but ancient creation mythologies have no logical order to creation. For example, ancient mythologies describes creation from simple primordial chaos. So, the logical order to creation in the Bible is simply incredible. The prophet Isaiah also described the universe, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing” (Isaiah 40:26).
Thermodynamics in the Bible
The Bible also depicts the creation account which agrees with Thermodynamic principles. For example, the Bible says: “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” (Genesis 2:1-2). So, the Bible describes the heavens and the earth as being finished. The Hebrew word in the Bible is the past definite case for the word “finished,” designating a movement that was performed in the past and will never happen again. So, the Bible describes creation as being permanently finished.
So, the First Law of Thermodynamics is a scientific law in physics which says that energy and matter cannot be destroyed or created. So, this description of creation agrees with the First Law of Thermodynamics. So, this law says that energy and matter cannot be destroyed or created. So, the Bible states that creation is finished, which agrees with the First Law of Thermodynamics.
The Bible describes the earth and the heavens using terms that agrees with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. So, the Bible says: “Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed” (Psalm 102:25-26). So, the Bible describes the earth and the heavens as wearing out like garments.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is a scientific law in physics which states that all physical system become more disordered over time. So, the law states that all physical systems in the universe increases in entropy (disorder) over time. So, the Bible’s describes earth and the heavens as deteriorating over time, which is exactly what the Second Law of Thermodynamics states.
Oceanography and Atmospheric Jet Streams
The Bible also describes the science of oceanography. So, Matthew Maury is consider the founder of oceanography, and he was inspired by the Bible’s statement that the oceans have “paths of the sea” in Psalm 8. So, the Bible says: “the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:8). Matthew Maury was a strong Christian, and he wanted to find these paths in the oceans. Maury did find these paths in the ocean, and he wrote a book in 1855, “The Physical Geography of the Sea.”
So, the Bible has several verses which agree with oceanography. For example, the Bible states that the ocean floor has springs and mountains. The Bible says, “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?” (Job 38:16). Also, the Bible states: “The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever” (Jonah 2:5-6). So, scientists discovered the science of oceanography in the 1850s, but the Bible described oceanography nearly 2,800 years ago.
The Bible also describes the water cycle. So, the water cycle is the movement of water around the Earth. The water cycle is guided by energy from the sun and gravity, storage of water in land and oceans, and the atmosphere’s gaseous, liquid, or solid states. The main processes in the water cycle include evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and transpiration. So, the water cycle is essential to Earth’s climate and ecosystems.
So, the Bible primarily describes the water cycle in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. So, the Bible says: “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” (Job 36:27-28). So, the Bible describes evaporation (“draws up the drops of water”), condensation (“distills in rain from his vapor”), and precipitation (“the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly”). The Bible also describes transpiration: “All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again" (Ecclesiastes 1:7). So, what is amazing about the Bible is that scientists did not discover the water cycle until the 17th century, but the Bible described the water cycle 2,600 years ago.
The Bible also describes the atmospheric jet streams. So, the atmospheric jet streams involves the respective and circular character of wind. The atmospheric jet streams are slim air streams approximately 30,000 feet above the earth, and they blow from west to east. So, the atmospheric jet streams form when cold and warm air converge, and the jet streams can move up to 250 mph.
So, the Bible describes atmospheric jet streams in the book of Ecclesiastes. So, the Bible says: “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” (Ecclesiastes 1:6-7). So, the Bible describes wind as regularly moving around the earth, and this is similar to how the atmospheric jet stream moves air in the atmospheric. So, what is amazing about this verse is that Ecclesiastes was written about 2,200 year ago, but scientist discovered the atmospheric jet streams in the 1920s.
The Bible Describes Epidemiology and Pathology
The Bible also describes epidemiology and pathology. So, epidemiology and pathology deal with the causes and control of diseases. The Bible does not use the scientific terms pathology or epidemiology. However, the Bible does describes detailed mechanisms to control diseases and prevent the spread of diseases in the community.
So, the Old Testament presents dietary rules which show that some foods have a higher chance for transferring disease. For example, the Bible says: “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean’” (Leviticus 11:9-10). Here, the Bible forbids eating a wide variety of sea creatures such as shellfish. There are many other verses throughout the Bible which forbid eating pork, blood, and contaminated water.
The Bible also describes advice on disease prevention that aligns with modern medicine. For example, the Bible says: “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:45-46). Here, the Bible provides guidance regarding using quarantines to prevent the spread of diseases until the medication condition was fully healed.
The Bible also provides advice for plant-based treatments. For example, the Bible says: “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing” (Ezekiel 47:12). So, the Bible says that the leaves of trees contain medical compounds that can promote healing.
Conclusions
This chapter presented strong evidence that the Bible was inspired by God. For example, the Bible describes the creation, the earth, and the universe which agree with current science. So, this is simply amazing because the Old Testament was written approximately 1,400 BC. So, the information presented here provides strong evidence that God wrote the Bible.