Today the average man has no concern for his personal responsibility toward God.
He does not consider the Bible to be God’s Word. He places it upon the same level as the sacred writings of other ancient peoples.
He gives it no more value than he would a group of myths because he believes it contains scientific error.
There are many Christians who brush the difficulty aside. They say that we do not expect to find theology in a scientific textbook, nor do we expect to find science in a theological book.
This, however, does not solve the difficulty.
Although we do not expect to find science taught to us in a book coming from God, we do not expect to find scientific error in it, for its Author, knowing all things and being Himself the Creator of the universe, could not write through man that which contained blunders on any subject.
Others say that God spoke to man in ancient times and that their minds were so steeped in error that He could not speak to them in the light of the modern era. They say He came down to their level just as a father comes down in his talking to the level of his little boy.
This does not solve the problem either. Although a father does talk to a boy on his own level, he does not need to say anything that could cause the boy in later years to lose faith in his father’s integrity.
If the Bible is a revelation from God, it cannot contain scientific error.
In ancient times, God spoke nothing to ancient man that would cause modern man to lose faith in His Word. Let us consider the so-called scientific mistakes of the Bible to see whether or not they are errors after all.
As personal workers, we must be prepared to give a reason to every man who asks concerning the hope that is within us, a hope based upon His Word.
It is growing more precious to us every day. We know that it is God’s revelation to us, so we must prepare ourselves to deal with those whom we may meet who sincerely believe that the Bible contains scientific error.
LIGHT BEFORE THE SUN
We commonly hear today of the mistakes of Moses, especially in reference to the first chapter of Genesis.
The fact that in the history of creation in Genesis 1:3, we have light before and seemingly without the sun seems an erroneous statement to many.
However, science now teaches that light is not dependent upon the sun for its existence.
Light is the result of force causing the waves of ether to vibrate with an almost infinite rapidity.
We can measure the greatness of that force by the fact that light travels around the earth eight times a second.
We find in Genesis 1:2 that the first thing that took place in creation was that the Holy Spirit “moved upon the face of the waters.”
The word “moved” in Hebrew is a continuative verb meaning “kept moving.” We have here the introduction and continuation of the force and the result was light.
Since the invention of photography, the ideas of scientists upon the subject of light have been revolutionized. The action of light on the plates has shown that it was one of the greatest forces in the universe, and that its action was necessary to prepare the way for all life.
This knowledge about light was one of the greatest scientific discoveries made at the close of the nineteenth century, yet is was written in the Bible thirty-four centuries ago.
ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Another so-called error of the Bible is the fact that Bible chronology gives about 6,000 years as the span of man’s existence upon the globe.
We know that man’s arrival was preceded by an ice age. If we knew just when the ice age ended, we should be able to judge fairly accurately the time when the first man appeared.
At first, science gave us 850,000 years as the span. Then James Croll and James Geikie said that 80,000 years had passed since the ice age.
Sir Joseph Prestwich believed it to have ended 20,000 or 30,000 years ago.
So we can see that scientific numbers have been tumbling down in a wholesale fashion toward the number given to us in Bible chronology.
However, these numbers are more or less based upon theory and a more accurate measurement has been used.
Our rivers have ploughed their channels since the ice was cleared away from the surface. Niagara has had to cut through the rock gorge down which it hurls the huge mass of waters that form the falls. It has ploughed out seven miles. Research has revealed that the falls started forming 7,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Thus we can see that the latest scientific knowledge is bringing us down to Bible dates.
These two seeming mistakes of the Bible are some of the “certainties” that have caused people to reject God’s Word upon the grounds that it contained scientific error.
If the Bible had given the existence of the sun before light, or the date of man’s appearance at a much later date, it might have been in harmony with science of the last century, but present-day science would have proved it untrue.
Many believe that Genesis 1 records the creation of the world in six days.
We have creation in six periods, however, not days of twenty-
four hours.
It is evident that these periods were not our days of twenty-
four hours each, for the earth did not begin to revolve on its axis around the sun until the fourth period.
Therefore, the days could not be twenty-four hours each. We shall continue this study in our next lesson.
(We wish to add that we are indebted to John Urquhart’s Roger’s Reasons, or the Bible and Science for much of the material in this lesson.)
QUESTIONS
- What is the attitude of modern man toward the Bible?
- Why must we as personal workers be prepared to meet those who believe that the Bible contains scientific errors?
- Explain the existence of light before the sun.
- Show how science is showing that the Bible is authentic in the date that it gives us for the appearance of man.
- How would you deal with one who believed that the creation days were twenty-four hours each?
17
Dealing with Bible vs. Science Skeptics
We are continuing in this lesson a study of the seemingly scientific errors of the Bible.
One of the most common erroneous beliefs we shall meet is the belief that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat. The skeptics in general believe this.
There are several reasons for this common belief. For one, the phrase “ends of the earth” is mentioned in several Scriptures. However, today, in circumstances similar to those in which the Bible used the phrase, we would speak of the phrase “ends of the earth” without calling it a scientific error.
If we wished to express the great distance from which a group of people had come to witness a great event, we might say they had come from “the ends of the earth.”
Another reason for believing that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat is found in the terms “foundations” and “pillars” when used in reference to the earth. Many believe that this refers to the fact that the earth is resting as a flat plain upon foundations and pillars. However, these terms apply to the internal arrangements in this planet.
Urquhart tells us that some scientists have judged these expressions to be marvelously accurate in describing how the solid crust of the earth has been built up.
On the other hand, the Bible very definitely teaches us that the earth is round. It taught this at a time when science had not been developed and the common opinion of other nations was that the earth was flat.
We, as personal workers, must prepare ourselves to give these Scriptures to anyone who sincerely believes that the Bible teaches error upon this subject.
The first Scripture that we will use is Job 26:7: “He…hangeth the earth upon nothing.” This Scripture reveals to us the law of gravitation. The earth is fixed, held in its place, yet it is suspended from nothing. No support reached out to it from any side. A divine operation has placed it and holds it there.
Another Scripture is Isaiah 40:22: “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.” The Hebrew word translated “circle” does not mean a circle drawn upon a plain surface, but it means a sphere, in a literal translation. Scripture could not be plainer here in showing to us that the earth is not flat.
Deuteronomy 4:19 also shows in a very clear way that the earth is round: “Which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.” God here is warning Israel against following other nations in the worship of the stars.
It is only the light of modern scientific knowledge that enables us to understand this Scripture. God has given to different nations a different portion of the stars. Now, if the earth were a flat plain, all nations would see the same stars, but because it is a globe, different nations see different stars. In the Southern Hemisphere, they do not see the Great Bear or the North Star, but they see the Southern Cross.
Here is another Scripture that very positively shows the earth to be round:
I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (Luke 17:34–36)
Now, note here the fact that Christ said that when He returned, it would be night in one section of Earth, daylight in another, and midday in another. This Scripture can only be understood in the knowledge of the fact that the earth is a sphere revolving around the sun.
The above Scriptures could only have been written through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for man, at the time when they were written, did not possess this knowledge. In studying the beliefs of any contemporary people at the time each Scripture was written, we find that each one held fantastical and grotesque beliefs about the earth. The Hindus possessed some of the greatest intellects of humanity, yet they believed that the earth rested upon the back of a huge elephant, and this upon a turtle, and so forth.
This belief was similar to the beliefs of other nations at that time.
Another common erroneous attitude of the skeptical toward the Bible is that the Bible gives a wrong impression of the relationship of Earth in size to the heavenly bodies.
It is commonly believed that it magnifies the size of the earth and that it gives the impression that the heavenly bodies are of no greater size and importance than they appear to be. However, this is not true, and we find just the opposite revealed to us.
Let us notice Psalm 8:3–4: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
Now here we have the wonder of modern astronomy.
This Scripture could only have been spoken by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. At the time that this was written, man believed that the sun, the moon, and the stars were of no greater size than they appeared to be to the naked eye. A man with this conception of the heavenly universe could never have the feeling which the psalmist expressed. The psalmist, in considering the greatness of the heavenly bodies and the utter smallness and insignificance of the earth and man in comparison, cries out, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”
We see here also his wonder and exclamation of awe at the incarnation, which is revealed here, that God should actually visit man upon this small and insignificant planet.
It is clearly seen that a man with the conception of that day of the relationship of the earth to the heavenly universe could not feel the awe of the psalmist expressed here. To him, it would seem perfectly natural that the earth should be considered and even visited by the Creator, for to him, the heavenly universe would be of small significance and importance compared to the earth, which seemed so great to him.
This unutterable majesty of the heavenly universe, as revealed in the Scripture, does not remove God from us. Our contemplation of the greatness of the heavenly bodies reveals to us more the fullness and wonder of His love. Insignificant as Earth is, man was remembered by his Creator, who Himself took the form of a man and visited this planet, becoming sin on our behalf, that man might be reconciled to Him.
QUESTIONS
- How would you show one that the phrase ends of the earth did not indicate that the earth was flat?
- How would you explain the meaning of the terms “foundations” and “pillars”?
- Explain Deuteronomy 4:19.
- Explain Luke 17:34–36.
- What other Scriptures show that the earth is round?
- Explain the Scripture that confirms the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in regard to modern astronomy.