Biblical scientific foreknowledge
Biblical scientific foreknowledge is the remarkable content of the Bible showing a comprehension of scientific knowledge beyond anything that existed among atheistic sources at the time when the Bible was composed.
Atheistic organizations and scientists, particularly evolutionists, engage in liberal denial about how the Bible was correct long before science could discover the same truths.
Contents
Specific examples of foreknowledge
Health
Homosexuality and disease
The Bible's prohibition against homosexuality predated knowledge about the many diseases and disorders associated with homosexuality, and thus showed scientific wisdom prescient for its time.
Eyesight
The description in the Gospel of Mark 8:24 for the sensation when one's eyesight is restored includes his perception of "trees walking." This perception was first confirmed nearly 2000 years later as physicians developed medical techniques for restoring eyesight.
Cosmology
Spherical Earth
The Book of Isaiah establishes that the true shape of the earth is a sphere:
“ | It is He who sits above the circle of the earth... - Isaiah 40:22 (KJV) | ” |
Here, the translation "circle" is inapt, as the Hebrew term entailed something spherical, not flat.
Note that Isaiah was written circa the 8th century BC, centuries before Greek philosophers, beginning with Pythagoras, theorized the earth was round.
Earth free floating in space
The book of Job states that God "hangs the earth on nothing." This presaged the fact that space is in fact empty, which wasn't known until the dawn of the 20th century, when ether theory was disproved. It also contrasts with pagan mythologies such as Atlas holding up the earth or the earth being supported by a giant turtle, as in ancient Hindu and native American myths.
Asteroids
The Revelation of Saint John notes,
“ | And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. Revelation 8:8-9 (KJV) | ” |
This accurately describes asteroids, essentially large chunks of rock lit on fire by the friction of entering the earth's atmosphere. They were not discovered until 1801, and their composition was not otherwise known until the 20th century.
Meteorology
Existence of the Jet Stream
Ecclesiastes 1:6 notes, "The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits." This described the jet stream long before its 19th-20th century discovery.
Zoology
Existence of dinosaurs
Dinosaur fossils were not discovered until the 19th century, but the book of Job describes enormous creatures called behemoth and leviathan, the descriptions being similar to dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. It may also have referred to another similarly giant now-extinct species.[1]
Lions' killing methods
Until the 1970s naturalists believed that lions killed their prey by biting through the neck or by breaking the neck with a swat of a paw, while the Bible says that lions strangled their prey. (Nahum 2:12) It was not until the 1970s that it was discovered that the Bible was correct.
Alleged absurdities and contradictions
Biblical scientific foreknowledge is an underpinning of creation science, and is widely credited by Christian scientists and apologists, including the organizations Creation Ministries International, Answers in Genesis, and CreationWiki.[2][3][4][5]
Atheists unsuccessfully attempt to discredit the Bible based on science. Here are some examples:
Bat as a bird
A favorite evolutionist canard is that Leviticus 11:13-19 labels the bat, a mammal, as a bird. But this is an obvious failure of translation, as the Hebrew term 'owph did not entail the "clade" of birds, but was a non-biological category referring to any winged creature, mammalian, avian, or insect. The KJV translation as "fowl" is simply incorrect.
See Also
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