Science of the Bible

26 posts / 0 new
Last post
Alan Travis's picture
Science of the Bible

As a chemical engineer, I understand, and subscribe to the tenets of the scientific method. If anything has given me an appreciation for the Profound Fortuitous Interdependencies* which make life possible, it is the objectivity engendered by my scientific background, coupled with common sense so often lacking in many well educated people. How anti-intellectual it is of the godless Left to denigrate Christians, often maliciously so. Calling Christians “fundies” and “believers in a flat earth” seems to give many people the perverse notion that they are erudite, and can consign Christians to the backwaters of ignorance. Just as Jesus overturned the tables of the money-changers in His Temple, so too is it my intention to overturn the tables of the intolerant Left with these personally written observations correlating science with its Creator.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The Holy Bible was written more than 2000 years ago. In 1924, Edwin Hubble proved that the spiral nebula in the constellation Andromeda was a separate island universe, apart from the Milky Way. This extended the size and scale of our universe by many orders of magnitude. Then, after hearing Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, Georges Lemaître, an ordained Catholic priest, proposed the “primeval atom” in 1927 – in other words, the creation of the universe. This breathtaking advancement in scientific thinking came not from a pontificating atheist, claiming to have exclusive jurisdiction over truth and science, but rather from a devoted follower of the Creator of heaven and earth. Contrary to their pretensions, atheists do not possess the only key to discovery and knowledge.

In 1929, Fred Hubble discovered the Red Shift, eliminating any doubt that Lemaitre was right and Einstein wrong. Einstein had said to Lemaître , "your mathematics is correct but your physics is abominable." This phenomenon, Red Shift, shows that some galaxies are moving away from us at greater speeds than others, and that such velocities are proportional to their distance. This gave strong corroboration to the Big Bang theory of creation. The residual heat predicted in 1927 by Lemaître, and derisively dismissed by Albert Einstein, was later confirmed by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson who in 1965 discovered the residual background radiation which is a remnant of the Big Bang. Penzias and Wilson of course received the Nobel Prize for their discovery, which was accidental. The penning of Genesis 1:1 was not.

Prior to Lemaître’s radical proposal, scientists believed that the universe was eternal, that it had always been as we see it today. An inherent aspect of the Steady State Universe is the assumption that matter is continuously being created, somewhere, somehow. This passed for science, until it was disproved in the 1965 Astrophysical Journal.

So we see Twentieth Century confirmation of the profoundly deep science originally expressed in the first sentence of the first paragraph of the first book of the Bible, and scientifically advanced centuries later by a Catholic priest (A “Fundie”), before anyone else.

Genesis 2:7 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 soul.
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Modern chemistry could not have begun before 1802, when John Dalton formally provided experimental evidence that matter is composed of discrete atoms. Everything before this was mere speculation – guesswork. Nevertheless, it is clearly stated in Genesis that man is “formed of the dust of the ground”, which is to say, the same elements of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, iron, nitrogen, etc, that we find in . . . dust of the ground, minerals.

Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every foul of the air;

The same elements which form humans also form animals everywhere. However, there is no Biblical reference to “a living soul” with respect to animals. Nor do animals have the capacity to worship and appreciate the spirituality and hope that is one of the premier hallmarks of mankind, and our supreme bequest.

Genesis 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

One would think that as a result of the disciplines and analyses and benefits of human enlightenment, mankind should have been able to eliminate corruption and violence so prevalent thousands of years ago. Today, we have tools of production and health and social enlightenment unimaginable when the book of Genesis was written. But the earth today is still full of corruption and violence. Cornucopias of goods and services have not satisfied mankind’s lust for more, nor have psychologists and sociologists resolved the complex issues that lead people into destructive behavior. With burgeoning prison populations, and monstrous acts of evil on the increase worldwide, there seems little hope that corruption and violence will ever be eradicated.

Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

Although the North American Continent was unknown when the Bible was written, paleontologists confirm that the interior of North America was once covered by shallow seas. Fossil evidence from distant parts of the globe that were unknown to inhabitants of ancient Israel lends scientific confirmation to the Noachian Flood described in the most ancient book of science known to man, the Holy Bible. I do not pretend to know the length of the six "days" of creation. However it is abundantly clear to me that the Elegance of Everything and the insuperable statistics of abiogenesis1 and the Anthropic Principle2 are eternally inexplicable by any exclusively naturalistic method. To those with eyes, God’s Hand is clearly visible everywhere one looks.

Exodus 3:14 I am hath sent me unto you.....

John 9:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

The naturalistic, if you will, “scientific” approach to explaining how man and energy and matter and space originated is to examine what is observable, and formulate hypotheses and theories based on observation and reason. There is no scientific explanation for the origin of matter and energy and information at the Moment of Creation, the Singularity, and obviously no experiment can examine, much less confirm any hypothesis of what first happened to lead to us and everything we see.

In contrast, God defies scientific explanation because He is outside its purview. If miracles were scientifically explicable, they would not be miracles. After all, God created the physical realm that is the subject of scientific inquiry and we are still desperately trying to understand that aspect of His handiwork. Had mere mortals written where God came from without divine inspiration, they surely could not have presented such an elegant explanation as “I am” – an explanation that suffices even two thousand years later. Where did God come from? "I am." The universe is not eternal, but God is.

I have only a vague notion of how my computer works as I type this on it. Although I don’t know how it works, I do know that it is real and that it operates in a marvelous, almost magical way. I don’t need to understand things to believe in and use them. And how much more marvelous is my brain and yours than these primitive computers, not one of which designed, much less built itself.

“Many people don’t realize that science basically involves assumptions and faith. Wonderful things in both science and religion come from our efforts based on observations, thoughtful assumptions, faith and logic. (With the findings of modern physics, it) seems extremely unlikely (that the existence of life and humanity are ) just accidental.” – Charles Townes, Nobel Laureate and Professor of Physics at UC Berkeley

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Has anyone the slightest doubt as to how “empty” the North Pole is? Nobody living in the Middle East could possibly have visited “the north” so as to confirm what was then being written. These immutable scientific truths – two here in a single sentence - were far too coincidental to be attributable to luck. No, they were divinely inspired, as were so many things in the Bible. The earth truly hangs “upon nothing”, as confirmed by countless photographs from satellites and space stations, not to mention men on the moon, and the north is indeed an “empty place” by any measure.

Job 26:14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

With all our wisdom, and all our science, and all our research, “who can understand” anything today. Ultimate scientific answers continue to elude us everywhere one looks ! The pretense is that all this magnificent science that we see and study arose from nothing, based solely on megatime and megauniverses. Insuperable statistical impossibilities are explained away with clever wordplay and nebulous theories – anything at all to deny the Hand of the Creator so evident to casual observers, of all educational backgrounds, and all nationalities, and all times. That is, except for those who will not see.

Job 28:5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

The molten iron core of the earth was inconceivable because it was not discoverable when this passage was written. “Under (earth) it is turned up as it were fire.”
Ah, some may say, “But there were volcanoes even then.” True enough. But are not volcanoes both isolated and rare, and not so much “under” the earth as above it? The molten core of the earth accords far better with this passage. Their scientific agreement is not coincidental, but rather Divinely inspired and guided.

Job 38:1,2 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

How often one hears words uttered without knowledge by pretenders of science and enlightenment. "The universe is a free lunch." (Physicist Michio Kaku) The Lord does not take foolishness lightly. Neither should we.

Job 38:24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

The most learned scientist of antiquity could not have imagined the depth of this question. When light is "parted" by a diffraction grating, it can be shown to act both as particles as well as waves. These combinations of properties are difficult to understand much less explain. And the prodigious amounts of energy transmitted by solar radiation does indeed scatter the wind upon the earth as it heats different substances at different rates. Job could not have offered an adequate answer to the question, along the lines of: "Discrete photons of light travel together as a wave until parted into disparate visible components by striking and reflecting from solid objects into our eyes, while other wavelengths give up their energy as they are absorbed by solids and water. Temperature differentials established by ambient sunlight striking dissimilar surfaces create 'the east wind' so described."

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

NASA maintains a website which is updated daily. Its purpose, however unintended, is to “declare the glory of God” and to “show his handiwork.”

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

How remarkable that so repetitive and well known a phenomenon as sunset can delight people of all ages, and all times, and all civilizations. How much more delightful are the glories and handiworks seen in national parks and sightseeing attractions worldwide, so many of which could scarcely have been known by the Bible’s authors. Nor had the first telescope been invented 2000 years ago. How is it that the more deeply we have seen, the more handiwork we have seen? How is it?

Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Mankind is indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made.” The sophistication of our construction begins at the atomic level with atoms that are one part in 1017 nucleus and the rest empty space. Then consider our DNA, which is 45 trillion times more compact and efficient at data storage than today’s sophisticated computer microchips.

Our brains have the memory capacity of 100 billion megabytes, which far exceeds anything conceivably necessary from a “selection” point of view.

Our optic nerves transmit information at 4 gigabaud, which is 71,000 times faster than a dial up modem, and 1,000 times faster than an ultra-high speed T-1 line for a computer.
The human eye sees in exquisite detail, over about 13 orders of magnitude of light intensity. Although the eye is often said to be flawed in its design by Darwinists and atheists, I would very much like to see them replace a human eye with something better which they have designed and built from lab reagents.

Our ears hear over 13 orders of magnitude in sound intensity. Even more amazing, the ears perform a Fourier Analysis. In other words, our eardrums receive a single wave function at the eardrum. Then they break down this single wave function into its constituent sounds. For example, at a concert, your ears hear drums, brass, violins, solo arias, and the person behind you coughing, only because this blended noise is separated inside your ear. If your eyes performed a similar function, they would break down white just as a prism does, into disparate pure colors.

Finally, our two eyes enable us to discern distance (and relative size) by triangulation. Our brains automatically compute the angle of the object seen, and compute its approximate distance. Similarly, our two ears enable us to discern the direction from which noises emanate not only because we have two ears, but also because of the relatively slow speed of sound. A difference in the arrival time from one ear to another of one thousandth to one ten-thousandth of a second is sufficient to discern, so that we can tell generally where a sound originated. If sound were substantially faster, both our ears would hear the sound at about the same time, and we could not enjoy stereophonic music, nor tell where sounds came from.

In His wisdom, God made these velocities profoundly useful to us (as well, of course, as many, many other physical constants besides). They did not "evolve" to such values. And should they have been substantially different, say reversed, no evolutionary "modification" could possibly compensate to give us what we now have.

Subscription Note: 

Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.

Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.

watchman's picture
And ...??

And ...??

MCDennis's picture
I didn't get ten seconds in

I didn't get ten seconds in before the first of your many many mistakes The universe is 13 billion + years old. The earth is 4 billion +/- They weren't ''created'' at the same time.

LogicFTW's picture
I stopped at "chemical

I stopped at "chemical engineer."

I hope he is lying. The alternative is terrifying.

Fortunately I think it is quite likely he is lying.

Nyarlathotep's picture
GeniusIsDisruptive - 4

GeniusIsDisruptive - 4 gigabaud, which is 71,000 times faster than a dial up modem, and 1,000 times faster than an ultra-high speed T-1 line for a computer.

I see you are repeating the same falsehoods, despite careful correction.

Pitar's picture
I challenge the logic of your

I challenge the logic of your pretense, by foisting your book of archeologically conflicting events upon a world stoically unconvinced, as a play at intelligent discourse. Since when does a doctrine hold sway over fact? When the imagination of a lost and fearful psyche gets hold of it, that's when. I'm pretty sure you have no idea what you're on about but I do know you cannot resolve yourself in the context of being mortal. Never have so many words been used to demonstrate so many ways of a man gasping for immortality as you have evidenced here. You do know how frightened you show yourself to be here, don't you? There's nothing wrong with being afraid of something. There's everything wrong with being afraid of nothing and that is the seed of theism. Those seeds don't grow here.

Alan Travis's picture
Pitar: "a world stoically

Pitar: "a world stoically unconvinced."

How incredibly dishonest of you when "stoicallyl unconvinced" atheists constitute such a small percentage of the earth's population.'

Stop your lying. It is unintelligent and terribly anti-scientific.

Pitar: "You do know how frightened you show yourself to be here,"

Your spin and rhetoric are terribly dishonest. Shame on you for lying. Christians have hope, unlike atheists. You face no future at best - IF you are right (and you are not), and at worst, an eternity separated from the God who made you. Whether or not you accept reality does not in the slightest change that reality.

LogicFTW's picture
Hey grammar nazi, you got a

Hey grammar nazi, you got a typo in there. It is super obvious to everyone that reads it. I suppose you hold everyone else to a high standard then you have for yourself? Should I and others start dismissing all you say because your grammar/spelling is not perfect?

xenoview's picture
GID

GID
I read the first two paragraphs, then I stopped reading. You have to learn to write smaller OP's.You rabble on about creation, but you still haven't proven a god. You don't believe in the creation of man and woman in Genesis 1:26-27?

Daniel's picture
Look, I am an atheist not

Look, I am an atheist not because I think I know it all, but because I dont see any strong evidence of a supernatural being. I was a christian for years, but I had so many questions about what I was learning, and there were no answers that satisfied my sense of reason. So I moved on to study Buddhism, and the same thing happened. Finally, I tried Hinduism, but with the same result. I TRULYi wanted there to be a god, but the thing was I had to believe in it fully. This meant finding answers to my questions that really made sense to me. Unfortunately, no religion I've looked into has been able to do this. I then looked into the atheist and Humanist positions. Here I found sound reasoning and minds willing to say "I dont know".
I'm not saying there is no god, I just dont see any evidence to support such a claim, so I CANT believe in god. I'm willing to believe, but I'll need some evidence and sound arguments. Until then, there just isn't any reason to believe in god. So far you haven't provided that. Your posts are full of quotes from books and men that dont prove anything.

chimp3's picture
There is no science in the

There is no science in the Bible. Science is an invention of the late 16th century CE.

Alan Travis's picture
You don't even know the

You don't even know the etiology of the word, much less its meaning.

chimp3's picture
You make unnecessary

You make unnecessary assumptions.

Thinker's picture
Genius is disruptive:

Genius is disruptive:
A genius you are not, disruptive you would be if you were not in the presence of people who deal in facts not fantasies. Babble on all you want

Alan Travis's picture
The many scientists who are

The many scientists who are cited in the book The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict" deal in facts. You who think nothing made everything are the ones who deal in fantasies. Zero empirical evidence. Zero logic. You have nothing but pride and rhetoric. Dishonest rhetoric, bolstered by pride, condescension, arrogance, and intolerance.

Daniel's picture
Yet you haven't provided any

Yet you haven't provided any actual evidence. It doesn't matter if you quote others who also provide no evidence. I'm so me on who has always wanted to believe in god, so please, help convince me. I would actually enjoy it.

Alan Travis's picture
You can't stop lying. Your

You can't stop lying. Your entire philosophy is based on lies. Abundant evidence has been provided, again and again.
You DON'T enjoy it. you WON'T be convinced, so stop lying to the contrary.

I won't read or reply to anything you write again, because of your inability to speak truthfully.

LogicFTW's picture
Hey, at this rate, you won't

Hey, at this rate, you won't have to keep track of who is on your ignore list, you can just track who's not yet made your ignore list.

Nyarlathotep's picture
Ah man, every time someone

Ah man, every time someone else makes the list; it cheapens my accomplishment!

ImFree's picture
With the exception of mycob4,

With the exception of mycob4, all of the members on your “ignore list” have been placed there because you want to preach rather than have your assumptions questioned. This will be my last response to you and I would consider it an honor to be put your ignore list. Good riddance!

mykcob4's picture
There is no science in the

There is no science in the bible. You can't just post god made man out of dust and call it science. Also, you have to choose which fucking bible you are talking about. The oldest bible compiled in 324ADE or any one of millions that came after and were highly politically edited. Nothing about any bible even remotely approaches science.

Kataclismic's picture
Why aren't you presenting all

Why aren't you presenting all this fascinating science to the scientific community so they can prove God's existence? Oh, that's right, because as most of everyone here has already expressed: it's not science. You seem to have done a good job of convincing yourself that it is, though, so congratulations.

Sky Pilot's picture
GeniusIsDisruptive,

GeniusIsDisruptive,

Hubble was wrong. He claimed that other galaxies are moving away from the Milky Way when in fact several galaxies are currently colliding with the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way are moving toward each other and will merge. He made it seem that the Milky Way was the center of the universe and we know that isn't true. Galaxies move in all directions relative to our observation position, attracted by each other's gravity in relation to their position in their local cluster and super cluster.

Lemaitre was basically an idiot who sold the Catholic version of creation with his Big Bang theory. His claim to fame is that all of the matter in the universe was squeezed into a tiny ball that exploded and the debris flooded the void, creating the galaxies. Anyone with two brain cells should know that that theory is BS because two things can't occupy the same space at the same time. Besides, we know that stars start out as balls of celestial hydrogen and they create new and more complex heavier elements in their nuclear furnaces. Lemaître's theory basically claims that all matter came into existence with the Big Bang.

Randomhero1982's picture
That is without doubt one of

That is without doubt one of the most laughable attempts I've ever read...

Attachments

Attach Image/Video?: 

Yes
David_Holloway's picture
That was a real slog to get

That was a real slog to get through.

You seriously need to abridge your posts. Even after reading this... twice, I am still not sure the point you are trying to make. I think it has sometging to do with trying to relate what is in the bible what we know to be fact through Science. You say "As a chemical engineer, I understand, and subscribe to the tenets of the scientific method", didn't you post sometging the other how Darwinism a false. I had assumed you were a creationist, please do correct me if I'm wrong.

I assuming for a minute that I am correct about your creationism, my question it how you "understand, and subscribe to the tenets of the scientific method" and ignore the insurmountable the Earth is a lot older than 6,000 years, the million years of fossils that track and catalogue the development of the species we know today. It seems a like oxymoron to me.

Randomhero1982's picture
I just don get how someone

I just don get how someone can claim That they subscribe to the tenner of the scientific method and yet post something asserting an extraordinary claim and offer quotes from a holy book, a solitary an dubious book.

Donating = Loving

Heart Icon

Bringing you atheist articles and building active godless communities takes hundreds of hours and resources each month. If you find any joy or stimulation at Atheist Republic, please consider becoming a Supporting Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner.

Or make a one-time donation in any amount.