Credibility of the Bible Part III (Proofs from Science, Medicine, Physics, etc)

In the previous lesson, we saw how eyewitness accounts and historical accuracy and archaeology have helped to provide credibility to the truth of the Bible. Now, we are going to dig even deeper into the foreknowledge of Science, Astronomy, Medicine and Technology to see how God showed us amazing things in Scripture long before human geniuses have claimed to have “discovered” these facts and phenomenon of the physical world.

I.                   Astronomy and Cosmology

A.    The stars are too great in number to count – Genesis 15:5 (1450-1410BC), Jeremiah 33:22 (627-585 BC), Hebrews 11:12 (64-68 AD); in the 19^th century with the creation of powerful telescopes, astronomers were finally able to see that there were more than 6,000 stars, as was previously believed. A new report suggests that the new number of stars in 70 sextillion and counting…

B.     The earth is shaped like a sphere and rotates – Isaiah 40:22 (746-680BC); Luke 17:34-36 (60AD); In Luke’s account of the rapture, no one was able to make sense of some being taken at night and some being taken during the day happening at the same time. Now we know that the earth rotates and it is always night and day somewhere on earth. 

C.     The sun is moving through space in a huge orbit – Psalms 19:4-6 (1000BC); It was only recently discovered that the Sun is moving through space at about 600,000 miles per hour, in an orbit that would take an estimated 230,000,000 years to complete. (It’s possible that the interpretation of this verse is more in reference to the rotation of the earth again, but as the Bible uses the Sun as the focus of movement, I prefer the more literal understanding of the Sun’s orbit.)

D.    Light travels in a path, darkness does not – Job 38:19 (950BC or earlier); The word “way” in the Hebrew is actually translated “a traveled path or road” and “place” is translated as “a place, a standing, a specific spot”; In the 17^th century, Sir Isaac Newton suggested that light was comprised of particles which traveled in a straight line. This was further studied and confirmed by Christian Huygens who proposed the “wave theory of light” and by Olaus Romer who first measured the velocity of light. We now know that light is a form of Radiant energy which travels in a “path” at 660 million mph, or approximately 8 seconds from the Sun to Earth. Darkness is merely the absence of light, thus is does not travel, but is in a specific place which remains until light travels through it.

E.     The universe is expanded from its original size – Ezekiel 1:22; Isaiah 40:22 (and 5 other verses from Isaiah); Jeremiah, Job, Psalms, 2 Samuel and Zechariah contain many other similar verses. The significance of these verses is found in the word choice for “stretches” out (Hebrew 5186 natah); the word does not just suggest that God made it big to begin, but that He made it and then performed the verb, the act of stretching. In 1927, Edwin Hubble first found evidence that the universe has expanded.

II.                Meteorology

A.    The Jet Stream – Ecclesiastes 1:6 (935 BC) – Airmen during WWII first discovered the Jet Stream as they traveled above 32,000 feet. Even if the author of Ecclesiastes had traveled to the top of Mt. Everest (or knew someone who had), Everest is now only 29,000 feet. It is impossible to see the Jet Stream from anything below 32,000 feet.

B.     The Hydrological cycle – Job 36:27-28 (950 BC or earlier); Amos 9:6 (755 BC); In the 1600’s it was finally discovered that water could evaporate into a gaseous form, and in 1667, Edme Marriotte was proud to have been the “first” one to diagram the hydrological cycle in detail (even thought the Bible had already done so approx 2500 years earlier).

C.     Air has weight – Job 28:25 (950BC or earlier); Mathematician Evangelista Torricelli “discovered” this in 1643.

III.             Oceanography and geophysics

A.    The Oceans have circulating currents or “paths” – Psalms 8:8 (1000BC); Isaiah 43:16 (146-680BC); Dr. Matthew Maury (late 1800’s) is considered one of the major founders of the science of oceanography. He was a creationist who believed in the absolute authority and inaccuracy of the Bible. One day while sick in bed, he asked his son to read the Bible to him. The son read Psalm 8:8. Believing the truth of the Bible, he set out to find the “paths” in the seas. He was the first in modern times to discover that the seas and oceans are circulating systems which react with the direction of the winds (Jet Stream) and other factors.

B.     There are hydrothermal springs that arise from the ocean floor – Job 38:16 (950BC or earlier); The Roman geographer Strabo is the earliest (not counting the Bible) to have recorded reference to these springs in his secular writings. He lived from 63BC to 21AD.

C.     Mountains and deep valleys exist on the ocean floor – Job 38:16; Jonah 2:5-6 (840 or 586 BC); The Challenger expedition of 1873-1876 commenced the first scientific exploration of the ocean floor, during which a canyon 5 ½ miles deep was discovered in the Pacific.

D.    Polar Ice Caps revealed – Job 38:29-30; The earliest recorded expedition north was in 1300BC in which a Greek explorer traveled as far as Great Britain. He makes no reference to ice floes or ice caps and would likely never have traveled in winter at any rate. There is no human way that Saudi Arabians living in or around 1000BC could have known about polar ice caps.

IV.             Physics and Chemistry

A.    Entropy – Psalms 102:25-26; Isaiah 51:6; Hebrews 1:10-11; Entropy is explained most specifically in the Second Law of Thermodynamics which Rudolf Clausius formulated in 1850. Basically, this law states that energy is always at a constant but that matter is constantly in a state of decay. As matter decays and deteriorates, it changes form (heat, gases, etc) but that the energy inherent in it never disappears or lessens.

B.     Subatomic particles – Hebrews 11:3 (64-68AD); modern science first discovered the electron in 1897 (J.J. Thompson). It was the first “discovery” of a particle unable to be seen by the naked eye.

C.    Anthropic Principle – Isaiah 45:18 The Anthropic Principle posits that the earth was specifically created for the habitation of man.

1.      Position of the Moon in relation to Earth: If the moon were closer to earth, its tides would sweep across entire continents, not allowing human life to exist on land. If the moon were further from earth, the tides would be too shallow, causing the waters of the oceans to be stagnant and not provide enough oxygen with which to provide life on earth (under water or above it).

2.      Position of the Earth in relation to the Sun: The earth is approximately 93 million miles from the sun. The rotation of Earth around the Sun is 365 days, 6 hours, 49 minutes and 9.54 seconds, consistent to over a thousandth of a second. If the rotation of Earth were just a bit faster, our orbit would lengthen, bringing us further away from the Sun and inducing a permanent ice age. If the rotation of Earth were just a bit slower, our orbit would shorten, bringing us closer to the Sun and roasting us. In addition, the 23% axis (tilt) of the Earth is what provides four seasons for most of the planet. Without seasons, we could not sustain life. Again, it would all be either desert or ice caps.

3.      Oceans over 70% of earth’s surface: Water is capable of heat absorption over 10 times greater than that of steel. Oceans help to keep our earth cool enough to inhabit life during the day; and then release the heat at night to keep our earth warmed. It is a very unique balance without which human life could not exist.

4.  The unique mixture of gases which make up air: “The mixture of gases usually found in the atmosphere not contaminated by human pollution is perfect for life. If it were much different (e.g. 17 percent instead of 21 percent oxygen, too little carbon dioxide, etc., or the atmospheric pressure were much higher or lower), life would cease to exist on earth. If our atmosphere were much thinner, many of the millions of meteors that now are burned up would reach the earth's surface, causing death, destruction, and fires everywhere.” (notation: ICR Institute for Creation Research)

             V. Medical foreknowledge in the Bible

A.    Wine and grape juice as a medicine - I Timothy 5:23 “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” Paul advised Timothy that he needed to use some wine for medicinal purposes, as he was having chronic health issues. In modern medical “breakthroughs” we are told that the Vitamin C and antioxidants found in grape juice can combat colds, cancer, gastritis and any number of issues. In alcoholic form, it can be used as a sleeping agent and pain reliever (as in NyQuil) in small doses. Note that Paul’s advice was to add a “little” wine in addition to water for his health – it was not by any means an encouragement to drink socially.

B.     Wine as an antiseptic germ killer – Luke 10:34 in the story of the good Samaritan, he poured wine on the wounds to kill the germs.

C.     Olive Oil as an antibacterial and wound-protecting salve – Luke 10:34 in the story of the good Samaritan, he poured olive oil on the wounds after he cleansed them. Olive Oil, as well as having healthy Omega-3 amino acids and 5 other agents healthy for internal well-being, has now been shown to have anti-bacterial properties similar to that of our packaged “Neosporin”; new studies even showing that along with the heart benefits, Olive Oil could aid in depression and general wellness.

D.  Biblical instruction was given thousands of years ago to prevent a baby boy bleeding out after a circumcision - In Genesis 17:2, God instructed that circumcision was to be done on the 8^th day after a child’s birth. Only toward the end of the 20^th century was it discovered that the agent in a baby’s blood which aids in the coagulation of blood is not at full peak in our bodies until the 8^th day after birth. Today the procedures done just a few days after birth in the hospital rarely present the possibility of bleeding, so it is not much an issue in modern times, medically speaking, although Jews still perform the Bris at 8 days.

E. Life is in the blood. Levitucus 17:11 says that the life of the flesh is in the blood. Until the past century, it was fairly common practice for a doctor to bleed out "bad humours" from a patient. Doctors believed that to apply small cuts to the forearm and remove blood (or to apply leaches) would remove infectious substances in the blood. Modern medical knowledge (aka finally catching up with God) tells us that the antibodies (white blood cells) with which we fight infection are actually found IN our blood - lessening our blood volume therefore reduces our ability to heal properly.

Credibility of the Bible Part II (Proofs of the New Testament)

The Credibility of the New Testament

I. Facts which provide Credibility

A.    The writers of the New Testament were competent

They were eyewitnesses – 2 Peter 1:18, I John 1:1-3

Paul received his testimony straight from Jesus – Galatians 1:11-17

B.     They were intelligent and skilled communicators

Mark spoke several languages and served as Peter’s interpreter – Eusebius’ Church History written in AD 15 and Against Heresies, written by Iraeneus in AD 1

Paul was well-educated and knew how to communicate with many different audiences

Luke was a physician

Even Peter, a fisherman by trade, was able to talk to large groups of people and communicate the message of the gospel

            C. They were honest

Their writings were full of virtue and condemned any who practiced immorality or lying.

They had a high regard for truth. 

They put themselves in circumstances and situations in which they endangered their worldly interests – most lost families, livelihoods, and reputations for following Jesus.

They put themselves in circumstances and situations in which they endangered their lives - All throughout their ministries suffered beatings, imprisonment, etc., and most suffered violent martyr deaths. What educated man would die for a lie?

What would they have gained from lying?

D.    Their writings harmonize

The synoptic gospels do not contradict but rather supplement each other. There is a difference of emphasis but not fundamental truth or understanding.

The epistles of Paul and James present faith and works from different standpoints, and yet they never once contradict doctrinally.

The progress of unfolding revelation chronologically from the gospels to the epistles expands on truth but never contradicts it.

E.     History

History backs up nearly all accounts given in the epistles, and has never once been able to contradicted them. Just a few examples:

-          Involvement of Quirinius governor of Syria luke 2:2

-          Herod the Great Matt 2:16-18

-          Herod Antipas Matt 14:1-12

-          Herod Agrippa the First Acts 12:1

-          Gallio Acts 18:12-17

                        -      Herod Aggrippa the Second Acts 25:13-26:32

The Credibility of the Bible Part I (Proofs of the Old Testament)

The Credibility of the Bible

“A book is said to be credible if it relates truthfully the matters which it treats. It is said to be corrupt when its present text varies from the original. Credibility then embraces both the ideas of truthfulness of the records and purity of the text.” –Henry Clarence Theissen, Lectures in Systematic Theology

I.                   Credibility of the Books of the Old Testament

A.    Christ recognized the Old Testament as truthful and reliable concerning doctrine: Matt 5:17, Luke 24:27, John 10:34-36

Christ endorsed the truth of major Old Testament teachings, so if the OT miracles are myths, then Jesus is either a liar or an idiot!! You cannot believe that Jesus is who HE is if you do not believe the truth of the entire Scripture, Old and New!

1.      Mark 13:19 The creation of the universe by God

2.      Matthew 19:4 The direct creation of man

3.      John 8:44 The corrupt personality and character of Satan

4.      Luke 17:26 The destruction of the world by flood

5.      Luke 17: 28-30 The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the rescue of Lot

6.      Mark 12:26 The revelation of God to Moses in the burning bush

7.      Matthew 12:39 The experience of Jonah in the big fish

…and many, many more.

B.     Historical and archaeological proofs

1.      History – History offers many proofs of the correctness of biblical representation of life in Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, etc. None of the rulers mentioned by name in Scripture is any longer believed to be contrary to historical accounts:

a.       Shalmaneser IV is said to have carried the people away into Assyria (2 Kings 17:3-6), but in Isaiah 20:1 we are told that it was Sargon II who conquered Samaria and carried the people away. Once thought to be a contradiction or mistake of Scripture, historians uncovered records which detail how Sargon II and Shalmaneser V were actually co-regents at the time. Sargon II, having primary rule, would have also been known as the previous “Shalmaneser” or literally “fire-worshiper”; thus Shalmaneser IV. So, Sargon II and Shalmaneser IV are the same man and no contradiction exists.

b.      Belshazzar (Daniel 5:1-30) was long thought by critics to be a fictional character. Now, historians have found ample evidence to back up the proof of his existence and reign outside biblical sources.

c.       Mede (Daniel 5:31-6:28) was also long believed to be a fictional character, but modern historical critics have had to recant these criticisms based on overwhelming historical proofs of his existence.

2.      Archaeology – Archaeology confirms may biblical accounts as truthful and credible.

a.       The Egyption Enuma Elis (pronounced ee-noo-mah ee-leesh) and other creation myths have been uncovered in hieroglyphs and ancient writings. Rather than obscure the truth of the creation story, these myths are so similar as to be believed by most archaeologists to have a foundation in truth, thus adding credibility to the creation account.

b.      A Babylonian tablet was found to describe the account of the flood, dated circa 650 BC entitled The Epic of Galgamesh, and the two stories have 20 major points in common. Biblical theologians believe Moses’ account of the flood to date to circa 1450 BC and therefore the Babylonian account is believed to be a corruption of the true account.

c.       The Battle of Kings in Genesis 14 was long believed to be a fictional story until inscriptions were uncovered by archaeologists in the Valley of the Euphrates which show these four kings as joining in the expedition as true historical figures.

d.      The Hittites, whose very existence was questioned for many years, have now been proven to have been a very powerful kingdom in Asia Minor and Palestine at the time indicated in Biblical accounts. The Tel el-Amarna tablets give evidence that the book of Judges is a true historical account. Egyptian hieroglyphics also clearly detail the existence, enslavement and subsequent exodus of the Israelites.

The more archaeology uncovers, the more Biblical proof arises! Science of archaeology can only further confirm the credibility of the Bible, as it has never ONCE been able to destroy a Biblical account!

From where do we get our English Bible translations?

The subject warrants hours and hours of study - books and books of research on the subject - but I'm going to try to sum it all up in a few paragraphs here just to give you a general understanding of where our translations come from. There are two important words we need to define before we go on:

Autograph - the original writing of the Biblical author of a book, psalm or letter; i.e. the first God-breathed "inspired" account personally recorded by Moses, Paul, Luke, etc (or one of the personal scribes to whom they dictated it). As they were written thousands of years ago on Papyrus paper, none are known to exist today.

Apograph - the oldest original copies of the autographs made by Jewish or Christian scribes. Just over 6,000 of these are known to exist today, and they are held in sealed vaults in the Vatican or various other museums.

For the Old Testament, there are two major groups of text from which we derive our English Translation.

1. The first and most popular group of texts are called the Masoretic Texts. The Masorites were a sect of Jews dedicated to the preservation and protection of the inspired Word of God. They used many checks and balances as they copied the Scriptures to make certain their copies were complete and accurate. Many different scribes would edit a single work, and they would all count each word per line and make a notation in order that they could compare that number to their originals. The Masoretic Texts are very old apographs, We can consider them reliable simply due to the fact that Jesus himself quoted from them and although he occasionally criticised Jewish religious leaders, He never criticised their Scripture. The most popular compilation of the Masoretic apographs are the 1524-1525 Ben Hayyim edition.

2. The second group of translations used for the Old Testament are the Septuagint. The Septuagint was a latin translation of Greek apographs which were translated by Seventy "Sept" theological scribes and to all accounts all seventy translated the apographs word for word exactly alike. (This could be due to the fact that Latin has very limited word choices, relatively speaking, but that's up for debate.) Because the apographs used were of Greek origin, there is some skepticism that they are "first hand" apographs, as the primary language of the Israelites was Hebrew.

For the New Testament, there are also two major groups of texts from which translations are derived (the Latin Vulgate is a third group of texts used, but only by a small number of Orthodox Catholic sects).

1. The first and most popular apographs used for NT are the Byzntine Texts. These may also be known as the Authorized Version (AV) or the Textus Receptus (TR Received Text). The majority of these apographs were found in Greece and Asia Minor, which is the general area in which the New Testament church was founded and flourished. They are fuller in that they contain more flowery, poetic speech and explanatory word fill-ins. These are young copies, only 1,000 or so years old (likely due to the wetter climate of the area) but those in existence agree to a great extent with one another and there are few errors or variances among them, especially when the four Gospel accounts are taken into consideration. These copies were widely available during reformation era in which King James ordered English translations to be made of the Bible.

2. The second and historically less popular apographs (but growing vastly more popular in the past 10-20 years) which are used to translate the New Testament are the Alexandrian Texts. These majority of these texts come from Egypt and are much older. The dryer climate has preserved the papyrus in some cases up to 1800 years, as the Dead Sea Scrolls are known to have originated around 200-400AD. There are fewer copies in existence (only 800 or so). These apographs are more succinct and slightly less poetic. The four gospel accounts differ significantly in some places. (This does not necessarily make them invalid, as some argue. It could simply have been God's plan to use four different men and their alightly skewed perspectives as very human witnesses.) Copies of the Alexandrian Texts were not readily available until several hundred were found in the mid 1800's; some of which were hidden away in the Vatican, now referred to as the  "Codex Vatanicus," and some were found in a trash dump in 1844 at the foot of Mt. Sinai, miles below a monastery, now known as the "Codex Sinaiticus," and then later in the 20th century, the Dead Sea Scrolls were found preserved in clay jars in a cave just after WWII.

Which popular modern English Bible translations use which groups of apographs?

KJV (King James Version) - OT uses Masoretic Texts and NT uses Byzantine Texts
NKJV* (New King James Version) - OT uses Septuagint and NT uses Byzantine Texts (Pastor Tim's uses this most often)
NASB (New American Standard Bible) - OT uses Masoretic Texts and NT uses Alexandrian Texts (Heidi's personal favorite)
NIV (New International Version) - OT uses Septuagint and NT uses Alexandrian Texts (Only referring to NIV translations 1984 and before. Modern translations of the NIV after 1984 are corrupt and translated with agenda bias)

*The NKJV is NOT a translation of (or update of) the KJV which was just put into modern language. They use the same apographs for NT, but not OT. NKJV stands on its own merits and criteria and was translated from the original apographs apart from the KJV.

Each of the above four translations contain minimal translation errors (punctuation, dropped words or phrases, arguable word choices), but only one or two of those errors are significant doctrinally speaking, and then only if a verse is proof-texted (when you pick a verse to prove a point) or taken out of context. They differ in content in very few places, but not in any way as to water down or corrupt the truth of the Gospel, so it is left up to personal preference. Which you choose depends largely on your perpective of which you believe to be more credible...older or younger, more widely used vs hidden away until modern times/translations, geogrphical location and language used, pubisher/translator statements of belief, etc. There are some "why" questions (for instance, why were many of the Alexandrian texts hidden away for so long?) which we won't really have answers to until we meet Jesus, so we must rely on prayer, discernment and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to let us know which translation we should each be using.

This week's lesson was very full of information so we didn't have much time for discussion, but next week's lesson coming up will be a bit easier and less intense and will hopefully afford more opportunity for class discussion. We will be looking at the Biblican canon: "Why were 66 books chosen for our Bible and many other books left out? What are the apocrypha and why do Catholics include these extra books in their Bible? What is the difference between a "closed" canon and an "open" canon. Which Bibles or Spiritual books do other religions use?" See you there! Or see you HERE if you can't make it on Wednesday nights!!

Blog discussion time: What translation of the Bible do you use and why?

Why Word Study?

Text Taken from John 21:15-17

In John 21, Jesus appears to the disciples for the third time since his resurrection. The chapter begins with Peter telling the disciples that he's going fishing. The other disciples chime in and tell him they are going with him. They fish all night and catch nothing. Then, they hear a voice telling them to cast the net on the side of the boat, and the net is so full of fish that they need help getting it in. When they come in from dragging in the fish, Jesus is sitting on the beach with breakfast ready for them. After breakfast, Jesus speaks to Peter. To be noted: the two were not recording as having talked the first two times, perhaps because Peter was still too ashamed after his denial of Christ on the day of the crucifixion...

In verses 15-17, we see the word LOVE used several times. It is this word which we primarily studied.

In English, we use context to describe what kind of love we are talking about: "I love my children" "I love ice cream" "I love when she touches me like that" "God loves the world." Same word, multiple meanings. The primary reason to do Word Study is because Greek and Hebrew are very different in this respect. They use different words to convey different meanings, and often the word used IS the context.

Greek (the language used in the New Testament) words for love:

agapao - intense love, much love, intentional love, Godlike love
phileo - friendship love, brotherly love, general love (affection for a person, place, thing or idea)
eros - romantic, passionate, intimate love
storge - familial love; love for a parent to children, children to grandparents, siblings, etc

John 21:15  So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs."
John 21:16  He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."
John 21:17  He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.

Reading the English translation is still very significant and important - we see that Jesus gave Peter three chances to affirm his love for the Savior whom he had betrayed three times. But in Word Study is where we see the deeper significance of what is going on in the conversation.

In John 21:15, Jesus first uses the word "agapao" for love, and Peter answers "phileo." So in essence, Jesus is saying, "Peter, do you love me intensely, with a Godlike love?" And Peter replies with the truth because he confesses here that he knows Jesus can read his mind (by the word study which tells us the word "know" means that literally Jesus knows Peter's thoughts). So Peter says, "Yes, Jesus, you know that I love you like a good friend."

The second time, the same two words are used.

Then the third time, Jesus changes His word for love to "phileo." Jesus is saying, "Peter, do you love me like a good friend?" It says that Peter was hurt/grieved, but Peter again responded with the truth - "phileo." "Jesus, I love you like a good friend."

On Wednesday, we discussed why Jesus changed his word and why Peter was grieved about it.

Some good thoughts from class (based on my memory, so not word for word):

John Bailey said, "It's typical of Jesus, that He comes down to our level instead of expecting us to come up to His."
Rebecca "Beck" Bailey said, "Sometimes, we need to express our emotion out loud when we've been hurt or hurt someone, so that we can get it out and so others understand how deeply we feel it."
Heidi said, "I wonder if Peter was grieved because he was hoping Jesus would zap him with the instant ability to have Godlike love, and he was disappointed when that wasn't Jesus' solution?"
Beth said, "We want it all easy - we don't want to have to work for it. But love is hard work and Jesus knows we don't appreciate what we don't have to work for."
Kristy said, "I think it's significant that Jesus fed him/them first, before He got into the deep conversation. He always met their needs first, and then said, "Go feed my sheep" so they would go meet the needs of others the way He always did for them."

The conclusion we came to is that even though Jesus knows we aren't perfect and aren't as good at loving as He is, He still forgives us, accepts us as we are, and expects us to go out and do our best to minister to others. When we do that, the Godlike love will come eventually, just as we saw that it did for Peter at the end of his life as he was martyred for Jesus when he was hung upside down on a cross for his agapao love for His Savior.

Share your thoughts about the above passages and word study!

Next week's lesson: Where did we get our Bible Translations and which ones should we use or stay away from? Discussion will focus on where the copies of the Bible came from and why KJV, NASB and NIV all have slight differences...