Science and the Bible

I do hope this information is being of benefit to your faith. It is for me. This particular article will discuss science and the Bible. Although the Bible is not a science book, it is, however, scientifically accurate. The notion that scripture is “faith” and science is “fact” makes an unwarranted distinction and leads to Biblical compromise.

Scriptures often touch on matters related to the material/physical universe, and have shown scientific facts that man did not discover for many centuries after the scriptures were written. In Job:38, under challenging examination, the Lord asked Job several questions about the earth. The questions are designed to show how little man knows about the things of God’s world. They also are amazingly scientifically correct when compared to our modern knowledge. God tells Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?  Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof” (Job 38:4-6).

Here the word foundation has a meaning of “socket.” The word fastened means to “sink down.” Scientists now report that the earth is covered by an outer crust of rock (7 to 30 miles thick) which rests upon a mantle (foundation) of heavy rock called peridotite, which extends down to the heart of the earth (1800 miles). They tell us that the great land masses are anchored in “sockets” which extend deep into the earth’s mantle (about 300 miles).

In verse 5, God is telling us that the earth’s dimensions were precisely measured. What does science have to say about this? The diameter of the earth at the equator is 7,926 miles, but at the poles it is only 7,899 miles; thus the earth is not a perfect sphere. If it were perfectly round its rotation would cause the ocean waters to pile up at the equator, drawing water away from the north and south regions. If the diameter of the earth were greater, the crust of the earth much thicker, oxygen could not exist— life would not be possible.

 Is there a design in such dimensions? Price wrote           “The simple fact is that if the world were a perfect       sphere, its rotation would pile up the waters of the     ocean around the equator to an enormous extent        drawing them away from all the northern and southern parts…In short, the shape of the world shows design on the part of the one who created it…”

Good accurate scientific facts are in agreement with the Bible. If they don’t agree with the Bible, then they are not facts, but science fiction. We will continue with other examples from Job:38 in our next article.

Gary Dull