Science
in Christian PerspectiveScience
in Christian Perspective
Modern Physical Science in
the Bible
M. T. Brackbill
Head.,
Dept.. Of Natural Science.,
Eastern Mennonite College
From: JASA 3 (March 1951): 23-27
I
have in my possession a very old book, a really ancient book, one of the few
great books that have survived thousands of yearss and practically the only
ancient book widely read today. I happen to have this book in very excellent
English translation , several, in fact, - and moreover I have carefully read
this book and many parts of it I have read many times. Being somewhat a student
of physical science I have noted with interest allusions in it to physical
sciences and
that they make sense in term of modern science. Indeed, some are more
understandable and more significant today, I believe, than when they were
written.
Without some thought of supernatural revelation) this is rather astonishing.,
for one would expect any references in ancient manuscripts to science of any
sort to be very primitive and hardly anticipatory of modern notions. One would
expect to find statements very much in error, based entirely on knowledge and
superstition current at the time of writing. One would hardly expect to find
ideas which UP to the time of writing no one had the possible means of
discovering or substantiating.
The Bible was not written to be a science text book or a science book of any
sort. It is largely history biography, poetry and philosophy,. In poetry
and philosophy we my well expect to find abundant references to nature, but to
discover that references to physical science make sense when laid side by side
to statements in modern text books ray not only be a bit surprising at first
thought but certainly heartening and faith-building. If one should be tolerant
in requiring that the inspired Scriptures be scientifically accurate he might be
inclined to overlook errors on the grounds of literary purposes., and the
necessity of using the
science currently in vogue in order to be understood at the time of writing by
contemporaries.
It is
really a large order to require that the Bible written thousands of years ago
stand up on the level of science today and still to have made sense at the time
of its writing. Imagine writing a book of this sort anticipating science a
thousand years from now (ever a hundred) and making it understandable now.
But this has been done in the Bible and only its Author could do that. And
it is a matter of words.
To me the most marvelous thing in the universe aside from God Himself is
languages the structures
of codes built of words. Let us think for a minute how important words are.
"in the beginning was the word and the word Was God." How did things
come into being? He spoke and it was done. Let there be light"
- four words and there was light. "Let there be", "and it
was so." Back of matter, energy back of energy, words; back
of words, God. John the Baptist said, "I am the voice (words) of
one." It's a new thought to me., but might it be that language is the chief
or only aspect, of the divine image? At least the intelligent use Of language or
words marks the unbridgeable chasm between man and
the rest of the animal creation. Moreover, language is man's most difficult
tools a divine tool.
We hear or read some words. Now what did the author have in mind? I noticed that
there was some difference of opinion as to the interpretation of papers read
here and both written and read very well. Many years ago the Lord wrote a paper
(The Bible) and it was to be understandable in all ages, in all languages. It is
a heartening thing to learn that it is so.
What is known today in the fields of modem astronomy is the product of research
using the marvelous giant telescopes the ingenious spectroscopes, and their
various adaptations, also advanced mathematics, and physics none of which were
had five hundred years ago. Now what did Moses have of all this? Isaiah,
Nehemiah, the Psalmists, the gospel writers and Paul? Nothing!
Then tell me if you can,. how these man anticipated our present day in their
references to physical science. Explains if you can, how they knew accepted
truths today without the physica1 or intellectual means to discover them.
"God knew," you say., "and all He needed to do was to reveal them
doubtless to the astonishment of the writers
themselves." Knowing
experimentally that
these things are so, it is we who can be astonished today, not at the truth, but
at the writers.
What writers, on their own, would stick out their necks and make reckless
scientific speculations for literary effect and risk becoming the laughing stock
of future generations? Swift did that, and I read an article just lately showing
how 6wift's biology is impossible in Gulliver's outrageously big and little
people. Of courses Swift was just in fun and therefore he gets by. The Bible
writers were not in fun but exceedingly serious and grotesque errors would have
been ruinous to their reputation for integrity, But then they were not on their
own.
Enough by way of
introduction.
I have read through the Bible to find all the references to physical sciences
and I have listed 325, mostly to astronomy. I want to present a few of the more
striking ones.
Imensity yet Finity of
Universe
About twenty years ago, Sir James Jeans of England, famous astronomer and
physicist, estimated that the number of the stars was of the same order as the number
of sands on
all the seashores of
the world, To my knowledge
this estimate
has not been seriously
challenged up to the
prevent time. This
estimate was based
on sampling photographically
the regions of the sky.
This estimate is also in the Bible.
God told Abraham, "Look now toward heaven., and tell the stars,, if thou be
able to number them," and he said unto him, "so shall thy seed
be" Gen. 15:5.
Whether Abraham ever
made a count of the stars I do not knows, but if he did,, he might have said to
the Lord, "You mean my descendents shall number about seven thousand".
for that is about the number of stars that can be distinguished with the naked
eye. Well, if they would
all live
at the came time they would hardly make more than a small city and far from a
great nation.
Somewhat later
God told Abraham.,
"I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which
is upon the seashore." Gen. 22-.17. Whether this means one seashore or all
the seashores I do not know.
Still later God told Abraham that his descendents would be as the dust of the
earth. Gen. 28sl4. Surely the dust of the earth would be at least as much as the
sand of all the seashores, All we need to do to establish by the Word. Jeans
estimate is to apply an axiom.
It appears to have been a common idea among people even up to the present time
that the stars are rather insignificant
things and that there are-not very many of them,
just little lamps hung
from the celestial dome., lit by night and snuffed out by day and if all were
collected they would make a rather unimpressive pile At the foot of old Camel.
To make all
these little
lamps that hang in the sky would have been, not too big a job for a dozen or two
dozen human lamp makers.
Whence, then, came this idea of so many stars long ago? The Hebrew writers
somehow got a really impressive view of the heaven and also of their God. When the
children of Israel entered
Palestine$ the
heathen nations were
inquisitive to know who their god was.
They replied., "He
who made the stars" This God very likely did not impress the heathen,,
if he made only the
stars and probably is). pressed only few of the Hebrews themselves or they would
not have lapsed into idolatry so easily. But the writers of the Old Testament
not so. The heavens were revealed to them a very significant part of the
creations
Thus saith he Lord, "if heaven above can be measured, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel," Jer. 31:37
"Lo these are but the
outskirts of his ways;" Job 26t14 R
The finiteness of world - inhabited space are hinted at here;
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven" Tea. 136
"Who .... meted out heaven with a spans (A-Us light year, or parsec)"He telleth the number of the stare." Pa.
147:4 A few modem astronomical notions are suggested;Universal law
"Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the
dominion thereof In the earth?" Job 3803
"The ordinances of the moon and of the stare." Eze. 3105