One of the central claims of Christian apologetics is that the Bible contains science. Muslims make exactly the same claim of the Qur'an, of course, and like those claims, those for the Bible either don't stand up to scrutiny or are completely unremarkable because they are simple observations of natural phenomena. I think the intention of these lists is that you don't actually check either the science or the Bible passage cited. You're just supposed to scan down the list and marvel at how all that science could have been included in the Bible if it hadn't been written by a god. Then you conclude that you're obviously right to believe in the god your parents told you was the real one and feel that nice warm glow of self-satisfaction that comes from being right all along.
This list, for example, is taken from a typical Christian apologetics site where the truth seems to be of little consequence. It's also traditional to include multiple Bible passages saying more or less the same thing, as though quantity somehow makes up for a lack of quality but mere repetition doesn't make the claims any better, least of all where one passage is clearly quoting an earlier one. I've added the actual Bible verse cited - because the actual passage is often not what you might think, given the confident claims made about it - and my commentary:
- Claimed Scientific Principle:Time had a beginning.
Cited Bible Passage(s):
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. - 2 Timothy 1:19.
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. - Titus 1:2.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. - 1 Corinthians 2:7.
Comment:
None of these mention time and in fact imply there was time before the 'world' began. It would be more accurate to interpret these as a belief that time did not have a beginning but is eternal - something we now know to be untrue.
Verdict:
Bad science and misrepresentation of the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The universe had a beginning.
Cited Bible Passage(s):
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. - Genesis 1:1.
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. - Genesis 2:4.
Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. - Isaiah 42:5.
Comment:
To be accurate, these only refer to Heaven and Earth not the Universe. We can see from other Bible passages that the authors had a strange view of the Universe which consisted of Earth with a dome over it from which were suspended the Sun and Moon. Stars were stuck to the underside of this dome and could be shaken free by earthquakes. What is so remarkable about people living in the Bronze Age believing everything had a beginning and had to be created? There is of course no scientific evidence for a 'creation' nor of the existence of Heaven.
Verdict:
Unremarkable, given the bad science of those times. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The universe was created from the invisible.
Cited Bible Passage:
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. - Hebrews 11:3.
Comment:
I can't think of any scientific principle which states that the Universe was created from the invisible. But this passages is saying things which are seen were created out of words. This is, of course, absurd.
Verdict:
Bad science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The dimensions of the universe were created.
Cited Bible Passage:
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39.
Comment:
I know of no scientific principle which says the dimensions of the Universe were created, but this passage make no such claim anyway. In fact, the 'dimensions' of the Universe are not a fixed quantity because space is increasing within the Universe. This smacks of list padding and an assumption that those it was produced for are not going to check.
Verdict:
False claim, obviously made by someone without the first idea of cosmology. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The universe is expanding.
Cited Bible Passage:
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. - Job 9:8.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. - Psalms 104:2.
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. - Isaiah 40:22.
Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. - Isaiah 42:5.
Also cited, all saying much the same thing - Isaiah 44:24, Isaiah 45:12, Isaiah 48:13, Isaiah 51:13, Jeremiah 10:12, Jeremiah 51:15, Zechariah 12:1.
Comment:
To stretch out or spread out a cloth does not mean it is expanding and the Universe itself is never mentioned. Clearly, an interpretation has been put on these words which was never intended by the authors. Quantity has singularly failed to compensate for poor quality here. The third passage even refers to Earth as a circle with a 'tent' over it.
Verdict:
False claim, bordering on a deliberate attempt to deceive. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Creation of matter and energy has ended in the universe (refutes steady-state theory)
Cited Bible Passage:
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. - Genesis 2:3-4.
Comment:
The passage cited says nothing about the creation of matter and energy nor does it address the 'steady state theory' in any way.
Verdict:
Blatantly false claim. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The universe is winding down and will "wear out" (second law of thermodynamics ensures that the universe will run down due to "heat death"-maximum entropy)
Cited Bible Passage:
Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. - Psalms 102:25-27.
Comment:
Nothing there about 'winding down' or 'wearing out' only that Heaven and Earth will perish (without specifying how). Since there is no scientific concept of Heaven let alone any principle involving it, the only 'science' here is that Earth will one day come to an end. This will be due to the expansion of the Sun, not to any wearing out or running down of the Universe.
Verdict:
False claim, probably compounded by ignorance of science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Describes the correct order of creation.
Cited Bible Passage:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. - Genesis 1:1-31
Comment:
'The correct order of creation' appears to be defined as what it says in Genesis 1, but there is no scientific principle of creation, let alone the order of it. Nevertheless, its worth running through this 'order of creation' to see how bad the underlying science is:
- Earth is created in the midst of water and a 'firmament' is placed over it to keep the water out. There is no dome or firmament over the Earth and there is no great quantity of water in space for a dome to keep out.
- Light is created and separated from 'dark' and yet we know 'dark' is merely the absence of light.
- Light was created on day one but the source of light (the Sun) was not created until day four - the day after green plants were created which depend on sunlight.
- The Sun and the Moon are suspended from the dome over the Earth and the Moon shines with its own light.
- Animals are created on day five and a humans, male and female together, on day six. However, in Genesis 2:18-19 we discover that animals were created some time after the male human as 'an help meet' for him and females only after they had proved unsuitable.
So, we have two different 'orders or creation' in the Bible, both of which can't be right, there is no discernible science there anyway, much of it is frankly absurd and could only have been written by people who knew very little real science.
Verdict:
Blatantly dishonest circular reasoning (because the 'correct order of creation' is given in the Bible, the Bible gives the 'correct order of creation'), false claim and appallingly bad science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Number of stars exceeds a billion.
Cited Bible Passage:
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. - Genesis 22:17.
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. - Jeremiah 33:22.
Comment:
No mention of the actual number of stars in either passage. Both refer to the 'seed' of someone being multiplied to that unspecified number. If this were true there would not be room on Earth for these descendants since there are maybe a trillion, trillion stars in the Universe. If, on the other hand it refers to the number of visible stars - maybe a few thousand - this become realistic. Clearly, this is not a statement of scientific fact.
Verdict:
Absurdly false claim. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Every star is different
Cited Bible Passage:
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. - 1 Corinthians 15:41.
Comment:
I don't know of a scientific principle which makes this claim. In fact, two suns of exactly the same age and mass formed in the same part of the Universe would be expected to be identical, not different. But this passage doesn't actually say what is claimed anyway. It say one star is different to another. This would be true if any pair of stars could be shown to be different, and why does the passage distinguish between the Sun and stars when the Sun is merely another star? Until we have examined every star there is no way to test the validity of this claim, so making it betrays scientific ignorance and/or dishonesty.
Verdict:
False claim which can't be substantiated. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Pleiades and Orion as gravitationally bound star groups.
Cited Bible Passage:
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? - Job 38:31.
Comment:
Absolutely nothing about being gravitationally bound, but I can find no reference to them being so bound in any case. Even the stars in the Pleiades cluster are known to be moving apart and will disperse in about 250 million years. The stars that make up Orion aren't gravitationally bound to one another either so it hard to imagine what this claim could be based on. Orion is simply a name given to a pattern of stars seen from Earth. The nearest, Bellatrix, is just 243 light years from Earth while the furthest, Alnilam, is 1359 light years away. In fact, the term 'influence' points to this being an astrological reference and nothing to do with gravity and appears to be asking a question not stating a principle.
Verdict:
Absurdly false claim both of what the Bible passages actually says and what the science is. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Light is in motion.
Cited Bible Passage:
Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? - Job 38:19-20.
Comment:
The passage says nothing about light being in motion. Nothing more need be said.
Verdict:
Blatantly false claim and misrepresentation of the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The earth is controlled by the heavens.
Cited Bible Passage:
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? - Job 38:33.
Comment:
There is no scientific principle that says Earth is controlled by the Heavens. This is a case of claiming the Bible contains science and quoting the Bible as evidence. Because the Bible contains science, what the Bible says must be science.
Verdict:
False claim, dishonest circular reasoning and blatant misrepresentation of science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Earth is a sphere.
Cited Bible Passage:
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. - Isaiah 40:22.
He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. - Job 26:10
Comment:
No mention of a sphere in either passage and the second one appears to have been included for padding. As to Isaiah 40:22 so beloved of Christians embarrassed by their Bible describing a flat Earth, I'll quote @Allocutus on his Why Theism Is Irrational blog:
Isaiah doesn’t use the word “sphere”. It uses the word “Chuwg” (pronounce ‘khoog’). The Hebrew word for sphere is “kadur” and is NOT used by Isaiah’s author. That word “Chuwg” means “circle, circuit, compass” or (in another context) “vault (eg, of the heavens”). It DOES NOT mean “sphere”. It actually means a flat disc. The Earth isn’t a disc. It’s a sphere.
Verdict:
False claim and misrepresentation of the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:At any time, there is day and night on the Earth.
Cited Bible Passage:
I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. - Luke 17:34-35.
Comment:
It's difficult to see this as anything other than a blatantly false claim. There is simply nothing in that passage that could be interpreted as meaning what it's claimed to mean.
Verdict:
Blatantly false claim and misrepresentation of the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Earth is suspended in space.
Cited Bible Passage:
He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. - Job 26:7.
Comment:
Earth isn't hanging or suspended in space and no scientific principle claims it is. It is moving extremely quickly round the Sun and the Sun is moving very quickly through space around the centre of the Milky Way galaxy which is itself moving through space. A claim again that the Bible contains science therefore what the Bible says is science.
Verdict:
A false claim and a fraudulent misrepresentation of science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The physical laws are constant.
Cited Bible Passage:
Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. - Jeremiah 31:35-36.
Comment:
Absolutely nothing about constancy there and the only 'laws' referred to are that light comes from the Sun during the day and from the Moon (which is false) and stars at night. Amusingly, some creationists claim the velocity of light was much slower and has been speeding up in order to explain away the fact that light from distant objects took longer to reach Earth than they claim the Universe has existed for, by many orders of magnitude.
Verdict:
A false claim and misrepresentation of both science and the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Earth began as a waterworld. Formation of continents by tectonic activity described
Cited Bible Passage:
Previously cited above - Genesis 1:2-9
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth. - Psalm 104:6-9
The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. - Proverbs 3:19
Also cited: Proverbs 8:27-29, Job 38:4-8, 2 Peter 3:5
Comment:
There is no scientific principle that Earth began as a waterworld and that continents were the result of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics explains how the land-masses move around and how the surface of the Earth is folded and eventually recycled. The passages quoted say nothing of this process.
Verdict:
A misrepresentation both of the science and the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Water cycle described.
Cited Bible Passage:
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. - Ecclesiastes 1:7.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: - Isaiah 55:10.
For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly. - Job 36:27-28.
Comment:
So by the Bronze Age, people had noticed how rain comes from clouds and runs down rivers into the sea! Wow! Except, the first passage implies the rivers flow back from whence they came and the second says that that rain and snow don't return thither but stay in the earth. The third simply notes that raindrops form in clouds and are made by God.
Verdict:
False claims and entirely unremarkable observation. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Valleys exist on the bottom of the sea.
Cited Bible Passage:
And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. - 2 Samuel 22:16.
Comment:
Any seafaring people would have known that there are 'channels' in the sea where a boat can pass between rocks or shallower parts of the sea. Fishermen would have been well aware of these. And what are these 'foundations of the world'? Is the claim that a god breathes through nostrils part of this Bible science?
Verdict:
Entirely unremarkable and barely rating as science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Vents exist on the bottom of the sea.
Cited Bible Passage:
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? - Job 38:16.
Comment:
Taken in context, this passage contrasts the 'springs of the sea' with the 'depth', implying that the springs are at the edge or shallows, not on the bottom in the depths. It would be well-known to people in coastal areas that springs are frequent around the shore. In fact, in arid coastal regions with no rivers, springs would be all there were as the apparent source of the sea water.
Verdict:
A misrepresentation of an otherwise entirely unremarkable Bible passage. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Ocean currents in the sea.
Cited Bible Passage:
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. - Psalm 8:8.
Comment:
Nothing there about currents. Paths are not currents. Since the passage is referring to movement of fowl and fish, etc, this is more likely to be referring to notional paths the marine life follow.
Verdict:
False claim and a misrepresentation of the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Air has weight.
Cited Bible Passage:
To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. - Job 28:25.
Comment:
The fact that wind has weight can be seen by anyone when they see leaves and dust move and feel the wind on their face. Even neolithic people would have noticed that, let alone Bronze Age people. This is on a par with noticing that clouds are in the sky.
Verdict:
Entirely unremarkable and barely rating as science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Winds blow in circular paths.
Cited Bible Passage:
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. - Ecclesiastes 1:6.
Comment:
So they noticed that wind changes direction and swirls around. Another wow! This is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. It seem whoever compiled this list assumed people in those days would have known absolutely nothing so any observation of the real world must have a supernatural explanation.
Verdict:
Entirely unremarkable and barely rating a science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The chemical nature of human life.
Cited Bible Passage:
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 2:7.
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. - Genesis 3:19.
Comment:
It's difficult to see what scientific principle is being claimed here or why human life is specified as though it differs from other life. There is no scientific principle that makes that claim. But neither of these passages refer to chemicals anyway. There is no scientific principle that says humans are made from dust or that some magic ingredient called 'life' is breathed into their nostrils. This is again presenting Bible 'science' as real science and quoting the Bible as evidence.
Verdict:
Absurdly circular reasoning and a misrepresentation of both science and the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Life of creatures are in the blood (sic).
Cited Bible Passage:
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul - Leviticus 17:11.
Comment:
'Life' is not in the blood. This comes from an observation by primitive people that when you lose a lot of blood you die. 'Life' is not a scientifically defined entity, let alone there being a scientific principle that it's in the blood. This is a daft as claiming that the flame of a candle in in the wick or the wax. Bible pseudo-science presented as real science again and the Bible cited as evidence for it.
Verdict:
A false claim and a crude misrepresentation of the science. - Claimed Scientific Principle:The nature of infectious diseases.
Cited Bible Passage:
All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be. - Leviticus 13:46.
Comment:
More barrel bottom scraping. No mention of germ theory. If this was known about why wasn't it spelled out in detail so we could have avoided so much death and suffering, especially of children, several thousand years ago? The simple observation that people can catch diseases by contact with people with diseases was known throughout the world but the preventive action of isolating and ostracising sick people was singularly ineffective.
Verdict:
Unremarkable and a misrepresentation of the Bible. - Claimed Scientific Principle:Importance of sanitation to health.
Cited Bible Passage:
Too long to quote. Basically about ritual washing after touching dead things - Numbers 19:1-22.
Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: - Deuteronomy 23:12-13.
Too long to quote. More about sacrifices and ritual purification. - Leviticus 7-9.
Comment:
Ritual purification is an ancient practice found in Egypt, Greece, Rome and India and probably Persia and Mesopotamia. It is probably more to do with cleansing of 'sin' than personal hygiene. It is a common courtesy to bury your faeces, especially with nomadic people who live in encampments where permanent latrines would be impracticable. Like the previous example, there is nothing here that suggests an awareness of germ theory. Disease-causing organisms are conspicuous by their absence - an idiotic oversight had they been know about.
Verdict:
False claim and a misrepresentation of what the Bible describes as unremarkable rituals and ordinary good manners.
So, every single one of these examples of the 'science' in the bible is either something that would probably have been more remarkable had they not know about it, a misrepresentation of science or a misrepresentation of the Bible, or often both.
Just about as dishonest a Christian apologetic as you are likely to find.
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