bibrel

7/28/2019 bibrel

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Is The Bible Reliable

Scientifically?

Dr. Heinz Lycklama

[email protected]

www.osta.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.osta.com/

http://www.osta.com/

mailto:[email protected]

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Some Common Misconceptions Skeptics and unbelievers think:

“The Bible is an antiquated religious book,

filled with scientific fallacies and

mistakes reflecting the naïve cosmology

of the primitive tribes of the Near East.”

Even some professing Christians think:

“The Bible is a book of true religion

dealing solely with spiritual subjects and

that, where it seems to touch on matters

of science and history, it must be

interpreted spiritually or allegorically,

rather than literally.

Evolution is Science

Creation is Religion

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Can I Believe the Bible? - 2

There are many evidences for the existence of God and the truth of the Bible

However, for someone committed to naturalism,

no amount of evidence will do

“Apologetics is not for proving the Word of God but simply for providing a basis for faith” (JoshMcDowell) 1 Peter 3:15 “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone

who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

True faith satisfies both the heart and the intellect

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The Reliability of the Bible Strong Manuscript evidence. More ancient manuscripts thanany other historical book. New Testament Confirmed bysecular historians Josephus (before 100 AD), Roman Tacitus(120 AD), Roman Governer Pliny (110 AD)

Archaeological evidence. Countless finds of Old Testamentcities

Prophecy - Several hundred fulfilled prophesies including thetime of Christ’s ministry, his birthplace, and method of death.

Destruction of Babylon by Cyrus, Progression of Kingdomsfrom Babylon through Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empireand the Roman Empire, suffering of Jews under Antiochus IVEpiphanes, Freedom for Jews under Judas Maccabeus andIsrael’s rebirth as a nation in 1948

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The Apostle Paul’s Experience

Acts 28:23b-27: From morning till evening he[Paul] explained and declared to them thekingdom of God and tried to convince them

about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from theProphets. Some were convinced by what he said,

but other would not believe. … (As the HolySpirit through Isaiah said) “You will be ever

hearing but never understanding; you will beever seeing but never perceiving. For this

people’s heart has become calloused; theyhardly hear with their ears, and they have closed

their eyes.”

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Arguments for God’s Existence

The Cosmological Argument - everything has acause; God is the initial “First Cause”

The Moral Argument - our sense of moralvalues points to the existence of a moral Creator

The Teleological Argument - evidence of designand purpose in the world point to intelligentcreation, as a watch indicates a watchmaker

Note that neither the Bible nor Jesus try to prove the existence of God - they assume it

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The Creation Shows God

Romans 1:20

“For since the creation of the world God’s

invisible qualities - his eternal power and

divine nature - have been clearly seen, being

understood from what has been made, so that

men are without excuse.” Knowing that there must be God obliges us

to seek Him

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What is The Absolute Truth?

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Arguments to Support the Bible

The unparalleled reliability and accuracy of the

historical text of the Bible

Confirmation of the events, places, nations, and

people of the Bible by archaeology

It is unique in many ways (written over 1,500

year span, over 40 authors maintaining harmonyand continuity, survival through time, influence

on society, unique teachings, etc.)

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The Reliability of the Bible When compared against classical literature,

the historical reliability of the Bible is

outstanding Number of manuscripts: NT 24,000; Iliad by

Homer 643

Time between when written and earliestcopy: NT 25 years; Iliad 500 years

OT accuracy verified by the Dead SeaScrolls

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Be Sure of Your Facts There are no historical or scientific errors in the Bible

There are no scientific errors because God cannot lie

We believe in the full, verbal inspiration, inerrancyand infallibility of the Holy Scriptures

The Bible is written in everyday language

Bible writers used the language of appearance, e.g.

sunrise, sunset, dew - when the sun “rises” wouldyou say “my what a beautiful earth rotation”?

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Be Sure of Your Facts - 2 Science has never disproved any statement in the

Bible, but it has proven and demonstrated the truth of hundreds of things which the Bible anticipated, e.g.

Gen. 1:1 (space, matter, time, force, action), Ps.103:12

We must be sure of Our scriptural facts,

Our scientific facts, and What we heard

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Scriptural Facts

Dr. Criswell advertised that he would give anybody$1000 if he could show him a scientific inaccuracy,

mistake, or error in the Bible Woman called to say:

Apples cannot grow in the Mesopotamian Valley

Apples only grow in OR and WA

Gen. 3:2,3 (forbidden fruit)

“I know it‟s true because my professor told me so!”

Lesson – check your facts!

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Scientific Facts Dan. 12:4 predicted an explosion of

knowledge in the last days

90% of all scientists are living today Increased knowledge

> 100K scientific periodicals, manyspecialties

> 2000 words per minute are being added

Earth satellites collecting 10^12 bits of information per day

No one can claim to be an “authority” ineneral

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Scientific Facts - 2 Much new knowledge obsoletes old

knowledge

Scientists or liberals may try to harmonizeteachings of Genesis with contemporaryscience

What if we updated the Bible in accordancewith the latest scientific theories anddiscoveries?

The Bible is constant

Science changes theories based on

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What Did We Hear? Communication, especially

miscommunication, can lead

to misperceptions Story of the cake decorator:

Bride told her to put thewords of 1 John 4:18 “There

is no fear in love …” on cake Decorator heard John 4:18

and put these words on cake“you have had five husbands…”

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Should We Change The Bible

To Agree With Science?

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Law of Biogenesis Life comes only from preexisting life

Experiments run over two centuries

Louis Pasteur, Redi, Spellanzani

Spontaneous origin of life impossible:

Miller’s experiment made wrong assumptionsabout early earth’s environment

Organic molecules oxidized by oxygen

Probability of protein formation by chance is lessthan 1 in 10**130, i.e. ZERO/ZIP/NONE

Simple cell requires 100’s of protein molecules ina specific order

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1st Law of Thermodynamics Gen. 2:2-3, “on the seventh day God ended His work

which He had made. … in it He had rested from all Hiswork which God created and made.”

Neh. 9:6, “.. You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, … And You preserve themall. …”

Col. 1:16,17, “For by Him all things were created thatare in heaven and that are on the earth … All things

were created through Him and for Him. And He isbefore all things, and in Him all things consist.”

Heb. 1:2,3 “… by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who beingthe brightness of His glory … and upholding all things by the

word of His power, when He had by Himself …”

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2nd Law of Thermodynamics Ps. 102:25-27, “Of old You laid the foundation of the

earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will allgrow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change

them, And they will be changed.” Is. 51:6, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on

the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish awaylike smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment, …”

Rom. 8:20-22, “For we know that the whole creationgroans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

1 Pet. 1:24-25 “”All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and itsflower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

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Law of Cause and Effect

Gen. 1:1, “In the beginning God created

the heaven and the earth.”

The First Cause of the Universe must be

an infinite, eternal, omnipotent,

omniscient, omnipresent, personal,

volitional, holy, loving being!

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Biblical Reliability on Science We trust the Bible for spiritual truth Do we trust it for truth in other areas?

History - events corroborated by

historians Archaeology, geography – verifiable

facts

Science - astronomy, geophysics,

geology, hydrology, meteorology,biology, physics there are many Biblical references to nature

and natural processes

authors use everyday language

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Astronomy

Job 25:5 “If even the moon does not shine

...”

The moon itself is not a source of light Moon rocks filled with titanium, a better reflector

than diamonds

Ps. 89:37 “It shall be established forever like

the moon, even like the faithful witness in thesky.”

The moon itself is not a source of light, but areflector of light from the sun

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Astronomy - 2

Ps. 136:7-9 “To Him who made great

lights, ...the sun to rule by day, ... the

moon and stars to rule by night ...” Scientifically accurate

Ps. 74:16 “... Thou hast prepared the

light and the sun.” Did God create the light separate from

the sun in the beginning?

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Astronomy - 3

Is. 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than

the earth, so are my ways higher than your

ways, …” Job 22:12 “Is not God in the height of

heaven? And see how lofty they are!”

Jer. 31:37 “… If heaven above can bemeasured, and the foundations of the earthsearched out beneath, …”

These three verses indicate the size of the

universe

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Astronomy - 4 Gen. 15:5 “... count the stars, if you are able to count

them. … so shall your descendants be.”

Gen. 22:17 “… and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven, and as the

sand which is upon the sea shore…” Jer. 33:22 “ … as the host of heaven cannot be

numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured …” Ptolemy counted 1056 stars; Johannes Kepler counted

1005

Total number of stars visible to the naked eye is about4000

These three verses seemed to be in scientific error until…

… the telescope Today scientists estimate there are more than 10**25

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Astronomy - 5

1 Cor. 15:41 “One star differeth from another

star in glory.”

Variety of stars, no two stars alike, God callsthem by name (Ps. 147:4)

Jer. 31:35-36 “…Who gives the sun for a light by

day, the ordinances of the moon and the starsfor a light by night …” Defines the precision of orbits

Ps. 104: 1-35 “… who stretch out the heavens

like a curtain. … who laid the foundations of the

earth …” Praise to the Creator, contains no scientific error

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Constellations Job 38:31 “Can you bind the cluster

of Pleiades, or loose the belt of

Orion?”

God told Job in ~ 2000 BC that theseven stars of Pleiades were bound

together and the stars of Orion are not.

Pleiades used to be called the “seven

sisters.” We learned [20th century] that the

stars of Pleiades are gravitationally

bound and the stars of Orion are not.

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Geophysics Job 26:7,10 “He stretches

out the north over emptyspace, and hangs theearth on nothing. … He

drew a circular horizon onthe face of the waters, atthe boundary of light anddarkness.”

Indicates a round earth,not resting on a pillar,consistent withobservation

Written at a time whenmany thought the earth

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Geophysics - 2

Prov. 8:27 “... when he inscribed a circle on

the face of the deep.”

Indicates that the earth is a globe Is. 40:22 “It is He who sits above the vault

(circle) of the earth ...”

“chuwg”, Hebrew word for arc, sphere

Ocean has 8 inch (20 cm.) per mile curvature

Ps. 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west …”

Shape of earth

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Geophysics - 3 Job 38:12,14 “Have you commanded the morning

since your days began, and caused the dawn toknow its place, … It takes on form like clay under a

seal, and stands out like a garment.” The dawn rolls across the earth as it rotates

A cylindrical seal rolled over soft clay -> conveys therotation of earth on its axis

Job 26:7; 38:6 “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.”; “Towhat were its foundations fastened? Or who laid itscornerstone?” Earth out there in space, gravitation among the planets

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Geology Job 14:18-19 “But as a mountain falls and

crumbles away, and as a rock is moved from itsplace; as water wears away stones, and as

torrents wash away the soil of the earth; … “ Rock erosion

Job 28:9-10, “He puts his hand on the flint; Heoverturns the mountains at the roots. He cuts outchannels in the rocks …

Man’s efforts in mining

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Geology - 2 Job 38:29-30 “Out of whose womb came the

ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath

gendered it? The waters are hid as with astone, and the face of the deep is frozen.” Glacial period

2 Pet. 3:4 “And saying, Where is the promise

of his coming? For since the fathers fellasleep, all things continue as they were fromthe beginning of creation.” Warning of Uniformitarianism?

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Principle of Isostasy Is. 40:12, “Who hath measured the watersin the hollow of His hand … weighed themountain in scales and the hills in a

balance?” Ps. 104:5-9, “Who laid the foundations of the earth …” Principle of isostasy

According to this principle, the level of theEarth's crust is determined by its density;lighter material rises, forming continents,mountains, and plateaus, and heavier materialsinks, forming basins and ocean floors.

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Hydrology

Eccl. 1:7 “All the rivers run into the sea, yet thesea is not full; to the place from which the riverscome, there they return again.” [Written bySolomon in 935 B.C.] The hydrologic cycle has been understood by man only

in recent years -> ~ mid-1800‟s

World‟s food supply is made possible by the distributionof water

Is. 55:10 “For as the rain comes down and the

snow from heaven, and do not return there butwater the earth, and make it bring forth and bud,that it may give seed to the sower and bread to theeater.” Hydrologic cycle

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Hydrology - 2 Ps. 135:7; Jer. 10:13 “… He causes the

vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth,He makes lightning for the rain … ” Evaporation occurs after “a multitude of waters in

the heavens” descends

Prov. 8:26 “Whileas

yet He had notmadethe earth or the

fields,or the primal dust

of

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Hydrology - 3 Job 26:8; 37:11,16 “He binds up the water in His thick

clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it. … Also

with moisture He saturates the thick clouds. … Do you

know how the clouds are balanced … “

Condensation from the clouds, which hold water mysteriously

Job 36:27-28 “For he draws up drops of water which

distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds dropdown and pour abundantly on man.” Precipitation explained

Job 28:10 “He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his

eye sees every precious thing.” Run-off explained

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Hydrology – 4

Ps. 33:7 “He gathers the waters of the sea together

as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses.” Oceanic reservoir

Job 38:22 “Have you entered the treasury of snow

or have you seen the treasury of hail …” Snow and hail

Ps. 147:16 “He gives snow like wool; He scatters

the frost like ashes.” Snow and frost

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Hydrologic Balance

Is. 40:12 “Who has measured the waters in the

hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a spanand calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in abalance?” Describes the hydrologic balance

Job 28:24-26 “For He looks to the ends of the earth,

and sees under the whole heavens, to establish aweight for the wind, and apportion the waters bymeasure. When he made a law for the rain, and apath for the thunderbolt.”

Describes the hydrologic balance

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Meteorology Eccl. 1:6 “The wind goes toward the south and turns

around to the north; the wind whirls aboutcontinually, and comes again on its circuit.” Circulation of the atmosphere, not discovered until much

later

Is. 40:22 “It is He who sits above the circle of the

earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who

stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreadsthem out like a tent to dwell in.” Protective effect of atmosphere

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Meteorology - 2 Eccl. 1:7 “All the rivers run into the sea, yet

the sea is not full; to the place from which the

rivers come, there they return again.” Oceanic origin of rain

Jer. 10:13 “… He makes lightning for the

rain, he brings the wind out of Histreasuries.” Relation of electricity to rain

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Biology Gen. 1:11-12, 21, 24-25 “…herb that yields seed

according to its kind, …, beast of the earth accordingto its kind.” Indicates stability of different kinds Biogenesis, each producing after its own kind [used 10

times]

Gen. 1:26 “… let us make man in Our image,according to Our likeness; …” The uniqueness of man

Prov. 16:24 “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” Psychotherapy

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Biology – 2 Gen. 1:11,24-27; 3:19 “In the sweat of your face you

shall eat bread till you return to the ground; for out of it

you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shallreturn.” The chemical nature of flesh is evident from this

1 Pet. 1:24-25 “… all flesh is as grass, and all the

glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grasswithers, and its flower falls away. But the word of theLord endures forever.” Man returns to dust and his body is gone

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Circulatory System Gen. 9:4 “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life,

that is, its blood.” Life is in the blood, a medical statement

Blood circulatory system, and importance of blood to life,were scientifically discovered by William Harvey in 1616

AD

Lev. 17:11,14 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood

...” “For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified

with its life.” [Written by Moses ~ 1400 BC.] Blood circulation, life in the blood

Used to “bleed” a patient to remove a disease

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Painless Surgery

Gen. 2:21 “And the Lord God caused a deep

sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He

took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its

place.”

God knew that the key to painless surgery was to put

the patient to sleep.

Until the 1800’s surgery was performed withoutanesthesia – perfected by William Morton ~ 1846,

inspired by Gen. 2:21.

Anesthetic gases were discovered in early 1800’s.

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Germs Cause Infection

Lev. 11:40 “He also who carries its carcass shall

wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.”

God told Moses to wash after handling dead things(~ 1400 BC.)

Until the 1800’s doctors handled the dead and then

treated patients without washing.

Phillip Semmelweiss proved that disease can betransferred by not washing after handling dead things

(~ 1846 AD.)

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Proper Nutrition

Gen. 2:9 “And out of the ground the Lord

God made every tree grow that is pleasant

to the sight and good for food.”

Ps. 104:14 “He causes the grass to grow for

the cattle, and vegetation for the service of

man, that He may bring forth food from theearth.”

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Proper Nutrition - 2

God designed plant life to be nutritional.

The Psalmist recognized the benefits of

the grass and herbs.

In the mid 1700’s James Lind discovered

the benefits of vitamin C.

In the late 1800’s Christian Eijkman

discovered the benefits of thiamine.

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Physics

Heb. 1:3 “… upholding all things by the word of Hispower …”;

Col. 1:17 “He is before all things, and in Him all things

consist.” Mass-energy equivalence (First Law of Thermodynamics)

Heb. 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds wereprepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was

not made out of things which are visible.” Mass is manifestation of energy

World‟s basic elements are the electron, proton, neutron,neutrino(not earth, air, water, fire - as thought by the early Greeks)

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Physics - 2 Gen. 1:14,17 “… let there be lights in the firmament of

the heavens to divide the day from the night; and letthem be for signs and seasons, and for days andyears. … God set them in the firmament of the

heavens to give light on the earth.” Source of energy for the earth

Ps. 19:6 “Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its

circuit to the other end; and there is nothing hiddenfrom its heat.” Sun is source of energy for the earth

Sun moving at 600K mph around center of Milky Way galaxy

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Physics - 3

2 Pet. 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as

a thief in the night, in which the heavens will passaway with a great noise, and the elements willmelt with fervent heat; both the earth and theworks that are in it will be burned up.” Atomic disintegration

Job 38:35 “Can you send out lightnings, that

they may go, and say to you, „Here we are!‟?” Radio waves, electromagnetic radiation

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Were You There?

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Alleged Scientific Errors in Bible

1 Kings 7:23 “And he made the Sea of castbronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other;it was completely round. Its height was fivecubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured itscircumference.” A measurement in Solomon‟s Temple

All engineers know that the ratio of thecircumference of a circle to its diameter is pi, i.e. 3.1415923

Within rounding accuracy, this is true!

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Alleged Scientific Errors in Bible - 2 Rev. 7:1 “… four corners of the earth

…”

The phrase “four corners” in the Greekmeans “four quarters”

Translated this way in Rev. 20:8 and

other Scriptures Common language used in surveying

and mapping today

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Alleged Scientific Errors in Bible - 3 Ps. 19:6 “[The sun‟s] rising is from one end

of the heaven, and its circuit to the other end,…” Convention used by astronomers and

cartographers even today

We measure the motion of the sun, moon andstars relative to the earth

All heavenly bodies are in motion relative toeach other

Sun moves around center of Milky Way galaxy at600,000 mph

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The Bible Is Unique Unique among religious books of

antiquity in scientific accuracy

There is no “modern science” in the

Babylonian, Hindu, Islamic or Greeksacred books

Even the Koran says that the moon ishigher than the sun in the sky

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Scientific Disciplines Established

by Bible-Believing ScientistsDiscipline Scientist

Astronomy Johann Kepler (1571-1630)

Bacteriology Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

Chemistry Robert Boyle (1627-1691)

Computer Science

Charles Babbage (1792-1871)

Dynamics Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Electrodynamics Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)

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Scientific Disciplines Established

by Bible-Believing Scientists - 2Discipline Scientist

Electromagnetics Michael Faraday (1791-1867)

Natural History John Ray (1627-1705)

Oceanography Matthew Maury (1806-1873)

Taxonomy Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Thermodynamics Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)

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Notable Discoveries by Bible-

Believing ScientistsContribution Scientist

Barometer Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

Biogenesis Law Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

Classification System Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Law of Gravity Isaac Newton (1642-1727)Scientific Method Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Telegraph Samuel Morse (1791-1872)

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