I. Scientific Foreknowledge
A. Account of Creation
- Its Scientific Order
The order of creation in Genesis, describing the progressive formation of the earth until it became habitable for human life, corresponds exactly with the order of creation set forth by modern geology. Although we must not attempt to date the account of creation told in Genesis, the happenings, in the order in which they are described, correspond to the four periods in geology.
The Primary period, in which vegetation was formed, corresponds to the third day of Genesis 1:11, 12, 13. The Secondary period in which great sea monsters appeared is called the fifth day in Scripture (Genesis 1:20, 21, 22, 23). The Tertiary period is characterized by its land animals which appeared on the sixth day. Also, man appeared last on the sixth day, conforming to the Quaternary period (see Genesis 1:24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31).
It is almost incredible, but Moses makes thirteen specific claims regarding the order of creation, and all of these have been substantiated as fact. Science upholds the order of creation as set forth by Genesis as being absolutely correct.
“Seldom, indeed, has such a mass of information been condensed into as few lines; and seldom has such a difficult subject been treated so accurately yet in such simple and popular language” (Lt. Col. W. H. Turton, D. S. O., The Truth of Christianity, London: Wells Gardner, Darton and Co. Ltd., p. 136).
2. Evidences of Inspiration and Scientific Foreknowledge
Within the past century scientists repudiated the creation story, declaring “Matter is eternal and therefore indestructible.” Today, even the layman knows that with the advent of nuclear physics and the atom bomb man has been able to make matter from energy as well as energy from matter. This truly was anticipated when the writer of Genesis declared, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Verse 2 of Genesis chapter one (Genesis 1:2), long a puzzler and often the object of scientific criticism, has now been interpreted to mean the Diffuse Dark Nebula, discovered within the past few decades [remember I wrote this in 1955]. The former nebular theory which contradicted Genesis 1:2 in every statement, has been discarded by science, being found false in several points. The swirling mass of hot gas, which it described as throwing off “chunks” or “pieces” of gas to form planets, much like mud being thrown from a revolving wheel, will tend to divide into two bodies of nearly equal mass and won’t throw off such “chunks.” Secondly, the amount of gas required to form our planet hasn’t enough mass to form the glowing star (which “cooled, forming our planet upon condensation”) which the theory proposed. Furthermore, the theory stated planets evolved from a body of hot gas giving off much light, whereas Genesis states that the earth was without form, void, and dark. The new dark nebular theory is in harmony with Genesis 1:2 since it is without form (having no describable shape), void (empty, being a dark mass of very rare gas), and dark. In fact, “this verse has been quoted by at least one nationally known astronomer as being the best description of a dark nebula that has ever been written” (Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks. Wheaton, Ill.: Van Kampen Press, page 23. The Moody Press edition, page 33. Stoner is referencing Dr. Alter, Director of Griffith Planetarium). We find, after thousands of years, claim two of Genesis has been justified by science.
3. Moses’ Guessing Game
Where did Moses obtain information regarding creation? Neither Egypt nor Babylonia furnish material as sensible and accurate as that found in Genesis. Could Moses have guessed or reasoned out, with purely human wisdom, this wonderful account?
Moses, in the first chapter of Genesis, makes thirteen claims as to the order and the nature of the events; all are found correct. The chance that Moses guessed the order of these items is one chance in 13 to the 13th power, or one chance in 302,800,000,000,000. But what chance did Moses have of describing, 4000 years before its discovery, the dark nebula? How did he know the earth was completely blanketed by clouds, that it was once completely covered by water, that life first appeared in the seas, that the sun is larger than the moon, that there are more seas than one yet they all have a common bed, or that man appeared last upon the earth, after all other major members of the animal kingdom?
Rating the first above named item conservatively as one chance in a thousand, and all the others as one chance in ten of his purely guessing them, the product of all these evaluations will give us the chance of Moses guessing or reasoning by purely human wisdom these thirteen claims, and arranging them in their proper order. These figures, 1000 x 10 to the 6th power times 302,800,000,000,000 when multiplied together give Moses one chance in 302,800,000,000,000,000,000,000 of guessing or reasoning by purely human wisdom the thirteen items themselves and putting them in their proper order.
If we had that many theater tickets, one inch square, and 100 to the inch, the pile of tickets which would be made would cover all of North America to a depth of 10 miles! Thus it is absurd that one should think Moses guessed the Genesis account! The only source of such profound wisdom available to Moses is God Himself, who inspired the writing of this astounding chapter. Truly “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
4. Other Interpretations of the Genesis creation narrative
Through the years many interpretations of creation have arisen which form a very interesting field of study. Nearly all of these are based upon the interpretation of the word day. Great controversy exists even today as to whether day means a literal 24 hour day, or whether it refers to a period of time.
One of the most novel and perhaps recent interpretations is set forth by P. J. Wiseman, Creation Revealed in Six Days, 1948, Marshall, Morgan and Scott. The word day is taken literally, but not in relation to creative acts by God, but rather days in progressive revelation of the creation story to Moses. Thus six days are taken to mean six lessons of a day each, upon which days God gave lessons to Moses concerning His creative acts. The author of this theory translates Genesis 2:3 “In it (the seventh day) He ceased from all His business which God did creatively in reference to making these histories” (A. Rendle Short, Modern Discovery and the Bible, London: Intervarsity Fellowship, page 102, under References), making the seventh day a rest for man’s sake, not God’s.
Others take the word day as meaning 24 hours and rightly claim God has the power to create a world in ten seconds if He so desired. “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me?”
Still others claim no time in Genesis is given as to the duration of creative acts. The six days are days of re-creation, Genesis 1:2 being the picture of the chaotic state in which the earth was left after Lucifer’s dethronement, when he was cast from heaven with one third of his angels. Creation is described as perfect in Genesis 1:1 (see Isaiah 45:18), it became void (Isaiah 24:1; Jeremiah 4:23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:2) when greedy and arrogant Lucifer (Satan) was cast from heaven (Luke 10:18 with Ezekiel 28:12, 13, 14, 15, which is a poetic picture of the fall of Satan as the result of his five “I wills” in rebellion against God (set forth in Isaiah 14:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) which also describes the catastrophe brought about by his fall (I am indebted to Mr. Harold Fuller, who supplied me this information in various interviews, for this paragraph. Mr. Fuller, a leader at Thoburn Methodist Church, spoke to the Methodist Youth Fellowship a number of times. He allowed me access to books he had in his own small library in his home, and access to a very rare book he borrowed from the Library of Congress. Mr. Fuller was an engineer who worked at the Detroit Tank Arsenal). It was animal life that perished after Satan’s fall, the traces of which remain as fossils. “Relegate fossils to the primitive creation (described in Genesis 1:1) and no conflict of science with the Genesis cosmogony remains” (Rev. C. I. Scofield, D.D., The Scofield Reference Bible, New York: Oxford University Press, page 4, note 2).
B. The Origin of Man and the Origin of Religion
- Evolution and the facts of science
Evolution is a theory and as such it cannot stand before nor be compared with the immutable Word of God.
Darwin, Huxley, and all other propounders of this fallacy agree on one point: there is not one speck of factual evidence in support of this hypothesis in existence. So called “missing links” are misconstrued constructions by befuddled scientists fashioned in plaster of Paris, and are usually composed of two teeth of an alligator, a rib of a chimpanzee, and an eardrum of an extinct rhinoceros with plenty of plaster of Paris mixed in between!
Pithecanthropus Erectus, The Dawn Man, Heidelberg Man, the Southwest Colorado Man, the Nebraska Man, Rhodesia Man, and Neanderthal Man have all been publicly declared notorious frauds in the theory of Evolution’s “missing links” by many internationally known scientists–experts in their fields (See God’s Plan of the Ages, teachers book, Gospel Light Press, page 26, which summarizes the work of A. W. McCann in his God or Gorilla, 1922, as well as more recent findings).
Evolution has done little good. It has, in fact, led many away from the fact of God, much to their downfall, and the truth of Scripture, causing them to lose faith in immortality, lowering their moral standards.
Sir William Dawson said, “No case is certainly known where any species of animals or plant has ever been changed to assume all the characteristics of a new species.”
Darwin said, “When we descend to details we can prove that not one species has changed” (Ibid., p. 26).
2. Evolution of Religion
Evolutionists have even tried to explain away religion as being the product of man’s development along emotional, etc. lines. They claim man originally worshiped many spirits in nature, the spirits being assigned to the various phenomena of nature which he could not comprehend. Later his religion developed into worshiping idols, then several invisible gods in the heavens, until today we worship but one God: monotheism. Thus monotheism is taken to be the peak in man’s religious development.
Both ethnological and archaeological findings have disproved this fallacy. The remains of early man which have been found point him out as being originally monotheistic. In later periods it is found that his religion degenerated and the worship of many gods ensued.
“…I was forced by the evidence to the view that degeneration is the outstanding fact of religious history…” (William Ramsey, Cities of St. Paul, page 28, quoted in George W. Dehoff, Why We Believe the Bible, chapter iv, page 39. The author in this chapter has collected the statements of many eminent scholars supporting this view). Halley’s Bible Handbook, page 745, states: “The Genesis idea that man started with a belief in One God, and that polytheistic idolatry was a later development, has been verified in inscriptions found by Langdon, in Pre-Flood layers at Jedet, Nasr, near Babylon. In Egypt, Petrie found indications that Egypt’s first religion was monotheistic.”
C. The Flood and the Ark
- The Flood in history and ethnology
Nearly all nations (“…flood stories have been found in such widely scattered lands as China, Babylon, Wales, Russia, India, America–practically all Indian tribes, Hawaii, Scandinavia, Sumatra, Peru, Polynesia, and, in fact, every region in the world save certain parts of Africa,” Henry Morris, That You Might Believe, page 77). In addition to the above mentioned peoples, Halley’s Bible Handbook, page 75, lists these: Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Phrygians, Fiji Islanders, Esquimaux, Aboriginal Americans, Brazilians. “Such a universal belief, not springing from some instinctive principle of our nature, must be based on an Historical Fact.”
Nearly all nations and races of the world include in their ancient traditions and mythology an account of a flood of enormous proportions, as well as a story of the ark. The stories are often fantastic as well as polytheistic (alluding to more than one God), but they all have some semblance of relationship to the Scriptural account. The universality of these stories provide strong ethnological (Ethnology is the study of characteristics, origins, and relations of human races) proof that the deluge was universal, or, at least, that the people of these many nations have a common ancestry stemming from Noah and his family.
Flood tablets have been found in ancient Babylonian libraries (as from the Library of Assur-banipal at Nineveh, found in 1872 by George Smith).
2. The flood in geology
If the flood were taken as fact it could well explain the hitherto inexplicable. Such things as the finding of prehistoric animals with their flesh still intact and edible, buried in Siberian ice; the sudden extinction of many species, found only in fossil form to a certain period; the discovery of fossilized whales, sharks, and other relics of the sea upon the tops of the earth’s major mountain ranges; the primeval longevity of man, and many other similar items, all of which might be explained by the flood.
The Bible implies that previous to the flood there had been no rain as we know it. Many men of science have agreed that at this time the earth was covered by a canopy of water-logged atmosphere. It is known that the ozone layer is of a temperature approaching the boiling point of water, and air at such a temperature is capable of holding an enormous quantity of water.
This “canopy” was effective in eliminating ultraviolet light, explaining the great length of time men then lived. This same canopy served to keep the surface of the earth warm and moist, a “hothouse” effect. Thus at this time the earth had a single global universal tropical climate. This is confirmed by the well known finds of fossilized ferns in the polar regions.
It is believed that a layer of very cold air above this ozone layer was agitated such that the cold air mixed in with the warm, moist air, causing the water’s rapid condensation, resulting in such a rainfall as the flood would require.
The rain having fallen, and the protective canopy of warm moist air having broken, the earth no longer would have a single, tropical climate. The polar regions thus became cold, rapidly freezing the tropical creatures which lived there. When the waters of the flood had assuaged, even the mountain tops would contain evidences of the sea life which had swimmed above them.
Regardless of whether this explanation is the true explanation of the deluge phenomenon, the fact remains that the Great Flood of Noah is a historical fact, and to this the very rocks of earth cry out in testimony.
3. The flood in archaeology
In addition to many ancient recorded written accounts of the flood found by archaeologists, flood deposits in at least four places have been found. “At Ur, in 1929, Woolley found an eight foot bed of water-laid clay, with the ruins of an earlier city buried beneath it at Kish. In 1928-1929 Langdon found a similar bed of water-laid clay, and underneath it a very well preserved pre-flood chariot, with four wheels, made of wood and copper nails at Fara, traditional home of Noah. Schmidt, in 1931, found a layer of clean water-laid clay and underneath it relics of its pre-flood inhabitants. At Nineveh in 1932-1933, Mallowan found layers of viscous mud and riverine sand near the bottom of the Great Mound, which must have been placed there by water, with a distinct difference between the pottery under the wet layer and that above it. This all looks like very tangible evidence that there really was such an event as the Biblical Flood (Henry H. Halley, Pocket Bible Handbook, Chicago 90, Illinois, page 746, The Flood).
4. Noah’s ark in the light of science
Many have scoffed at the carpentry of Noah, thinking that he was some Neanderthal from the old stone age. However, if we read the information Scripture furnishes us concerning the Ark, we find it was an amazing structure.
As the exact size of the ancient cubit is not known, we can only guess at its size. Modern scholarship holds that the cubit was from 18 to 24 inches in length. On this basis, Noah’s Ark is thought to have been 562.5 feet long, 93.5 feet wide, and 56.25 feet high. A vessel of such dimensions would have the tremendous carrying capacity of over two million, nine hundred fifty-eight thousand cubic feet! This is equivalent in carrying capacity to a freight train thirteen miles long, having 1000 box cars.
Such modern wooden ships as are still being built are built along the pattern of Noah’s Ark, pitched within and without, even upon the outer decks. The choice of wood for the Ark was perfect, as any other wood would have rotted before the completion of the Ark, which took Noah 120 years to build. Then too, the Ark must have been a very sea-worthy vessel; it withstood the most terrific storm the earth has ever known.
In addition, the Ark was built along modern lines of stability and had adequate ventilation, provided by a window 18 inches high which compassed the entire perimeter of the ark, located under the overhang of the roof.
The scientific accuracy of the Ark is further shown by its modern dimensions: it was six times as long as it was wide. Our naval vessels are built upon these identical proportions, and the U.S.S. New Mexico is built the same identical size as the Ark of Noah.
5. Could it hold all the animals?
Before placing a definite yes or no as an answer, we must first consider, just how many animals were there?
According to Dr. Howard Osgood there were just 865 varieties of animals that would require housing in the Ark for protection. One half of these were smaller in size than sheep.
All the animals at this time, according to Scripture, were vegetarians and therefore grain would suffice for food.
If one half of the Ark were filled with food, each animal would have an average of 175 cubic feet. A 200 pound man requires only 15 cubic feet.
Thus the argument should not be “was there enough room,” but rather, what did Noah do with all the room he had? Certainly this is characteristic of God. He always has plenty of room for those who will believe and accept Him.
II. Scientific Accuracy of Biblical Events
A. The Long Day of Joshua
- And confounded astronomers
Astronomers have found an apparent discrepancy in the astronomical chronology of our earth. We are a day behind the times, twenty-four hours out of step with the rest of the universe. There is no way to account for this except as we find the story recorded in history.
2. In the light of history
Nearly all ancient civilizations include in their histories and annals the account of either a very long day or a long night. “The ancient monuments and records of Greece, Babylonia, Egypt, India, Polynesia, China, Peru, and Aztec Mexico all bear witness to the fact that there was a ‘long day’ at a period in their histories corresponding to the time of Joshua” (Henry M. Morris, That You Might Believe, Chicago: Good News Publishers, 1946, pp. 17-18). When so many different nations in various parts of our globe all record such an event, we must conclude that they all have a sound basis of facts, and that the event actually occurred.
3. Plus the retracting shadow
Astronomers, working on the basis of the exact report of the position of heavenly bodies unconsciously included in the narrative of Joshua (chapter 10), have found the sun “stayed” 23 hours and 20 minutes. However, the earth is behind time 24 hours “on the dot.” How shall we account for this?
Another account (2 Kings 20:8, 9, 10, 11) tells of the shadow on the sun dial of King Hezekiah going back 10 degrees which, by our clocks, is exactly 40 minutes, thus accounting in both events for the lost day.
“…the late Professor Totten of Yale and Professor Pickering, formerly head of the Harvard Observatory, were forced to the conclusion that somehow an extra day had been slipped into astronomical chronology. No way exists of accounting for this discrepancy except by accepting Joshua’s long day as historical fact…. Professor Totten…proved that all the ancient time records could be made to fit together beautifully and, in fact, were perfectly correlated if Joshua’s long day were taken as fact” (Ibid., p. 18).
III. Science in Scripture
A. Medical Knowledge
In keeping a community’s health in trim, one of the most important factors is the purity of our food supply. This necessitates our proper choice of food to be eaten as well as its preservation.
In the time of Moses, God gave specific instructions concerning the choice of foods: “Whatsoever parteth the hoof and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among beasts, that shall ye eat.” This excluded meat of the camel and pig, amongst other animals. It is well known that until recently, lack of adequate meat and food preservation developments such as refrigeration rendered the meat of the pig unfit to eat because it spoiled rapidly.
“Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.” Furthermore, in this same chapter (Leviticus 11), the articles of food preparation or places of human habitation which in any way came in bodily contact with the dead carcass of any animal was to be destroyed, being declared unclean. Truly this shows the insight of God–which is only natural–which corresponds to modern discovery. The dead carcasses are likely to be germ infested, and could well lead to the spread of disease, especially in hot climates like that of Egypt and Palestine.
The washing of utensils which came in contact with dead animals, and the discard of such water used for cleansing is clearly indicated. Earthen vessels (which are porous) were to be destroyed if they came in contact with dead bodies or in contact with water which had touched dead bodies.
Large bodies of water, or moving waters, were considered safe water supply. Stagnant water is apt to be a carrier of disease, as is known today.
“Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth…them ye shall not eat” (Leviticus 11:42).
Personal cleanliness was stressed as you can see by reading Leviticus. As an example, Leviticus 15:5 may be taken: “And whosoever touches his (the sick’s) bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be (as a religious type of uncleanliness) unclean until the even.” Here we see Moses knew that the personal possessions, clothes, etc., even contact with the sick person’s clothes or body was liable to spread disease.
Moses perhaps did not discover the germ, but he did everything modern medicine does to prevent its spreading to others. He prescribes the quarantine of the sick, the isolation of those who are not healed (as of leprosy), the wearing of a filter-type or acting cloth over the mouth of the sick one. Even today all this is practiced by all doctors. Especially striking is the fact that a cloth was to be worn over the mouth of the afflicted. Today, during operations, doctors wear masks to keep their breath which might carry germs from the presence of the person being operated on. Homes also were to be kept clean, waste disposed of properly and safely, and all articles were declared unclean if they showed signs of mold or had been in contact with diseased persons, animals, or objects.
[The above information is as much as I am able to piece together from my original rough draft notes for my senior high school research paper written originally in December of 1955. I believe the content, though incomplete since my original paper was not returned to me, is still good material for the apologetic defense of the Divine Inspiration of Scripture, so I have taken all last evening and all day today to type it up to share with the kind readers of this Real Bible Study site. This material should be of great encouragement to all Bible believing Christians as a clear defense of the truth of the Bible.]