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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
Science and the Bible: Are They Enemies?
Several years ago, a college student in one of my classes stated that “the Bible is not a science book.” We had discussed the Bible as an inspired book, and noted that the Bible’s scientific foreknowledge was credible evidence of that inspiration. The student was right—the Bible makes no claims to be a textbook on science. But how are we to explain the many scientific truths written therein centuries before their discovery by science?
In the past we have recommended S. I. McMillen’s book, None Of These Diseases, where we read of many medical truths written in the Bible long before medical science was capable of discovering them. Read his well-documented book.
Consider the following examples:
Why don’t the seas overflow?
Years ago I watched the waters of the Mississippi empty into the Gulf of Mexico. I know now that every second, 6,052,500 gallons of water empty into that Gulf. And that was just one river! Why, I wondered, did the Gulf not overflow? As a 7th grader, I learned of the Hydrologic Cycle. This was discovered as a fact of science in France in the late 16th century. Solomon, however, in Ecclesiastes 1:7, had explained this matter over twenty centuries before that. How could he have known it without biblical inspiration?
Quarantine for disease control
In McMillen’s book, he shows how men later discovered what Moses revealed centuries before in Leviticus 13:46. Some scientists once suggested that diseases spread because of a “malign conjunction of planets,” but God said it was by contact with those already suffering from those diseases.
The springs of the sea
As Job attempted to understand the problems he had suffered, he spoke “words without knowledge,” so God asked him some questions. In 38:16 we read, “Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in search of the depths?”
Job wrote these words, but how could he have perceived the truths of these words? What experience did Job have in the sea? Not until the 19th century did man begin to unfold the secrets of the sea, including the “recesses” implied in Job’s words. Where did Job get just the right terms to describe what man would learn centuries later? From God, the author of the Bible.
Laws of thermodynamics
From Genesis 2:1-2 in the Old Testament to Hebrews 1:11 in the New Testament we are told the earth is winding down and wearing out. Man’s discovery of this truth is comparatively recent. The 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics are man’s way of describing these facts. These phenomena are just what Moses, David and Paul said in the Bible. See also Isaiah 51:6 and Psalm 102:26. The Bible got it right centuries before men even began to contemplate these matters.
Life is in the blood
Historians now believe George Washington’s death may have been caused by the primitive practice of “blood-letting.” In those days men believed “evil vapors” were in our blood, and that disease resulted from those vapors. How to treat the disease? Just take some blood out of the patient, including George Washington. In fact, the very opposite is true, and today’s blood transfusions validate that point. But the Bible “knew” this all along.
In Leviticus 17:11-14 the text says “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Job lived about six thousand years before man discovered that you should not take blood out of a man if you want him to survive. Did he just guess at this medical truth?
Ocean currents and the Bible
We can understand why primitive man knew little about the seas. How was he to explore them?
Matthew Fontaine Maury, born in 1806, sought all the information available on the sea. Once, while confined to his bed, the book of Psalms was read to him. Hearing the words of Psalm 8:6-9, the words “whatsoever passes through the paths of the sea” leaped into his thoughts. No one had ever charted the ocean depths, and the thought that there were really “paths” in the sea fascinated him.
This fascination motivated him to write a book on this subject that is still widely known, and he became known as the “Pathfinder of the sea.” How could the psalmist know those truths without inspiration?
No, the Bible is not a science book, but neither is the Bible the enemy of science. Who knows, there may be many more “undiscovered” facts in the Bible yet to be “discovered” by today’s scientists.
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“One of the most intriguing evidences of the inspiration of the Bible is the great number of scientific truths that have lain hidden within its pages for thirty centuries or more, only to be discovered by man’s enterprise within the last few years.”
“Many scientific facts, which prove the infallibility of Scripture, are tucked away in its pages given in nonscientific language; nevertheless, they substantiate the claims of authenticity of the Bible…Some scientific concepts have been known through the ages, but are mentioned in a unique manner in Scripture. Others were mentioned thousands of years before man discovered them.”
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Will a Properly Trained Child Never Go Wrong?
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it,” Proverbs 22:6 ASV.
Several textual matters should be considered first. The term “train” conveys the idea of a “dedication,” whether of a person or thing, to the service of God. The verbal form is found in Deut. 20:5 and other passages (cf. 1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chron. 7:5), having to do with the dedication of the temple. In the current context, it would have to do with the parents’ mental resolution to train and guide their children toward eventual service on behalf of their Creator.
However, the Hebrew text more precisely says, as reflected in the footnote of the ASV, “Train up a child in the way of his going.” Some scholars suggest this indicates that wise parents will not only train their children in divine truth, but also consistent with each child’s temperament, personality, etc., (see Walter Kaiser, et al., Hard Sayings of the Bible, Downers Grove, IL, 1996).
Combining both of the ideas suggested above, the passage seems to be saying that when godly parents determine that they will rear their children for the service of God (not as a mere appendage of life, but in passionate service), and when they are wise enough to do that training in harmony with the child’s unique personality (and every parent with more than one child acknowledges sibling individuality), that it generally will prove to be the case that the child will remain faithful to his training.
Does this mean that a good youngster can never go wrong? It does not. Every person has been granted the individual power of choice. He makes his own decisions, and sometimes they are bad ones - in spite of what he has been taught and what he knows to be right. God once said regarding Israel - whom he regarded as his “children” - “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:2). Surely no one would dare suggest that the Lord was remiss in his “parental” responsibility.
Proverbs are designed to set forth general truths - not iron-clad rules that are without exceptions. Let me introduce another passage to illustrate this point.
“When a man’s ways please Jehovah, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7).
There is a general truth here, namely, that when a person lives a godly life, which will be characterized by high, ethical standards and a benevolent disposition toward others, he will attract the admiration of his fellows - even his enemies - and such will created a more peaceful environment for him.
Of course that will not always prove true. Some are so evil that they are not affected by the kindly conduct of others. Did Christ’s “ways” please God? Of course. Were his enemies peaceable towards him? They were not. But this fact (exception) does not negate the general principle. So similarly with the “train up a child” maxim.
Second, as to Proverbs 13:24, there is no reason to view the term “rod” in any light other than that of a literal tool of corporal punishment. One scholar has noted:
“[The] failure [of the parent] to use the preventive discipline of verbal rebuke and the corrective discipline of physical punishment will end in the child’s death” (Bruce Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Chicago: Moody, 1980, II.897; emp. WJ).
No parent, of course, should physically abuse his child. To inflict physical damage is reprehensible. A properly measured “spanking,” however - especially in younger children who cannot yet reason effectively - certainly is not out of line. One would think that a wise parent could find a more judicious mode of administering discipline in an older youngster. Even in punishment, a child’s dignity should be respected whenever possible.
Unfortunately, however, too many parents in our modern society have been propagandized by pseudo-psychologists, who view all “hands on” discipline as abusive.
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