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Scientific foreknowledge in Sacred Texts (SFST) is a belief of apologetics that certain passages in various sacred texts show a more advanced awareness of the natural world than could have been discovered by the technology and science known to humans in those times. Certain Orthodox Jews maintain similar beliefs, though only about the Hebrew Bible (Tanach).[citation needed] In addition, such views are shared by Muslims regarding the Qu'ran.[1] This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ...
Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ...
Orthodox Judaism is one of the three major branches of Judaism. ...
11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum This article is about the term Hebrew Bible. For the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh (Jewish term) or Old Testament (Christian term). ...
11th century Targum Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also spelt Tanach or Tenach) is an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible, based upon the initial Hebrew letters of each part: Torah [תורה] (The Law; also: Teaching or Instruction), Chumash [חומש] (The...
Like many books, parts of the Bible contain admonitions or observations regarding different aspects of the natural world, and some of these appear to be supportable by scientific and medical research.[citation needed] However, supporters of biblical scientific foreknowledge believe that in the Bible's case, this knowledge could not have been discovered with the technology of the times, and therefore it is evidence of Biblical inspiration and of Biblical inerrancy. [2] Biblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible and what the Bible teaches about itself. ...
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position [1] that in its original form, the Bible is without error; referring to the complete accuracy of Scripture, including the historical and scientific parts. ...
Critics contend the evidence presented is generally specious and that, assuming that the interpretations are accurate, it may represent common knowledge of the time, or even no real knowledge of the scientific reasons behind the phenomena described.[citation needed]
History and Advocacy
An early example of proposed Biblical scientific foresight is the interpretation of passages of the Bible as showing Copernican motion, suggested by Spanish Theologian Diego de Zuñiga in his Commentary on Job where he states: - "Therefore the present passage [Job 9:6][3], which we have been discussing, is easily reconciled with Copernicus' opinion. And in order to show the marvelous power and wisdom of God, who initiates and maintains the motion of the whole earth, which is enormous by nature, the text adds, 'and its pillars are shaken.' This teaching means that it is moved from its foundations."[4]
David Macht, a pharmacologist and doctor of Hebrew Literature is a notable advocate of biblical health practices. [5] [6] In Dr. Macht's study entitled An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation of Leviticus XI and Deuteronomy XIV, which stated that the Levitical clean animals were less toxic than the Levitical unclean animals and was published by Johns Hopkins' Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Dr. Macht wrote: David Israel Macht (January 14, 1882 - October 14, 1961) was a Pharmacologist and Doctor of Hebrew Literature, responsible for many contributions to pharmacology during the first half of the 20th century. ...
Pharmacology (in Greek: pharmacon is drug, and logos is science) is the study of how chemical substances interfere with living systems. ...
Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena; above all, it is the culture of secular communities of Jewish people, but it can also include the cultural contributions of individuals who identify as secular Jews, or even those of religious Jews working in cultural areas not generally considered to be connected...
- Every word of the Hebrew Scriptures is well chosen and carries valuable knowledge and deep significance[7]
The Old Earth Creationist and astronomer, Hugh Ross, Ph.D., is a notable advocate of Bible scientific foreknowledge. Hugh Ross Hugh N. Ross (born 1945) is a Canadian-born Old Earth Creationist. ...
- "Some of the latest discoveries about the universe, specifically about the hot big bang model, speak volumes about the predictive power of a Bible-based, science-affirming perspective on the cosmos."[8]
JP Holding, a Christian apologetics author with a master's degree in library science, advocates Bible scientific foreknowledge. [9] Library science is the science and study of issues related to libraries and the organization and management of information resources. ...
William Harvey, the medical doctor who in the 1600s discovered the circulation of blood, believed that this discovery was proof of Biblical foreknowledge. In his 1628 work De motu cordis, he wrote: "the life, therefore, resides in the blood (as we are informed in our sacred writing)," referring to Leviticus 17:11 and 14.[citation needed] William Harvey William Harvey (April 1, 1578 – June 3, 1657) was an English medical doctor, who is credited with being the first to correctly describe, in exact detail, the properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart. ...
Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, (An Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals) is the best-known work of the physician William Harvey. ...
In the first half of the 20th century George McCready Price, a Canadian schoolteacher and creationist writer, published several books and papers supporting Biblical inerrancy in science (particularly geology and evolution).[citation needed]
(19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999...
George McCready Price (1870 — 1963) was a Canadian creationist. ...
George Frederick Wright, a geologist, (b 1838) held a specially created professorship of the harmony of science and revelation at Oberlin College (founded in 1833 by progressive Christians).[citation needed] He traveled the world in search of scientific evidence that would "reestablish confidence in the historical statements of the Old Testament". He published "Scientific Confirmations of Old Testament History" in 1906. This was mostly focused on the scientific basis for historical events, such as the parting of the red sea.[citation needed] George Frederick Wright George Frederick Wright (January 22, 1838 – April 20, 1921) was an American geologist and a professor at Oberlin Theological Seminary, first of New Testament language and literature (1881 – 1892), and then of harmony of science and revelation (until retirement in 1907). ...
The Geologist by Carl Spitzweg A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology, studying the physical structure and processes of the Earth and planets of the solar system (see planetary geology). ...
Oberlin College is a small, selective liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, in the United States. ...
Henry M. Morris, a hydraulics engineer, in 1951 published Science and the Bible which based on the work of George McCready Price. The first chapter of Science and the Bible dealt with Biblical scientific foreknowledge and set forth many of the arguments that are still in use by proponents today.[citation needed] Henry M. Morris Dr Henry Madison Morris (born 1918) is an American young earth creationist and hydraulic engineer, considered the father of the creation science movement. ...
Hydraulics is a branch of science and engineering concerned with the use of liquids to perform mechanical tasks. ...
1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...
There is debate between science and the Bible, which usually involves how accurately the Bible describes the physical world when compared to contemporary scientific understanding. ...
Harry Rimmer (1890 - 1952) was president of the "Science Research bureau"[citation needed] and published "Harmony of Science and Scripture" (1936)[citation needed], which attributed much scientific foresight to the Bible, including the wave nature and spectographic analysis of light, stating "either Job knew this, or supernatural wisdom is revealed here!" [10]. Rimmer had no earned college degree, although he was awarded an honorary "Doctor of Science" degree from Wheaton College (Illinois), an evangelical religious institution. [11] Harry Rimmer (1890-1952) was a prominent American creationist, president of the Science Research Bureau which was located in Los Angeles, California and pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Duluth, Minnesota. ...
Wheaton College is a private Evangelical Protestant, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb 25 miles west of Chicago in the United States. ...
Examples of Alleged Biblical Foreknowledge Some examples cited by proponents are offered below. - Seeming references to a round earth can be found in such passages as Job 26:10 and Proverbs 8:27, where Earth is described as a "circle".
- Job 36:27-28 describes the water cycle in considerable detail, when it is taken into account that the current knowledge of its workings were not discovered for 970 years. The passage reads "For [God] draws up the drops of water;/they distill his mist in rain,/which the skies pour down/and drop on mankind abundantly." (ESV).
- Some interpret Job 9:8 as a reference to the theory of Universal Expansion.
- Some aspects of the bottom of the sea are described in such passages as Job 38:16 and Jonah 2:5-6.
- Some allege that Psalms 8:8 is a reference to ocean currents.
- Some see Job 38:19, 24 as references to the light spectrum, as it compares "light" with "scattered wind" and seems to indicate that light constantly moves, while darkness is immobile.
Examples of Alleged Quranic Foreknowledge Some examples cited by proponents are offered below. - Some believe that a reference to the seven layers of the atmosphere (Troposphere, Stratosphere, Ozonosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Ionosphere, and Exosphere) can be found in Surah 2:29 and 41:12, where the sky is described as having seven layers.
- Some allege that Surah 15:22 speaks also of the Water Cycle. The verse reads, "And We send the fecundating winds, then cause water to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water in abundance" (HARUN YAHYA Translation).
- Some see a reference to the complexity of fingerprints in Surah 75:3-4.
- Some see Surah 55:19-20 as a reference to the place where the Mediterranean Sea runs into the Atlantic Ocean. The waters do not mix, because of the differences in density due to significantly varying degrees of salination.
- Surah 30:1-4 describes a time when the Romans were defeated "in the lowest land". This is seen by some as a reference to 613 AD, when the Byzantine Romans were defeated by the Persians at the Dead Sea basin, which is the lowest region on Earth's surface.
- Some see a reference to the three stages of fetal development in the womb in Surah 39:6, which appears to say it occurs in stages and compares the formation to a "threefold darkness".
Criticism Scientific and engineering knowledge have been documented in early cultures that claimed no divine guidance [12]. For example, scientists of Ancient Egypt documented knowledge of engineering and anatomy that were unknown to medieval Europe thousands of years later, such as the existence of cerebrospinal fluid: see Ancient Egyptian medicine. In prehistoric times, advice and knowledge was passed from generation to generation in an oral tradition. ...
Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ...
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), Liquor cerebrospinalis, is a clear bodily fluid that occupies the subarachnoid space in the brain (the space between the skull and the cerebral cortex—more specifically, between the arachnoid and pia layers of the meninges). ...
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Farrell Till asserts that biblical passages with supposed foresight can be interpreted in a number of ways, and that believers "see prophecies and their fulfillments in passages so obscurely written that no one can really determine what the writers originally intended in the statements."[13] Till is an author with master's degree in English (and a former pastor and missionary of the Church of Christ ) who has had public debates with well-known Bible inerrantists such as Dr. Norman Geisler [14] and Kent Hovind. [15] Farrell Till. ...
Alternate meanings: see Church of Christ (disambiguation). ...
Dr. Norman L. Geisler is a scholar, contributor to the field of Christian apologetics, and the author or coauthor of some sixty books defending the Christian faith. ...
Kent E. Hovind (born January 15, 1953) is an American evangelist and prominent Young Earth creationist who is serving a ten year term in U.S. federal prison for 58 counts of tax fraud, obstructing federal agents and related charges. ...
Anthropologist Mary Douglas who wrote in her book "Purity and Danger" that the biblical cleanliness passages merely represent cultural concepts of symbolic boundary integrity [16]. Dame Mary Douglas, DBE is a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism. ...
References - ^ Miracle of Koran
- ^ http://creationwiki.org/index.php?title=Scientific_Foreknowledge
- ^ Job 9:6, NIV
- ^ De Zuñiga, Diego, Commentary on Job (1584), p205
- ^ An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation of Leviticus XI and Deuteronomy XIV, Bulletin of the History of Medicine - David Macht
- ^ [1]
- ^ An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation of Leviticus XI and Deuteronomy XIV, Bulletin of the History of Medicine - David Macht
- ^ Hugh Ross, Ph.D. "Predictive Power: Confirming Cosmic Creation". http://www.reasons.org/resources/fff/2002issue09/index.shtml#predictive_power (accessed: October 06, 2006).
- ^ Tektoniks.org
- ^ Harmony of Science and Scripture, Harry Rimmer (1936)(p131-132)
- ^ [2]
- ^ Parkins, Michael D,(Preceptor, J. Szekrenyes), Pharmocological Practices of Ancient Egypt, Proceedings of the 10th Annual History of Medicine Days, Faculty of the University of Calgary, edited by Dr. WA Whitelaw
- ^ Farrell Till, The Skeptical Review 1990, What About Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible? p2-5
- ^ [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/geisler-till/geisler1.html Farrell Till debate with Dr. Norman Geisler
- ^ Audio of Hovind-Till debate at sermonaudio.com
- ^ Dr. Diane M. Sharon, 1998, Parashah Commentary
Dr. Norman L. Geisler is a scholar, contributor to the field of Christian apologetics, and the author or coauthor of some sixty books defending the Christian faith. ...
See also In prehistoric times, advice and knowledge was passed from generation to generation in an oral tradition. ...
There is debate between science and the Bible, which usually involves how accurately the Bible describes the physical world when compared to contemporary scientific understanding. ...
Biblical archaeology involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods and descriptions in the Bible. ...
Look up kosher in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
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