The Bible Taught us a lot of Astronomy

I've been studying the ties to astronomy, science and the Bible for the last couple of years. I would like to share a couple of examples where the Bible actually taught us many things before scientist discovered them.

For instance:

1. The Bible suggested the Earth was round in Isaiah 40:22 which states "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."

Then there is Job 26:10 which states "He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness."

2. The Bible indicates that the Earth exists in space in Job 26:7 which states "He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing."

3. Biblical scripture also indicates that the universe is expanding in Isaiah 40:22 which says "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 spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."
Astronomers today believe the universe is expanding.

4. The Bible also touches on a controversial subject in science now in whether or not something can be created by nothing. The Bible says that nothing will cease to exist. (Hebrews 1:3) and by Him all things consist (Colossians 1:17). So you can interpret that as neither matter nor energy will cease to exist, because God is sustaining them, and since nothing new will come into existence, we might can conclude that the amount of material in the universe is constant.

5. God teaches us that the stars in heaven are countless. Genesis 22:17 " blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies."
Also in Genesis 32:12 "For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”

And in Deuteronomy 1:10 & 10:22. "The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude."
"Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude."

I believe science and the Bible go hand in hand. We will one day learn that many things we have learned and discovered were already given to us in the Bible. Just something to ponder on. I have a great respect for science and I believe science is in no way the enemy of the Bible or vice versa.

Dr. Dr. Jason Lisle writes:

Astronomy confirms the Bible
Galaxy Centaurus A
Galaxy Centaurus A (Image taken from the Hubble Space Telescope)

Trifid Nebula M20
Trifid Nebula M20
Today, the reliability of the Bible is being increasingly attacked. Can we really trust the Bible in our modern age of technology and science? As we have seen, science is not an enemy of the Bible. On the contrary, modern science has been able to confirm much of what the Bible teaches about astronomy. Many of the biblical teachings which would have been difficult to believe in the past (such as an expanding universe) are now accepted in science textbooks. This is an important lesson to learn. Ideas in secular science can change from time to time, but the Bible has demonstrated itself to be consistently true without the need for change.

Although much of secular astronomy has come to line up with the Bible, there are still a number of differences. What are we to do when the current consensus among scientists is at odds with the teachings of Scripture? Have we learned the lesson of history? Are we going to reject (or modify our “interpretation” of) the straightforward teachings of Scripture in light of the latest secular scientific claims? Or shall we trust that the Bible will prevail again as it always has in the past?

It may help to remember that our modern age is just another point in history. Future generations (should the Lord delay His return) will no doubt look back at our time as we look back to cultures of the past. Will students in some future classroom look back with amusement at some of the “scientific” beliefs and misunderstandings of our time, the same way we smile at the scientific mistakes of ancient cultures? Will they learn about the “Great Folly”—the nearly universal belief in the big bang and molecules-to-man evolution which reigned during the 20th and early 21st centuries? Perhaps future Christians will wonder at the rampant compromise so prevalent in our time: Why did Christians of the past compromise with the secular ideas of the big bang and billions of years?

In the next chapters, we will explore points of disagreement between the straightforward teachings of the Bible and the current opinions of the majority of astronomers. If the Bible really is the Word of God, as it claims to be, then it cannot fail. Inevitably, the secular opinion will collapse, and the Bible will again be vindicated in each of these points of disagreement.

Source

originally posted by: FearYourMind
I've been studying the ties to astronomy, science and the Bible for the last couple of years. I would like to share a couple of examples where the Bible actually taught us many things before scientist discovered them.

For instance:

1. The Bible suggested the Earth was round in Isaiah 40:22 which states "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."

Then there is Job 26:10 which states "He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness."

The Earth is an orb, not a circle. A circle is a 2D object.

2. The Bible indicates that the Earth exists in space in Job 26:7 which states "He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing."

Space isn't empty, nor does the Earth hang in space. The Earth follows an orbit around the sun, which orbits around the center of the galaxy, which probably orbits around something else.

3. Biblical scripture also indicates that the universe is expanding in Isaiah 40:22 which says "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 spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."
Astronomers today believe the universe is expanding.

I don't see your comparison here. I think you are stretching here.

4. The Bible also touches on a controversial subject in science now in whether or not something can be created by nothing. The Bible says that nothing will cease to exist. (Hebrews 1:3) and by Him all things consist (Colossians 1:17). So you can interpret that as neither matter nor energy will cease to exist, because God is sustaining them, and since nothing new will come into existence, we might can conclude that the amount of material in the universe is constant.

This looks like a stretch as well. I'm not seeing where you can interpret that the bible is saying that something can't come from nothing.

5. God teaches us that the stars in heaven are countless. Genesis 22:17 " blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven rand as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies."
Also in Genesis 32:12 "For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”

The stars AREN'T countless. There is DEFINITELY a finite amount of stars. We even have estimates for the total number of stars in our galaxy and even in our universe. Saying that the stars are countless is something that someone who doesn't know much about the universe would say after looking up at the sky at nighttime.

And in Deuteronomy 1:10 & 10:22. "The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude."
"Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude."

This isn't saying anything scientific at all.

I believe science and the Bible go hand in hand. We will one day learn that many things we have learned and discovered were already given to us in the Bible. Just something to ponder on. I have a great respect for science and I believe science is in no way the enemy of the Bible or vice versa.

No, the bible just made a bunch of guesses about how things work and they were mostly wrong. You are just trying to say that because the bible said some things that are KIND of like how science says they are, then science and religion go hand in hand. Except that isn't true.

Then on TOP of all this, there are the multitude of claims the bible makes that go completely COUNTER to scientific laws. Like talking burning bushes; a flood that can cover all the land on the planet; a man walking on water, healing the sick, and rising from the dead; the entire account of Genesis; being able to collect two of every animal and put them in an ark; and many more inconsistencies.

You are just cherry picking passages to paint your narrative, but ACTUALLY looking at the bible as a scientific manual shows that it isn't even CLOSE to being scientifically accurate. Nor should anyone think that it divulged any scientific secrets. Many of the things you are attributing to science are just things that are ridiculously easy to guess about just by looking yourself (countless stars in the heavens LOL!)

Not much "Science" in descriptions written by men who have never seen through a telescope.

But I agree, they tried to convey what little they could make out when "caught up in the spirit".

Imagine being a fish caught and brought aboard a boat, then thrown back. How ever would you describe what happened to you?

The stars are countless by man, especially back in those days. If the Bible were written by man thousands of years ago how would they know the earth was not flat, sits in empty space and yes there are celestial objects obviously and that the universe is expanding? How would a man thousands of years ago even come close to describing these things?

Also, even when we do know the exact amount of stars, our brains can not comprehend those numbers. We can only calculate them, but we cannot comprehend them.

The people who wrote what became the Bible were bronze age goat herders. Some later books were written by people in contact with Greece and Rome. No suprise that what is says reflects on what such people may have thought/known. There is nothing in it that we would not expect such people to have thought/known.

And back in the bronze age, not everyone was as ignorant as some are today

a reply to: Krazysh0t

You say: "Then on TOP of all this, there are the multitude of claims the bible makes that go completely COUNTER to scientific laws. Like talking burning bushes; a flood that can cover all the land on the planet; a man walking on water, healing the sick, and rising from the dead; the entire account of Genesis;"

How do you know for sure that this counters the scientific laws when we don't even understand the majority of dimensions that surround us? Also, the great flood covered all the land, but the Mediterranean Sea could have flooded all of their land therefor they may have considered the flood one that covered all of THE land.

originally posted by: FearYourMind
The stars are countless by man, especially back in those days. If the Bible were written by man thousands of years ago how would they know the earth was not flat, sits in empty space and yes there are celestial objects obviously and that the universe is expanding? How would a man thousands of years ago even come close to describing these things?

Well that's the thing the bible WAS written by man. If it were the word of god then it wouldn't be saying something silly like "the number of stars are countless". And that's the point, the bible made a bunch of guesses about how the universe works and they were wrong. You, however, are trying to give them credit for trying.

That is like saying the Ancient Greeks knew atomic theory because they defined all the elements as water, fire, earth, and wind even though that is completely wrong.

originally posted by: FearYourMind
a reply to: Krazysh0t

You say: "Then on TOP of all this, there are the multitude of claims the bible makes that go completely COUNTER to scientific laws. Like talking burning bushes; a flood that can cover all the land on the planet; a man walking on water, healing the sick, and rising from the dead; the entire account of Genesis;"

How do you know for sure that this counters the scientific laws when we don't even understand the majority of dimensions that surround us? Also, the great flood covered all the land, but the Mediterranean Sea could have flooded all of their land therefor they may have considered the flood one that covered all of THE land.

Because those things have never been duplicated or witnessed since. It reasons that those claims are likely a bunch of bull#. I can't prove a negative either. So if the bible is making those claims as physically possible, then the bible needs to prove that they are possible.

a reply to: [post=19848604]Krazysh0t[/post

The stars were countless by "MAN" in those days.

a reply to: FearYourMind



The Bible says the Earth has pillars. It says the Earth has a foundation.

The Bible says the Earth has four winds.

The Bible says the Earth has a FIRMAMENT, that is a solid dome placed over it where the sun, stars and the moon are. Genesis also claims that the moon is a lesser light to rule the night but the moon HAS NO LIGHT of its own and is merely reflecting the sun's light. The Bible also says that STARS can FALL from the sky and will in the end times. All that water that came in the Flood was believed to have come from above the dome because that's where the Biblical authors thought rain came from, as water from above the firmament seeping through windows in "Heaven" (Genesis 7:11)

Edit to Add: Yes, the heavens, and the air, and the sky, and Heaven (as in God's dwelling) often use the SAME HEBREW WORD. God resided somewhere above the dome, somewhere in the sky. They were seriously THAT ignorant of reality!

Also found in the Bible is the ancient belief that the heart and kidneys were where thoughts and feelings were stored, not the brain. The brain doesn't actually make an appearance in the Bible because its authors had no idea it was involved in the thought process. There's a great series about how prevalent this belief was both in the Bible and the ancient world.




There's also a great article on Patheos that talks about the so-called "scientific knowledge" contained in the Bible.

The Pillars of the Earth

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Actually, they have been witnessed since. Just the other week I saw a woman in my small church, not a evangelistic type with thousands in a crowd, I saw her get out of a wheelchair and walk and she still doesn't use it after being in it for years. I've witnessed many miracles. I had a wedged disc in my back and was prayed for by some good friends of mine and now the disc is back to normal. I also saw a woman with a tumor in her neck get healed. The tumor was visible and she has the pictures to prove it. The tumor is gone. I've seen cancer patients healed without chemotherapy. These things are really happening. Those who don't believe and turn away from God are the ones who don't see these things happening. So, you can't really say it's not happening if you haven't experienced it or attempted to.

originally posted by: FearYourMind
a reply to: [post=19848604]Krazysh0t[/post

The stars were countless by "MAN" in those days.

I hope you know that you are currently moving the goalposts from what you said originally in the OP.

5. God teaches us that the stars in heaven are countless. Genesis 22:17 " blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies."
Also in Genesis 32:12 "For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”

a reply to: FearYourMind

Sure you have. I'm TOTALLY going to believe your personal and unverifiable anecdotes. /sarc

a reply to: Krazysh0t

So tell me then. Exactly how many stars exist in our universe?

a reply to: Titen-Sxull

Don't forget that the Bible seems to think that the light from the sun is different than the light from the moon.

Genesis 1:16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.

originally posted by: FearYourMind
Also, even when we do know the exact amount of stars, our brains can not comprehend those numbers. We can only calculate them, but we cannot comprehend them.

I am pretty sure that if I can calculate a number that it by it's own action infers comprehension, after all without comprehension how in fact would one have been able to do said calculation??? Magic man in sky and hokey old books are all hogwash. Science is truth by measure all else in conjecture.

a reply to: FearYourMind

The current estimate is 100 * 10 ^ 29 stars.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

That's a estimate, not a exact number.

a reply to: FearYourMind

Yes it did, Check out the book of Daniel.