Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible
| One question that is often asked of the Bible is, “How do we know it’s actually inspired by God”? There are several ways to know it’s inspired by God, and not just merely the personal opinions of the 40+ authors who wrote it over about at 1,500 year period. One way is the hundreds of prophecies in the Old and New Testaments that have already come to pass without a single mistake. Another way is the scientific foreknowledge that appears all throughout the Bible. In this case, what we mean by “scientific foreknowledge” is scientific information that was revealed in the Bible long before mankind discovered or verified it through extra-Biblical means. The verses cover a broad range of scientific disciplines. We are gathering this information from several sources, and will add to this list as we have time to. Scientific Foreknowledge Details Books, videos, etc. Links |
| Fact | Bible verses | Date of verse | Discovered by science | |
| The stars are too great in number to count | Genesis 15:5 Jeremiah 33:22Hebrews 11:12 | 1450-1410 BC 627-585 BC 64-68 AD | 19th Century AD with the advent of powerful telescopes. Prior to this, most thought there were no more than 6,000 stars (what could be seen with the naked eye from all points on the earth). See this CNN report titled Star survey reaches 70 sextillion. | |
| The Earth is shaped like a sphere (round) and rotates | Isaiah 40:22 Luke 17:34-36 | 746-680 BC 60 AD | See this link for an interesting historical account of where the idea of a flat earth originated from. Also, Luke 17:34-36 depicts Christ’s Second Coming as happening while some are asleep at night and others are working at day-time activities in the field, an indication of a rotating earth with day and night at the same time. | |
| The sun is moving through space in a huge orbit Note: There is another interpretation of this verse that suggests its talking about how the Sun appears to rise in the East and sets in the West (from Earth’s perspective). It is quite possible that this verse is not referring to the Sun’s orbital path at all. | Psalms 19:4-6 | About 1000 BC | It was only recently discovered that the Sun is moving through space at about 600,000 miles per hour, in an orbit that would take an estimated 230,000,000 years to complete. | |
| Light travels in a path, darkness does not | Job 38:19 | 950 BC or earlier | See excerpt from Bert Thompson, Ph.D in his bookChristian Evidences. | |
| The universe is expanded from its original size | 17 versesspanning seven books of the Bible reference this. | The first reference occurs in about 1000 BC; the last in about 518 BC (a span of almost 500 years). | Edwin Hubble found evidence the universe has expanded in 1927. | |
| The universe is finite in size | Bible verses showing the Universe is Finite in size (this link still under construction) | Under construction | We’re still researching this, but it appears from the articles below that scientists are still not sure of whether the universe is finite or infinite. The Bible appears to be very clear on the idea that it’s finite. Here’s a sampling of the scientific articles we found on this topic: Scientific American: Feature Article: Is Space Finite?: April 1999 | |
| Earth floats freely in space | Job 26-7 | 950 BC or earlier | We’re still trying to track down when scientists discovered this. |
Medical
| Fact | Bible verses | Date of verse | Discovered by science | |
| Life is in our blood | Leviticus 17:11 Leviticus 17:14 | 1450-1410 BC 1450-1410 BC | During George Washington’s day, the practice of blood-letting to treat various kinds of illnesses was common. In fact, George Washington died from this very treatment. In 1830 AD, Dr. Marshall Hall came out in strong opposition to this practice. However, had any of the doctors who practiced this treatment read these Bible verses, they would have known that it could have fatal consequences.. | |
| Circumcisions should be performed on the eighth day after birth | Genesis 17:12 | 1450-1410 BC | According to the Old Testament (Genesis 17:12), circumcision of newborn males was to be performed on the eighth day after birth. Why the eighth day? In 1935 Professor H. dam proposed the name “vitamin K” for the factor in foods which helped prevent hemorrhaging in baby chicks. We now know that vitamin K is responsible for the production of prothrombin by the liver. If vitamin K is deficient, there will be a prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur, since both vitamin K and prothrombin are necessary for proper blood clotting. Oddly enough, it is only on the 5th through the 7th days of the newborn male’s life that vitamin K begins to be produced (the vitamin is normally produced by bacterial action in the intestinal tract). and it is only on day eight that the percentage of prothrombin climbs above 100% of normal! The only day in the entire life of the newborn that the blood clotting element prothrombin is that high is day eight. The best day for surgical procedure like circumcision is therefore day eight. (1) | |
| Jews and Arabs descendants of one man | Several verses in the Old and New testament | 2000 – 3600 years ago | See Y-chromosomes confirm Genesis teaching about Abraham | |
| Laughter can promote physical healing | Proverbs 17-22 | 950 – 700 BC | We don’t know when the first scientific study was done on this topic. However, based on articles we’ve read on the internet, it appears that this was discovered within the past 10 – 50 years by scientists. For examples, see this link and this link. | |
| Depression can be harmful to your physical health | Proverbs 17-22 | 950 – 700 BC | We don’t know when the first scientific study was done on this topic. However, based on articles we’ve read on the internet, it appears that this was discovered within the past 10 – 30 years by scientists. |
Meteorology
| The Jet Stream | Ecclesiastes 1:6 | 935 BC | First discovered by airmen during WW II. Look here at current graphical representation of the jet stream and you’ll see it matches the Bible’s description very nicely. Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. At its peak it’s 29,028 feet. Yet the Jet Stream exists from 32,800 and 164,100 feet. Since airplanes didn’t’ exist in 935 BC, how was the author of Ecclesiastes able to give such an accurate description of the jet stream? Keep in mind that Ecclesiastes was written AFTER all the upheaval of Noah’s flood. It is likely that Mount Everest was not as high in 935 BC as it is today, making it even more unlikely that humans could have used mountains to have discovered the jet stream. Consider the linkHow did Noah and others get by without oxygen tanks? for more information about this. | |
| Hydrological cycle | Job 36:27-28 Amos 9:6 | 950 BC or earlier 755 BC | This link gives some additional information about this. It also supports many of the statements made on this web page including a comment about the Bible predicting polar ice caps, which is something we didn’t address on this page. | |
| Air has weight | Job 28-25 | 950 BC or earlier | Mathematician Evangelista Torricelli discovered this in 1643. |
Miscellaneous
| Fact | Bible verses | Date of verse | Discovered by science | |
| Anthropic Principal | Isaiah 45-18 | 746-680 BC | 20th century | |
| Dinosaurs and humans existed at the same time | Gen. 1:23-27 Job 40:15-24 | 1450-1410 BC 950 BC or earlier | Modern science is still playing catch-up to the Bible on this issue. The verses in Genesis establish the fact that dinosaurs and man were created on the same day (the 6th day of creation). The verses in Job describe a living creature Job was familiar with. Of all the creatures we know have ever existed, a dinosaur best fits the description of the animal given in Job 40. See ourEvidence that Humans and Dinosaurs lived at the same timelink for much more information about this. | |
| Entropy | Psalms.102:25-26 Isaiah 51:6 Hebrews 1:10-11 | About 1000 BC 740-680 BC 64-68 AD | Rudolf (Julius Emanuel) Clausius formulated the Second Law of Thermodynamics in 1850. | |
| All things are made up of sub-atomic particles that are invisible to the naked eye | Hebrews 11:3 | 64-68 AD | The first sub-atomic particle to be discovered by modern science was the electron. It was first discovered by J.J. Thomson in 1897. See thestory here. | |
| Time had a beginning | 1 Timothy 1-8-9 | 63 AD | It’s difficult to pin down precisely when modern science concluded that time had a beginning. It appears to be related to the discovery of Second Law of Thermodynamics and recent observations made in the science of cosmology. Of course modern science wrongly attributes it to being connected with the Big Bang, which of course is a fairy tale. For more information about when time began, see Interview of Dr. Russell Humphreys – Starlight and Time. |
Modern Technology
| Fact | Bible verses | Date of verse | Discovered by science | |
| Modern communications, perhaps even satellite television broadcasts | Rev. 11:7-11 | About 90 AD | This century. Click on the link to the Bible verses in Revelation 11:-7-11 for a detailed explanation. | |
Oceanography
| Fact | Bible verses | Date of verse | Discovered by science | |
| The oceans have circulating currents or ‘paths’ | Psalms 8:8 Isaiah 43:16 | About 1000 BC 746-680 BC | Late 1800’s. Dr. Matthew Maury is considered one of the major founders of the science of oceanography. He was a also a creationist who believed in the absolute authority and accuracy of the Bible. One day while he was sick in bed, he asked his son to read the Bible to him. One of the verses his son read was Psalms 8:8. That particular verse mentioned “paths” in the seas. Believing that the Bible must be correct about these “paths”, he set out to find them. As a result, Dr. Maury was the first to discover (in modern times) that the seas were circulating systems with interaction between wind and water. | |
| There are springs that arise from the ocean floor | Job 38:16 | 950 BC or earlier | The earliest secular references to these springs was by the Roman geographer Strabo, who lived from 63 BC to 21 AD. (1) | |
| Mountains and deep valleys exist on the ocean floor | Job 38:16 Jonah 2:5-6 | 950 BC or earlier 840 or 586 BC | The Challenger expedition (1873-1876) commenced the first scientific exploration of the ocean floor,during which a canyon 5 1/2 miles deep was discovered in the Pacific. (1) |
| Footnotes: | 1. Christian Evidencesbook, chapter 11 titled, “Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible”. | |||||
Books, videos, audio cassette tapes
Scientific Facts in the Bible (book)
Science confirms the Bible (tracts)
A Question of origins creation or evolution (video)
Apologetics Press, Inc. Cassette Tape Series (the tape titled:
Scientific Evidences for the Bible’s Inspiration)
Christian Evidences (book)
Sears/Thompson debate on the age of the earth (video)
The Bible and modern science (video)