Science and the Bible

The various books of the Hebrew Bible contain descriptions of the physical world, and can be considered a source of information of the history of science in the Iron Age Levant.

Proponents of "Biblical foreknowledge" beyond this prefer readings that would anticipate discoveries historically made only in modern times, such as electricity. Such views have no support among mainstream Biblical scholars.

Mathematics and astronomy

The Hebrew Bible reflects the geocentric view of the solar system, and describes the moon as giving off its own light, rather than reflecting light from the sun. [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=33&chapter=32&verse=7&version=31&context=verse; Ezekiel 32:7], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=1&verse=16&version=31&context=verse; Genesis 1:16] As in Babylonian cosmography, the Hebrew Bible imagines a flat Earth, which has notably induced some Church Fathers (such as Lactantius) to insist on the model on scriptural authority long after the spherical shape of the Earth had become common knowledge in Hellenistic astronomy.

1 Kings 7:23 describing the "brazen sea" in Solomon's Temple implies that the mathematical constant pi equals 3, approximating the actual value to within 5%.

The largest number mentioned in the Bible is one hundred million (ten thousand times ten thousand, Q: , K: ), in Daniel 7:10.

Questions of plausibility formed the subject of Anglican bishop John William Colenso's 1863 book, The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined. The book created a sensation; its impact at the time was comparable to that of The Origin of Species. An example of Colenso's sort of analysis is provided by chapter IV, "The size of the court of the Tabernacle compared with the number of the congregation." Leviticus 8:1–4 says that "the Assembly was gathered unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation." To Colenso "it appears to be certain" that phrases such as "the Assembly" refer to "the whole body of the people — at all events, the adult males in the prime of life," which would in turn include "the 603,550 warriors" mentioned in Numbers 2:32. Colenso says there are multiple references to this whole congregation's being assembled within the court of the Tabernacle. Exodus 27:18 gives the court's dimensions as 100 × 50 cubits, which he calculates as 1800 square yards (1505 m²) he deducts 108 square yards (90 m²) for the Tabernacle itself, leaving 1692 square yards (1415 m²) for the area of the court. He concludes that, "The court, when thronged, could only have held 5000 people; whereas the able-bodied men alone exceeded 600,000." Conservative Bible commentators dispute Bishop Colenso's exegesis, and regard it as very unsound.

Medical knowledge

The Old Testament contains a variety of health related instructions, such as isolating infected people (Leviticus 13:45-46), washing after handling a dead body (Numbers 19:11-19), and burying excrement away from a camp (Deuteronomy 23:12-13).

The majority of classicists, historians, and archaeologists believe that many other peoples of the ancient world commonly had a knowledge of medicine and health issues, at least as good as that of the Hebrews, and thus the Biblically given specification does not represent divine inspiration. At the earliest estimate, the Pentateuch dates to the Early Iron Age, a time by which many complex nearby civilizations such as Ancient Egypt, the Aegean civilization, the Hittites, and the Elamites all had existed for many hundreds, even thousands, of years. These civilizations had large cities with public sanitation systems 2, and many medical documents.

Believers of Biblical inspiration sometimes contend that the degree of effectiveness of the Mosaic dietary restrictions and hygienic strictures indicates that the knowledge in the Old Testament is something beyond the science available at the time 3456.

Toxic food

Leviticus 11:1-47 contains a list specifying what constitutes kosher food and what is forbidden. In 1953, Dr. David I. Macht, conducted toxicity tests on many different kinds of animals and fish, and concluded that the toxicity of Levitically-Unclean animals was higher than that of the clean animals, and that the correlation with the description in Leviticus was 100%. Dr. Macht used phytopharmacological methods, which involved treating lupin seedlings with food extracts and observing inhibition of root growth.

However, this neglects the strong Biblical prohibition against creeping things which creepeth upon the earth, as worms and ants are regarded by many cultures as extremely tasty, and are scientifically very nutritious. Australian green ants, for example, are eaten by the aboriginals, since their abdomen tastes like lemon sherbet, and the ants themselves are high in vitamin C and have antibiotic properties; squashed green ants mashed in water makes up an excellent lemon-lime flavored drink.78

Perhaps one of the most famously non-kosher foods is pork, which, when improperly cooked, is known to carry a risk of trichinosis. A 1985 study by Nanji and French found that there was a significant correlation between cirrhosis and pork consumption. 910. Cultural anthropologists, following Mary Douglas, have argued that the clean and unclean in dietary laws were concepts of holiness and taboos; functions within social groups to symbolise and demark social boundaries. Psychology professor Paul Rozin suggests food taboos and the pork taboo in particular might simply be a codification of the natural disgust reaction humans in many cultures often show to novel meats, for example US culture objects to horse meat and the meat of civet cats which other cultures find perfectly acceptable. Another reason suggested for the pork taboo is a general disgust to the extremely omnivorous nature of the pig, and its tendency to wallow in mud and eat human faeces.

David Macht, the aforementioned pharmacologist and doctor of Hebrew Literature, was a notable advocate of biblical health practices. In a study entitled An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation of Leviticus XI and Deuteronomy XIV, Dr. Macht wrote:

Every word of the Hebrew Scriptures is well chosen and carries valuable knowledge and deep significance

Sanitation

The Deuteronomic Code contains several sanitation instructions; in particular Deuteronomy 23:12-14 contains instructions to dispose of human excrement away from the population, in order to keep the camp holy, and to avoid God being offended by the sight or evidence of defecation as he walked through the camp at night. However, recent discoveries may even indicate that biblical practices contributed to increases in parasites.

Circumcision

In Genesis 17:12, God commanded Abraham to circumcise baby boys on the eighth day of their lives. It has since been discovered that certain blood clotting factors are at their highest concentration on the 8th day of life, making this the earliest safe time to perform surgery unenhanced by other drugs or medical procedures. In a world where many children died shortly after birth, circumcising a child to dedicate it to God after it has survived for a week, may have had more to do with its chance of survival than medical considerations.

The potential medical value of circumcision in general has long been a controversial subject. Results have suggested it offers resistance to everything from the obvious such as Phimosis (which by definition cannot occur without a foreskin), and balanoposthitis, to prostate cancer and AIDS. The more controversial conclusions are as much contested as supported by evidence, and it is certainly the case that the reported defence against prostate cancer is less than that supposedly afforded by the more simple solution of regularly masturbating. Its effect on [...] activity has also drawn ambiguous results, including a survey in which there was a majority reporting that the glans penis was less sensitive, but also a majority reporting greater [...] satisfaction.

Ecology

The Mosaic code has provisions concerning the conservation of natural resources (trees, [http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=deut%2020:%2019-20;&version=50; Deuteronomy 20:19-20] and birds, [http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=deut%2022:%206-7;&version=50; Deuteronomy 22:6-7]), as well as leaving fields fallow for a year, after certain periods of time. These are often regarded as sound ecological advice.

Biblical foreknowledge

A small number of Christian fundamentalists adhere to a belief known as Bible scientific foreknowledge, advocating that certain Bible passages show an understanding of science beyond that presumed to exist at the time it was written. While almost all scientists consider the Bible to be inaccurate within what would be expected of a text dating to the Iron Age (notably the Genesis creation story: see Creation-evolution controversy), many Christians adhere to Biblical inerrancy, believing that there is no conflict: see Conflict thesis.

See also

• History of science in early cultures
• Biblical archaeology
• Kashut - Reasons for the Biblical dietary laws
• American Scientific Affiliation

Print References

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• Cahill, Jane and Warnock,Peter "It had to happen, Scientist Examines Ancient Bathrooms of Romans 586B.C." Biblical Archeological Review, May/June 1991 )
• Castiglioni, Arturo, A History or Medicine, pages 70-71, Publisher: A.A. Knopf; 2nd ed.,(1958)
• Catton, Bruce, Reflections on the Civil War, Berkeley, New York, 1982, p. 43.
• Douglas, Mary, Ph.d. Purity and danger : an analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo, 1966
• Heller RM, Heller TW, Sasson JM., Mold: "tsara'at," Leviticus, and the history of a confusion. Perspect Biol Med. 2003 Fall;46(4):588-91
• Macht, D.I., (1953). “An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation of Leviticus XI and Deuteronomy XIV,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 27. 444-450
• Macht, D.I. and Macht, M.B. : Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 1941, 26: 597
• Macht, D. I. Medical Leaves 1940; 3:174-184
• Macht, D.I. , Science 1930, 71 :302
• Mamtani R, Malhotra P, Gupta PS, Jain BK., A comparative study of urban and rural tetanus in adults. Int J Epidemiol. 1978 Jun;7(2):185-188.
• Levin, B L 1981 Contemporary Physical Geography CBS College Publishing p. 320)
• Nanji AA, French SW. Relationship between pork consumption and cirrhosis. Lancet. 1985 Mar 23;1(8430):681-3.
• Neuburger: History of Medicine, Oxford University Press, 1910, Vol. I, p. 38
• Nishioka, Sérgio De A, Topical Antibiotic use and Circumcision-Associated Neonatal Tetanus: Protective Factor or Indicator of Good Wound Care? International Journal of Epidemiology 2000;29:600-601
• 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
• Roth, Cecil The Jewish Contribution to Civilisation, East and West Library, London, 3rd edition, 1956
• Snoek, Frank J. PhD, The Mind Matters, Diabetes Spectrum 14:116-117
• Spinka, Harold M. M.D., "Leprosy in Ancient Hebraic Times" Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (JASA), XI [March 1959], 17-22 ).
• Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, 1986, Animals of the Bible, Beasts of the field: hare, page 80, Moody Press, Chicago, IL
• Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, 1986, "Diseases", page 461, Moody Bible Press, Chicago, Illinois
• Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, 1986, "Leper, leprosy", pages 461, 1026-1027, Moody Bible Press, Chicago, Illinois