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The Thinking Man's Bible: The New Age of Reason |
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Biology 7.1 The general problem that literalists seem to have with natural science is that they just refuse to deal with the animal ancestry of mankind, i.e. how can anyone be special to God if he’s merely an animal? However, the Bible said that man is just that. "…concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" Ecc 3:18-21 7.2 God overlooked the biological necessity of two sexes for human reproduction. The creation of Eve only came about, because Adam needed help. "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him…And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman…" Gen 2:20,22 7.3 God gave green herbs for all creatures to eat. This is hardly helpful to carnivores. If, as some apologists claim, all animals were herbivores before the flood, why do carnivore fossils have flesh-eaters’ teeth? "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life. I have given every green herb for meat…" Gen 1:30 7.4 Adam must have written down or otherwise recorded the animals’ names, otherwise what was the use of naming them? Who taught him to write? What difference would it make what Adam called the animals? How would anyone else have known what these millions of species of creatures were called; unless Adam made detailed drawings or taught the names to someone else, who taught someone else, etc. Did he name individuals (Bossie, Fido, etc.) or did he name each kind? (God didn’t say kind he said "creature.") "…and [God] brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field…" Gen 2:19,20 7.5 For that matter, what language did Adam & Eve speak, and where did they learn it? "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field…" Gen 2:20 "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones…" Gen 2:23 "And [the serpent] said unto the woman…" Gen 3:1 "And the woman said unto the serpent…" Gen 3:2 7.6 Serpents were subtle (crafty)? God’s curse didn’t say anything about making them into the mental midgets they now are. Genesis didn’t say this serpent was Satan, either. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." Gen 3:1 7.7 Serpents do not have vocal cords or the brain capacity for speech. "And [the serpent] said unto the woman…" Gen 3:1 "And the woman said unto the serpent…" Gen 3:2 7.8 Serpents evidently moved in some way other than on their bellies before God’s curse. However, paintings of Eve’s temptation show the serpent as a legless snake, so these paintings can’t be right. Any earlier, different form of locomotion cannot have used a snake’s present skeletal structure. However, the fossil record shows that snakes did develop from legged reptiles in the course of (ready for it?) evolution. "…upon thy belly shalt thou go…" Gen 3:14 7.9 Serpents eat dust? There is no evidence for this. Snakes are not biologically anything like limivorous (dirt-eating) worms. "…and dust shalt thou eat…" Gen 3:14 "…and dust shall be the serpent’s meat." Isa 65:25 7.10 If every moving thing was to be man’s meat, why are some animals poisonous for us to eat? "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you…" Gen 9:3 7.11 Adam sired a son at age 130, so the mother, Eve, was also 130 years old, unless Adam committed incest with an unmentioned descendant. This was well past normal menopause. "And Adam had lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son…" Gen 5:3 7.12 Abraham (age 100) has a son after Sarah (age 90) undergoes menopause. Sarah’s response is apt. Abraham: "Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?…God: "Sarah…shall bear thee a son indeed…" Gen 17:17,19 "…Sarah thy wife shall have a son." Gen 18:10 "Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself…" Gen 18:11,12 7.13 Angels delivered selective blindness. This would have been an ineffective tactic, however, since the mob could still feel their way to the door. Besides, those not by the door weren’t struck blind, so they could still have found it easily. "…the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:" Gen 19:4-5 "And [the two angels] smote the men who were at the door of the house with blindness…so that they wearied themselves to find the door." Gen 19:11 7.14 Lot ejaculated while passed-out drunk? "Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father…[both girls on successive nights] went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose…Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father." Gen 19:32-36 7.15 The Bible told an obvious whopper by claiming that offspring’s characteristics were influenced by what their parent saw when they were conceived. This story was similar to old wives’ tales about the effects of things that frightened mothers. Did God want mankind to plan breeding programs based on this nonsensical view of genetics?(1) Why didn’t these flocks (who conceived elsewhere) bring forth camouflaged offspring? "And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted." Gen 30:37-39 7.16 An old man survived forty days without bread or water? If he ate and drank something else, that would have taken the drama out of the story. "[Moses] was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water." Ex 34:28 7.17 Conies(2) and hares don’t chew cud, and they don’t have hooves. An ancient city-boy scribe might have misunderstood a rabbit’s chewing, but God would have known better. "And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof…" Lev 11:5 "And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof…" Lev 11:6 7.18 A bat is not a fowl (bird), it’s a mammal. If we dismiss this with the notion that the word "fowl" may have changed its meaning over the centuries, this just shows how inappropriate written language is as a vehicle for the word of God. "These are the fowl…the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the vulture…and the bat." Lev 11:13-19 7.19 However, real-world birds have two legs, insects have six legs, spiders have eight legs, and centipedes have even more. "All fowls that creep, going upon all four…every flying creeping thing [insects] that goeth upon all four…" Lev 11:20,21 "But all other flying creeping things [insects], which have four feet…" Lev 11:22,23 7.20 Snakebite could be cured by looking at a talisman? "And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." Num 21:9 7.21 Donkeys don’t have vocal cords or the mental capacity for speech; but it was evidently pretty common in Biblical times, since the following conversation didn’t seem to surprise Balaam. "And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam…And Balaam said unto the ass…And the ass said unto Balaam…" Num 22:28-30
Peter said even a mute donkey could speak as a human. "…Balaam…was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet." 2Pet 2:15,16 7.22 How could an eagle carry its young on its wings? Has anyone ever seen this done? "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:" Deut 32:11 7.23 Long hair produced bodily strength? "…if I [Samson] be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man…And [Delilah]…caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head…and his strength went from him." Judg 16:17,19 7.24 Even an ancient farmer would not confuse gonads with bowels. This is evidenced by the presence of oxen, castrated bulls. "…I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels…" 2Sam 7:12 7.25 Leprosy could be transmitted and incubated instantly? Leprosy could be inherited? "The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went our from his presence a leper as white as snow." 2Kgs 5:27 7.26 How can the basic predatory and defensive instinctual behaviors of wolves, leopards, lions, bears, and deadly snakes change? What will they eat? Will they…evolve? "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together…And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain;" Isa 11:6-9 "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock…They shall no hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain…" Isa 65:25 7.27 How can the teeth and digestive system of lions be changed from piercing, tearing, and metabolizing animal flesh to pulling, grinding, and metabolizing vegetation. Will they…evolve? "…the lion shall eat straw like the ox." Isa 11:7 "…the lion shall eat straw like the bullock…" Isa 65:25 7.28 Human blood was alcoholic? "…and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine;" Isa 49:26 7.29 Men survived a super-hot furnace, unharmed; and their clothes didn’t even get dirty? "[Nebuchadnezzar] commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated…Then these men…were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace…and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And…Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace…Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt…Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire…these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them." Dan 3:19,21-23,25-27 7.30 Daniel’s faith overcame the hunger of voracious lions; but this doesn’t track very well with the martyrdom of faithful Christians who were torn to pieces by Roman lions. "…they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt." Dan 6:16,22 7.31 Beasts were penitent? "But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands." Jon 3:8
Beasts were pious? They spoke? "And the four beasts said, Amen." Rev 5:14 7.32 A gourd grew leaves overnight and was destroyed by a worm overnight? "And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief…But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered…which came up in a night, and perished in a night:" Jon 4:6,7,10 7.33 Devils caused muteness, epilepsy, blindness, insanity, etc.? "…they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake…" Mt 9:32,33 "Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw." Mt 12:22 "Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed…And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour." Mt 17:15,18 "And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him…And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child…" Lk 9:39,42 7.34 Jesus, himself, uttered three whoppers in one breath. This is evidenced by the facts that an orchid, not mustard, has the smallest seed; mustard is not the largest herb or shrub; and herbs or shrubs don’t grow into trees. "…a grain of mustard seed…Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs [shrubs], and becometh a tree…" Mt 13:31,32 7.35 The insane cult practice of snake-handling(3) has killed both adults and children. The passage doesn’t say anything about immunities which can be built up by exposure to minute amounts in a some cases, but these toxins are generally very harmful. "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them…" Mk 16:18 7.36 A dead seed cannot germinate. A small fraction of some seeds may germinate after being dormant (with a living embryo) for twenty years, but the seed embryos eventually die and will not germinate. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Jn 12:24 Paul: "Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:" 1Cor 15:36 |
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Physics & Chemistry 7.37 Genesis said that light was created before the emitters of light—the sun and other stars. It’s a bit of a stretch to liken this to the big bang theory where primordial electromagnetic energy was free-wheeling before the elementary particles formed and coalesced into stars. If Genesis intended it this way, the words used were worthless for communicating that idea to us. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light…first day." Gen 1:3,5 "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven…And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day…he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth…fourth day" Gen 1:14,16,17,19 7.38 Lot’s wife was transformed by God’s curse into a pillar of salt? If all of the water and liquids were somehow extracted from her body, there might be left a small lump of proteins and minerals, not a pillar. If a pillar roughly her size were formed, mass was either moved, created, or transmuted. A more likely interpretation would be that, in looking back, Lot’s wife fell behind and was burnt to a crisp. After all, God said they risked being "consumed," not desiccated or transmuted. "…lest thou be consumed." Gen 19:17 "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." Gen 19:26 7.39 Water ran uphill? "[The waters] go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys…" Ps 104:8 7.40 A strong, sustained wind can certainly move water off a shallow place (the Sea of Reeds, for example, not the Red Sea), but can wind blow-up walls of water in two opposite directions? This event sounds like an exaggeration of a simple, wind-driven, super-low tide on a swampy shore line. "…the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." Ex 14:21,22 "And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap…" Ex 15:8
Can deep water congeal? "…the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea." Ex 15:8 7.41 There is no known clothing or shoe material which will take forty years of constant use without wear. "And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot." Deut 29:5 7.42 If there’s nothing new, what do you call all the heavenly bodies that were not seen until after the invention of the telescope or the microbes never seen until the microscope? There are lots of other things which these ancient people knew nothing of (e.g. the Western Hemisphere, nuclear energy, how to visit the moon, the causes of disease, etc.) "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Ecc 1:9 7.43 A rod can be transformed into a serpent? A cured wooden stick would consist primarily of plant cellulose, not the materials necessary for the formation of an animal. A metal rod would be totally incompatible. Therefore, matter would need to have been created or elements transmuted. An alternate interpretation may be seen in amateur magic shows. "…Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh…and it became a serpent." Ex 7:10 7.44 Moses ground-up the golden calf into a powder which floated on or mixed in water. This idol was made of cast gold which is malleable and cannot be ground into a powder. Any prospector will tell you that gold dust sinks in water. Either that or Moses said gold burns down to an ash. "And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf…" Ex 32:3,4 "And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strowed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it." Ex 32:20 7.45 An iron ax head can float? "…the axe head fell into the water…And the man of God…cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim." 2Kgs 6:5,6 7.46 The sun and moon stood still? The author seems to think that the sun moved around the earth (a view that would be expected in that era). If the moon stood still even momentarily, and if it wasn’t torn apart from the forces necessary to do this, it would have started falling towards earth and permanently altered its orbit from nearly circular to highly eccentric. Either that or the earth stopped rotating for a day then was spun back up. This would have spawned massive cataclysms tearing the earth’s crust to pieces. Water would have sloshed over massive land areas. The earth’s apparent-gravity gradient would have changed, twice. The heat distribution of the earth’s crust would have changed radically, twice. The oblate shape of the earth would have changed to spherical, then back to oblate. There are no corroborating historical references from other civilizations who certainly would have noticed this. Perhaps the author should just have said, "This battle made the day seem drag on." (e.g. The Longest Day.) "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies…so the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day." Josh 10:13 Not only that, but in one verse, the sun went backwards ten degrees on a sundial. "And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz." 2Kgs 20:11 7.47 The earth was set upon pillars (an Eastern cosmology myth without the turtles and elephants)? It has four corners? It has a foundation? It has a cornerstone? "…for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them." 1Sam 2:8 "…four corners of the earth…" Isa 11:12 & Rev 7:1 "Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth?…Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone therof…" Job 38:4,6 7.48 Stars sang? "…When the morning stars sang together…" Job 38:7 7.49 The moon is a reflector of light, not a source as implied by this verse. But if this verse meant reflected moonlight, then how did the moon’s albedo change?(4) If a lunar eclipse was meant, this is a predictable, natural phenomenon and would not require a curse or miracle. The use of "her" instead of its implied a pagan view of astronomy. "…the moon shall not cause her light to shine." Isa 13:10 7.50 The tower of Babel, which was meant to reach heaven, was made of brick with slime (mud & clay?) mortar. Clay brick structures had a practical height limit due to the limited compression strength of earth and brick. How could this have annoyed God, who knew (being omniscient) that they’d fail to reach heaven? Why didn’t God do the same thing when mankind began to explore the cosmos with telescopes and spacecraft? How can God tolerate the internet or direct-broadcast TV, both of which will certainly push humanity towards the use of a more-common language? "…let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven…" Gen 11:3,4 "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded." God: "…and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." Gen 11:5,6 7.51 Sound could be seen? "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet…" Ex 20:18 7.52 An altar bonfire burned up stones? "Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust…" 1Kgs 18:38 7.53 Human sacrifice calmed a storm? "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging." Jon 1:15 7.54 Faith could move a mountain? Has anyone ever done this? "…If ye have faith…ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Mt 17:20 |
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Geography Although some place names change over time, geography is useful in comparing facts with the words of the Bible.(5) 7.55 Eden’s river system makes no sense. With a description like this, it’s no wonder no one has found the garden. No Middle Eastern or Mesopotamian river system diverges into four heads as described. The Nile and Euphrates would have had to converge somewhere. There are no records of a Pison (or Pishon) River or a Gihon River in Mesopotamia. Havilah (Yemen) is 1200 miles from Mesopotamia separated by a desert which has almost no water, much less rivers or streams. There is no river flowing around Ethiopia. The Hiddekel (Tigris) River flows south-southeast from Assyria, not east. It does flow easterly near Babylon in the region of Akkad, however; and there are a number of river branchings around there. Based on a later association with the Assyrian province, Thelasar, the closest guess is that Eden referred to the general mid-Mesopotamia region (Asimov, 24). Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us nail-down Eden, much less the garden itself, given the four-river problem described in Genesis. Since this was a pretty important spot, one would think that God would have specified its location a little better. "And a river went out of Eden…and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads…the first is Pison…which compasseth the whole land of Havilah [with good gold and onyx stone]…the second is Gihon…that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia…the third river is Hiddeakel…which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates." Gen 2:10-14 "…and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?" 2Kgs 19:12 7.56 The Israelites cannot have crossed the Red Sea itself-it’s too deep. The Bible said that they crossed from Egypt at Pi-hahiroth (location unknown) beside Baalzephon (well north of the arm of the Red Sea now called the Gulf of Suez). (Asimov, 119) If we take the literal translation of the Hebrew term yam suph to mean a sea of reeds rather than the Red Sea, they more reasonably crossed a swamp in the Suez valley, not the Red Sea. If this is a mis-translation, it just goes to show the inappropriateness of written language as the word of God. "[The Egyptians] overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baalzephon." Ex 14:9 7.57 Israelite territory has never extended to the Euphrates River, although it is within the following property description, and the Israelites have been there. "[Wherever you tread, I gave you], as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun. shall be your coast." Josh 1:3,4 7.58 The wise men(6) departed from Herod at Jerusalem and followed the star until it stood over Bethlehem. The trouble is, Bethlehem was west of south from Jerusalem. The wise men came from the east of Jerusalem where they saw the star in the East,(7) so they must have been looking away from Bethlehem when they first saw it. Since this star (even a supernova or planetary conjunction) would have crossed the sky from east to west as all other stars and planets do, direction would have been unimportant unless it were really a morning star or planet(s) which faded soon after rising. If that was the case, then the star cannot have stood over Bethlehem or even in Bethlehem’s direction if one were traveling from Jerusalem. "…there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem…for we have seen his star in the east…the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was." Mt 2:1,2,9 7.59 The author of Matthew obviously thought that the world was flat. Even Jesus couldn’t see all the kingdoms of the world from one mountain, no matter how high it was. If one went into orbit, one might eventually see everything, but a mountain is not a spaceship, not even in the Bible. "…the devil taketh [Jesus] up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world…" Mt 4:8 Likewise, how could all the tribes of the earth see someone in the clouds unless the earth were flat and very small? "…and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven…" Mt 24:30 7.60 The Jordan River was the eastern boundary of Judea and the western boundary of Peraea (the Tetrarchy of Herod Antipas), so there can’t be a "coast of Judea" beyond it. "…[Jesus] departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;" Mt 19:1 7.61 Gadarenes (Gergensenes elsewhere) doesn’t make sense. It should probably be Gerasenes (Gerasa-a town southeast of the Sea of Galilee). These were probably copyist’s errors, but they were errors nonetheless. This points out the inappropriateness of using written text as the word of God. "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes." Mk 5:1 7.62 Bethsaida was in Gaulanitis, not Galilee. "…Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee…" Jn 12:21 7.63 There were places referred to in the Bible which scholars agree didn’t exist.
- Dalmanutha. Mk 8:10
- Aenon near Salim. Jn 3:23 |
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Omissions 7.64 What little the Bible did say about nature was frequently wrong or unsupported by current knowledge. In order to see how useful the Bible would be as a science textbook, let’s list a few of the subjects that modern science knows something about,(8) but which God didn’t consider important enough to include in the Bible (except in error). These bodies of knowledge have gone a long way towards easing a lot of human discomfort, starvation, ignorance, death, and suffering which prayers and sacrifice did not overcome. (One example: why didn’t God tell anyone about sterilization? Or was it a sin to kill our microscopic brothers?) Physics: gravity, electromagnetism (charge, electricity, light, radio, electronics, magnetism), optics, nuclear forces (fusion-the sun’s power source, fission, radioactivity), meteorology, astronomy, cosmology… Chemistry: biochemistry (photosynthesis, digestion, metabolism, etc.), composition of matter, properties of matter, interaction of matter, combustion… Biology: genetics, ecology (species distribution, food chain), anatomy, botany, zoology, medicine, microbiology… Natural History: geology, paleontology, anthropology, archaeology, evolution… Engineering: mechanics (statics & dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics), structures, materials… Mathematics: arithmetic, geometry, algebra, calculus, statistics, probability, navigation… 7.65 It might also be argued that Jesus and the other miracle-workers of the Bible would have had a far greater impact on the plight of the infirm whom they healed if they had merely described how to grind a simple microscope lens or how to concoct a batch of aspirin, antiseptic or penicillin; and they would have had more impact on the plight of the poor they moaned about if they had explained how to harness nature's forms of energy or convinced the bloodsuckers of the world to invest their societies' surplus economic production to increase technology and productivity rather than pampering themselves and making war on their neighbors and arguing about worship techniques. |
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Since there was nothing in the Bible about God creating the sexual reproduction mechanism for animals at a later time, we should assume that God created the sexually reproducing animals in both sexes right from the beginning. If God did create two sexes for those animals, then why did he overlook the creation of a female human at the time he created Adam?