Scientific ACCURACIES in the Bible

[hoppimike]

Not many I know, and it sounds like an oxymoron, but apparently there are some.

Apparently it refers to the Earth as a "circle" (Hebrew word for that), tells people to wash their hands (indicating an awareness of infection), and a few other things. Definitely good stuff to look into, there are quite a few youtube videos and articles about this online but I can try to find more if anyone wants!

So erm, thoughts?

Mike

[Cthulhu Dreaming]

FWIW, this has pretty much been done to death in other threads.

[Adjusted Sanity]

(9th June 2012 06:35)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:  FWIW, this has pretty much been done to death in other threads.

I would like to see these threads. I am interested.

[teaearlgreyhot]

On the circle of the earth passage, I have this to quote from a recent book:

Quote:What was the shape of the earth according to the Bible? Isaiah 40:22 provides the answer: "It is he that sitteth upon the circle (Hebrew, chug) 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." Because this passage mentions "the circle of the earth," some people interpret it as a description of a spherical earth. But they are ignoring the context of the verse that has nothing in it implying sphericity, only "tent-icity," since God "sits upon the circle" and spreads heaven out like a "tent to dwell in." The Hebrew word chug has a primary meaning of "circle" and no lexicon of ancient Hebrew offers "sphere" as a meaning for chug. Moreover, see the previous section on Mesopotamian cosmology for references to "circle of the earth," and other phrases they employed with "circle" in them to depict the earth, including the Babylonian map of the world that depicts the limits of the flat earth's surface as two concentric circles. Therefore, the phrase "circle of the earth" is not unique at all and was already in use by flat-earth-believing Mesopotamians long before the book of Isaiah was written. Elsewhere in Isaiah, the most the author says of the earth is that God "spread it out" (literally pounded or flattened it out) at creation (Isaiah 42:5 and 44:24). So there does not appear to be a single verse in the Bible that depicts the earth as a sphere.-

John W. Loftus. The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails (Kindle Locations 1518-1526). Kindle Edition.

[Chuck]

I found the bible contain other amazingly accurate scientific insights as well. For example it clearly implies night follows day (indicating awareness that the sun sets and does not shine up through the ground), and that wine is to be drunk (indicating awareness that wine is a liquid, not a solid).

[Cthulhu Dreaming]

Well, Chuck, given the number of things they got wrong, one would expect a few to be right, even accidentally.

[Stimbo]

For what it's worth, a circle is not the same thing as a sphere. They're both round, I grant you, but only one of them is round in more than two dimensions. Anyone with a clear view of the horizon can see just how flat and circular the ground appears, which makes a reasonable case for saying that the bible passages in question were written by people who probably didn't travel very much and thus unaware of the curvature of the Earth. A god clearly didn't write this stuff (at least, certainly not one that can be relied on for accuracy).

[Erinome]

Anyway, the earth isn't a circle.

http://www.differencebetween.com/differe...vs-sphere/

[cato123]

(9th June 2012 06:29)hoppimike Wrote:  Not many I know, and it sounds like an oxymoron, but apparently there are some.

Apparently it refers to the Earth as a "circle" (Hebrew word for that), tells people to wash their hands (indicating an awareness of infection), and a few other things. Definitely good stuff to look into, there are quite a few youtube videos and articles about this online but I can try to find more if anyone wants!

So erm, thoughts?

Mike

Atheist my ass.

Scientific accuracies...

A circle is not sphere. Do you have the mathematical knowledge to contemplate how many circles can be made from a sphere? The trouble with your circle mandate is that the Earth isn't exactly a sphere, so technically your circle argument is dead on arrival even in the most strict of scientific terms. The circle (as perfect form) = halo worship.

Wash hands? Seriously? Am I supposed to accept this as proof for the germ theory of disease? Amazing, even with this erudtion the population of Europe lost one third of its souls 13 centuries after christ; even though, as you proclaim god said wash hands.

You proclaim to be an atheist, but clearly give the promise that there are a few other scientific proofs from the bible. Fucking brilliant.

Sounds a little like the bible, but we know a self proclaimed atheist wouldn't go after a few other good things in the damned bible. You even, kind of, gave a source...YouTube. Holy fuck don't stop me now, I'm going to check out ShockOfGod or VenomFangX or RayComfort or the genious that used to be a child actor on an American 80's TV show (he's a real expert).

[hoppimike]

Thanks for the posts - especially yours teaearlgreyhot - thanks for clearing that one up for me!!

And yes I am an atheist but am very open-minded. I know the Bible (and Qur'an) are loaded with inaccuracies and mistakes but am ofc curious about potential accuracies too!

APPARENTLY there is no Hebrew word for sphere? Just "chug" for circle? I dunno.

OH I may as well link you to some stuff:

http://www.carm.org/scientific-accuracies-in-the-bible





(3 parts)

and also http://www.reasons.org is interesting.

And thanks for that sarcasm Chuck haha ^^

I know it's silly to scramble for the tiniest scientific nothings in an error-filled ancient text but... I think it's still good to do!

And sorry if this has been done before a lot - I was silly in that I only checked the last 2 pages of threads for it and when I couldn't see it, I made it! Sloppy I know but I was only on my mobile >.<

Anywho erm... looking forward to seeing how this thread goes! ^^