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Modern Scientific Discoveries Verify the Scriptures
Supplemental Reading | |
Duane T. Gish, Ph.D.
IMPACT
No. 219, September 1991
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We are all aware of the ideas, opinions, and theories of some scientistswhich contradict portions of Scripture, but if we are careful to separatethat which is established fact from that which is merely theory, we findthat there are no contradictions between the facts of science and the Bible.We must be careful, of course, that our interpretation both of theScriptures and of nature is correct.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics Confirms Psalm 102:26
First, let us consider the science of thermodynamics: In Psalm 102:25,26, weread, "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavensare the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea,all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou changethem, and they shall be changed."
In verse 25, we find, restated, the fact that God is the Creator of all thatexists. Verse 26 then tells us something highly significant, not about theinitial, created state of the universe, but about the present state of theuniverse. According to this Scripture, written three thousand years beforethe dawn of modern science, we learn that the universe is like a suit ofclothes that is wearing out. In other words, the universe is running down,deteriorating, constantly becoming less and less orderly.
That is not what most people believed when this Scripture was recorded.According to human observations, the universe was unchangeable. Thestatement that the universe is constantly becoming more random, lessorderly, is a scientifically testable statement. The fact that the universe,in its present state is deteriorating, has been fully verified by modernscience. Everywhere we look, from the scale of the galaxies down to thescale of the atom, we find a universal, natural tendency of all systems togo from order to disorder; from complexity to simplicity. Thus, clusters ofgalaxies are dispersing as the galaxies move away from one another.
The rotation of the earth is slowing; the magnetic field of the earth isdecaying. Erosion constantly wears down the features of the earth. Ourbodies wear out; we die and decay to a pile of dust. Our houses, ourmachines wear out and are finally abandoned and replaced. Many atoms decayto simpler products, and it is even being postulated that sub-atomicparticles, such as the proton, decay, though ever so slowly, into energy.
Each star, including our own sun, is constantly burning up billions of tonsof fuel every second. Eventually, every star in the universe, unless Godintervenes (which we are certain He will), will exhaust its fuel and becomedark and cold. The universe would then be cold and dead, and, of course, alllife would have ceased long before the last death throes of the universe.Even now, every so often a nova or supernova occurs, and a star very rapidlybecomes less orderly, in a gigantic explosion.
This natural tendency towards disorder is so all-pervasive and unfailingthat it has been formalized as a natural law—the Second Law ofThermodynamics. Isaac Asimov has stated it this way (Smithsonian InstituteJournal, June 1970, p.6): "Another way of stating the second law then is:'The universe is constantly getting more disorderly!' Viewed that way, wecan see the Second Law all about us. We have to work hard to straighten aroom, but left to itself, it becomes a mess again very quickly and veryeasily. Even if we never enter it, it becomes dusty and musty. How difficultto maintain houses, and machinery, and our own bodies in perfect workingorder; how easy to let them deteriorate. In fact, all we have to do isnothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out—all by itself—and that is what the Second Law is all about."
There is certainly no doubt, then, that modern scientific research hasverified the truths expressed in Psalm 102:26. Many years of carefulmeasurements by scientists, repeated many thousands of times, establishedbeyond doubt the scientific truths expressed in that verse of Scripture.
The Universe Must Have Had a Beginning
Furthermore, the fact that the universe is deteriorating establishes beyonddoubt that it hasn't been here forever, because if it had, it would have rundown a long time ago! This confirms another scientifically testablestatement found in the very first verse of the Bible: "In the beginning Godcreated...." This verse of Scripture states that the universe has not beenhere forever; that it had a beginning sometime in the past. Again, let usremember that this is not what most people believed when the Bible waswritten. They believed that the universe had been here forever, and wouldcontinue to be here forever. The Bible says, not so! The universe had abeginning—when God created it—and it is now running down. Thus, modernscience has established the fact that what most people believed about theuniverse being eternal was wrong, and that the Biblical statements on thesubject were precisely correct.
The Finished Creation Confirmed by the First Law of Thermodynamics
If there is a second law of thermodynamics, there must be a first law, ofcourse. Indeed there is, and this natural law confirms anotherscientifically testable statement found in the Bible. The First Law ofThermodynamics states that the total quantity of energy and matter in theuniverse is a constant. One form of energy may be converted into another,energy may be converted into matter, and matter may be converted intoenergy, but the total quantity always remains the same. You can't getsomething from nothing, and you can't take something and make nothing out ofit.
The First Law of Thermodynamics, the most firmly established natural law inscience, confirms the Biblical statement concerning a finished creation, asfound in Genesis 2:1,2: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, andall the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He hadmade; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made."
If it could be shown that somewhere in this universe matter or energy wascoming into being from nothing, then this Biblical statement of a finishedcreation would be falsified. The opposite is true. It has been preciselyverified. Once again, a Biblical statement has withstood scientific test.
Psalm 8 Inspires a Scientific Research Project
Matthew Maury undertook a research project based on Scripture, and onceagain confirmed the scientific accuracy of the Bible. Maury was in charge ofthe Depot of Charts and Instruments in the Hydrographic Office of the UnitedStates Navy from 1841-1861. He was a Christian who loved and respected theWord of God. One day in the 8th Psalm, he read the following words (vs.3-8): "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon andthe stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful ofhim, and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him alittle lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands: Thou hast putall things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of thefield; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeththrough the paths of the seas."
You and I probably could read that many times, and although we wouldunderstand much about the great truths expressed in this psalm, we mightmiss something highly significant, but which did not escape Maury'sattention. Being one who was familiar with some of the problems that besetthe sailing industry of that day, Maury immediately recognized thesignificance of verse 8. That verse tells us that, among other things, Godhas given man dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air,the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the sea."The Bible says there are paths in the sea," Maury thought, "and if theBible says it, I believe it." He was also aware of Ecclesiastes 1:6, whichstates: "The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north;it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to hiscircuits."
Maury, on the basis of the Bible, concluded that there are well-establishedwind circuits, and that there are literally "paths in the sea"—that is, definite currents in the ocean. He reasoned that if these wind currents andocean currents could be located and plotted, this information would be ofgreat value to marine navigators. Utilizing this information, the sailingvessels could be directed along routes that would take advantage of thesesea and air currents, reducing by many days the time required to traversethe seas. Many of Maury's contemporaries, of course, would have scoffed atMaury. They would have said, "Maury, do you really mean that you are goingto spend hour after hour on some wild goose chase searching through thosedusty old logs and charts you have in your office just because the Biblesays there are paths in the sea?"
That is precisely what Maury did, however, and the Biblical statements wereprecisely verified. Maury found and plotted the wind circuits and the oceancurrents. The ocean currents include, for example, the great Gulf Current—a "path in the sea" forty miles wide and 2000 feet deep flowing from theGulf of Mexico up through the Atlantic. This current has a tremendousinfluence on the climate of England, Ireland, Europe, and the Scandinaviancountries. The average winter temperature on the west coast of Norway, forexample, is about two degrees centigrade, or two degrees above freezing.Ordinarily, of course, we would expect far lower temperatures for a countrythat far north.
Other paths of the seas that come to mind are the California and theJapanese currents. The California current brings cold water from Alaska downalong the California coast. As a result, even those of us living in the SanDiego area do not have warm ocean water to swim in as they do, for example,in the Hawaiian Islands. This cool water, furthermore, dissipates tropicalstorms that would otherwise push their way out of the south Pacific into thesouthern California area. As a result, California rarely receives rain inthe summer months.
Maury's native state, the State of Virginia, has acknowledged the great debtnavigation owes him, having erected monuments to his memory. On thesemonuments may be found a plaque that reads as follows: "Matthew FontaineMaury, Pathfinder of the Seas, the Genius Who First Snatched from the Oceanand Atmosphere the Secret of Their Laws. His Inspiration, Holy Writ, Psalm8:8, Psalm 107:23,24, and Ecclesiastes 1:6."
Was Matthew Maury really a genius, or was he simply one who trusted theBible as the inerrant Word of God? Whether he was a genius or not, it wasnot his genius, but his faith in the Bible that directed his efforts into ascientific research project, the results of which fully vindicated thatfaith.
There are numerous other instances in which scientific discoveries have beenforeshadowed by Biblical statements. The few cited do, however, reflect thefact that although the Bible may not be a book of science, in all instanceswhere scientifically testable statements are found in the Bible, they haveproven to be scientifically accurate.
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"Vital Articles on Science/Creation"
September 1991
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