Evidences for the Inspiration of the Bible: Scientific Accuracy
One of the amazing things about the Bible is its scientific accuracy and foreknowledge. The Bible is not a science textbook (that is not its purpose), but what it says concerning scientific matters is accurate – not only accurate, but far ahead of its time.
The Bible speaks of things that were unknown and undiscovered by man at the time the Bible was written. When we consider some of the things written in the Bible that man did not know through his own discovery until hundreds or even thousands of years had passed, we draw the conclusion that mere man did not – could not! – write the Bible of his own knowledge. This kind of foreknowledge demands an intelligence and wisdom that is higher and greater than man.
The Bible has never been proven wrong regarding scientific, archeological, or historical matters. In fact, some “experts” in these fields have over the years questioned the accuracy of the Bible, only to discover, ultimately, that the Bible was true and correct after all. Of course, that is no surprise to the Bible believer, and merely confirms the truthfulness of the Bible. We don’t need science, archeology, or history to verify our faith in the Bible; but it is nice to know none of these fields can undermine that faith!
Consider some examples of the scientific foreknowledge of Scripture:
- JOB 26:7: This verse speaks of “the north over the empty place,” an obvious reference to the intergalactic space stretching over and above the north pole (not seen by anyone’s naked eye when Job, the oldest book in the Bible, was written), and God having done this: “hangeth the earth on nothing.” Of course we know today that the earth is not sitting on some giant platform, nor suspended by gigantic cables or wires, as some ancients supposed; we know the earth floats freely upon nothing. But nobody living when the book of Job was written knew that.
- JOB 38:16: This verse speaks of “springs of the sea” and the “search [recesses; trenches] of the depth.” But not until the 19th and into the 20th centuries did man, through natural means, learn about these great springs of fresh water flowing into the seas, and the great trenches, some many miles long, on the ocean floor. For centuries man supposed the ocean to be shallow and flat. Not so.
- PSALM 8:8 speaks of the “paths of the sea.” Matthew Maury, seaman and scientist, in the mid-19th century discovered these sea paths, and in fact cited this passage in the book of Psalms as his motivation for even searching for such! His work earned him the title “pathfinder of the seas.” He was an extraordinary scientist, and firm Bible believer.
ISAIAH 40:22 speaks of God as the One “that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.” Of course we know today that the earth is spherical. But in the days of Isaiah, a book written some six hundred years before Christ, nobody knew that; man did not “discover” that the earth was round until relatively modern times; man, through his own supposition, imagined the earth to be flat with a literal “falling off” place. Such notions today seem ridiculous; but the earth being a circle must have sounded ridiculous when Isaiah was written!- ECCLESIASTES 1:6 tells us about cycles of the wind, which modern meteorology confirms, and today we hear daily about “jet streams.”
- NUMBERS 19:7–22: God gave some very specific instructions to the ancient Israelites concerning purifying, cleanness, and uncleanness that, from a human perspective, made no sense at all in their day. But in our day, we understand the reasons for these instructions, having learned through scientific investigation and discovery: God was protecting His people from the spread of infectious disease by defilement. We admonish our children to wash their hands; yet a little more than a hundred years ago, doctors would perform surgeries without gloves, without sterilized instruments, and without hand washing, literally moving from one patient to another with bloodied hands and tools, and often more patients died from infection than from wounds. Yet, here is the Bible giving some simple instructions that protected ancient Israelites without their even being aware of it. Today, we know of bacteria and germs and disease, and things to do to prevent their spread, like washing and antiseptics. Yet no scientist or physician in Moses’ day, when these instructions were given, knew these things. Why the explicit warnings, then? Because the instructions were given by a wisdom and intelligence higher and greater than man.
- LEVITICUS 13:45–46: Here the Bible gives instruction that would prevent the spread of leprosy, an incredibly contagious, dangerous, and ultimately fatal disease in Biblical times that could become epidemic when Biblical instructions were not followed. But as in the above point, no one in the time the Bible was written knew the reasons for disease spreading or why epidemic plagues came. Yet the Bible warns about it. Just a good guess, or a superior intelligence giving the instruction? There have been many ages in the history of mankind, often centuries after the Bible was written, when disastrous plagues claiming thousands of lives could have been avoided had people but followed Biblical injunctions.
LEVITICUS 17:11 tells us “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” We know that today. But in earlier days, the practice of “blood letting” for those who were sick was a common practice, and often, unfortunately, resulted in the death of the patient. One ill was thought to have “bad humours,” and “bleeding” a patient was thought to be of help; we know now that it often hastened death, instead. Modern physicians speculate that our first president, George Washington, probably died as a result of “bleeding” by his physicians, and most likely would have recovered if not for the “medical treatment” he received.- ACTS 17:26 speaks of God having “made of one blood all nations of men for the dwell on all the face of the earth.” We know today that race and skin color have nothing to do with blood type, and, in fact, compatible blood types are interchangeable among and between different races of man. Nobody knew that when Acts was written, except the Author of the book who had access to knowledge greater than what mere man had discovered.
These and other examples we could cite demonstrate that from a naturalistic standpoint, there is no way the Bible could have been written by a mere man, for the Bible foretells things about which man did not know for thousands of years after they were recorded. The Bible demands an intelligence and wisdom that is far superior to man’s naturalistic learning. Though the Bible doesn’t profess to be a textbook on biology, anatomy, physical chemistry, or other natural or medical sciences, what the Bible says concerning these matters is overwhelmingly advanced.
Never worry about the Bible being outdated, outmoded, or antiquated; man has demonstrated that he has had a difficult time keeping up with this Book which far surpasses and exceeds human wisdom and knowledge!
Remember: the Bible is always right!
By John M. Brown
Everyone has a tendency to be shy in certain situations. Some people handle this very well by overcoming shyness through assuring their confidence and boldness even when they don’t want to. Other people struggle with being shy, sometimes because of a lack of confidence, boldness, or determination. For myself, I have always struggled with shyness around larger crowds of people. When I’m in these situations, I have to remind myself that everyone perceives, or views, me according to the way I act and handle myself. I also have to remember that confidence ultimately should come from God and not of myself! Paul told the Corinthians “Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Cor. 3:4–5).
I believe dating is preparation for marriage. You may already be praying for your future spouse. Therefore, God will provide the right guy for you, so be patient and do not worry. Try not to be flirtatious or give the guy the wrong messages. Instead, try allowing him to take the initiative. If he asks you out, then tell him you would like to go out together with several people and just hang out and enjoy the time together as friends. If he never asks you out or he doesn’t like the idea of not dating, then you’ve saved yourself the heartbreak of a relationship that was not meant to be, and you will have kept yourself pure in the process while waiting for the person who God wants you to be with.
Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love baking cookies, putting up the Christmas tree, shopping for friends, having fun with family, and the joy that comes along with Christmas. I look forward to it every year. My family traditions are probably my favorite part of the season. My family has some very fun traditions. We celebrate with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and my cousins. We always have a lot of fun watching my 2-year-old cousin, Levi, excitedly open his presents.
I am very grateful that my family gives time to spend with each other. We all have such busy lives that we don’t get to be together as a family all that often. I am very thankful that we can spend Christmas and Christmas Eve together. I am looking forward to Christmas this year. I hope that everyone has a good Christmas and has fun with their families and friends. Take the time this year to reflect on and appreciate the special traditions you have with your family.
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All to Jesus I surrender;
When it comes to the holidays, though, my Grandpa Reaves seems to be the most influential. My Papaw Reaves was a minister, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a farmer. I really don’t think there was very much he couldn’t do. Papaw loved the holidays. He always loved it when we were all together, but at Christmas he seemed to be even more cheerful. I will never forget him coming in with the video camera to tape everything that happened. I remember the time he convinced all the grandkids that we saw Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer out his back door so we had to go to bed or Santa would not leave presents.
Some people are able to cope with a loss by talking about it. Find a friend, a parent, or even a school counselor if you feel you need to talk. Remember the good things about that person. Focus on how you can show others the same love that person showed you. Look through old pictures when you need to. Shortly after Papaw passed, my grandma gave me a picture of him on his tractor help me remember him.
The purpose of this series on the fruit of the Spirit is to explain how God has given us many gifts with the intent of making our lives happy. God designed us with free will so that we might choose to love and obey Him 
If you are dating a boy who is not very experienced at expressing how he feels you will definitely have to work at being patient with him. Resist the temptation to get frustrated and angry, because sometimes they can’t tell you how they feel at the exact moment you want them to. Be careful, however, if he never wants to talk about his feelings, or is consistently avoiding any serious discussions. This is a character flaw that will only worsen after marriage. Sometimes, though, you may just have to be patient and give him time––time alone to think about it and figure out how to put his feelings into words. And when he is ready, he will explain to you what’s going on in his life. If you can do this, you will be practicing the gift of patience by giving him time to think and then listening to how he is feeling. Every now and then it may be hard to be patient and you will accidentally mess up. When this happens you should ask your boyfriend for forgiveness and ask God for forgiveness as well 
One example that comes to mind right now is a situation that I once had with my boyfriend. I was feeling hurt because he wanted to stay home instead of going to watch a play with me. I was really disappointed and sad, but I also knew that I was over-reacting. About twenty minutes after we got off the phone I realized how unkind I was being. He had spent every day after school at football and he had gone every night that week to our congregation’s gospel meeting; he had not had any time at home in awhile. He deserved a break and he deserved some kindness and understanding from me. So I called him back and apologized for being upset and told him I was glad he was choosing to take a night off. Even though I had made the mistake of over-reacting and not being kind, I quickly realized that that was not how God wanted me to treat someone I loved. That is just one of the everyday experiences my boyfriend and I have in our relationship using the gifts from God and the Holy Spirit.
Some examples of what you can do in any relationship to show goodness are being reliable, trustworthy, enjoyable, and noble. One way you can demonstrate goodness in a dating situation is by always being reliable and trustworthy. Allow them to lean on you and confide in you by always keeping your word in a godly manner. When they are willing to tell you something that is personal, they are showing you that they trust you; don’t destroy that trust by telling others a secret. This is, of course, something that a genuine Christian boy should also do for you. He should be someone you can trust and rely on for all situations in life. Goodness toward others will make your life simpler and others treating you with goodness will assist in making your life a happy one.
This month, some of the staff is offering their own favorite Christmas movie review. So, choose one of these, or grab your own favorite, curl up with a blanket and cup of hot chocolate, and enjoy the spirit, or humor, of the season.
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The holiday season is upon us. Let the decorating, baking, list making, shopping, wrapping, hiding, cooking, eating, and singing begin! Sounds like fun, right? But, why do we do it? Because everyone does it? Because we have always done it? Because we like to receive gifts? The answer is probably yes to all three. But the best reason is because we like to give!
When we think of giving, we usually think of putting money in the contribution plate at church, or giving a gift to a friend or family member. This kind of giving is good and makes us happy. But the Bible shows us examples of several different kinds of giving. Let’s look at some of them and see if we can get an idea of how we can be more giving in our lives.
Luke 21:1: “And he [Jesus] looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, ‘Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury [poverty] hath cast in all the living that she had.’” The widow who gave two mites was blessed more than the rich who gave more, because she gave all she had, and the rich only gave a tiny portion of their wealth. The widow’s giving was a true sacrifice, as was David’s in 2 Samuel 24:24. Jesus is trying to teach us that we don’t have to give a large amount to the church to be pleasing to God or to receive the blessings that come from giving. This widow knew the truth about giving––that God will provide for a cheerful giver in a way that will eventually allow them to give more! As you grow and enter into the working world, make giving to the church first on your list of priorities. You will never regret it.
How many gifts do you think you’ll receive this Christmas? A dozen? Two dozen? More? Although receiving gifts is not what this season should be about, it is sad to think about the many children who will not get to experience the innocent, pure joy of finding gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. I’m sure that most of us have never had to wake up to a room void of gifts on this most memorable of mornings. We often don’t even have to worry about not getting that most coveted gift we’ve been thinking about for months—it’s usually there, waiting for us. But do we ever pause to think about the quiet disappointment that fills so many houses every Christmas? Not the disappointment of not finding that treasured gift among the other twenty, but of not even expecting a single gift at all.
When you are finished shopping, package the items however the sponsor wishes, and, most importantly, return them with your angel paper back to the appropriate location on time. If you toss or lose the angel paper in the process of shopping, there will be no way for the sponsor to locate which child you’ve shopped for (although they do often write down your name and the angel’s ID number when you select it).
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