'%^ IV^"13 ^"-1 '-OGICAir^ Is The Bible Scientifically Correct? ^ ^ ^ ^ FREDERICK ERDMAN ALL through the Bible, there are frequent statements involving a number of the sci- ences. If these statements are true accord- ing to modern science, it proves that the Bible is not only scientifically correct, but that it repeatedly anticipates modern science by 2,000 to 3,500 years. 1. The Bible is Archeologically and Histori- cally Correct. "History lies at the root of all science" (Carlyle) . The historical accuracy of the Bible has been confirmed in a multitude of instances whenever any reliable profane records have been found. This has been true, even "in many instances which were formerly, for lack of in- formation, regarded as difficult or suspicious" (W. J. Beecher) . "The almost universal inaccuracy and unreliability of the Greek and Arab historians with reference to the kings of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia is in glaring contrast with the exactness and trustworthiness of the Hebrew Bible" (R. D. Wilson). Even as far back as Genesis 14, this accuracy has been confirmed. The names of kings with whom Abraham fought have been found among the inscriptions. In its lists of the names of the kings of Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Damascus, Tyre, Moab, Greece, and Rome, the Bible has proved to be correct in time, order, and orthog- raphy. If the Old Testament writers were so accurate in spelling the names even of heathen kings, they logically should be trusted in other respects. Until the comparatively recent archeological discoveries, any child, who believed in the Bible, knew facts about Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon which were not known by the greatest scholars who rejected the Bible. It is evident, therefore, that historically, the Bible is not only pre- eminently reliable, but has anticipated many of the latest discoveries of archeology by thousands of years. 2. The Bible is Geographically Correct. The many geographical accuracies of the Bible which have been vindicated after centuries of attack should prove the temerity of those who attack the Bible in other de- partments. The Bible has always been a valuable guide book to the Holy Land, and many books, notably The Land and the Book by Thomson, have shown the accuracy of the geographical references, proving that they could only have been written by an eyewitness. The capture of Michmash in Palestine in the World War by Major Gilbert, described in The Romance of the Last Crusade, was the result of his reading the account of the capture of Michmash in 1 Samuel 14:1-13, written 3,000 vears before. 3. The Bible is Bacteriologically Correct. Quarantine in the Bible. Beginning with the lowest forms of animal life, especially those which affect human life, we see how very practically the Bible has anticipated the latest discoveries of modern science. Some 3,500 years ago, Moses instituted the quarantine for contagious diseases — leprosy, for example — and this is, at the present time, the most important and successful factor in controlling all contagious diseases. In this respect, the Bible was 3.500 years ahead of modern "sci- ence." Whether human beings can survive being inocu- lated for every micro-organism discovered, is an open question. Modern scientific methods of disinfection are very super- ficial compared with those of Moses. He required even the plaster of a house to be scraped off. Pure Food Laws. The Mosaic regulations regarding food excluded all the scavenger birds, animals, and fishes, the flesh of which, in hot countries, is a great menace to the health. This anticipates many of the most recent bac- teriological discoveries. Avoiding Infection. Ihe disposal of dead animals and all refuse matter by immediate burying in the sand as a prevention of disease, is an object lesson to the people in camps, even in the United States. The danger of contact with any sores or discharges or dead bodies, the burning of infected materials, the importance of washing in running water all anticipated by 3.500 years the dis- coveries of modern bacteriologists. In view of the filth in the slums of our best cities, it is rather humorous to call the Bible unscientific, since re- moving filth would prevent disease which, otherwise, no amount of vaccination or inoculation could ever prevent. "The only successful attempt yet made to connect hy- giene with the social order was made by Moses, who interwove its requirements with those of religion." — Munger. Observing the social regulations of Moses is the only possible means of preventing social disease. The attempt of modern science to control social diseases by germicides can only increase sin and disease. Antisepsis. After the discovery of antiseptics, sur- geons used very powerful antisepsis. Then it was ob- served that powerful antiseptics destroyed not only the infection, but also fresh-forming tissue; therefore, they have been using less destructive antiseptics. Alcohol is now recognized as a very excellent general antiseptic. Olive oil is recognized as a very healing substance. Therefore, when the Good Samaritan used oil and wine on the man's wounds, he was using a most sensible and available and up-to-date remedy. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1926, surgeons of Prague have abandoned the use of all other antiseptics for steriliz- ing the hands in favor of denatured alcohol. Christ's story of the Good Samaritan is recorded by Luke the Physician, who wrote the two longest books in the New Testament. In his many references to disease, there is only one subject which any modern physician could criticize. This is a supernatural fact in view of what contemporary writers wrote on such subjects. The one exception is the subject of demonology, but since it is the demonology taught by Christ, the objectors must settle that with their Lord. 4. The Bible is Physiologically Correct. The statement in Leviticus 17:11, "The life of the flesh is in the blood," is the most comprehensive and up- to-date physiological generalization that has ever been made. The rate of the flow of the blood through the tissues of the body determines the normal function of every tissue, gland, and organ, even of those which manu- facture the constituents of the blood. It determines the health and the recovery from disease of every tissue of the body. All disease, according to eminent pathologists, is coex- tensive with malnutrition. The treatment of disease should, therefore, consist primarily in the restoration of the normal rate of the blood flow. Such restoration of normal blood flow explains all the benefici.^1 results and the many striking cures which have been produced by physical treatment, as well as by any system of physical culture. Nervous Fatigue. Contrary to the physiological nonsense of some scientists who try to prove that the brain never gets tired, but quite in harmony with com- mon sense and the facts, is the fact that even the great law-giver, Moses, in Exodus 18:18, had to be advised by his father-in-law, Jethro, to appoint assistants so as not to wear himself out. Otherwise, as it says in the Hebrew, "Fading, thou shalt fade." Danger of Chill. "As he that taketh away a gar- ment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart." This proverb of Solomon, Proverbs 25:20, contains a scientific law which is being sadly ignored today by many, to the de- struction of their health and lives. It means that, just as "singing songs to one who has a heavy heart" creates a very great mental disturbance, and as vinegar upon soda or nitre produces a very great chemical disturbance, so "leaving off a garment in cold weather," produces a very great physiological disturbance. All horse jockeys and farmers realize that the chief cause of disease among all domestic animals, from the race- horse to the chicken, is sudden cooling of the surface of the body. Lazarus-Barlow, the celebrated pathologist, says even of infectious disease that "chill predisposes the organism to the invasion of micro-organisms." But the discovery of microbes and the many substances in the blood, secreted by many glands (all of which, however, function according to their blood supply, and are there- fore usually a secondary consideration) has considerably diverted the attention of the modern scientist from the immediate practical cause of many diseases, which is cold, commonly from carelessness in dressing. 7 The primal curse on woman is still true. Even with modern scientific aids, most mothers in civilized countries, especially if they have been going without sufficient clothes, food, and sleep, will have even a worse time than mothers among any primitive people. The Biblical allusion to the marrow of the bones as a sign of health is quite up-to-date in view of the latest discoveries of the origin of the blood cells of the body. The warnings against eating "too much honey" agree with the opinion of food experts in regard to too much sugar. Value of Exercise. "The sleep of the laboring man is sweet whether he eat much or little" (Eccl. 5:12). The physiology involved in this verse is of enormous practical value. Exercise is absolutely essential not only to the health of the body in general, but of the brain in particular. Most modern inventions, from the automo- bile to the movies and the radio, have a tendency to dilate the cerebral blood-vessels or to keep people from walking, which is the best method of relieving the pressure of blood in the cerebral vessels. Modern people expect to do everything possible to disturb the cerebral circulation, and then expect to sleep properly and escape all the increasing nervous disorders. In view of the brief popularity of any drug, one of the most remarkable proofs of scientific reliability of the Bible is the fact that none of the Bible writers have anything to say in favor of internal medicine. "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" would seem to be an excep- tion, but the Hebrew says nothing about medicine, but "maketh good healing." Contrast the wild prescriptions in other literature as old as the Bible. In regard to physical culture, the Bible is quite up-to- date but gives the highest motives. In the Revised Version of 1 Timothy 4:8, we read, "Bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come." 1 Corinthians 9:25-27, "Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things: Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible. But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection." These verses include all the benefits of every system of physical culture. "Keeping the body under" would save, if practised, the endless destruction of lives by pleasure-seeking. Red Cross Health Rules. The German Red Cross published ten Rules of Health in 1925. These most modern scientific rules of health would all, either directly or indirectly, be observed if the foregoing Bible instruc- tions were followed. The bathing prescribed for cleanli- ness in the Old Testament, the diet, the out-of-door life and exercise involved in each man's having his own "vine and fig tree" would include most of these modern rules. The social diseases would be wiped out, the children would be cared for, all the rules, except those specifically for the teeth, would be observed, if people practiced the Bible rules; and good health would do more for the teeth than tooth brushes. 5. The Bible is Psychologically Correct. Janet, the French psychologist, says, as a result of all his studies and researches, that the greatest preventive of mental and nervous disorders is keeping a quiet mind. This wonderful modern scientific discovery is 3.000 years later than Proverbs 14:30 (R.V.), "A tranquil mind is the life of the flesh." 9 The Bible is the only safe psychological guide, bt..aust it teaches that man consists of "body, soul, and spirit." Modern "new psychology," because it is based on evo- lution, ignores or denies the existence of man's spirit. This is pure materialism and destroys the moral sense of any one who actually believes it. No nation can long endure if its youth are taught that our ideas of morality and our ideas of God are "herd complexes": and "if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" 6. The Bible is the Only Safe Guide in Phi- losophy. Philosophy is not science, but it is supposed to be based on science. Therefore, unless the philosophy of the Bible is true, the Bible cannot be considered scientific. Human philosophy consists of an endless succession of absolutely contradictory theories. Even in the first cen- tury, it was a common saying, "Nothing is so absurd as not to have been said by some philosopher." The pendulum of human wisdom swings from pantheism to materialism. The Bible contains the only complete and balanced system of philosophy. The Bible verse, "In him we live and move and have our being," gives the humblest Christian the highest concept of pantheism, but the first verse in the Bible also teaches the transcendence of God, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." This same verse, therefore, excludes both pantheism and materialism. Many of the philosophers of the past were materialists and most of the modern ones, because they accept evolution, are materialists. Material- ism, if believed, means atheism and atheism destroys human responsibility. The Bible, by teaching moral responsibility, alone can save men from the fatalism and folly of pantheism and materialism. 10 Many philosophers were idealists and denied the reality of matter and taught that mind is the only entity. The Bible transcends this idea by teaching "that we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which arc not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18). The Bible contains in every way the loftiest, sanest, and only balanced system of philosophy in the world. The Bible gives the only possible explanation of the Jew. The greatest philosophers have admitted their in- ability to explain Jewish history. The Bible outlined Jewish history before the events. Facts have disproved the theories of most wise men about the Jew, and facts have always confirmed the accuracy of the Bible. 7. Political Economy of the Bible. The practical political economy of the Bible, as found in the Book of Proverbs alone, is infinitely more scientific than all the wild Utopian theories of the wisest men of this world. Plato's attempt to outline a perfect state was based on infanticide, adultery, and other crimes and follies. The latest human attempt to give the greatest freedom to man has produced in Russia the most bloody tyranny the world has known. The Bible teaches, and the history of nations who have tried at all to practice Christianity has proved, that it is not the form of government but the character of the people which makes a nation happy and prosperous. It was the Christian virtues of the pioneers of this country which produced the political economy and resulting pros- perity of this country. Even the form of government of this country is due to the Bible, and. according to the historian, Bancroft. 11 this was brought about largely through John Calvin. It was the religious beliefs of the pioneers which produced the Constitution, as Joseph Cook said, "The unwritten Constitution produced the v/ritten Constitution." If the statesmen and politicians of any nation fail to learn from the Bible that "righteousness exalteth a nation," then the proudest empires go down in rum. As to the relation of capital and labor, the Bible makes kindness and generosity to the poor and unfortunate the test of one's religion and predicts punishment in the next world, if not in this, for those who oppress the poor and the working man; but it also says, "He also that is sloth- ful in his work is brother to him that is a greater waster" (Prov. 18:9). That is, the union man who tries to hold back production is as destructive to the wealth of the nation as the spendthrift. The Book of Proverbs states in the greatest possible variety of ways that prosperity and success in any line of enterprise involves hard, continuous work, whereas "all socialistic schemes now being put forward possess this fatal defect: that they would spread among the people the belief that they could, with comparative impunity. disregard prudence, self-denial, and the other most essen- tial virtues" (H. Faucet, "Standard Dictionary") . The Book of Proverbs, if practiced, would save all the mad extravagance and folly which the accumulation of wealth always causes. It would save the social corrup- tion which has destroyed most nations of the past and is undermining the health of our own Christian nation. The poverty of the people of India and China is directly due to their religious belief and practices. If men believed that suffering, poverty, and disease are the result of sin, demagogues would have no chance to 12 make people believe that a form of government or capital is to blame for all the troubles of mankind. There would be no French Revolution, no Russian situation, no political troubles, if people practiced even the Book of Proverbs. If the knowledge of how to escape all pitfalls of ignorance, folly, immorality, and atheism which de- stroy the characters and lives of men prematurely deserves to come under the Department of Science, then the Bible is the most scientific book the world has ever had. With- out this science of life, any nation and all its science goes to destruction. 8. The Pedagogics of the Bible. The pedagogics of the Bible are the only safe guide to save people from going to all the extremes and fads with which scientific people experiment on children, and there- fore with the future of nations. American educators know that it is impossible to have the discipline in our schools which obtains in English schools, because, as a rule. Englishmen believe that "foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him" (Prov. 22 15). Abuse of corporal punishment is no excuse for the greater folly of no punishment. Corporal punishment is carefully safeguarded in the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 2:11, we arc told that a father is supposed to "exhort, comfort, and charge' his children. In Colossians 3:21, we read, "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged." The unrestrained lawlessness of American children is the necessary precursor of lawlessness in adults. In Eng- land, murder is relatively rare because crime is punished. In America, twelve thousand are murdered every year, because crime is not punished. 13 In the Bible, the pedagogical principle of repetition, "line upon line, here a little, there a little," is empha- sized. The people were commanded to teach religious truths as follows: "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sit- test in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up" CDeut. 6:7). In modern scientific America, Protestant Sunday School children get about twenty hours of in- struction in the Bible in a year. What can one expect? 9. The Bible is Scientific from a Legal Stand- point. The laws of Moses are the basis of the legal codes of all enlightened nations. The Ten Commandments of Moses are the most complete and fundamental, and, there- fore, scientific statement of all legal relations between man and man, as well as between man and God. "The Ten Commandments represent to us, both in fact and idea, the granite foundation, the immovable mountain upon which the world is built up." — Stanley, "Thoughts." Some may think that the first two commandments are somewhat out-of-date; the most popular modern clergy- men constantly boast that their God "is not the God of the Old Testament," and therefore also, we must conclude, not the God of Christ. We therefore see that there is a universal tendency for men to have "other gods." Thirteen hundred years before the Magna Charta, the Jewish Sanhedrin protected accused persons from injus- tice. In a trial involving capital punishment, no hearsay evidence was taken. The guilty party could not be sentenced until the day after the trial. The members of the Sanhedrin voted in succession, the youngest first, not 14 to be influenced by the elders. The whole Sanhedrin had to fast a whole day before carrying out an adverse verdict. The Ten Commandments are the most concise sum- mary of all the laws which make life possible in any civilized community. Americans owe their freedom and their ideas of liberty to the Bible. The inscription on the Liberty Bell, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof," is from a verse in the Bible. In lands without the Bible, attempts to attain human liberty have produced only the chaos of a French Revolution and Russian Bolshevism. The so-called "collapse of civilization" in the United States because we lead the world in murders and divorces is no argument against the legal value of the Bible, be- cause the Bible all through denounces the failure to punish wrongdoing and gives this as the reason for the destruc- tion of all nations in the past, including even the chosen people. The increase in crime in the United States has been also simultaneous with the rejection even by many church leaders of the Bible as the absolute rule of faith and practice. 10. The Bible is Biographically Correct. The Bible contains the most reliable biographies. It tells the worst things even about some of its best char- acters. Biographers usually try to present their heroes in the best possible light. Many modern biographers have tried to present their heroes in the worst possible light, either to appeal to a depraved public for financial gain, or because they love to "speak evil of dignities." The Bible does neither; it exposes sin in order to warn all future generations against its temporal and eternal consequences and to prove the grace of God to repentant sinners. 15 11. Astronomy of the Bible. The Bible urges the study of astronomy. We are often exhorted to "consider the heavens"; but if the study of the ever-widening wonders of astronomy gives one no more than a greater knowledge of mathematics or of optics; if one cannot say, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork"; that man's study of astronomy has been a failure. Even in the use of the proverbial expression, "as numberless as the stars," the Bible is confirmed by modern science. The Bible is scientifically correct as to the position of the earth in space. In the oldest book in the Bible, wc read, "He hangeth the earth upon nothing" (Job 26:7). The verse expresses most beautifully, in language intelli- gible to all for all time, the position of the world in the universe. The inspired writer evidently had knowledge not possessed by the authors of the wild and grotesque cosmologies of other people of his day. As to the lack of scientific terminology or detail, sup- pose any Bible writer had employed any terms of the Ptolemaic or Einstein theories! It would have been un- intelligible to past generations or foolish or behind the times and unscientific to future generations. 12. The Bible is Meteorologically Correct. There are many references in the Bible, and especially in its oldest book, to the composition and movements of the clouds, and to rain, snow, and hail. After consider- ing in detail all these references, Sir William Dawson, a most careful exegete as well as a great scientist, wrote, p. 167, The Origin of the World, in regard to the thirty- sixth and thirty-seventh chapters of Job, "The knowl- edge of nature that existed at a time probably anterior to the age of Moses — a knowledge far superior to that which we find in the works of many modern poets and 16 CApositors. and accompanied by an intense appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of natural objects." 13. Botany in the Bible. The Bible encourages the study of botany. Solomon knew the names of every plant from the "cedar of Lebanon" to the "hyssop on the wall." Who does to- day? Also, Christ said, "Consider the lilies of the field." But if the increasing wonders revealed by the micro- scope and other means of botanical study do not teach one the wonders of the providence of God, if one does not learn to believe, "If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you?" such a study of botany falls far short of the purpose for which a man was given a brain. There are no mistakes in the numerous Biblical allus- ions to agricultural methods. Most of them can be seen in the Orient today. 14. The Bible is Nautically Scientific. The Bible account of the voyages and shipwreck of the Apostle Paul contains nothing which is not correct in regard to navigation in sailing vessels. Not only so, but Admiral Nelson won the battle of Copenhagen because the morning before the battle he hap- pened to read the account of Paul's shipwreck. The use of anchors from both bow and stern, the method by which he won the battle, was suggested to him by the reading of Acts 27. He was able to out-maneuver the enemy and maintain the line of battle by the use of extra anchors. This illustrates how the Bible has been a source of wisdom to men in every department of life if they "searched for it as for hid treasure." 17 15. The Bible is Zoologically Correct. In the many allusions to animal life, from the ant to the crocodile, there were no mistakes in natural history in the Bible, such as are found in all other literature, modern as well as ancient. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that Job gives the best description of the crocodile, which has ever been written. 16. The Bible is Ethically Correct. The humanitarianism of the Bible is scientific. Moses wrote (Lev. 19:18), "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This surely anticipated all modern humanitarian movements by 3,500 years. The Bible is not to blame if Jews and Christians delayed so many centuries beginning to practice its commandments. Since it required a bloody Civil War in the United States only a few decades ago to abolish slavery, we must not con- demn the Old Testament characters if they fail to measurfe up to Christian standards when all the rest of the world was in a condition of incredible cruelties and immoralities. Moses also anticipated by 3,500 years our very modern Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, when he wrote, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he tread- eth out the corn" (Deut. 25:4). So also Solomon: "A righteous man regards the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked arc cruel" (Prov. 12:10). "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk," is commanded three times. Deuteronomy 22:6, 7 con- tains a practical command for the protection of birds dur- ing the breeding season: "Thou shalt not take the dam with the young," but "thou shalt in any wise let the dam go." The citizens of the United States did not wake up to the necessity for such laws until the practical extermi- nation of invaluable birds and animals. Even the fail- 18 urc to cover an open pit or well was penalized (Ex. 21:33-35). All will agree that the Bible, at least the New Testa- ment, contains the highest ethics to be found in the world. But even the first book of the Old Testament, which gives so much space to the story of Joseph, sets the highest moral standards to be found in the world. The story of Ruth gives a relationship between a mother-in- law and a daughter-in-law which it would be hard to find even in a Christian country. Job exhibited the greatest patience. Daniel set the highest standard for courage. This subject could be indefinitely elaborated, but one's opinion of the ethical value of some sections of the Bible depends largely on whether one believes there is any moral government of the universe, and whether sin deserves punishment. If a man had escaped from the cruelties of Egyptian slavery, he could heartily join in Miriam's song of triumph over the Egyptians on the shore of the Red Sea. As a secular writer on Carthage remarked after viewing the rows of urns containing the ashes of children burned alive to the god Molech. one could sympathize with the threatenings of divine punishment by Isaiah and other prophets and in the imprecatory Psalms on the nations surrounding Israel, since their highest religious practices consisted in burning babes alive and in other unspeakable abominations. As to the polygamy of the Old Testament characters, notably Solomon's. Christ called attention to the fact that even divorce is condemned in the second chapter of Genesis. "Therefore shall a man . . . cleave unto his wife." Next, the Bible shows how Solomon's sin caused centuries of civil war and final destruction of the whole nation. But. how many modern men, if they had unlimited power, ana 19 if polygamy were the recognized means of maintaining international treaties, and if it were encouraged by the clergy as well as by the politicians, and if it were the custom of their own and all surrounding nations, would have done better than Solomon? After 2,000 years of Christian ethics, the United States leads the world in divorce. The Bible was written to expose human depravity and to exhibit the mercy of God. 1 7. The Bible is Biologically Scientific. When it says that plants and animals were created, each "after its kind," the Bible is stating a fact ot human observation covering thousands of years. Any one may watch the universal tendency of the most highly culti- vated plants and animals to revert to type. Evolution will always be beyond observation, and its supporters must always postulate millions of years and resort to end- less rhetoric to maintain their theories. Darwin undoubtedly was correct in concluding that all pigeons were descended from one pair of pigeons, and all dogs and wolves from one pair of ancestors. Noah should be credited for understanding this biological law thousands of years ago when he selected the animals in pairs to go into the ark. Darwin unintentionally re- moved a Bible difficulty for some people. The Apostle Paul was scientifically correct biologically when he had the courage as well as the scientific knowledge to tell the proud "earth-sprung" Athenians, who looked down on all other nations as barbarians, "God hath made of one blood all the nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26). This is a large biological generalization, centuries ahead of science, ac- cepted now by the wise men of the world as a fact, al- 20 though the pride of most people makes the idea unpopular if color is involved. 1 Corinthians 15:39 is a very comprehensive biological statement which the latest blood tests have not discredited: "All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of man and another flesh of beasts and another flesh of birds and another of fishes." 18. The Bible is Ethnically Correct. Discoveries in philology, as for example, that the Greek and Latin equivalent for our word "father" is "pater" and the German "vater" and the Sanskrit "pitar," prove the common origin of widely scattered races. The Bible account of the tower of Babel anticipates all such dis- coveries. As Professor Max MuUer wrote, "It is possible to point out radicals, which, under various changes and disguises, have been current in these three branches (Tur- anian, Semitic, and Aryan branches of speech) ever since their first separation." 19. The Bible is Prophetically Correct. The most remarkable proof of the supernatural his- torical accuracy of the Bible is the fact that it predicted even minute details of the history of Egypt more than 2,000 years ahead of their complete fulfillment; e.g., when Egypt was the wealthiest and one of the most powerful nations of the world, having the most fertile soil and the most reliable irrigation system, when the banks of the Nile were covered with vegetation, with a marvelous canal system and wonderful fisheries and abun- dant wild fowl, when its skilled workmen were superior to any in subsequent history, and the architecture of its cities the most substantial the world has known. Isaiah 21 (chapter 19) and Ezekiel (chapter 30) predicted that Egypt would gradually be diminished in power until it became the "basest of kingdoms"; that "there shall no more be a prince out of the land of Egypt (that it should suffer under foreign rulers) ; that Thebes should lie broken up but not destroyed, but that Memphis should be en- tirely destroyed; that the canals should be dried up; that the vegetation along the Nile should be entirely destroyed (its banks are now barren mud, although they are very fertile) ; that the papyrus and lotus (the national flowers of Upper and Lower Egypt) would disappear; that the fisheries would cease to be of value, and that the wonder- ful industries would disappear. In view of the fact that human statesmen never know what is going to happen tomorrow, the fulfillment of all these minute details through 2,000 years, besides many more concerning all the nations surrounding Pales- tine, proves a supernatural accuracy in the Bible which its critics cannot face. The Jews, at the time of the birth of Jesus, believed, and even the Edomite Herod feared, the historical accuracy of the Old Testament prophecies about the place and time of Christ's birth; and so have all orthodox Christians be- lieved the prophecies about many details of His life and death. Indeed, the early church consisted exclusively of Jews who accepted Christ as their Saviour because, as they said, they believed "we have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write." 20. The Bible is Geologically Correct. According to Herbert Spencer, the five essential con- cepts of science are time, space, matter, force, and motion. These are all contained in the first two verses of the Bible. "In the beginning" — time; "heavens" — space; 22 "earth" — matter; "the Spirit of God" — force; "moved" — motion. What could be more impressive, more remark- able, than that the Bible should begin with the five essen- tial scientific concepts of modern science, concepts which may be understood by any man! The order of the appearance of plants and animals on this earth, given in the first chapter of Genesis, is exactly the same as that taught by scientists of the twenieth century: (1) "grasses," plants without visible seeds — the cryptogams; (2) "herbs yielding seeds" — the phanero- gams; (3) "fruit trees bearing fruit"; (4) "the waters swarm with . . . living creatures" — fishes; (5) "birds"; (6) "great sea-monsters" — the geological reptiles; (7) "living creatures of the earth" — wild beasts; (S) "cattle"; (9) "man." Sir J. William Dawson discovered the lowest form of fossil mentioned in our "modern" geological table in the Standard Dictionary. He was a most exact Bible exegete as well as a celebrated scientist, and had carefully studied every phase of the first chapter of Genesis in the light of modern geology and called it "wonderful history" (The Origin of the World, p. 142). He spoke also of "the strict precision of language which everywhere prevails in this ancient document" (p. 117). Other geologists, Arnold Guyot for example, have made similar statements. Dawson also said, "If we admit that the Mosaic day cor- responds with these geological periods, it would be im- possible better to characterize their creations in so few words adapted to popular comprehension" (p. 218). There is one apparent discrepancy in Genesis 1, in the King James Version, where whales arc mentioned too early. But the Hebrew word here translated "whales" is 23 correctly translated "sea-monsters" in the Revised Version. Hence, this Bible difficulty, like others, is due to man's ignorance and not to the Bible. Moses was therefore 3,500 years ahead of our modern geologists. Geological Strata. In Psalm 104:5-9 is described in a few words the formation of geological strata. Who laid the foundations of the earth, That it should not be moved for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; The waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away (The mountains rose, the valleys sank down) Unto the place which thou hadst founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; That they turn not again to cover the earth. Subsequent verses tell how this made possible the formation of springs of water which form rivers, thereby making plant life possible; and plant life making animal life possible; all of which makes food and life of man possible. Was not the Psalmist scientifically exact 3.000 years ago when he said all this? Is it not true that "the mountains rose, the valleys sank"? The account of the flood, recorded in Genesis, gives the only possible explanation of the discoveries of many fossil remains of animals which were, while still alive, submerged in mud covering large areas of the world. Interior of the Earth. Some scientists believe that the earth's interior is a molten mass; others say that this is true only of local areas. In either case, the Apostle Peter was 2,000 years ahead of modern science when he wrote, "The earth is stored with fire" (2 Pet. 3:7, R. V. margin) . He may have been still ahead of modern sci- ence when he added, "against the day of judgment." The world has often seen, in small areas, the destruction wrought by volcanoes, and Christ and all those He taught have predicted that there will be "the wrath to come." 24 Future of the Earth. Thompson, the well-known English evolutionist, says that the universe is running down. This was very plainly stated 2,000 years ago in Hebrews 1:10-12: "And thou, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundalions of the earth; and the heavens arc the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest; and they shall all wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed; but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail." 21. The Bible is Logically Correct. The Bible is true to our intuition of cause and effect and therefore scientifically correct as to the author of the universe. "To an unprejudiced mind, ten thousand thousand in- stances of design cannot but prove a Designer." — Butler. The only scientific attitude which can enable any one to understand the organs and arrangement of any animal, plant, insect, or machine, from a bee to a balloon, is expressed most often in the Bible. A scientist should be able to say. "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork." The Bible goes still further and teaches that the Designer is also the Ob- server, the Judge, and the Rewarder. "He that planteth the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?" (Psa. 94:9). This is the only scientific attitude in the study of nature. In no other way can one be sure of "thinking God's thoughts after Him." Most people believe that the visible universe is an effect. An effect connotes a cause. Many prominent evo- lutionists postulate some Indefinite first cause; the Chris- tian is better satisfied intellectually by the sublime first verse of Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 25 Any process of evolution is only an effect, but many so-called scientists speak of evolution as if it were a cause, for many a happy escape from theism. This position is less scientific than the attitude of the most primitive wor- shiper of fetishes, because he honestly tri