Divine Surrogacy
Maria Mitchell, America’s first female astronomer with a discovery of a Comet named after her “Miss Mitchell Comet.” (1818-1889).
“Scientific investigations, pushed on and on, will reveal ways in which God’s works will bring us deeper revelations of the wholly unknown.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9b-10
“There is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say; Look! This is something new”
It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time”
Chapter 2: Science and the Bible
In the medieval era, philosophy and theology were considered sciences, theology was even called the “Queen of the Sciences,” that is, “God’s Word” is the majestic source of knowledge that informs all other knowledge.
Wissenschaft, the German language term that involves systematic research, in the 19th century, was interpreted by Americans visiting German universities as meaning “pure science” while some contemporary scientists and philosophers interpret that “any true knowledge or successful method that includes philosophical, mathematical, and logical knowledge” is science. Got Questions states that Wissenschaft “provides a bridge to our understanding of modern science, where origin science discovers many things that honor the Creator’s wisdom and confirm biblical history.”
Seemingly, this impresses the fact that most scientists believe in the Supreme Deity of God which is in contrast to Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett and Sam Harris who “assume that science, in general and evolutionary science in particular, has made belief in God unnecessary and obsolete.” Dawkins argues that you cannot be an intelligent scientific thinker and still hold biblical beliefs.” He pointed out that only about 7 percent of American Scientists in the National Academy of Sciences believe in a personal God. These scientists were whom asked “if they believe in a God who ‘personally’ communicates with humanity.”
The truth is that many scientists see no incompatibility between their faith in God of the Bible and their Science work. Timothy Keller writes in the book “The Reason for God” about two famous studies that support this contention done in 1916 and 1997. The American psychologist James Henry Leuba conducted the first survey of scientists in 1916 with a different question from that of Dawkins. The question was “if they believe in a God who ‘actively’ communicates with humanity, at least through prayer.” Forty percent (40%) said they did, also forty percent said they did not and 20 percent were not sure.
In 1997, Edward Larson, who became a 1998 Pulitzer Prize Winner, and Larry Witham, author of the books, “The Measure of God”, “By Design”, “Darwin meets the Bible”, and “Science & the Search for God”, repeated the survey asking the very same questions to scientists. They reported in the scientific journal “Nature” that they had found that the numbers had not changed significantly in eighty years.
As per Wikipedia, a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, “American scientists are about half as likely as the general-public to believe in God or a higher universal power”. Still, the survey found that the percentage of scientists that believe in God was higher than you may think—51%.
Answers Magazine has a DVD in the market in April 2022 saying, “Science Confirms the Bible.” In this popular video, Ken Ham of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) tackles the biggest creation/evolution questions constantly asked by teens. Over a dozen hot topics are answered with the humor and intensity that has made this Australian-born educator one of the most requested Christian speakers in America. Visit “Science Confirms the Bible” courtesy of Mr. Google and it will bring you to Observational science and Historical science. As you watch the video you will come to understand that the God of the Bible and Science are in harmony to each other within the laws of logic and laws of the universe.
Bernard Haisch book in 2006 proves that there can be no evidence for something that is false, manifesting that God truly exists. Another scientist Amir D. Aczel has his 2014 book “Why Science Does Not Disprove God,” giving a fascinating tour through the history of Science and a brilliant incisive analysis of the religious implications of the ever-increasing understanding of life and the universe, convincingly demonstrating that science has not provided any definitive proof refuting the existence of God.
Obviously, significantly shouting that Science and the Bible reconcile.
Albert Einstein, the greatest theoretical physicist of the twentieth century or possibly of all times during his lifetime, was asked if he believed the historical existence of Jesus of the Bible and his answer was: “Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life”. Einstein regarded science and religion as complementary to each other, a relation that he described by the metaphor, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”
In 1930 when interviewed by the Irish writer James Murphy and the Irish mathematician John William Navin Sullivan, Einstein emphatically declared, “I am of the opinion that all of the finer speculations in the realm of science spring from a deep religious feeling, and that without such feeling, they would not be fruitful.”
Not a Scientist
The author of this book is not a Scientist and is very far from being one, not even a preschool teacher. We will simply cite and quote writings that prove Science and the Bible agree with each other and even support one another.
Later, we will see that there is no problematic in the no mixing of fetal blood and maternal blood in the normalcy of pregnancy.
Ibelieve.com in the question what does the Bible say about science has the following: The Bible is pro-science.
Proverbs 15:14 says, “The heart of the one who has understanding seeks knowledge…” Proverbs 18:15 says, “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge.” As followers of God, we should all be seekers of truth. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” [John 8:32].
Now, let us go to three scientific facts we never knew were in the Bible says FIU College of Communication:
- GRAVITY
Job 26:7, “He spread out the northern skies over empty space; He suspends the earth over nothing.”
“He suspends the earth over nothing”. Ironically many nations believed with great conviction the exact opposite. Nothing on this earth just floats. Everything, other than the clouds themselves, are situated on some surface. As a result, naturally, ancient peoples were confident that the earth had to be suspended on something.
The Vatican during then believed that the earth was flat, surrounded by a dome from which the stars were hanging on strings. (Remember Pope Urvan 111 persecuted Galileo with a charge of heretic because he supported Copernicus that the earth revolves around the sun). Meanwhile, Isaiah 40:22 of the Bible says, “God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth.”
Mankind came to understand gravity began with the all too familiar story of Sir Isaac Newton and his fruit-filled revelation. Isaac Newton first published the Universal Law of Gravitation in 1687.
The book of Job in the Bible has been carbon-dated as the oldest book of the Bible: 3500 years old. Job is the name of the author. Job was a shepherd. He raised livestock for a living. He wasn’t a scientific genius that looked up into the night sky and realized the nature of the earth. Living in the Bronze Age, the only tools available to him were simple machines of metal. As with every other book of the Bible, Job was not written from Job’s own thoughts. But, through revelation from God, the Creator, Job was able to write about the true nature of creation.
By far, God’s Word preceded mankind’s understanding.
2. WATER CYCLE
Job 26:8, “He wraps up the waters in His clouds; yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.”
Job 36:27-28, “He draws up the drops of water; which distill as rain to the streams;” the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind.”
Draws up drops of water” evaporation
“Distill as rain to the streams” precipitation
“Clouds pour down their moisture” condensation s
NO BIG DEAL?
Every fifth grader that paid even a little attention in class knows about the water cycle. However, though it’s common knowledge now, mankind didn’t come to understand about the water cycle until about 400 years ago, throughout the 1670s. And then only through extensive research and experimentation carried out by two French scientists, Pierre Perault and Edme Marriotte.
Think about it. Have you ever seen water rise from a lake to the sky? Would you look up at the sky, and interpret the clouds as gatherings of water having never been taught? It’s impossible to look at a cloud and intuitively know they’re made up of water or that rain specifically falls from clouds.
But again there it is in the Bible written by a man with no profound scientific understanding!
3. The Earth’s Core
Job 28:5, “The earth from which food comes is transform below as fire.”
National Geography says: The earth’s Core is the very hot, very dense center of our planet. The ball shaped core lies beneath the cool brittle crust and the mostly solid mantle. It keeps on spinning.
Are you thinking what I am thinking? Job writes that the earth is transformed below by fire!
The word Science as found in the King James Version simply means knowledge.
In Daniel 1:4 KJV, “Children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the King’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.”
1 Timothy 6:20 KJV, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:”
Above are the only two places in the King James Version Bible that the word Science occurs. The meaning of the term in the former is “knowledge,” “wisdom.”
It was wrong for us to believe that true scientists do not believe in God or the Bible. It is not correct. In fact, true science is in good harmony with the Bible and if properly understood proves the Bible right.
By far, God’s Word preceded mankind’s understanding.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”
The great Scientist Albert Einstein has said further that he “observed the laws of nature and there are no laws without a lawgiver.” And that the “rational discovery of the secrets of nature is a religious act for religion and philosophy are integral parts of the same package as the scientific discoveries.”
Sir Isaac Newton, English Physicist and Mathematician of the 17th century, picked up Galileo Galilei’s mathematical science of motion and himself introduced the three laws of motion. The Newton’s December 10, 1692 letter to Richard Bentley, abounds with arguments on the statement that “the structure of the universe implies the existence of God as Creator” (Max Jammer’s Einstein & Religion, Chapter 3, p158).
Dr. Francis Collins, (born 1950) who was formerly an Atheist, a Director of the National Institutes of Health, also of Human Genome, an Author of the book “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief”, said in a CNN interview: “I have found there is a wonderful harmony in the complimentary truths of Science and Faith. THE GOD OF THE BIBLE is also the GOD of the genome. By investigating God’s majestic and awesome creation, Science can actually be a means of worship.”
Francis Collins continued saying: “I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients.
Challenged by one of those patients, who asked ‘What do you believe, doctor’, I began searching for answers. I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as: What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? Why does mathematics work, anyway? If the universe had a beginning, who created it? Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms? Why do humans have a moral sense? What happens after we die?”
For Collins, that leap came in his 27th year, after a search to learn more about God’s character which led him to the person of Jesus Christ, a person with remarkably strong historical evidence of his life, who made astounding statements about loving your neighbor, and whose claims about being God’s son seemed to demand a decision about whether he was deluded or the real thing. After resisting for nearly two years, Collins found it impossible to go on living in such a state of uncertainty, and he became a follower of Jesus.
“Genome” is the haploid sets of chromosomes. It is an organism’s complete set of DNAs, including all of genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome of more than 3 billion DNA base pairs, is contained in all cells that have a nucleus (Dictionary.com).
HUFFPOST writes about Collins 2007 book as about the intersection between science and faith, where he described how he was converted from Atheism to Christianity, and attempts to argue that “the idea of a Christian God is compatible with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.”
Meanwhile, Henry M. Morris, a defender of the Christian Faith scientist of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in his latest book The Biblical Basis for Modern Science, walks the reader to the absurdity of evolution from a wide variety of sciences, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, and geology, Morris presents clear evidence that the Bible gives us an astonishingly accurate record of the past, present, and future. This is the most complete and authoritative reference book available on science and the Bible, with each chapter dealing with one of the key sciences in relation to Scripture, in addition to separate chapters on theology, cosmology, miracles and Biblical creationism. With numerous illustrations and useful appendices, it is appropriate either as a textbook or for devotional study. ICR
The Bible is not a science book. However, whenever it makes a statement relating to a scientific principle or fact, it is completely accurate.
Science and God’s Word supporting each other will disprove the man-made theory that “Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception or was born sinless” as dogmatically defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854.
The mystery of the virgin birth is not in Mary but in the normalcy of God’s Science.
Likewise this book, with God’s gift of Science to mankind, will disprove the theory of “Immaculate Conception” and “Mary’s Assumption bodily to heaven” falsely making her equal to the God Son Christ Jesus. This will free us from Mary worship but accord her the respect as the favored chosen vessel to be the mother of Jesus in the flesh.
Let us further cite some examples to show the harmony between science and the Bible:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This was written by Moses through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about 1500 B.C.
Meanwhile, in 1820 A.D. a Scientist named Hubert Spencer gave the world five scientific principles by which man may study the unknown. They are time, force, energy, space, and matter.
By inspiration, Moses, gave us those scientific principles in Genesis 1:1. ‘In the ‘beginning—time;’ ‘God—force;’ ‘created—energy;’ ‘the heavens—space;’ and ‘the earth—matter.’ All of Spencer’s scientific principles are right there in Genesis 1:1.
Astronomy
For many years man has estimated the number of stars in the heavens, and he has increased the estimate many times. Finally, in the 1900’s, man determined that the stars could not be counted. God’s Bible has always told us this fact. Notice Genesis 15:5, “And He (God) brought him (Abram) forth abroad, and said, ‘Look above now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them:’ and he said unto him, ‘So shall thy seed be.” God was telling Abraham that just as the stars in the heavens could not be numbered (counted), Abraham’s descendants would be as the stars that could not be numbered. If man had paid attention to this verse, he would never have tried to count the stars!
Another biblical verse about the incalculable number of stars is Jeremiah 33:22, “As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: So, will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me.”
Man’s science then also teaches that “all stars were same” in contrary to God’s Science as in the Bible that each star is unique. 1 Corinthians 15:41 supports that the stars differ from another as it states: “The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.”
The Bible describes the precision of movement in the universe.
“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” (Genesis 1:16).
The primary purpose of the stars, as well as the sun and moon, was “to divide the day from the night; and…be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And…to give light upon the earth” (Genesis 1:14-15).
Jeremiah 31:35-36, “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
The Bible describes the suspension of earth in the space.
“He stretches out the north over empty space; and hangs the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). There is a place in the North where no stars exist, which cannot be seen with the naked eye. How did the writer of Job know this? Also, the same verse declares that “God hangs the earth on nothing”. We know this is true, but we have only known it for about 350 years. God’s inspired writer told us over 3,000 years ago that the earth is held in place by gravitational forces!
The value of blood written 1400 BC and consistent with Biology
Next is on how science and the Bible agree in relation to the blood in our bodies. We now know that blood is necessary for survival. If our bodies lose too much blood, we will die. However, man did not discover this principle until the 19th century. Before that time, blood-letting was practiced, and many died because draining blood from their bodies drained the very source of life. George Washington, the first President of the United States, was believed to have died due to loss of blood.
Moses again writing by inspiration hundreds of years ago, told us something man did not know until much later. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life” (Leviticus 17:11). How could Moses have known about the life-giving qualities of blood unless God had revealed it to him?
Likewise, the blood carries water and nourishment to every cell, maintains the body’s temperature, and removes the waste material of the body’s cells. The blood also carries oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. In 1616, William Harvey discovered that blood circulation is the key factor in physical life confirming what the Bible revealed 3,000 years earlier.
An interesting statement, “the birds of the air; and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:8). The phrase the “paths of the seas” caused another Scientist Matthew Fontaine Maury to begin a search which led to the discovery of ocean currents, the natural paths of the seas created by God. Maury concluded that if, The Bible, which is God’s book, said they were there, they must be there! He was right.
The Bible is not a geography book or an archaeology book. However, whenever the Bible makes a statement relating to these sciences, it is completely accurate. Notice the Lord’s statement for example, in Luke 10:30. “Jesus made answer and said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead”. Now, Jericho is northeast of Jerusalem, and normally we do not speak of going down when we refer to going north. We generally speak of going down south and up north, don’t we? Why did the Lord say the man went down from Jerusalem? It is because Jerusalem is some 2,500 feet (762 meters) above sea level. When one leaves Jerusalem, he goes down to go anywhere in the area. Therefore, our Lord’s statement is completely accurate, and is recorded accurately by inspiration.
The Bible is geographically accurate in every instance. Geography, by the way, as per Wikipedia, “is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of earth.”
On the other hand, Dictionary.com defines Archaeology as the scientific study of historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their artifacts, inscriptions, monuments and other such remains, especially those that have been excavated.
Many archaeologists have explored the land of Israel and Palestine. Has any one of those scientists ever discovered anything which disproves the Bible? The answer is no, there was none.
Many archaeological discoveries have confirmed the Biblical record. None has ever contradicted the Bible. This ought to be very reassuring to those of us who believe the Bible to be the Word of God. At the same time, it ought to convince the skeptic, the agnostic, and the atheist, that this Bible is God’s Book. Therefore, not only does God exist, but He has revealed His Will to man.
Galileo Galilei, a heretic?
In 1543, a Polish scientist published his Copernican Theory that “the earth and the planets revolve around the sun. Another scientist named Galileo Galilei, according to History was ordered to turn himself to the office of the Roman Catholic (RC) Church to begin trial for writing and holding the belief of Copernicus that the Earth is round and orbits around the Sun, which was in opposition to the Vatican belief.
At that time, the RC maintains the belief that the earth was the center of the universe and was flat. Because Galileo was in opposition to their belief such as implied in his writings “A Dialogue on the Two Principal Systems of the World”, he was deemed heretical by the Roman Catholic Church. Standard practice demanded that the accused be imprisoned and secluded during the trial. Galileo was charged as heretic and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It took more than 350 years for the Roman Catholic Church to admit that Galileo was right and to clear his name of heresy as per History. October 1992, New York Times, written by Reporter Alan Cowell a headline that says Galileo was right. Pope John Paul 11 rectified one of the Vatican’s most infamous wrongs, the persecution of the Italian Astronomer and Physicist Galileo for proving the earth revolves around the sun in contrary to Vatican’s then stand that the earth is flat.
Obviously, if only then chief inquisitor Father Vincenzo Maculano da Firenzuola, appointed by Pope Urban VIII, if both have read or believed Isaiah 40:22 of the Bible, which says, “God sits above the circle of the earth…”, it might have been a different story. Actually, Christopher Columbus circumnavigating the world was ‘to disprove’ that it is flat. Columbus with a crew of 90 men and three ships: Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria reasoned that since the world is round he could sail west to reach the east.
The book of Isaiah 40:22 was written sometime between 740 and 680 BC. This is at least 300 years ahead before Aristotle suggested that the earth might be a sphere in his book On the Heavens.
Truly, because God is the Creator of all things seen and unseen, His science and His book, the Bible, are in harmony supporting each other also to prove that the blood of Jesus is of God. It is ours to discover by reading God’s love letters, the Bible.
Snake, legged walker to belly crawler
Very recently, Walid Shoebat, a Palestinian American Christian Author and Speaker (Wikipedia), wrote about a scientific discovery that is in harmony with the Bible’s Genesis 3:14, “So, the Lord God said to the serpent, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”
Shoebat claims in his writing that, “The world’s first 4 legged known snake discovered in Brazil, proves that snakes walked on foot, instead of crawling on their bellies.”
This is exactly what the Bible declared in Genesis 3:14, that snakes had legs. That when Eve was talking with the serpent it was walking in four legs. But because the snake creature was possessed and used by Satan when mankind was deceived, God cursed the snake above all livestock and wild animals and said, “You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.” (Livestock and wild animals generally lived in the land, by the way).
Take note that the Evolutionists, although, they believed that snakes came from marine lizards through natural selection they never deny that serpents or snakes family came from four-legged creatures. Hence, Evolution believers and Bible believers are one in belief that serpents originally had limbs. Walid Shoebat believes that the discovery strongly suggests that snakes came from terrestrial lizards and not from water dwelling species as had been thought before.
Evolutionists believe that the snakes’ legs disappeared due to natural selection while Bible believers believe it is because God has commanded which is in Genesis 3:14. “So, the Lord God said to the serpent, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”
While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22).
Bible & Science: Then and Now
Below are few of Bible verses that now Science accepts:
The Bible: Light moves (Job 38:19-20).
Science then: Light was fixed in place.
Science now: Light moves
The Bible: Air has weight (Job 28:25).
Science then: Air was weightless.
Science now: Air has weight
The Bible: Winds blow in cyclones (Ecclesiastes 1:6).
Science then: Winds blew straight.
Science now: Winds blow in cyclones
The Bible: Ocean contains springs (Job 38:16).
Science then: Ocean fed only by rivers and rain.
Science now: Ocean contains springs
The Bible: When dealing with disease, hands should be washed under running water (Leviticus 15:13).
Science then: Hands washed in still water.
Science now: When dealing with disease, hands should be washed under running water.
The Bible: The earth is a round sphere (Isaiah 40:22)
Science then: The earth is a flat disk
Science Now: The earth is a sphere
The Bible: Incalculable number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22)
Science then: Only 1100 stars
Science now: Incalculable number of stars
The Bible: Free Float of earth in space (Job 26:7)
Science then: Earth sat on a large animal
Science now: Free Float of earth in space
The Bible: Air has weight (Job: 28:25)
Science then: Air was weightless
Science now: Air has weight
The Bible: Creation made of invisible elements (Hebrews 11:3)
Science then: Science was ignorant of the subject
Science now: Creation made of invisible elements (atoms)
The Bible: Each star is different (1 Corinthians 15:41)
Science then: All stars were the same
Science now: Each star is different
The Bible: Blood is the source of life and health (Leviticus 17:11)
Science then: Sick people must be bled
Science now: Blood is the source of life and health
The Bible: Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains
(2 Samuel 22:16) (Jonah 2:6)
Science then: Ocean floor was flat
Science now: Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains
Keep on reading, as together, we discover that this is also a science and mystery book for the alleged mysteries of the past are explained by Scientific Facts that clearly support what the Bible has been speaking for centuries. Why the book title: DIVINE SURROGACY, when there was no IVF as a word then? Yes and perhaps! But God’s science knows how the human body works, how a baby is formed, the chemistry of the blood and physics behind body functions, from how molecules behave in cells to how systems of organs work together. As the book of Ecclesiastes has been saying: “It has been here already long time ago.” Praying that by that time, we come to understand that it is all about God!
