Answers to Questions - The Bible and Science

What are some examples of scientific insights relating to astronomy?

The Bible's many astronomical insights, which have been far ahead of human
science, range from the shape of the earth to the expanding universe.

The Roundness of the Earth
Misconceptions about the shape of the earth existed as late as the time of Columbus. Isaiah, speaking about 700 B.C., correctly identified the shape of the earth.

"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in." Isaiah 40:22

The Earth is Suspended in Space
The Chinese thought the earth was square. The Egyptians thought it was rectangular with a "starry" goddess arching her body over the earth while the sun and the moon massaged her arms and legs. About 2000 B.C. the Bible indicated that the earth hangs on nothing but space.

"He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing."
Job 26:7

The Universe is Expanding
Recent discoveries verify the "certainty" that the universe is expanding. Although such an idea was not popular scientifically until the twentieth century, several places in the Bible describe the concept of an expanding, or stretched-out universe. The Psalm and Isaiah references below, written about 1000 B.C. and 700 B.C. respectively demonstrate God's wisdom and control of all the universe.

"...He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters..." Psalm 104:1,2

"...he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:" Is 42:5

Return to Questions