The difference between the Judeo-Christian Bible and bibles from other types of religion is that there is
EVIDENCE of its divine inspiration by the Abrahamic God. Bibles from other types of religions (eg. the Islamic Koran) are unable to provide evidence of divine inspiration because no such evidence exists.
The Judeo-Christian Bible contains some 2,000 prophesies that have been fulfilled, some written centuries before the fulfillment of the prophesied events. Secular history and archeology bears this out. In addition, Bible writers were privy to information that was not discovered by scientists and explorers until centuries later. Below are two such examples.
Example #1: Some pagan nations believed the earth was flat and that if people walked too far, they would fall off. By the 15th Century when Christopher Columbus claimed he discovered the new world, most Europeans correctly
theorized that the earth is a circle or sphere. However, it was not until after the first circumnavigation of the globe was led by Ferdinand Magellan in the year 1519 that this
theory of a circular earth was
proven as fact. More than 2,000 years before Ferdinand Magellan attempted to sail around the globe, the prophet Isaiah did not merely theorize but stated that the earth is a circle. Isaiah was inspired by God to write:
"{22} There is One who is dwelling above
the circle of the earth, the dwellers in which are as grasshoppers, the One who is stretching out the heavens just as a fine gaze, who spread them out like a tent in which to dwell, {28} Have you not come to know or have you not heard? Jehovah, the Creator of the extremities of the earth, is a God to time indefinite. He does not tire out or grow weary. There is no searching out of his understanding." (Isaiah 40:22 and 28)
Example #2: Prior to the 17th century, none of the best scientific minds could explain what causes the earth to be positioned in a stable orbit. It was not until 1687 that Isaac Newton published his theory that gravitational forces are the explanation behind the earth's stability. (Gravity is also the reason why humans can move around without fear of toppling off the earth into space.) More than 3,000 years before Newton's existence, under divine inspiration, Moses wrote that the earth hangs upon nothing (indicating gravity), as follows:
"He [God] is stretching out the north over the empty place,
hanging the earth upon nothing;..." (Job 26:7)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How could Isaiah have known that the earth is circular, considering that the writing of the book of Isaiah was completed in 732 B.C.E. and it wasn't until the 16th century AD/CE (
2,251 years AFTER Isaiah wrote that the earth is a circle) that Ferdinand Magellan confirmed it?
First to sail around the world
Ferdinand Magellan: the first to go around the world? : Explorers & leaders : Sea & ships fact files : Sea & ships : Explore online : RMG
2. How did Moses know that the earth hangs upon nothing--indicating gravity--considering that the book of Job was completed in 1473 B.C.E. and it wasn't until 1687 AD/CE
(3,160 years AFTER Moses wrote that the earth hangs upon nothing) that Isaac Newton published his theory about gravitational forces?
Sir Isaac Newton
3. Where did Isaiah and Moses get this information?
Alter2Ego
