Relationship between the subject you have chosen and the Bible Essay

Relationship between the subject you have chosen and the Bible - Essay Example It has been conjectured that the Hebrew Bible assumed its present form around the second century AD (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Interestingly, those believe in the Bible contend that it is perfect and that though science has been subject to errors, no such defect is to be found in the Bible. These people further contend that whatever pertaining to science is mentioned in the Bible, is totally accurate (Encyclopaedia Britannica). God provided man with considerable information in the Bible, and only now has science started to catch up with this information. The Bible is correct when it discusses even the most difficult subjects in nature or physics. God was favourably disposed to the patriarch Abraham, whom he promised at Genesis 13:16 to provide with innumerable descendants (Let Us Reason). Cosmology was nothing new to the Hebrew Bible, which clearly states at Genesis 15:5 that the stars are uncountable. This is reiterated at Jeremiah 33:32, which declares that the stars cannot be cou nted. At this juncture, it should be noted that these biblical quotes related to a time when there were no telescopes. At that stage of development, man was able to number the stars. For instance, Hipparchus, arrogantly declared that the number of stars was 1,026. This was increased to 1,056 by the Roman Ptolemy after 150 years (Let Us Reason). Moreover, in the year 1608, Galileo invented the telescope, which brought about a rapid increase in the number of stars seen by man. Around 100 billion stars have been seen with modern 200 – inch telescopes, and this is with regard to just the Milky Way, our galaxy. The number of stars is overwhelming, given that there are billions of galaxies (Let Us Reason). This indicates the foresight of the Hebrew Bible. Modern high powered telescopes have led astronomers to the conclusion that there are more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy and that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the known universe. The number of stars has been es timated by Henry Morris to be at least 1024 stars (Let Us Reason). However, it has been contended that the Bible has contributed significantly to the development of modern science. Biblical content could be interpreted either to confirm or oppose scientific claims. There was no uniformity of interpretation and the extant requirements would dictate the interpretation to be made. During the 16th and 17th centuries, important changes were made to the interpretation of the Bible (Harrison 115). Consequently, the previous practice of allegorical interpretation was being discarded for interpretation that was based on the historical or literal sense. At this juncture, Protestant reformers and humanist scholars brought about a system of interpreting nature on the basis of taxonomic and mathematical considerations (Harrison 115). One of the books of the Hebrew Bible or what the Christians term the Old Testament is the Leviticus. This book was written before 1400 BC. It provides a description of the value of blood. Thus, Leviticus 17:11 states that ‘‘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 for the soul (Clarifying Christianity).† This depiction is mirrored to some extent by science, which states that blood transports water and nourishment to the cells of the body, controls the temperature of the body, and