Having established the historicity and reliability apart from any supernatural content of the Old Testament (Part 1) and the New Testament (Part 2) documents, including the accuracy of the transmission to present day, we now finally turn to the content of these documents to ask the question, what is there here that suggests that the source of these manuscripts goes beyond the naturalistic explanation of human authorship? The first line of evidence is that of prescience, particularly in the areas of astronomy and medicine.

Just what is prescience? Well, I’m glad you asked! In this context, prescience refers to statements of scientific fact that demonstrate a knowledge on a level above that of the technological state of the society/culture in which they are made. In other words, statements of scientific facts made before the technology existed to have observed those facts. Should such statements be found, they would be evidence that such observations were made by someone in a position to know and/or observe them other than the human authors.

As we go through these, we will look at the historical context, the results of technology, and based on these considerations, estimate the probability of some human making these assertions based on reason alone. We will evaluate five such statements in the realm of astronomy.

"As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me."

(Jeremiah 33:22)

The historical context: history prior to the advent of the telescope is littered with attempts to count the number of stars.

The results of technology: with the advent of the telescope, some areas of the sky are revealed to be so dense with stars that you literally cannot distinguish them to count them.

The probability of someone asserting this by human reasoning: 1:25. (Feel free to substitute your own estimate here if you disagree with mine.)

"Thus says the LORD: ‘If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.’"

(Jeremiah 31:37)

"Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea."

(Job 9:8)

[Note on the Hebrew here in Job: the word translated "spreadeth out" or "stretches out" is in a tense indicating present, continuing action. Thus, here in the oldest book of the Old Testament, we have a statement that the heavens are in a state of constant expansion, which is a rather bizarre notion for the time, but in complete concord with the astronomical data available today.]

The historical context: the earth was considered a closed system in ancient cosmologies, for example, with the stars painted on the inside of a canopy covering the heavens (at least that was one model). As for the earth’s core, you have only to recall the names of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne (as well as various other mythologies) to see that it was commonly held that the earth could be explored if only a path could be found.

The results of technology: the data suggest that universe is, in fact, expanding, making measurement "problematic." (Whether or not it will contract again is another story.) Similarly, the geological data indicate the earth’s core to be molten, not Pellucidar. Exploration would be likewise impossible.

The probability of someone asserting this by human reasoning: 1:4.

"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."

(Job 26:7)

The historical context: most ancient cultures have the earth resting on something. The Greeks, for example, have Atlas, and the Indian (as in India) have a series of animals holding up the earth.

The results of technology: space is a void, a vacuum, and the earth "floating" therein does, indeed, "hang on nothing."

The probability of someone asserting this by human reasoning: 1:10.

"Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?"

(Job 38:31)

The historical context: an accurate concept of the sky is a late arrival in science. In medieval time, for example, one model of the sky was that of a ceiling with holes in it through which light shines, which were the stars. The idea of the constellations being "bound together" somehow would have to have been made within a framework that would somehow make sense of such an assertion. Such was not the case with this oldest book was written.

The results of technology: there are about 100 star formations (constellations) visible-to-the-naked-eye, and only three contain stars that are close enough to one another to be gravitationally linked. The Pleiades and Orion are two of those three!

The probability of someone asserting this by human reasoning: 1:1000.

"He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness."

(Job 26:10, ESV; the KJV is somewhat more obscure here; the more modern translation correctly clarifies what is in the Hebrew)

The historical context: there was no concept of a spherical earth or of the solar system until well past the time of Christ. These are essential to visualize this statement.

The results of technology: there is one position of the earth when in its rotation the band between light and dark is over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, i.e., over mostly water.

The probability of someone asserting this by human reasoning: 1:10.

Conclusion of this matter:

The probability of one book containing all these statements simultaneously and getting them all correct is the product of their separate probabilities, i.e.:

1/25 x 1/4 x 1/10 x 1/1000 x 1/10 = 1/10,000,000

In other words, the probabilities that this content came about by purely human reasoning and observation is only 1 in ten million. Even if you stubbornly insisted on assigning a probability of ½ to each of these assertions, odds of 1 in 32 are still starting to reach levels of defy statistical logic. And we’ve only just begun!

Having explored statements in the realm of astronomy, let’s turn inward a little and examine those portions that deal with human health and medical concerns. There is a particularly biblical reason for doing so, for in Exodus 15:26 we read,

"And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee."

We have here a specific claim that obedience to God’s laws in the Mosaic documents will have a very specific measurable result: physical health and resistence to disease. Is there any medical basis for this in these documents, this is, in the Pentateuch, the first five books written by Moses?

First let’s ask, where did Moses get his medical training? At Pharaoh University! (Acts 7:22) The medical textbook of the Egyptians he most likely studied is call the Papyrus Ebers, circa 1550 B.C. There we find such delightful things as this prescription to prevent the hair from turning grey (apparently the Egyptians were just as vain as today’s people): "anoint it with the blood of a black calf which has been boiled in oil, or with the fat of a rattlesnake." I particularly like the procedure for embedded splinters: "apply worm’s blood and donkeys’ dung"! The latter is an excellent source of tetanus spores. (Hmmm...maybe that’s why the Egyptians look so "stiff" in their hieroglyphics?!) When Moses would have gone to his local Walgreen’s pharmacy in ancient Egypt, he could pick up such remedies and drugs as: "lizards’ blood, swines’ teeth, putrid meat, stinking fat, moisture from pigs’ ears, milk goose grease, donkeys’ hooves, animal fats from various sources, excreta from various animals, including humans, donkeys, antelopes, dogs, cats, and even flies." Such was the state of medicine at the time of Moses in ancient Egypt.

When we then turn to the health code Moses says God gave him, we find a totally different picture, and one that clearly assumes the microbial world with which we are now all familiar without burdening the people with a knowledge they were clearly not ready for (i.e., of a natural microbial world they could not see). Indeed, if the Mosaic code had been followed, the typhoid, cholera, and dysentery that were common especially in metropolitan areas up to the end of the 18^th century could have been prevented. Likewise, the bubonic plague that devastated Europe, if not prevented, could have been at the very least greatly reduced in impact. Putting it in semi-outline form:

Personal cleanliness:

washing of whole body after contamination – Leviticus 15:5

washing of clothes after contamination – Leviticus 11:28; 15:5

Pure water supply:

avoid water contaminated by dead animals – Leviticus 11:32-36

Sewage disposal:

bury it outside the camp – Deuteronomy 23:12-14

Bury dead quickly:

before nightfall – Deuteronomy 21:23

Pure foods:

fruits and vegetables not prohibited

meats – Leviticus 11:1-8; 29-31

fish – Leviticus 11:9-12

don’t eat animals found dead – Leviticus 17:5; Deuteronomy 14:21

don’t eat old food – Leviticus 19:5-8

if one touches the dead – Leviticus 5:2; 22:4

if one touches unclean discharges – Leviticus 15:3

for those who have a discharge – Leviticus 15:1-13

for those who have skin diseases – Leviticus 13

of a woman following childbirth – Leviticus 12:1-8

(prevents epidemic "childbed fever")

terminal disinfection – Leviticus 15:1-13; 14:34-48

Control of venereal disease:

via morality (imagine that!) – e.g., Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:20

Health officer established in the Levitical priesthood:

enforces sanitary code and makes decisions based on it – Leviticus 13 & 14

The rite of circumcision provides at least two points of scientific interest. First, there is some evidence that circumcision appears to reduce significantly the incidence of cancer of the cervix (New England Journal of Medicine, Nov 30, 1954, pp. 555-559). There is also some controversy on this point, and since I don’t have time to evaluate all the studies, let’s just say that there is some evidence that it is not just an arbitrary rite assigned to males of Jewish origin.

Then there’s the timing of circumcision, the eighth day (Genesis 17:12). Is there any significance to this? God just appears to command this timing without explanation. This is a rather "bloody" procedure, and blood clotting requires, among other factors, prothrombin and vitamin K. Prothrombin levels drop in a newborn from day 1 to day 3 and start to rise during day 3 to day 7 to a level 10% higher than normal on day 8. Vitamin K is not manufactured in the baby’s intestinal tract until the 5^th -7^th day. Thus, the best day for a newborn to undergo any surgical procedure without modern medical facilities and knowledge would be the 8^th day. How did Moses "know?" And please don’t give me some tripe about how they must have done a study and assigned some children to be circumcised on the first day, some on the second, etc., and then noted which day seemed to have the most survivors. You may want to grasp at straws, but I’d call such procedures "atmospheric extraction." There is no evidence for it other than a priori bias and no reason to not accept the simple explanation that God told Abraham and Moses faithfully recorded it. Please note, this is a culture that places high value on children. Such experimentation would be abomination, as it should be.

How did the authors of Scripture make these amazingly accurate statements that reflect a knowledge and worldview so consistent with what is now known to be so, but which depart from their contemporaries so drastically?

Now some might say, "Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Extra-terrestrials told them!"

Um, yea, right! And your evidence for this is...?

This hypothesis was temporarily advanced with a dramatic TV "schlockumentary" (and book, of course) by one Erich von Daniken entitled Chariots of the Gods. The concept invaded college campuses across the nation back when I was an undergraduate. (Anything to avoid the claims of Christianity.) Unfortunately, von Daniken simply ignored all, and I mean, all archeological evidence that gave a natural explanation for his alleged instances of E.T. at work in the ancient world. For example, the Easter Island statues. Where’d they come from, who made them, and how’d they move and set them up? According to von Daniken and his disciples, it was impossible for any normal humans given the conditions on the island. Thus, they had to have the help of "the gods." It was so obvious. What he ignored was Aku-Aku. This book by Thor Hyerdahl of Kon-Tiki fame destroys the entire E.T. thesis regarding Easter Island and was published long before Chariots of the Gods, so it was not a knee jerk attempt at refutation of "the obvious" but a carefully evaluated historical description of the history of Easter Island that included the current inhabitants doing the allegedly impossible and raising up one of the fallen statues by sheer muscle power alone (with the help of the lever and human ingenuity). The method has been handed down in the folk lore of the island. For further information, I would also suggest Clifford Wilson’s book, Crash Go the Chariots. I might also suggest The Ancient Engineers by L. Sprague De Camp.  (And another good summary article already pointed to is here.)

Which still leaves unanswered the question, Who told Moses?

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