Many Christians tell me that the biology errors in the Bible don't matter because it isn't a biology text book

Question

But it's supposedly written by the Creator of human biology, so it's impossible to overlook the errors.

Isaac Asimov wrote many books on biology, and many other topics, including science fiction, but his references to biology are still accurate and consistent regardless of the purpose of the book, BECAUSE HE UNDERSTOOD BIOLOGY.

The only conclusion i can draw from the glaring ignorance of biology contained in the books of the Bible is that it was written by people with little or no knowledge of the subject, and certainly not by the Creator of the human physiology.

No real creator would display such a glaring lack of interest in his own work, or make such sloppy mistakes.

But then, if Jesus were really God, he would have known about viruses, instead of calling them demons.

Answer 1

I wish I knew specifically what errors you are talking about, because I would like to see if I understand them. Could you give me some examples?

The only thing you mention are calling viruses demons. I don't quite agree witht that. Because sometimes Jesus healed the sick of their diseases. And sometimes He cast out a demon. And demons can make you sick. So He did what was needed depending upon the person He was healing.

There are lots of cases of people seeing demons and angels, so I don't understand why you wouldn't think it was scientifically plausible that a demon could make someone sick if they were able to enter someone's heart. By the way, I don't understand very well how they do this, anymore than I understand how a virus gets inside of a person and makes them sick.


By the way, Jesus wasn't God. He was a person who obeyed God, and that's why He was able to heal. He said He only did what He heard His Father say or do. And that's why He could heal: He was healing by praying to God, who is the only one who can heal instantaneously in response to a prayer.

There are a lot of misteachings out there about the bible, but the truth of any passage will always be what makes sense when you hear it. If it doesn't make sense, then you are right to reject it no matter who's saying it. Because they clearly are wrong.

There are a few things that are true: God cannot lie, God does not contradict Himself. God is always good. Anything that contradicts these truths is evidence of a person who is not understanding what they are reading, not evidence that God isn't real, or that the bible is a lie.

You are right, our Creator isn't disinterested in His own work and He doesn't make any mistakes. So there belongs to us. But that's okay, we still have lots of opportunity and time to learn the truth.

Answer 2

Either you accept the premise that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God, or Jehovah, or Yahweh, or you don't. If you don't accept it, then the biology, geography, etc., errors don't matter, because it is your understanding that you are reading a myth. If you do accept the premise, then you must look at the fact that the living people who physically picked up pen, quill, or stylus and wrote the various parts of it, were (1) writing down information that had been passed down by word of mouth for generations (ever play the party game "Gossip"?), and also (2) filtered through their brains, their existing ideas, knowledges, prejudices, and cultural preconceptions.
Suppose for example one of those old sheepherders who was also a rabbi, & therefore in the eyes of his culture qualified to write such things, had heard the story in Genesis from his grandfather, who heard it from the divinely inspired prophet who first received it from God. He decided to write it down. The story described how Noah saved all these animals (giving a list of animal species) from a flood that "extended from horizon to horizon." The rabbi thought, "Wow! Horizon to horizon. That's the whole world. That means Noah had at least a pair of every kind of animal there is in the world today. I'm not going to list all those animals, the way Grandfather would always do when he told the story. That would take too much parchment. I'll just put that Noah took in the Ark at least a pair of every kind of animal. It sounds like it was big enough."
Because there are thousands of species our rabbi has never heard of (raccoons, tigers, armadillos, yellow rat snakes, etc., etc.), he doesn't realize he's just described an impossibility. They wouldn't have all fit! The "horizon to horizon" flood was just a local flood covering a few thousand square miles, so there actually wasn't a problem fitting a couple dozen species into the Ark. But since the rabbi knows neither of these things, he never realizes that he has changed Grandfather's account of what the prophet actually said, and introduced an error.
See?

Answer 3

You apparently need to go back to basic science class before you step foot in a university biology class. If you were paying attention, you would've learned that science is a process and is therefore always changing. If you want to use a 2000+ year old book (even if it *were* a science book and not a spiritual text), you might as well stay home.

Answer 4

WAIT! The bible was written by men. It is an interpretation. It is also translated from ancient scrolls, at times VERY poorly, in a language that changed the MEANING of words. So in essence you are correct, A creator would have been more accurate.

Answer 5

Maybe you need to tell us what you mean by "biology errors."

The Bible is the inspired Word of God and comes to us as a spiritual guide. Showing us the tumultuous relationship God has had with his creation. His desire for us and our very fickle and sinful nature.

The creation story is also of our spiritual creation. The beginning of our eternal soul.

Answer 6

Non Nobis, Non NOBIS. The Bible we are given is just a synopsis for the short timers to make them comfortable in their 120 day vacation. The BOOK is what we find and know to be most certainly true. And if you don't like calling demons viruses, good for you, A.I. rules.

Answer 7

Why don't you just tell them that the spiritual errors in the Bible don't matter, because it's not a spiritual book?

Anyone who has half a gram of peace in them can see that the Bible is meant to be read between the lines, and is simply one aspect of Christianity, not to mention spirituality as a whole.

Of course the Bible was written by people. People with their own biasses and cultural conditioning, like you and me today. You can't possibly take everything as pure truth, excluding other spiritual literature or practice.

Answer 8

How did evolution start?
Nowhere in the bible does it call viruses; demons.

Answer 9

Well, the bible was written by God as a FAITH BOOK-to help understand our faith. It wasn't written to help us understand biology, it was written to teach us about our faith.

Answer 10

The bible was written by men with only the knowledge available to all men of their time.