Bible: Two Proofs and Two Mis-Translations

By Jesse Clopton James

Learning something about nature is

learning something about God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: May 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647534806

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Bible: Two Proofs and Two Mis-Translations

Copyright © 2020 by Jesse Clopton James. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked ASV are taken from the American Standard Version (ASV): American Standard Version, public domain.

Scripture taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked YLT are taken from the YOUNG’S LITERAL TRANSLATION (YLT): YOUNG’S LITERAL TRANSLATION, public domain.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of URLink Print and Media.

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Published in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020917230

ISBN 978-1-64753-479-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64753-480-6 (Digital)

18.05.20

Contents

Foreword

Thanks

Chapter 1: Summary

Chapter 2: Introduction

Chapter 3: Yom

Chapter 4: Asah

Chapter 5: Creation Of The Universe

Chapter 6: Nuclear Energy In Supernova Fragments

Chapter 7: Creation Of The Earth

Chapter 8: Grief In Christendom

Chapter 9: Two Proofs

Chapter 10: Radioactive Potassium And Argon Used For Dating

Chapter 11: Other Proofs

Chapter 12: Life Expectancy

Chapter 13: Why Talk About Genesis And The Age Of The Earth?

Chapter 14: Widespread Ignorance

Chapter 15: A Christian War 300 Years Ago

Chapter 16: Two Questions To Ponder

Chapter 17: Christians And School Textbooks

Chapter 18: His Word Is Confirmed In The Heavens

Chapter 19: Why Do Many Christians Believe In A Young Earth?

Chapter 20: Comments On Young-Earth Theories

Chapter 21: Advice Of Peter And Paul And The Writer Of Hebrews

Chapter 22: Birmingham Conference On Creation

Chapter 23: Earth Creation Model

Chapter 24: Science V. Religion Clashes Of Long Ago

Chapter 25: Creation As Understood In America

Chapter 26: Age Of Earth Verified By Several Branches Of Science

Chapter 27: How Rapidly Did Limestone Form, And What Killed The Dinosaurs?

Chapter 28: More On Evolution Of Life

Chapter 29: Darwin Was Wrong

Chapter 30: Conclusion

Appendix Contents

Appendix A

More References

Appendix B

About The Author

End Notes

FOREWORD

This book is dedicated to the Glory of God. It advocates greater honor for our Maker by following His teachings. When used, these make us happier and help make our country great again. This book was written for Bible translators, Bible school presidents, church leaders, preachers, pastors, evolutionists, school teachers, inmates, law makers, ACLU lawyers, judges, Supreme Court justices, Christians, agnostics, atheists, newspaper editors, talk show hosts, philosophers, biologists, ecologists, biophysicists, biochemists, physicists, cosmogonists, archeologists, geoscientists, astronomers, astrophysicists, paleontologists, and junior high science students.

THANKS

I thank my two sons, Jeb Stuart James and Jerry H. James, for reading the manuscript and offering suggestions that improved the text. I thank my beautiful, talented, and loving wife, Barbara, and two great daughters, Emily Barkley, and Kate Bernsen, for helping with grammar, computer, and peach cobbler. I thank professional readers of WestBow Press who also improved the text. I am grateful for the horde of Bible teachers and school teachers of my past. Of especial mention as Bible teacher is Abe Malherbe, now deceased.

1

SUMMARY

This book deals with the explosion of scientific knowledge in the twentieth century and how this new knowledge compares with the creation account in the Bible.

This new knowledge required scientists to change their thinking about how some physical things behaved, and it required Bible believers to change their thinking about the meaning of certain Bible passages.

But some refused to change, and fighting between groups ensued.

The creation account in the original Bible agreed with the new scientific knowledge.

When translated versions of the Bible were used, there was some disagreement. For this, we first blame the translators, who did not consider new discoveries in science. When they had a choice of words to use in a translation, because of multiple meanings of the original words, they often chose the wrong meanings. Translators usually followed the choice of words of previous reputable translators even when the previous translators chose the wrong words. The Septuagint version was an early version that was usually followed.

The Septuagint was first translated around 289 BC from Hebrew to Greek by seventy-two Jewish scholars. It was considered reliable by subsequent translators. The Greek Septuagint was used during the time of Christ, so translators consider it blessed. When this version is translated into English, it differs somewhat from versions translated directly from Hebrew into English.

The twentieth century brought to light a few of the translation errors, especially those that scientific discoveries made obvious. This book is about the amazing agreement of the original versions of the Bible when compared with new science.

This book also reports the amazing proof of God found within all known versions of the Bible itself. Only the Deity could have been responsible for the message that served to prove the author was the Deity; hence, it is called the Word.

This is to say that proof of its authorship is embedded within the text of the Bible, and the author is the all-powerful God. The Word also bears its own proof when compared with God’s creation.

In the twentieth century, there has been animosity between old geologists and new geologists and between translated-Bible believers and the original-Bible believers. People tend to adhere to beliefs they first had and to resist new facts when they surface. This trait of human nature has caused grief among Christians especially when their first beliefs were based on a faulty translation of the Bible.

2

INTRODUCTION

We can learn about God in two ways. One obvious way is to study the things He created, and the second is to read and study the Bible that He inspired. This book offers two (of several) proofs that God inspired the Bible and created the universe.

Historically, religious leaders have disparaged scientific findings and called scientists heretics, but God has made available in the sky much about how He created and is still modifying the universe. God has placed humanity in a good location to observe the cosmos; humans, with the help of God, have created the equipment needed to do so. Because of time required for light to travel large distances, we can look back eons of time and learn much about how God created the universe. In many respects, He made creation an open book for us to study, and Psalm 111:2 says that His works are great and that studying them is a pleasure.

The Bible says in several places something about how God created the universe, but these recordings were not understood until scientific knowledge had advanced to a certain level. For example, the Scriptures say that the universe was made from things that are not visible (Hebrews 11:3 RSV), and now, science has told us what that material was. The Scriptures relate in several places that God made the universe and spread it out. Einstein (in 1913), Hubble (the astronomer, in 1929), Ralph Alpher and Robert Herman (in 1948), Penzias and Wilson (in 1964), and many others later in the twentieth century told us what spread out (Isaiah 48:13 NIV) and stretched out (Job 9:8 RSV) meant. In the past century, astronomers have observed that distant suns were old and exploded and new suns and planets were formed from fragments of these supernovae, which have heavier elements. Psalm 102:26; Hebrews 1:11; 2 Pet

3:13; Revelation 21:1; and Isaiah 34:4, 51:6 said it first.

In 1935, it was often said by scientifically minded people eager to disprove the Bible that it was silly to say something was made of nothing because that would be impossible. Now we know how matter was made from nothing.

Long before people knew the earth was not flat but a sphere, Isaiah wrote about the circle or sphere of the earth in Isaiah 40:22. This is another example of the Bible foretelling something that scientists had not yet uncovered, and that many people did not understand until it was discovered.

Job 26:7 is another example, for who but God in 2000 BC knew the earth was hung on nothing? The earth is hung on gravitational attraction to the sun, but we cannot see a force of gravity, so in the Bible, it is called nothing. This is much like energy, from which matter was made, being called nothing. We can’t see energy.

Psalm 119:89 says that the Word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Astronomers of the twentieth century have made discoveries that lead to a confirmation of this verse.

Since 1929, there have been numerous observations and studies of the universe, the solar system, the earth, and how it all got here. These studies were often conducted to prove there is or was no God, but they proved just the opposite. More recently, scientists have chosen such research projects because of the great interest and sometimes because they offer good thesis research topics for PhD candidates.

In spite of the numerous, well-performed, and well-documented scientific studies that show agreement with the Bible, there are very few Bible believers who take note or even know about those findings or even care. Some adhere to their tradition that the Bible alone tells us all we need to know even though the Bible tells us to consider nature. They are missing a great opportunity to convince millions who do not believe the Bible but believe science. The correlation of recent scientific observations and studies with the Bible is like a pot of gold just sitting there waiting for somebody to find it, wake up, tell the world, attract more members, and help many suffering souls to see the light and live better lives.

There are several reasons why God inspired the Bible in addition to His desire to give us knowledge of Jesus Christ and how to get to heaven. The most overlooked reason is this: Bible principles when followed lead to a happier life on earth.

People in the news like to quote the Ten Commandments when telling us how to live. I think a better verse that tells us how to live is Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2 NIV).

Some church leaders have inadvertently made the incorrect age, 6,000 years, of the earth part of their churches’ creeds. This is due in part to an incorrect interpretation of translated versions of the Bible and in part to certain (not very scientific but profitable) publications and books.

During the last half of the twentieth century and the early part of the twenty- first century, war has been waging between two groups regarding the age of the earth. The young-earth group bases its beliefs on translated versions of Genesis. The smaller old-earth group includes Bible-believing astronomers who are acutely aware of the astronomical discoveries of the twentieth century, but this subgroup is very small. Some old-earth people at first did not believe in God at all and believed the earth had always been here, but because of the preponderance of evidence unearthed in the twentieth century, they have changed their doubtful minds. This subgroup is also very small.

Another old-earth subgroup comprises those unacquainted with the Bible but who enjoy looking down their noses at young-earth Christians. They think the Bible teaches six days of creation because Christians say so, so they do not believe the Bible. That group also believes in evolution of life and erroneously thinks that five billion years is long enough for evolution to have happened. They pat themselves on their backs and claim to be scientifically minded. Back near the time of Christ at least some Jews and Christians believed in long days of creation.¹

Genesis 1 in the oldest Hebrew text of the Bible talks about the six yoms of earth’s creation. Genesis 1 in translated English versions of the Bible talks about six days of earth’s creation. Scientists in the twentieth century showed the six days or the elapsed time of creation had to be about 4.5 billion years beyond any reasonable doubt.

Translators of late-twentieth-century versions missed a great opportunity to end the war, but alas, they failed. They could have used era, as a translation of yom. The big question is why did translators fail us?

Many Christians strongly believe that the earth was created in six days of twenty-four hours each, thinking the Bible teaches that. We are now in the twenty-first century, and it is past time for these Christians to study deeper. Many believe the sun, moon, and stars were created on day four (Genesis 1:14– 19) of creation, but that is when the heavenly bodies first appeared to an imagined observer on earth’s surface.

Another great Bible truth that science has uncovered is that a spiritual world exists. Science has found evidence of a multidimensional domain of at least ten dimensions. (More on this later.) The word science in this book usually means something that human investigators have learned about God by just studying what He made or created and when possible when and how He did it.

God has revealed Himself in various ways to all people who can observe nature and read the Bible. We see the beauty and organization of things on earth and in the heavens. This is an elementary level of observing. After learning to read ancient Hebrew and Greek or learning mathematics or how to use a telescope or microscope, many people could understand much more about God’s two revelations. A person who tries can observe more by learning the laws of probability, learning how to read ancient history, learning how to be objective and logical, learning the laws of light and spectroscopy, observing the heavens, or by many other means. More can be learned about the Bible by studying it and reading it. When people dig deeper into each succeeding level, they learn more about God’s revelation through nature. This is apparent to those who have experienced it and have studied the Bible and nature; they can fully understand the meaning of Romans 1:18ff.

A Bible reader’s explanation of passages that tell us to consider nature and let it tell us about God goes something like this when the reader is not aware of what astronomers learned about the heavens in the twentieth century: Walk into a field away from city lights on a moonless night and look up. It is awesome. You will wonder how great God is to have created all that. Some spring morning, walk into an area where dogwoods and other spring flowers are blooming; you will sense the presence of God and see how almighty He was to have created all that beauty. Beauty is in passages such as Psalm 19:1, Romans 1:20, Eccl 3:10-13, and Isaiah 40:22.