You’ve probably seen this meme if you follow Bible-pushers on social media. It purports to say “the Bible was right all along” while “science is only catching up to the Bible”. Unlike several I’ve seen, this one cites chapter and verse, which makes it easier to fact-check.

One thing it (sadly) does not do is cite references for “science then” or “science now” parts. This is probably due to most of the “then” parts being invented for the purposes of this meme. Even some of the “now” points aren’t correct.

However, I first want to note that the entire idea seems flawed to me. The Bible never purported to be a list of facts about the physical universe except where it claims to detail snippets of history. “Science”, as we mean the word today, was unknown during any of the centuries in which the Bible was written. Really, the two cannot be compared. But someone tried, so here we go.

Spherical Earth

Meme: The Earth is a sphere vs. Earth as a flat disk

The Bible: No English version of Isaiah 40:22 uses the word “sphere”, or even related shape-words like “ball” or “oblate spheroid” or “reference ellipsoid” (the actual shape of the Earth). Most versions of that verse use the word “circle”, while a few say “disk” and a few others omit the shape altogether. I think we can all agree that spheres aren’t the same things as circles/disks. If anything, it sounds like the Bible is saying the Earth is flat.

Science: Despite what we were taught as school children when learning about Christopher Columbus, it is a myth that scholars in the middle ages believed the planet was flat. Greek scholars as early as the 6th Century BCE suggested the planet might be spherical. For more than 2,000 years, most educated people have known or at least believed that the Earth was spherical.

If you’re going to scour the Bible for verses that pertain to the shape of the Earth, be sure to look for the ones that mention the Earth’s “four corners” and the “pillars” that hold it up.

Numberless Stars

Meme: Innumerable stars vs. 1,100 stars

The Bible: Jeremiah 33:22 indeed says the stars are too numerous to be counted — in many English translations. It also says that the descendants of David will be of the same amount, and that the grains of sand on the seashore are “measureless”.

Science: I couldn’t find any source, ever, for any specific scientist or list of scientific knowledge ever claiming the stars were limited to only 1,100. Nor could I find any source that says the stars are “innumerable”. In fact, most cosmologists and astronomers seem to think we can count — or at least estimate — the number of stars in the universe.

This line of the meme has problems all the way across. It just highlights a verse known to be incorrect, since the sand on the seashore can be measured and David’s descendants are far fewer than the numbers of stars or grains of sand.

Weight Of Air

Meme: Air has weight vs. air is weightless

The Bible: Job 28:25 says “weight of the wind” in several translations and “force of the wind” in many others. It does not in any way translate to say that “air has weight” as a scientific statement.

Science: Again, I could find no source supporting the “science then” accusation. Everyone who’s ever lived has felt the push of wind. As for now, not only do we know air has weight/mass, but we also know why and how, thanks to science.

Stars Are Different

Meme: Each star is different vs. all stars are the same

The Bible: “...for one star differeth from another star in glory” (I Corinthians 15:41). Some translations say “in splendor”. Neither glory nor splendor are measurable qualities, but clearly stars look different from one another.

Science: Observation of the night sky has always shown that stars are different from one another. No scientist has ever claimed that “all stars are the same”. It is because of science we know why the stars appear different to us: they are of vastly different sizes and at different distances, and also have differing chemical compositions. Science has measured these things and is continuing to do so.

Moving Light

Meme: Light moves vs. light is fixed in place

The Bible: the cited verse doesn’t say light moves. Period. It asks where light “dwells”. It goes on to ask where darkness dwells too.

Science: Again, I found no scientific assertion in history that light was “fixed in place”. There have indeed been strange theories about light (that it was a ray from your eyes, for example), but none any stranger than light having a dwelling place. Through the continued advancement of science, we’ve learned light’s speed, how to create various types and quantities of light, and much much more. Science also discovered that darkness isn’t a thing, but rather the lack of light.

Earth In Space

Meme: Free float of Earth in space vs. Earth sat on a large animal

The Bible: Job 27:7 says God “suspends the earth over nothing.” While the Earth technically isn’t suspended, this sounds accurate enough, yet it is contradicted by Psalm 104:5 which says the Earth was placed by God on “foundations” and “can never be moved”. At this point, if you’re a Bible believer, you’re supposed to say the latter verse is a figure of speech, while the former had a more literal intent.

Science: We know that the Earth doesn’t “free float” in space; it’s hurtling around the Sun at 67,000 miles per hour, bound by a giant gravity well and affected by the gravity of other planets and the Moon. And the ridiculous assertion that the Earth sat on an animal was actually a religious idea, not a scientific one.

Cyclone Winds

Meme: Winds blow in cyclones vs. winds blow straight

The Bible: Again, the cited verse doesn’t say what the meme claims it does. It just says the winds blow from different directions, changing course.

Science: Again, the “science then” is a bald lie. No one has ever said winds blow only in a straight line. Any child can watch a falling leaf blow back and forth on its way to the ground or watch a dust devil in a pasture. Today is no different, though the study of weather and climate is complex and staggeringly important when it comes to our daily lives.

I have no idea what “winds blow in cyclones” means (and it certainly isn’t backed by science), unless the meme-creator meant to type “cycles”. This line especially makes me wonder if the meme was created by a troll hoping to make Bible-believers look bad by reposting it.

Bumpy Ocean Floor

Meme: Ocean floor includes mountains and valleys vs. ocean floor is flat

The Bible: The first passage mentions the “valleys of the sea” (and again the “foundations of the Earth”) and the second notes that the “roots of the mountains” are at the bottom of the sea.

Science: No one has ever said the ocean floor was flat, at least that I could find. Anyone can walk into the water from the beach and discern quickly that it slopes off, sometimes gently, sometimes sharply, and often rises back up. At many places around the Mediterranean — the primary sea known to the writers of the Bible — the ocean floor is visible from above, including cliffs and rock formations. Today, because of science, we know amazing things about the oceans, but they are so vast that much remains unknown. We have, however, mapped most of the ocean floor via sonar and satellite technology, and it can be seen in Google Earth’s various views.

Life And Health From Blood

Meme: Blood is the source of life and health vs. sick people must be bled

The Bible: Leviticus 17:11 says “the life of a creature is in the blood”, among other things. It doesn’t mention “health”.

Science: Blood is not a “source of life”, though the “health” part is accurate enough (notably mentioned only in the meme, not in the Bible). Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. And without blood, we blood-having creatures will die. But if blood was the “source” of life, then a blood transfusion would bring back the dead (and it doesn’t). Not to mention the many living things with no blood at all: most insects, plants, fungi, bacteria, and so on.

As for bloodletting, it apparently was inspired by menstruation, on the theory that menstruating was a woman’s way of “purging bad humors”. Interestingly, the Jewish Talmud has many references to bloodletting, including specific instructions for it, originating before the Christian era. Early Christian and Islamic writings discuss it favorably and suggest methods. In fact, everything I can find indicates that the practice was born of superstition and religion rather than observational science. Obviously, it hurt more than it helped and was eventually discarded after evidence-based medicine (science) came into favor.

Invisible Elements

Meme: Creation made of invisible elements vs. mostly ignorant

The Bible: Hebrews 11:3 says: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” This verse has never been about the composition of the universe, but an assertion that God commanded it to be created and the caveat that “faith” is required to “understand” this. Clearly, it does not mention “elements”.

Science: By science, we understand that the universe is made up of matter and energy, time and space, much of which actually is visible — otherwise we couldn’t see it. Atoms are not “invisible”; they’re just very, very small. Via science, we learned that atoms are smaller than the wavelengths of visible light, so they can’t be seen with normal methods. However, x-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction allow us to “see” them with instruments developed using scientific principles. Science has also determined the size, weight, and properties of various atoms, and how they interact with one another and what they’re made of — neutrons, protons, and electrons. It’s even known that protons and neutrons are made up of quarks. Science has uncovered nothing to indicate that any of this was created.

The “mostly ignorant on the subject” simply reflects that science didn’t exist yet. Unlike some of the other facts above, this one can’t be determined by unaided observation. However, there were competing theories well back into antiquity on what the universe was made of, many closer to today’s understanding than “what is seen was not made out of what was visible”.

Spring-fed Oceans

Meme: Ocean contains springs vs. ocean fed only by rivers and rain

The Bible: The cited verse gets pretty close in this case. It’s a question: “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?”

Science: There was no evidence of springs in the ocean floor until fairly recently — within the lifetimes of a few of my readers. On the other hand, there wasn’t much reason to think there were no springs. Since the dawn of humanity, we’ve noticed springs on land; simple guesswork could lead to the theory there could be springs under the ocean as well. That we know of hydrothermal vents today is due entirely to science. The vessels and instruments used to get there and study them were impossible without the scientific method and years of discovery. Via science, we have measured the temperature and mineral content of these heated waters, studied lifeforms that surround the vents, and even know fairly accurately how they form (not magically, but via downward seepage of ocean water).

Of all the rows in this meme, this one appears to make the most accurate assertions. The Bible mentions underwater springs on multiple occasions, though of course the writers would have had no way to confirm the existence of such springs. Science, by definition, is the process of observing the natural world, forming and testing hypotheses based on those observations, and performing experiments and gathering data to test these hypotheses. Therefore science couldn’t assert with any degree of authority the existence of hydrothermal vents until technology had developed enough to allow observation.

Conclusion

It’s surprising that this meme is still in circulation, given how many of the scriptures listed don’t actually say what they’re supposed to. But then perhaps it’s not that surprising, since surveys show most Christians have never read the Bible in its entirety, nor do many of them read it regularly. And regardless of religion, I think it’s safe to assume that people who share memes on the internet rarely check the veracity thereof before passing them along.

About half of the meme’s 11 lines cite verses that don’t actually say what they’re supposed to. A few more list “facts” that are known to be inaccurate. A couple of the verses listed contradict others and thus are regularly listed on sites that attempt to disprove the Bible.

To even nod your head in agreement or share this meme, you have to be engaging in logical fallacies, the biggest of which is the straw man, because the meme invents false “science then” claims. The entire thing is an example of tu quoque, since it’s an attempt to accuse science of being just as wrong as some people say the Bible is. It’s also an example of the Texas sharpshooter fallacy, cherry-picking Bible verses that can be twisted to agree with what modern science has discovered, and cherry-picking cases in which science eventually discovered what an ancient writer once assumed, while ignoring thousands of cases in which scientific inquiry uncovered facts about the world that had never been guessed at, and the few cases in which scientific knowledge directly contradicts the Bible.

The simple fact is, science is not concerned with proving or disproving any religious books; it is an attempt to understand and learn about the universe, using the tried and true scientific method (observe, question, hypothesize, experiment, gather data, rinse and repeat).

As often will be the case, my recommendation with memes involving religion or politics is to check whether they’re even remotely true before sharing them. Many, like this one, are either ill-informed or dishonest or both. No Bible-believing Christian is helping his cause by disseminating it.

Comments From Original URL:

Richard R. Barron, 2015-10-30 22:50

I missed this meme. Glad it missed me.

I have been trying to de-politicize my social media experience lately. If you post a lot of this type of thing (ipso fatso, squid pro quo, ex cetera), I will unfollow you.

Wil C. Fry, 2015-11-01 15:31, in reply to Richard R. Barron:

Fortunately, I’ve only had to unfollow a few people so far — posting continuous streams of racist or homophobic bile. As for the uncognizant religious stuff, well, I just have to put up with it unless I want to unfollow my entire family (which I don’t).

(I saw this a few days ago: One person posted about a medical emergency, how the doctors quickly found what was wrong by running tests, temporarily fixed the issue [medicine and machines], and prescribed a permanent solution which they’d come up with by scientific study. Almost every comment was “praise God!” and “Christ was looking out for you!” and of course the ubiquitous one-word comment: “prayers”.)

Leroy Watkins Jr, 2016-08-06 19:28

Thank you for this, now I can just post this link when I see that stupid meme. Going verse by verse to debunk them is tiresome. And then, I came across this jewel.

Tom

So about 4,000 years ago God said he suspended the Earth on nothing and people thought Atlas was holding it up ... In the Psalms the Lord is talking about the Earth being exactly where God wanted it and it can't be moved by anyone but Him ... What about God saying another 4000 years ago that doctors should be washing their hands in running water when we were still using a dish up to a hundred years ago ... God also says the Earth is spinning God mentions each creature having its own specific knowledge like spiders being able to weave an intricate web without being taught God also says light has a path and people always thought it was instantaneous and when everyone thought the Earth was flat God said it was a spinning Circle hanging on nothing but God is not trying to teach science in his word it just so happens that because He actually knows everything it shows up sometimes especially at times when He is being questioned like in Job ... And if you actually read the Bible and not just the passage you would see that God was questioning Job back saying do you know the weight of the Winds as in I know the weight of the Winds I have seen the valleys and Springs at the bottom of the ocean but have you...no actually we didn't even know any of that ... The 28 Trace elements that us humans are made of can be found in the Earth the same way God said we were made from the Dust of the Earth ... And God says by faith we can understand that we are made out of things that are not visible which is true you cannot see them without adding some type of equipment usually something expensive what do you not understand about that can you fly ... No ... Duh but we have planes so yes we can...? Seriously

Wil C. Fry, 2018-03-22 19:11, in reply to Tom:

Tom, thank you for commenting. For future comments (if any), please see my discussion guidelines. Without punctuation, it can be awfully difficult to divine the intended meaning of a comment.

I noticed several times you use “God said” or “God says”. Are these things a voice has said to you personally? If so, I doubt we will have a productive conversation. As Thomas Paine said in Age Of Reason, if “something has been revealed to a certain person, and not revealed to any other person, it is revelation to that person only... and hearsay to every other.”

But I also noticed you referred to “about 4,000 years ago” as the time when God reportedly said these things. Assuming you aren’t that old, did God say these things to someone else? If so, who? And again I refer you to Paine’s quotation above.

The only part of your comment I can reasonably respond to is this: “And if you actually read the Bible and not just the passage you would see...”

I’ve read the Bible in its entirety at least 19 times — in a variety of English translations, and part of the way through in Russian and Spanish. Many sections of it, I’ve read far more often, especially during my four years at Central Bible College when I was studying to be a licensed minister in the Assemblies of God. It was, in fact, partly due to reading the Bible repeatedly that I eventually became an atheist.

Anderson Connors, 2018-03-23 10:32, in reply to Wil C. Fry:

Great use of the Thomas Paine quote. That man was seriously ahead of his time. It should be common sense that if God said something to YOU, it was for you. If he wants ME to know it, he’ll say it to me. But religionists continue to assume we’ll just believe anything they claim God told them.

Anderson Connors, 2018-03-23 10:50, in reply to Tom:

Assuming by "God said", you mean "the Bible says", I'm curious where the Bible says "the Earth is spinning". I just read the whole thing through and don't remember such a passage. But I do remember dozens of places where the Bible set God set the Earth on its "foundations", that it has "pillars" holding it up and "corners" and "ends/edges". Unlike Wil, I didn't go to Bible college, so it would sure be helpful to include chapter/verse citations if you're going to refer to the Bible (again, assuming that's what you're referring to).

"The 28 Trace elements that us humans are made of can be found in the Earth..."

I would sure hope so. Otherwise, where would we get them from?

"...God said we were made from the Dust of the Earth"

As I mentioned, I recently read the Bible. Only one person is mentioned being made from "dust" -- Adam. Eve was made from bits of Adam's body, and the rest of us came along the more traditional way.

Wil C. Fry, 2018-03-23 11:18, in reply to Anderon Connors:

Anderson, there isn't a verse in the Bible that says "the Earth is spinning" in any English translation. When Christians claim the Bible says that, they're usually referring to a handful of cryptic passages, like Isaiah 40:22 which refers to "the circle of the Earth". Some Christians claim this means the Earth orbits the Sun. Other Christians say this means the Earth rotates on its axis. Sometimes they refer to Job 38:14, which (in the King James only) says: "It [the Earth] is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment." Notably, almost no other translation uses "turned" here. Many say "changed" or "takes shape". Christians will point to the clay/seal metaphor, and point out that at the time, royal seals were cylindrical rollers with engraved/embossed markings that would press the clay as they rolled across them. They say this is referring to the Earth's rotation. (This was taught to me in Bible college.)

I think it's absurd. The Isaiah passage is clearly referring to the Earth's shape. The Job passage can't be referring to the rotation of the Earth, unless the writer thought the Earth was a cylinder. Clearly, from context, it's talking about God's power to fashion the Earth. The Earth is the *clay* in this simile, not the cylindrical seal. The only references to the Earth's shape in that chapter are "edges" (flat), "foundations" (flat), and "stretched a measuring line across it" (flat).

Then they have to work hard to explain away verses like I Chronicles 16:30, which says the Earth can't be moved. Or Psalm 93:1 which (in many translations) says the same thing.

But I wasn't going to engage with Tom on these passages, because he didn't refer to them; he referred only to God allegedly speaking 4,000 years ago. The Bible wasn't written 4,000 years ago, so I didn't assume he meant the Bible. (The New Testament, of course, is less than 2,000 years old. The oldest books of the Old Testament is often thought to be Job, and scholars generally agree Job wasn't penned until about 2,600 years ago.

Anderson Connors, 2018-03-25 17:01, in reply to Wil C. Fry:

Thank you for the excellent explanation.

Todd Ross, 2018-04-14 10:57

Here's 1 for you the bible say we all came from 1 woman eve. Scientists have now proven that to be fact. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

Wil C. Fry, 2018-04-14 11:20, in reply to Todd Ross:

"Here’s one for you: the Bible says we all came from one woman — Eve. Scientists have now proven that to be fact."

Thanks for the comment, Todd. Did you read the page you posted?

Nothing about "mitochondrial Eve" indicates that only one human woman existed at some point in the past (which is the claim of a literal biblical interpretation). Mitochondrial Eve is the "matrilineal most recent common ancestor" of all living humans, in the same way that Y-chromosomal Adam is the "Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor" of all living humans. It is almost certain that these two hypothetical people didn't live at the same time, much less in the same place. (There was never a time in human lineage in which only two humans existed.)

The same genetic studies that indicate the existence of MRCAs (most recent common ancestors) also show that the human population has never slipped below about 10,000 people.

The name "Eve" being applied to this hypothetical woman was a reference to the familiar biblical Eve. I think it was an unfortunate application because they are so clearly not the same thing (one is backed by science and the other is an absurd legend).

It is also worth noting that Mitochondrial Eve isn't a static person. As each generation of humans dies away, "mitochondrial Eve" becomes a different person at a different place at a different point in time (also in the page you posted). Depending on which populations of humans are grouped together, our MRCA will be a different person. For example, you and I share a MRCA. But it's a different person than the MRCA that I share with my wife. If we added an Asian person to the mix, we'd likely have to go back farther in time to find our shared MRCA.