Chapter Thirty RANDOM CHANCE A-Z PRIMER OF SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE INTRODUCTORY NOTES: The following analysis is a partial comparison of what the authors of the Bible claimed to be true and what modern science “believes” to be true at the dawn of the 21st Century.  Since both what the Bible says and what modern science proposes is open to a great deal of interpretation, speculation and bias, there is no claim insinuated here that the following is an infallibly correct presentation.  However, there is certain inference that the content has been carefully addressed for accuracy as best perhaps, as one can reasonably be expected to somewhat discern and comprehend from a rather lengthy and ongoing inquiry into both. It is deliberate that there are no annotated Biblical references to underscore claims of what the Bible states, nor are there direct references to written scientific opinion (other than from a report recently released by the University of Quebec in “F”, a recent Brazilian report in “G” and the Encyclopedia Britannica in “M” below). As has been noted elsewhere, those who have not actually read what the Bible says and/or, have not indulged in a general study of the evidence of history and claims of modern science, should be encouraged to do a little homework on their own.  In particular, since most 21st Century Americans have been forced to swallow a certain amount of what our modern school authorities of somewhat dubious credentials deem to be educational science, it is particularly appalling that many self-appointed would be gods of wisdom’s intellect openly and often grossly inaccurately, criticize and dismiss the Bible without actually having read much of what it actually says, if any at all.  Quite obviously, a modern Humanist or other intellectual has no more valid or ethical position in disputing the Bible if they have not carefully examined its contents, than a conservative fundamentalist, having not studied and carefully weighed evolutionary theory against the observable evidence, has in disputing the validity of modern science. A)  Modern science has no satisfactory fundamental explanation for how the "grand design of the universe" and our species somehow arrived at the current reality of grand designed existence; i.e., science has no valid explanation for what is behind the theorized "big bang" or how the fundamental 'stuff ' from which the universe expanded came into being.  Rather, modern science habitually ignores the question of primary causation entirely, dismissing it as somehow not being a question for 'science'.  At the bottom-line, modern science has no Primary Cause for the observable Effect of the physical universe and consequently, has no satisfactory explanation at all for the existence of the known reality. Several modern scientists believe there may be many universes and several dimensions outside of our own three.  Modern scientists have been known to refer to the Cosmos as the "Grand Design" of the universe and at the same time, to claim that they can find no scientific evidence for a Grand Designer.  Such a juvenile conclusion is fundamentally to the scientific core, a gross contradiction of elementary logic.  The Bible claims that in the beginning, God created the heavens (plural) and the earth, created our current universe after that, presently creates, will continue to create in the future and that there are beings that exist outside the realm of our three-dimensional physical reality. The authors of the Bible claim that true faith and true science should be based on evidence, not on blind belief either because the Bible or modern education and science says so, nor on foolish speculation having no basis in the physical and/or, our daily life reality.  Both modern educational theory and modern theologians incorrectly separate faith from that which is based on evidence and modern science contradicts it's own definition of "scientific method" by classifying Natural Selection as a scientific theory.  Neither modern religion nor modern science play by the rules of evidence, that is, neither practice what the authors of the Bible and established scientific theory both insist is the correct procedure toward understanding what is actually true. B)  Some modern scientists have speculated that the universe may be surrounded by water; i.e., that it may be a huge cosmic 'bubble' expanding in a much larger cosmic ocean.  The Bible says the universe is an expansion that is surrounded by water. C)  Modern science claims that our known current universe took a very long time, that is from our human perspective, to come into being.  So does the Bible. D)  Modern science claims that the earth is spherical.  So does the Bible (although this interpretation is disputed by some). E)  Modern science has discovered that the number of stars in the universe is larger than all of the grains of sand in the earth's deserts and beaches; some astronomers now believe that the number of stars may be infinite.  The Bible compares the number of stars to the number of grains of sand on the earth, which it says cannot be numbered; the Bible made this comparison long before the invention of the telescope.  The Bible says that God calls each star by name and Jesus said that the hairs of our individual heads are numbered, thus indicating that the Creator is intimately involved with both microscopic detailed and macroscopic universal and beyond design.  Recent evidence obtained from a mapping of the observable universe looking outward from the circle of the earth indicates that the entire cosmic star-system of galaxies, clusters and super-clusters of galaxies may be 'woven' into a giant universal artistic expression that can only be fully comprehended from a view outside of our universe (see The Myth of Modern Science for more details). F)  Most modern science theory claims that sea life came into existence before land plants and that land plants appeared before creatures of the earth. Modern science speculates that the newly formed earth was originally shrouded in cloud cover (some theories) and that the earth was covered by water in its infancy. The Bible agrees that the earth was originally shrouded in cloud cover, that the earth was originally covered by water and says that plant life appeared while the earth was still influenced by the resultant 'greenhouse effect' of the primordial cloud covering. According to the Bible, plant life emerged before the sun, moon and stars were visible in the sky as seen from the perspective of the earth.  Also, according to the Bible, plant life first emerged before both marine life and creatures of the earth, which according to the Bible, appeared after sea creatures; modern science concurs that marine life appeared before creatures of the earth.  The only real difference between the Biblical story and that of modern science theory regarding the order of appearance of life is the appearance of plant life in the sequence. It is possible (based on the correctness of the Bible regarding other matters, most probable) that plant life emerged far earlier than modern science can find evidence for and that evidence of earlier plant life was destroyed by cataclysmic events before the existence of the current known fossil record of flora.  According to a recently released report by the University of Quebec, "the story of the planet's first billion years [is] still largely unknown, with little information available on a period that saw the formation of the moon and the first traces of life, such as bacteria in the ocean.  This is a capital period of our evolution that however remains a great mystery, since geological traces that are preserved are not much available before 3.6 billion years."  Science has been very wrong many times in the comparatively recent past and it remains entirely possible that plant life initially appeared on land before animal species existed in the ocean. G) Modern science places Homo sapiens sapiens (all modern ‘races’) as having arrived toward the latter end of animal species development.  So does the Bible, although the Bible does not divide by race but rather, correctly divides by family lineage, tongue and nation.  Quite obviously, if we all come from a single original female, as both modern science and the Bible claim to be the case, then we are all members of one Human Race and categorizing beyond being of singular race serves only to dehumanize, fragment and tear down. According to a recent report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Brazilian researchers:  "The idea of race is not reflected in a persons genes... race has no meaning genetically... there is wide agreement among anthropologists and human geneticists that, from a biological standpoint, human races do not exist."  The Bible claims we are all of the same blood, which modern science has also discovered to be true; i.e., there is more than one blood type, but those of the same type can receive transfusions from each of what modern science incorrectly categorizes as the primary 'races' and survive---our blood is not safely interchangeable with other species however, as other species are not of same blood by both Biblical and experienced medical definition (similarities of human blood with other species does not equal "same"). Modern science claims cultivation developed among our species from 10 to 12 thousand years ago, but fails to consider that reasoning capacity which includes farming techniques and animal domestication may be a defining criterion of our species.  The Bible claims that tilling of the soil began about 8 to 10 thousand years ago, the slight difference may be attributed to varying definition of what constitutes true farming.  Unlike modern science, the Bible indicates that intellectual ability that results in cultivation of the earth and animal domestication is a defining criterion that separates us from other species (see "H" below).  It is important to understand that classification of species is largely arbitrary and changes are sometimes made as new evidence emerges.  It is utterly foolish to assume that current classifications by modern science are correct from true perspective (human beings are stuck with an ‘inside-the-fishbowl’ view and are not capable of true Logos perspective). H)  Modern science claims Homo erectus appeared at least 1.4 million years ago but is rather vague as to when Homo sapiens sapiens actually appeared, most placing a figure of 15-30 thousand years or so ago.  The Bible claims that actual human beings arrived about 8-10 thousand years ago, again the difference may be attributed to the probability that modern science uses different criteria in defining what constitutes a true human being; i.e., the Bible may use the criteria of cultivation (advanced reasoning capacity) as opposed to bone, teeth and brain cavity structure and size.  What defines modern human beings can quite logically be placed at or slightly before the emergence of farming, depending on which criteria one determines to use when formulating a true definition.  Some modern intellectuals may scoff at this notion, but that is undoubtedly because they have not thought the possibility of other definition through very carefully (see “G” above and obvious lack of scientific imagination below). I)  Modern science claims that all species on our planet evolved from a single primary source.  The Bible and the consistent evidence of modern fruit fly experimentation indicates that flora and fauna ‘types’ (similar to Genus or Family in scientific classification) reproduce after their “own kind".  There is considerable modern evidence to suggest that species may not have evolved from a single primary source, including a surprising (to Darwin’s prediction) lack of cross-over species in the fossil record, as well as the immense timeframe necessary to develop from a primordial prototype to a relatively advanced, single-celled organism and then, on to a highly advanced in-living-color eyeballed species such as our own.  What Natural Selection pre-supposes would arguably take considerably longer than the 4.5 billion years or so the earth has theoretically been in existence for such immense variation and advancements to be achieved.  It is perhaps more likely that species have arisen from several or maybe even thousands of primary sources; theoretically, almost anywhere where there is water could be a primordial breeding ground for life, including deep within large caves and at the bottom of the “midnight” ocean. If indeed, changes within species are dependent upon untold millions upon millions of rare aberrations within DNA structure caused by abnormal mutations occurring infrequently between several generational gaps, the necessary time frame would perhaps, be considerably longer than the estimated age of the known universe.  Because modern science leaves a Creator out of the equation, it has traditionally claimed that the appearance of life must happen only within very rarified conditions and as such, has insisted that all species evolved from a single primary source.  If there is a Creator however, then what causes the waters to “abound with an abundance of living creatures” and the earth to “bring forth the living creature according to its kind”, may indeed be a quite common occurrence spread throughout both our own planet and the greater Cosmos. Concluding that all species evolved from a single primary source is only one of several ways of rationally interpreting the same evidence.  Species, Genus or Family (scientific classification in ascending order) could just as easily, based on the known observable evidence, appear separately spread out randomly over the earth (or in several primary areas).  The fact that we have some similarities to marine and other life does not prove we evolved from fish and other creatures any more than the fact that a house and an office building, being structured in a similar fashion by use of the same materials, proves that the office building evolved from the house.  It could well be that living creatures on our planet, whether in the sea, on the land or in the air, require certain similarities in order to “abundantly” reproduce, adapt and survive in the mutually shared habitat we call Planet Earth; human fetus developmental ‘stages’ do not conclusively prove that we originate from fish but rather, may just as logically be a designed best way for the fetus to survive and develop properly.  There currently is no conclusive evidence that evolutionary change occurs beyond Family types (taxonomic category) and considerable evidence that such change may not occur. However species may arise, the Bible indicates that the Creator must interact (“breath the breath of life”) in order for animal ‘types’ to function as living beings; it is quite rational that the Creator, rather than cosmic rays, is behind what modern science terms “rare genetic mutations”, cosmic ray induced mutation being a completely unproven (and probably non-provable) assumption of science.  It is also possible that the Creator uses cosmic rays as part of the larger designed process.  Either scenario may be correct based on the same known evidence.  It would be refreshing if ‘scientists’ and ‘educators’ could be open-minded enough to admit that there may indeed, be more than one rational explanation for the same evidence---to teach our children only one possible explanation is truly a non-scientific sham pretense of unfathomable irrationality. (See Of God and Monkey Business for more detailed information). J)  Modern science claims that people have one primary drive, that being reproduction.  The Bible and the historical evidence of our species says that people have two fundamental drives; one of reproduction and one of irrational lust for wealth---these two primary drives are entwined and twisted together and not easily separated in clinical study, as also modern psychology has discovered (see “L” below).  Some modern historians are beginning to seriously question the accuracy of modern evolutionary theory based on the irrational wealth and violence enthralled historical behavior of our species; i.e., the Natural Selection grand assumption that our sole primary drive is reproduction appears to be at best, only half right.  (See also The Myth Of Modern Science and Adam and Eve’s Apple for more information. K)  Modern science claims that no person is 100% hetero or homo sexual, but that we are all caught up somewhere between these two extremes.  So does the Bible, although the Bible contains the more accurate view that we all fall “short” of being sexually whole; according to the Bible, there is fundamentally no difference before our Creator between ‘hetero’, ‘bi’ or ‘homo’ sexual human beings, as people are conveniently and very incorrectly defined and classified in modern-day society. L)  Modern science claims that people harbor an incredible seething mass of fear, rage and sexual frustration underneath the seemingly calm exterior of our mental and emotional beings (although, not always all that calm).  So does the Bible.  Modern science labels symptoms caused by this as "psychosis" and "neurosis", among other clinical sounding terminology.  The Bible and the known historical evidence of our species say this is the result of an underlying disease that the Bible calls "sin".  This disease is driven by an irrational love of wealth emanating from the often masked (even to our own selves) underlying motivations and intentions of our species, i.e., from the "heart", and is the root cause of theft, rape, murder, war and all that ills We The People of Planet Earth. It should be clearly noted and understood that calling neuroses “sin” or calling “sin” neuroses and calling sin “social maladjustment” or "being only human" or otherwise changing terminology, in no way changes the reality of the shared common underlying disease of our species.  Often those who imagine to "believe" in modern science as opposed to the claims of earlier times in reality, are only accepting different (perhaps, not as harsh sounding) terminology for the same human problems.  For example, although the term "heart disease" is of fairly recent invention, obviously heart disease has been a problem since before the first Sumerian war chariot was outfitted for battle.  (See also Adam and Eve’s Apple for more information.) Recently a video presentation on the Discovery Channel went by the title, "The Science Of Sin".  Contained in this presentation was a detailed explanation of very recent scientific findings which indicate strongly that violence, rape, addiction and other undesirable tendencies of our species are inherited and passed along in the gene pool from generation to generation. Scientists and other intellectuals once openly scoffed at the Biblical claim that "sins of the Fathers" are passed down to future generations.  Now, as in many other areas noted here in the paragraphs above and below, modern science is finally catching up to what the Bible long ago claimed to be true. M)  Many modern intellectuals claim that Human Rights is the correct and just yardstick from which to measure that which is positive toward and which will improve our species.  So does the Bible; Jesus taught that this is the sum of what matters toward the positive good of our species.  Treating other people as we ourselves wish to be treated is considered the fundamental basis of Human Rights by virtually all modern Human and Civil Rights activists, even atheist activists.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, modern science has no valid explanation for why our species needs someone to promote Human Rights in the first place, that is, why we possess “aberrant conduct that allows [us] to kill members of [our] own species wholesale, which other species do not”.  The Bible does have a valid explanation for why our species continues to murder its own kind, even after over 5,000 years of education to the contrary (see “N” below).  (See Revolution for more information on Jesus in relation to Human and Civil Rights.) N)  Modern science has no valid explanation for why our species continues, after 5,000 years of Human Rights education to the contrary, to violate fundamental Human and Civil rights among its own members.  Neither does it have a valid explanation for theories of God, conscience, and/or good and evil, and it has no rational conclusion for why people do not automatically love their neighbor as themselves, if indeed, this is desirable toward our positive good, that is, survival of our species.  If not, why do so many educated members of our species believe that it is and why does a similar idea show up in a very great many diverse cultures; i.e., who lied to us and why?  If there is no good or evil, how could our species lie?  Unlike modern science, the Bible does have a good explanation, which accurately matches the historical and current record of the behavior of our species. Modern science has no plausible explanation for why we have to repeatedly teach our children what we believe to be good, while they are often what we perceive to be bad quite easily on their own, without any undue parental encouragement.  This is far from being the simplistic explanation of reality in the real world of people acting, interacting and reacting it may at first glance appear to be.  The Bible has a very good explanation for why our children are not easily trained to be as good as we would like them to be (regardless of what our conception of good might be, which differs from culture to culture and parent to parent).  The Biblical explanation matches all known physical, historical and psychological evidence.  Modern science has no valid explanation whatsoever for our bad behavior. O)  Some modern scientists have speculated that beings from habitats beyond the earth may have visited our planet one or more times.  The Bible says that this is true. P)  Modern science speculates that the universe probably contains other life forms.  The Bible says that the universe and apparently other universes as well, are literally teeming with various life forms, some greater (as science would say, "more advanced") than our own species. Q)  Some scientists believe that the earth may have changed rotational direction in the past.  The Bible indicates this is true. R)  Modern science claims that the universe contains places of outer darkness, great bottomless pits filled with the fire and brimstone of star remnants from which nothing can escape (including light, thus "outer darkness"); at least one would assume that they are filled with remnants of stars torn apart---modern science claims to be uncertain exactly what is in them.  The Bible agrees that at least one black hole exists, although the Bible seems to be quite certain what is in it. S)  Modern science claims that the sun will one day no longer shine.  So does the Bible. T)  Modern science claims that the current universe will one day vanish, either by expanding until it eventually burns out or by contracting and being reborn as a new universe.  The Bible says that the universe will one day pass away, the heavens will be rolled back like a scroll and stars will fall from the sky.  This is an accurate description, considering the historical timeframe it was written, for the expanding-ever-faster universe science has only very recently ‘discovered’ based on measurements using the Hubble Telescope---before this recent discovery, scientists utterly scorned this previously assumed preposterous Biblical claim of a vanishing universe and stars falling from the sky. U)  Modern science speculates that a new universe may come into being or that the universe may be infinite due to an endless chain of recurring "big bangs". The Bible claims that there will be a new heaven and a new earth created after the current heaven and earth pass away (see "T" above)---the Bible also claims that the earth remains forever, which is not nearly the contradiction it once appeared to be.  As an interesting side-note, the Bible claims that the new earth will not have any oceans, presumably meaning it will be a fresh water planet only. V)  Modern science fears that there may be great ecological and/or nuclear or worse disaster here on our planet sometime in the future.  The Bible claims that a third of the seas will one day dry up and apparently claims there will be a great war on the moon (i.e., the moon will be “turned to blood”). W)  Modern science, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and those who seek to control world banking currently have plans to develop a computer chip that will be implanted in people's hands or foreheads, enabling them to buy and sell without transferring cash (and also enabling those not particularly Human and Civil Rights minded to monitor their buying habits, movements and physical whereabouts).  A less advanced “pellet” chip is already implanted in pets and recently, chip implant technology has been experimented with on humans, ostensibly for health monitoring reasons.  Chip implantation has also been proposed for children, in order to locate them easily (if lost) and help guard them against child predator abduction.  The Bible claims that there will come a time on our planet when no one "may buy or sell" without a “mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name”, specifically referencing right hand or forehead area.  Quite a remarkable coincidence, a modern skeptic might speculate; it would seem most modern intellectuals fail to grasp that true skepticism includes being highly suspect of modern science.  (See Conspiracy Theory and Global Village Idiot for more details.) X)  Modern science has developed satellite television and computer technology that enables persons and events happening on one part of the earth to be seen by people around the entire globe all at the same time.  The Bible claims that an evil and vile person will one day control a third of the world and that his image will be seen simultaneously by people spread throughout the whole earth---prior to modern global satellite television technology, this Biblical claim, as others noted above, was utterly laughed to scorn.  This especially cunning and deceptive individual will also control who may buy and sell by use of the above-mentioned mark and he will worship a new god that no one has ever heard of, the "god of fortresses" (i.e., do nuclear weapons, space-based 'defensive' weaponry and the New World Order profiteering war-machine-for-home-land-protection' ring any "god of fortresses" golden-calf cash register bells?). Y)  Modern scientists, it would seem, have had a rather difficult time trying to find evidence of God by depending on a ‘science’ that refuses to examine any of the overwhelming evidence for design.  Then again, if one chooses to step beyond the blindfolds of modern 'scientific' superstition and simply wander out into the natural world and look around for a while with one’s own two eyes and, using one’s own God-given intellect, one can readily begin to see evidence of the three-in-one  “Godhead”  of our Creator,  just as the Bible claims is the case---note the word “evidence”.  The Bible teaches that basing one’s faith on evidence is very important when searching for the truth, specifically using the word “evidence” in describing what true faith is.  It would be refreshing if modern science likewise, practiced what it preaches regarding evidence and the scientific method.  (See Like A Tree Planted for more information about evidence of “Godhead” mirrored in the natural world.) Z)  Science has not found a way to rid the modern world of earthquakes, famine, devastating disease, insect plagues, great fires and other disasters, nor has it found a solution for murder, theft, rape, war and rumor of war.  Although many modern intellectuals from their unfair historical advantage dismiss his prediction as predictable, one might fairly ask how Jesus, the uneducated (by any known modern standard) son of a stone mason from a jerk-water town in an insignificant region of civilization's misty past knew that all of these things would still plague our planet 2,000 years after his death.  One might also fairly ask how Jesus conceived of the entire scope and sum of what modern Human Rights activists now consider to be ethically and morally correct.  And one might continue to fairly ask if Jesus was so correct about what matters to our species, that is Human and Civil Rights, why do modern intellectuals continue to claim that he was somehow entirely incorrect about God and sin.  That is, what modern Humanism and Unitarian Universalism conclude is arguably much more difficult to "believe" than both modern evolutionary theory by selective-mutation, self-organizing Natural Selection and the entire contents of the Old and New Testaments combined! In other and very true and correct words, modern science has no valid rationale for how someone as intelligent and accurate as Jesus, having no modern historical, scientific or educational background, could randomly appear within our species, nor does it have any logical explanation why such an "advanced" species as ours would crucify its greatest moral teacher on a Roman cross or why it was necessary for us to be taught morality in the first place. . .  Or is advocating Human and Civil Rights not ethically and morally correct in the world of self-organizing evolution by Natural Selection and if not, were Alexander (educated by Aristotle, no less), King Herod, Napoleon and Adolph Hitler then a good idea and their legacy something for our advanced species to commemorate and be proud of? EPILOGUE:  If one pays attention to detail and compares the above carefully, it will become readily apparent that modern science and the authors of the Bible agree on far more than most who have not compared them carefully would assume.  Likewise, they agree on practically everything that can reasonably be proven based on the known modern evidence, the vast majority of which was not at all available to the authors of the Bible.  The burning question of the 21st Century thus then may very well be:  If there is no God and/or, if the authors of the Bible were not tuned in to our Creator, how the hell did they know so much of what our modern science has only very recently discovered? And finally, why are modern Christians and modern scientists arguing together against the over-whelming evidence that cries out to be examined for what is true, basing illogical and contradictory conclusions from assumed and unbending pontificated positions entirely devoid of scientific and/or, rational deduction, instead of simply, going by the evidence?  Can there be any doubt why the founder of Human Rights claimed that his yoke "is easy" and his burden "is light"? ¹  It is far easier to base what one believes on the evidence than to wallow in the frustration of defending an irrational dogma of convoluted and contradicting hypocrisy devoid of any sanity, logic or reason, whether that be of an unbending fundamentalist religion or of a twisted and narrow-minded, contradicting Designer-less mythology posing as science. * ** *** The Bible Online DEDICATED TO:  Abraham of Ur; "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore".  Also dedicated to the late Isaac Asimov, who spent considerable time compiling two large volumes on the Bible, carefully comparing what the Bible actually says to the known scientific evidence of the 20th Century and concluding, that most of what the Bible claims to have happened could very well have actually occurred, based on the current understanding of modern science.  It is very unwise to dismiss the Bible just because certain foolish individuals have invented religions supposedly based on what the various authors never intended. Credits: 1. Matthew 11:30. *FootNote:  Biblical Geneology Timeframe from Jesus to Adam Confirmed by Recent Modern Science Research. **FootNote II:  In spite of what evolutionary biologists having long insisted could not be the case, Scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have recently conducted experiments indicating that life may originate in soil, just as the Bible claims. ***FootNote:  For additional related information, see The Myth of Modern Science, Like a Tree Planted, Of God and Monkey Business, and Adam and Eve's Apple.             'Click Here' To Purchase This Book 'Click Here to eMail the Author Copyright © August 20th, 2003 by Richard Aberdeen. No part of this material may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher and signed by the author.  Inquiries: Freedom Tracks Records or requested via eMail.  Essays entitled Revolution and Revolution - Side B are open copyright and may be reproduced as often as one likes.