WATCHTOWER SCIENCE December 12 1995 Edition Copyright (C) 1995 by Timothy Campbell CP386, Mount Royal, Quebec, Canada H3P 3C6 Internet email: pinnacl@cam.org World Wide Web: http://www.cam.org/~pinnacl/beyondjw.htm =========================================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS =========================================================================== Notices Printing Distribution About the Author Introduction Astronomy Like the Stars of the Heavens in Number Star Differs from Star The Statutes of the Heavens The Circle of the Earth Biology The Design of Life Existing Features Fossil Evidence Adaption and Evolution Animals at Peace The Society's View of Science Definitions and Impressions The Fundamentals An Anti-Science Posture The Truth About Fraud How Science Works Denigrating Science Evolution Versus Creation A Matter of Attitude Conclusion Footnotes =========================================================================== NOTICES =========================================================================== Printing -------- This booklet is distributed primarily in electronic form, formatted for printing on any printer. Distribution ------------ Although this booklet is copyrighted, the copyright holder hereby grants you permission to distribute copies as long as you do not add or remove any text. If you believe there are important omissions, please contact one of the addresses given on the title page, so that your information can be considered for the next edition. About the Author ---------------- The copyright holder (Timothy Campbell) is the editor of this booklet, not the author. The author has decided to remain anonymous, since some of his family are still Jehovah's Witnesses. =========================================================================== INTRODUCTION =========================================================================== This booklet sets out examples from Watchtower publications that illustrate the following claims... 1) The Watchtower Society takes a dim view of science when it points to conclusions different from the Society's interpretation of the Bible. 2) When science supports the truth of the Bible, the Society uses the information to show that the Bible is an inspired book. 3) When science does not support the Society's interpretation of Bible, the Society obscures or omits information that should be brought into consideration. 4) The Society's writings show a lack of understanding of certain scientific matters. =========================================================================== ASTRONOMY =========================================================================== --------------------------------------- Like the Stars of the Heavens in Number --------------------------------------- The Society often makes use of Genesis 22:17 to prove the Bible's inspiration. In this scripture God says to Abraham: I shall surely multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the grains of sand that are on the seashore. A short article on page 25 of the April 8, 1988 Awake!, says concerning this scripture: The Bible is scientifically correct in comparing the number of stars in the heavens to the billions of grains of sand on the seashore. However, that stars number into the billions was apparently unknown in ancient times.... How, then, does one explain the Bible's remarkable accuracy in making this comparison? One explanation would be that the Bible is "inspired of God." This conclusion, that the Bible is saying that the number of stars in the heavens is on the order of the number of grains of sand on the seashore, is unwarranted. First, the writer states no numbers to show the Bible is making a scientifically correct comparison. How, then, can he claim it is accurate? What is it accurate with respect to? A far more likely meaning of the comparison is simply that the number is large by everyday standards (which for the average person means any number larger than 100), and in particular, is uncountable by virtue of the difficulty of the counting. An earlier scripture than Genesis 22:17 shows that uncountability is the main idea. Genesis 15:5 says: He now brought him outside and said: "Look up, please, to the heavens and count the stars, if you are possibly able to count them." And he went on to say to him: "So your seed will become." Also, Jeremiah 33:22 says: The army of the heavens cannot be counted, neither can the sand of the sea be measured. The actual number of each is easy enough to estimate. Astronomers conservatively estimate there are about one hundred billion stars in our galaxy, and probably about one hundred billion galaxies comparable to our own in the observable universe, for a total of 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. Note that this could easily be far too low, as the estimate only takes into account what astronomers can actually see or reasonably estimate is out there, and there is nothing to indicate how large the universe actually is. To estimate the number of grains of sand in the sea, let's make a few assumptions. First assume that the sand is at the sea coasts, and the sea coasts cover one percent of the earth's surface. Then assume that the sand covers that surface to a depth of ten meters, and every sand grain has a volume of one cubic millimeter. We simply use the formula for the volume of a sphere, V = 4/3 PI R^3. The mean radius of the earth is 3982 miles, or 6,408,421 meters. Let this radius in meters be R. The volume of a spherical shell 10 meters thick at the radius of the earth is V = 4/3 PI [R^3 - (R - 10)^3], which works out to be about 10e15 (1,000,000,000,000,000) cubic meters. There are 10e9 cubic millimeters in one cubic meter. Multiply that by the volume we just found and take one percent; we get about 10e22, the same as we got for the number of stars: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 So, making reasonable assumptions, we find the number of stars may indeed be comparable to the number of grains of sand in the sea! This seems to be a remarkable accomplishment. Note, however, the following quote from Revelation 20:7,8: Now as soon as the thousand years have been ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison, and he will go out to mislead those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of these is as the sand of the sea. By any reasonable estimate, the number of people misled would not be over about ten billion. Comparing this to the numbers derived above, we find that they differ by a factor of one trillion. Therefore, if you insist that the Bible is being literal when it uses the sand of the sea to represent any number of people on the earth, you must admit that the Bible is in error by a factor of at least a trillion. If you don't want to admit that, then you must admit that the Bible is using poetic license when it compares a quantity to the sand of the sea or to the stars of the heavens. Under these circumstances, it is hard to justify using Genesis 22:17 as an indication that the Bible is "inspired of God." Genesis 13:16 again confirms this use of poetic license in God's words to Abraham: "if a man could be able to count the dust particles of the earth, then your seed could be numbered." Poetic license does not constitute scientific proof, even if it sometimes produces an interesting correlation between our rough estimates and selected verses in the Bible. ---------------------- Star Differs from Star ---------------------- The September 22, 1984 Awake! article "Telescopes and Microscopes -- Have Their Revelations Undermined or Strengthened Your Faith?" claims that the Bible is shown to be inspired by the statement of 1 Corinthians 15:41, where the apostle Paul says: The glory of the sun is one sort, and the glory of the moon is another, and the glory of the stars is another; in fact, star differs from star in glory. Under the subheading "Star Differs From Star" the article quotes this scripture, and then asserts that it shows the apostle Paul must have be...
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