Page 143 - Advanced Apologetics and World Views Revised

What is explained here is what science calls the hydrologic cycle: water is
dumped into the ocean, condenses into clouds, which bring rain mostly to
the mountains, from where the water then flows back into rivers and into
the oceans. The idea of a complete water cycle was not fully understood
or accepted until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The first
substantial evidence came from experiments of Pierre Perrault and Edme
Mariotte. xcviii More than 2,000 years prior to their work, however, the
Scriptures had indicated a water cycle.

God told Noah in Genesis 6:15 to build an ark that measured 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width, and
30 cubits in height. This is a ratio of 30 to 5 to 3, length to breadth to height. Until approximately 1858
the ark was the largest seagoing vessel of which we have any written record. As it turns out, the
dimensions 30:5:3 are the perfect ratio for a huge boat build for seaworthiness and not for speed. In
fact, shipbuilders during World War II used that 30:5:3 ratio to build the boat that eventually was
nicknamed the ugly duckling a barge-like boat built to carry tremendous amounts of cargo. It had the
same ratio as the ark. xcix

How did Noah know the perfect seagoing ratio to use in building the ark? Upon whose knowledge did he
draw? Modern shipbuilders have had many generations of shipbuilding knowledge upon which to draw,
c
but Noah’s literally was the first of its kind.

Medicine

Moses told the Israelites (Leviticus 17:11-14) that the life of the flesh is in the
blood. He was correct. Because the red blood cells can carry oxygen (due to
hemoglobin in the cells) life is made possible. We know today that the life of
the flesh is in the blood. But we didn't know that 200 years ago. People felt that the blood was where
evil vapors were found, and that getting rid of the blood would make a person well again. Today, of
course, we know that is not true. Think of how often blood transfusions have made life possible for
those who otherwise would have died. Today we know the truth of the matter. How did the biblical
writer know it?

While the Old Testament placed no restrictions on the eating of fruits and vegetables, severe limitations
were given for the eating of certain meats. Among land animals, only those that had a split hoof and
chewed the cud were approved as edible (Leviticus 11:3). Of the water-living animals, only those with
fins and scales were acceptable (Leviticus 11:9; of interest is the fact that poisonous fish have no scales).
Birds of prey were prohibited, as were almost all insects.

Perhaps the best known among these biblical injunctions was eating the meat of a pig. To the Jew, pork
was considered unclean, and thus was inedible. Today, we know there is good scientific reasoning
behind such a prohibition. The pig is a scavenger and will eat almost anything. In so doing, on occasion it
ingests the parasite, Trichinella spiralis, which is the cause of trichinosis in humans. Left untreated, this
disease can be debilitating and even deadly. Pigs also are known carriers of the tapeworm Taenia
solium, and of the parasite Echinococcus granulosis, which causes tumors in the liver, lungs, and other
parts of the body.

Raw or undercooked pork can be quite dangerous when consumed by humans. Pigs can provide safe
meat if they are fed properly and if the muscle tissue is cooked correctly. But even then, it is not as safe

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