What about supposed scientific errors in the Bible?
Question 1083
Critics often claim the Bible contains scientific errors—that it reflects the primitive understanding of ancient peoples and cannot be trusted as God’s Word. They point to passages about the sun standing still, a solid dome over the earth, or the earth resting on pillars. How should we respond? Are there genuine scientific errors in Scripture, or have critics misunderstood what the Bible actually teaches?
Understanding What the Bible Claims
The first question we must ask is: What is the Bible actually claiming in any given passage? Scripture is not a science textbook, and we should not expect it to use technical scientific language. It was written to communicate truth to ordinary people across all cultures and centuries. It uses phenomenological language—describing things as they appear from a human perspective—just as we do today.
When a weather forecaster speaks of “sunrise” and “sunset,” no one accuses them of scientific error. We all understand this is observational language, describing how things appear from earth. Similarly, when Joshua 10:13 says “the sun stood still,” it describes the phenomenon as observed, not the underlying mechanism. Whether God stopped the earth’s rotation, altered light refraction, or worked some other miracle, the text describes what people saw: the sun appeared to stop moving across the sky.
The Bible consistently uses everyday language rather than technical terminology. It speaks of the “four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12; Revelation 7:1), which is idiomatic language for the whole earth, not a claim that the earth is square. We still use similar expressions today without being accused of believing in a flat earth.
Commonly Alleged “Errors”
Let’s examine some specific alleged errors.
The “firmament” or “dome.” Genesis 1:6-8 describes God creating a רָקִיעַ (raqia), translated “expanse” (ESV) or “firmament” (KJV). Critics claim this refers to a solid dome the ancients believed held back waters above the sky. However, the Hebrew word simply means something spread out or stretched. Job 37:18 compares the skies to a “hard as a cast metal mirror,” but this is poetic imagery describing appearance, not making a cosmological claim. The “waters above” may refer to clouds, which contain water and are above the atmosphere’s lower expanse.
The earth on pillars. First Samuel 2:8 speaks of “the pillars of the earth,” and Job 9:6 mentions God shaking “the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble.” These are poetic expressions describing God’s power over creation, not geological claims. We still speak of “pillars of society” without claiming society literally rests on columns. Hebrew poetry, especially in Job and the Psalms, uses vivid imagery that was never meant to be taken as scientific description.
The mustard seed. Jesus said the mustard seed is “the smallest of all seeds” (Matthew 13:32). Critics note that orchid seeds are actually smaller. But Jesus was speaking to Galilean farmers about seeds they would plant, not giving a lecture in botany. Of the seeds His audience used, the mustard seed was indeed the smallest. This is practical, contextual language, not a scientific error.
The hare chewing cud. Leviticus 11:6 classifies the hare among animals that “chew the cud.” Technically, hares are not ruminants. However, hares do practice caecotrophy—they produce and re-eat special droppings to extract additional nutrients, a process that looks remarkably like cud-chewing. Moses was describing observable behaviour using available categories, not writing a zoological classification system.
Pi equals three. First Kings 7:23 describes a basin that was “ten cubits from brim to brim” and “a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.” Critics claim this makes pi equal to exactly three. But the text gives round numbers for practical description, not a mathematical treatise. The basin also had a rim; measurements from outer rim to inner circumference would affect the ratio. No ancient reader would have taken this as a precise calculation of pi.
Science and Scripture Properly Understood
Many alleged conflicts between science and Scripture arise from misunderstanding one or both. Scripture should be interpreted according to its genre and intent. Poetry uses imagery. Historical narrative records events. Wisdom literature makes observations about life. Apocalyptic uses symbolism. Reading a poem as if it were a science paper will always produce confusion.
Similarly, science should be understood as describing natural processes, not ruling on supernatural events. When Scripture records miracles—the sun standing still, the virgin birth, the resurrection—these are not scientific errors but supernatural interventions by the God who created the natural order. Science, which studies regularities in nature, cannot by definition address unique divine acts.
Far from containing errors, Scripture often demonstrated knowledge ahead of its time. Job 26:7 states that God “hangs the earth on nothing”—a remarkable statement given that ancient cosmologies typically pictured the earth resting on something (a turtle, elephants, pillars, the sea). Isaiah 40:22 speaks of God sitting “above the circle of the earth,” using a Hebrew word (חוּג, chug) that can indicate a sphere. Leviticus 17:11 identifies life as being “in the blood,” a truth not medically understood until recent centuries.
Conclusion
The alleged scientific errors in Scripture evaporate upon careful examination. Most result from reading poetic or phenomenological language as if it were technical scientific discourse. Others reflect misunderstanding of ancient language and idiom. When properly interpreted according to its genre and purpose, Scripture contains no scientific errors. It speaks truth about the natural world in language ordinary people can understand, while leaving room for scientific investigation of the mechanisms behind what it describes. The Bible’s purpose is not to teach us how the heavens go but how to go to heaven—yet in all it touches, it speaks truthfully.
“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” Psalm 119:160
