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Preface
Extinguished theologians lie about the cradle of every science as the strangled snakes
beside that of Hercules T H Huxley 18981

Extinguished Theologians?

Over the last couple of decades, there has been a resurgence in religious belief around the
world, especially in Christianity, Islam & Hinduism2. At the same time there has been a re-
examination in the relationship between science and religion.

Sceptics have long claimed that science and religion are incompatible or that religion has
been discredited by Science. Indeed, stories of famous scientists such as Galileo or Darwin
being opposed by religious leaders are now part of popular culture3.

This book is about Science and Religion. It examines claims that many modern scientific
discoveries were alluded to in ancient religious texts such as the Bible, the Quran or the
Hindu Scriptures thousands of years ago as a result of divine revelation.

The Warfare of Science & Religion

The above quote from the famous agnostic T H Huxley was made over a century ago. Huxley
was commonly known as Darwin s Bulldog for his defence of the idea of Biological
Evolution against Christian Fundamentalism in the late C19th, but the sentiments that he
expresses above are, if anything more widespread today than they were in Huxleys lifetime.

Today, many well-known scientists such Stephen Hawking or Richard Dawkins are openly
critical of religious belief4. They are not alone. While most of the general population still
believe in a God of some sort, polls have consistently shown that such beliefs are much less
prevalent among Scientists5.

If you read a book on popular science or watch a science programme on television there is a
strong likelihood that the author or presenter will be an Atheist or Agnostic even if they do
not explicitly identify themselves as such6. Furthermore, topics such as Biological Evolution
or the Big Bang in Cosmology are perceived by many to be completely contrary to their
faith7. In such circumstances, it is not at all difficult to conclude that Science and Religion are
not only incompatible but that they are in conflict as Huxley suggests above.

Believers Counter-attack

However, there are many traditional Christians, Muslims & Hindus who reject such a
suggestion. Such people have a different perspective on the relationship between Science and
Religion.

Such believers often argue that while there may be a conflict between the opinions of
unbelieving scientists and Religion8 they say, there is no genuine conflict between the facts of
Science and their faith. Some believers will often go one step further and claim that their
Scriptures actually anticipated modern Science in many cases, often by thousands of years9.
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Their ancient scriptures, they claim, allude to scientific facts that were only discovered in the
last few hundred years and in some cases, only in the last few decades. Such Scientific
Foreknowledge is said to be evidence of divine revelation.

There are dozens of books and innumerable web sites which make such claims. I have
counted over fifty such books while I was researching this book. These claims of Scientific
Foreknowledge are made on behalf or either the Bible, the Quran or Hindu Scriptures. The
specific claims are mostly in the fields of Astronomy, Cosmology, Physics, Geology and
other physical sciences. Below are three typical examples. A full list is given in Appendix 1

Left: Fig 1. A small sample of the dozens

of books on the market which claim to
provide evidence of Scientific
Foreknowledge in Sacred Texts.
From left to right: the first book deals
with the Bible, the second with the
Quran while the third concerns the
Hindu Vedas9.

Different Faiths but similar claims

Needless to say, the claims of Scientific Foreknowledge in the Scriptures of any one Religion
are usually made by people who either reject, or are ignorant of similar claims that are made
for rival faiths. Following a faith such as Christianity, Islam or Hinduism usually entails
rejecting the other two.

Whichever faith the claimants follow, many of the specific examples used by them are
remarkably similar irrespective of the Religion involved10. Furthermore, the purpose of such
claims is the same in all three Religions. This purpose is to provide apparently watertight
scientific evidence to prove to sceptics and wavering believers alike, that a particular
Religion is demonstrably true and based upon more than blind faith.

Left: Fig 2. The major World Religions

share of the Worlds population at the
Christianity 33% Other 21.7% start of the twenty first Century.11

Buddhism 5.9%

Taoism 6.4 %

Islam 19.6%
Hinduism 13.4 %
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This is a very big claim for anyone to make. If it is correct, then one or more of the worlds
three major Religions and the claims that they make are literally true. Between them, these
Faiths represent the beliefs of two thirds of the Worlds population, or some five billion
people. For this reason alone, even if no others existed these claims of Scientific
Foreknowledge deserve to be investigated thoroughly since it affects so many.

Powerful claims require powerful evidence

While there are dozens of books on the market promoting the idea of modern Science in
Sacred Texts, there is very little critical evaluation of such claims. I hope to change this with
this book.

I decided to write this book after experiencing separate attempts over the years by Christian,
Islamic & Hindu Fundamentalists to convert me to their beliefs using claims of Scientific
Foreknowledge in their respective Scriptures. In each case the person involved was
attempting to persuade me that their particular Religion was the one true faith and that it
alone was of supernatural origin unlike other false Religions.

It also occurred to me, that there must be a lot of other people besides myself who have come
across these sorts of claims. Such people, whatever their background or beliefs, may well be
interested in a book that critically evaluates whether or not the Bible, Quran or Hindu
Scriptures actually contain any genuine examples of scientific foreknowledge. If the claims
being made stand up to scrutiny, then this is strong evidence for the existence of God. If they
do not, then a massive fraud is being perpetrated. Either way, the subject deserves
investigation.

The Structure of this Book

The book is divided into several parts, each containing a number of chapters.

Part 1 An Introduction to the subject of the book since it is likely to be unfamiliar to

most readers. It consists of three chapters in introducing the subject and explaining
how I came to write this book.

Part 2 A review of the specific claims that are being made for the various scriptures.
In this section there are three chapters.

The first chapter lists thirty claims made for Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible.
The second chapter lists thirty additional examples of alleged Scientific
Foreknowledge, but this time in the Quran. The third chapter in this section lists a
further thirty similar claims that are made on behalf of the Vedas and other Hindu
scriptures. In total there are ninety examples.

No attempt to critically evaluate the claims is made at this stage since they need to be
evaluated in their proper historical context. This is done later and the delay gives the
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reader the chance to have a think about the claims for themselves before reading my
assessment later on.

Part 3 An examination of Science and Religion in the Ancient World. This sets the
historical context and background for a critical evaluation of the ninety examples
listed in part 2. In this section, we see how Ancient peoples imagined the Universe
around them.

Part 4 An examination of Science in the Bible, Quran & Hindu Scriptures in light of
the history of Science. In this section, the goal is to see how these Scriptures portray
the Universe compared with the way other contemporary peoples imagined it.

Part 5 An evaluation of the ninety specific claims to see if they stand up to scrutiny.
Are the Bible, Quran or Hindu Scriptures any more Scientifically advanced than
contemporary literature from the neighbouring peoples to the Jews, Arabs and
Indians?

Part 6 The Conclusion. What is the verdict on the ninety reasons and how many of
them stand up to scrutiny? Which Religions claims turn out to be the most credible
regarding Scientific Foreknowledge? What are the implications of these results?

It is not my intention to offend the religious feelings of anyone although some people are
very easily offended, especially in matters of religion. For many such people, even the
slightest questioning of their holy book is enough to provoke anger or aggression.

It is common however, for such individuals to mock rival faiths12 while demanding extreme
respect or special pleading for their own beliefs. I shall not be doing this and my intention is
to treat the rival faiths of believers with more respect than they often show to each other.

The pages ahead are my journey over many years through an exploration of Science,
Religion, History & Mythology. Whether or not you agree with what I have to say, I hope that
you will find it interesting. Even if you do not agree with everything I say, at least I am not
threatening you with Hell fire & damnation for disagreeing with me.

Patrick J Murphy

Dublin

January 2016
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1.Huxley http://todayinsci.com/H/Huxley_Thomas/HuxleyThomas-Quotations.htm (Accessed 29/01/1

2.See for Example: God is back, John Micklethwait & Adrian Wooldridge, Allen Lane, 2009, ISBN 978-713999020

3. The tendency to portray Science and Religion as rivals goes back at least as far as Andrew Dickson White in the 1896 when he
published his iconic & highly controversial book: A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom. According to
White, dogmatic Christian Theology had held back scientific progress for centuries and promoted superstition. Similar ideas are
still widespread. See Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible, Jerry A Coyne, Viking, 2015, ISBN 978-
0670026531.

4. Hawking http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/24/stephen-hawking-im-an-atheist-and-science-created-universe-not-god-
video/ (accessed 29/01/16) Alternatively, just type Stephen Hawking Atheist into a search engine.

Dawkins is well known as an Atheist and critic of Religion. His most explicit views are found in his book: The God Delusion,
Bantam Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0552773317

5. Atheism more prevalent among Scientists. (All accessed 29/01/16)

http://www.pewforum.org/2009/11/05/scientists-and-belief/

https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/atheism-among-anglophone-scientists-i-the-u-s/

http://www.atheismandthecity.com/2015/06/why-are-so-many-scientists-and.html

6. In the UK, many popular science programs are often presented by scientists who are all Atheists. For example: Jim Al-Khalili,
Brian Cox or Alice Roberts

Independent Newspaper Interview, 23 December 2012. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jim-al-khalili-im-

a-cuddly-atheist-i-dont-need-to-tell-my-mum-her-faith-is-stupid-8430524.html (Accessed 29/01/16)

AV Club Interview, 3rd August 2011 http://www.avclub.com/article/professor-brian-cox-59892 (Accessed 29/01/16)

New Humanist Interview, 22nd October 2012 https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2882/qa-alice-roberts (Accessed 29/01/16)

7. For example see The New Answers Book 1 & 2 both by Ken Ham or Dismantling the Big Bang:Gods Universe Rediscovered by
William & Hartnett. Many of the books promoting Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible referred to in subsequent chapters are
also hostile to Evolution & the Big Bang.

8. Opinions vs Facts argument. Institute For Creation Research Article: Does Science Conflict with the Bible? by John D Morris
https://www.icr.org/article/1173 (Accessed 29/01/13)

Also: Institute For Creation Research Article: Modern Scientific Discoveries Verify the Scriptures by Duane Gish.
http://www.icr.org/article/modern-scientific-discoveries-verify-scriptures/ (Accessed 29/01/13)

9. General claims of Foreknowledge.

The Biblical Basis of Modern Science, P12, Henry M Morris, Master Books, 2004, ISBN 978-0890513699

Allah's Scientific Miracles in the Qur'an, P14 & 15, Harun Yahya, Goodword Books, 2005, ISBN: 978-8178985381

The Celestial Key to the Vedas, P2 5, B. G. Sidarth, Inner Traditions, 1999, ISBN: 978-0892817535

10. The most common claim made, out of many, is that the Scriptures of a particular faith uniquely and miraculously foretold
the fact that the Earth was a sphere centuries or millennia before it was scientifically proven. This is said to prove that
Christianity*/Islam*/Hinduism* is true. (* Delete as appropriate) More on this later including examples.

11. Religious adherence in AD2000. http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm (Christianity 33%, Islam 19.6%, Hinduism
13.4 %, Chinese Folk Religion 6.4%, Buddhism 5.9% Others 21.7%) (Accessed 31/01/16)

12. For example some Christian authors accuse rival faiths of of believing that the Earth is Flat or that sits upon elephants and a
turtle, often without any references to substantiate the claim.

101 Scientific Facts & Foreknowledge, P1, Jim Tetlow, Eternal Publications, 2005, ISBN 978-0971756175
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Others later

Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible, Jerry A Coyne, Viking, 2015, ISBN 978-0670026531

ISBN 978-0670026531