Category: Biblical Creation, Medicine
Speaker: Ian Taylor
Tags: worldview, devotional, hand washing, creation science, christian radio, creation moments, ian taylor, biblical proof, today’s creation moment, ignaz semmelweis
"The Bible is not a book of science." We hear and read that statement a lot these days. It's true that a surgeon will not be found peering into a Bible during surgery in order to perfect a surgical technique. But there is a deceptive lie hidden in the claim that the Bible is not a book of science.
Back when Ignaz Semmelweis was a doctor, one out of every six women who gave birth in his hospital died of what was called "child bed fever." Dr. Semmelweis set out to discover why this was happening. He discovered that doctors were not cleaning their hands or instruments between patients. As a result, they were spreading germs from one patient to the next. Dr. Semmelweis instituted a policy requiring clean hands and instruments for each patient, and mortality rates dropped almost to zero immediately!
But Dr. Semmelweis's discovery was not new knowledge. Thousands of years earlier, God had taught the Israelites, through Moses, that whenever they came into contact with a dead or diseased person, they were "unclean." Unclean people and their clothing had to be cleansed in clear running water. They also had to sprinkle their clothing with wet hyssop branches. Today, we know that hyssop contains a powerful antibacterial and antifungal agent.
So when the Bible says something that touches upon an area of science, it is still technically accurate and correct. After all, the Author of the Bible is also the Author of everything that science studies!
Numbers 19:18
"And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:"
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, the world declares the Bible, Your Word, out of date and then ignores it, to its own great loss. I, therefore, ask you to forgive me for Jesus' sake, for my own neglect to make Your Word more a part of my life. Help me to abandon the world's way and make the Bible a practical part of my everyday life. Amen.
REF.: Thompson, Bert. Dr. Semmelweis & the Bible. Reasoning from Revelation. Image: Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865), Ludwig Angerer, PD, Wikimedia Commons + Person washing hands.