Dear Associates, Students and Friends:
“The Bible and Scientific Mysteries” is the title of this month’s presentation by Dr. Ernest L. Martin. It originated from a taped 1994 lecture. Dr. Martin was truly a polymath, a person of great and varied learning. While not a scientist by profession, he trained as a meteorologist in the U.S. Air Force before he studied and became a biblical theologian and historian.
This month’s article presents biblical information that some may consider is religious speculation, but it is fully informed by sound biblical exegesis as well as a recognition of current scientific understanding.
Science attempts to describe and explain phenomena learned through observation and experimentation. Science also engages in detailed study of past research by others. Science is limited by the five senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell, but all of those have been enhanced through marvelous technologies.
In Dr. Martin’s work science is always subservient to the truth of Scripture. This is because science comes from observation of God’s creation although usually not acknowledging His role in that creation. The Holy Scriptures present God’s revelation direct to mankind, literally from God’s mind to yours, through the medium of simply reading words on a page, just as you would read the words and learn the thoughts of a human author.
God’s creation does give us some information about God, as the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 1:19–20. The physical creation tells us some things about God’s attributes, while the Holy Scriptures, is God’s personal revelation of Himself to man. The Bible gives us information about God that cannot be learned by scientific observation. This is the focus of Dr. Martin’s article on the mysteries of science.
You will note in the article that Dr. Martin several times identifies things that he does not know. Why did he present material when he did not know the answers to some scientific mysteries? One reason is that he wanted to provoke further questions, inquiry, and study. Another answer is that the Bible informs us about such matters in ways that we may not immediately recognize, even if science and mankind are not aware of the reliability of information contained in the Scriptures.
Two important concepts discussed in this month’s article are light and gravitation. Science can tell us about the effects of light and gravitation, but little about what they are or how they operate. The Bible has extensive comments about light. God Himself is light (1 John 1:5–7) as well as Spirit (John 4:24). The Word of God, Jesus Christ, is the light of the world (John 1:4–9, 8:12, 9:5, 12:35–36, 46) and He imparted that status to His Jewish followers as He spoke the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:14).
The concept of gravitation is not referenced in the Bible, but as Dr. Martin shows, light and gravitation appear to have a close relationship and, as Dr. Martin proposes, gravity is necessary for the propagation of light. Several experiments have shown that gravitational fields directly influence light by bending it like a lens. Gravity is considered a weak force, yet it is “always present” as far as can be known. 1
I wish we could thank each of you personally for your continued support over the months and years. Your support of the work of ASK benefits many who otherwise would not have this important information available to them. The internet allows ASK to reach around the world to people who would otherwise have difficulty accessing ASK material. ASK instruction leads people to read their own Bible with understanding often for the first time. We seek to inform more and more people about the full knowledge or realization of the truth of God. That is the stated will of God at this present time (1 Timothy 2:4).
You have benefited (and still do) from the work that ASK does. As ASK plants seeds from the Bible, mostly through Dr. Martin’s research, we pray that God will bring an increase. That increase from God comes at a time and place of His choosing, to open more and more minds to the truths of His word. ASK is devoted to present the knowledge of all that the Holy Scripture teaches. It is our desire that those truths will motivate you to further personal study even if ASK guidance was no longer available.
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach.”
2 Timothy 4:9–11
Paul’s instruction to his young associate Timothy is to “command and teach.” Both verbs are in the imperative mood. To “command” in Greek means to instruct forcefully. Paul commanded Timothy, but Paul is also encouraging the ekklesia to “command and teach.” We are allowed by God to make that decision for ourselves as we are led by God to do so.
Like Paul and Timothy, we should not be surprised when we “suffer reproach” for trusting and teaching the truths of the God. Most of that reproach will come from family and false friends, not from beatings from government or religious officials. Some of you have endured such reproaches and know exactly what I mean, just as Dr. Martin suffered reproach from men. The teaching that God “is the Savior of all men” is anathema to most religious and biblical teachers around the world. The help you give to ASK and others is voluntary; it is not required. Such voluntary help is more noble than that which is done out of obligation. All this is part of our education from God.
The purpose of education is to give you the basics of knowledge so you can further educate yourself with even greater understanding and confidence. In other words, the purpose of all education is for you to self-educate. This is what God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are accomplishing with you and through you at this very moment. That is the purpose of our lives of labor, suffering, and occasional happiness in our pre-resurrection existence. Some day every son and daughter of Adam will learn what you are learning today as a called-out child of God. We are all learning hard lessons through experience. We are all being educated for the purpose so that, when we attain to the resurrection from the dead and we are glorified through Christ, we shall have the character to forever educate ourselves in ways and with a speed that we cannot currently imagine.
It is unlikely that many of us will know the benefits and even the joy provided to the spiritual lives of many, many people through ASK. Only after the resurrection will any of us begin to know such things as we communicate our life experiences to one another. God is using ASK to benefit individuals with direct, provocative, and convincing biblical teachings about God, Christ Jesus, the Bible, and history. We continue to be dependent upon monthly donations to continue the efforts of ASK. Thank you and God bless you all.
David W. Sielaff
david@askelm.com
1 See the Wikipedia article “Speed of Gravity” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_gravity. Wikipedia is a free internet encyclopedia. Some criticize using Wikipedia in citations, but it is often an excellent place to begin research of an unfamiliar field of study. I cite it because it contains basic information even for sophisticated subjects. A Wikipedia article, like any encyclopedia article, should have good basic information about the subject and refer you classic references on any given subject. Wikipedia is free and the data in articles can be changed by less than knowledgeable people. Therefore its content is not always verified or updated by experts, unlike most encyclopedia articles. This allows for bad data to be introduced, but it also allows for timely updating of new information.
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