DID YOU KNOW that the Abraham of your Bible was a skilled
scientist, astronomer, and mathematician?
And that for nearly 4,000 years the world has sought to hide
this astounding fact?
Today vain, would-be scientists ridicule the Bible. The
world in which Abraham lived is made to appear backward and
ignorant. Abraham is labeled, falsely, "a mythological hero"!
But the plain, irrefutable record of history proves this
modern claim just another fable! The world of Abraham's day was
enlightened, had already discovered physical knowledge which it
took modern science nearly 4,000 years to rediscover.
The American historian Draper, writing of Abraham's world,
now admits: "They had correct views of the structure of the solar
system, and knew the order of emplacement of the planets."
Archeologists have found in recent decades clay tablets
written by the ancient Babylonians. These tablets prove the
ancient world of Abraham "knew the cause of eclipses, and, by the
aid of their cycle called Saros, could predict them" (Draper,
"Conflict between Religion and Science", p. 13).
The most startling proof of the scientific ability of the
ancient Chaldeans -- Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees -- was
revealed when the world conqueror Alexander the Great captured
Babylon. Callisthenes, the Greek philosopher, "obtained in
Babylon a series of Chaldean astronomical observations ranging
back through 1,903 years; these he sent to Aristotle" (Draper, p.
13; see also Israel Smith Clare, "The Standard History of the
World", Vol. I, p. 140).
History records one shocking truth after another. The
historian Hutton Webster writes: "One map even represents the
world -- a round world with Babylon near its center" (Hutton
Webster, "History of Civilization Ancient and Medieval", p. 145).
But even more astounding, ancient historians report that the
Abraham of your Bible was the outstanding scholar of his day!
Abraham, Outstanding Astronomer and Mathematician
Now read what the ancient Babylonian historian Berosus
recorded, "In the tenth generation after the Flood, there was
among the Chaldeans a man righteous and great, and skillful in
the celestial science" (Flavius Josephus, "Antiquities of the
Jews", Bk. i, chap. vii, sec. 2). Who was this man? Josephus, the
Jewish historian of the First Century A.D., said Berosus was
speaking of Abraham! Josephus also spoke of the Greek writer
Hecataeus who prepared an entire book about the accomplishments
of the Abraham of the Bible.
But this is only the beginning of the proof of history.
Other historical sources also say Abraham was a famous
scholar in his day. (See Spence's "Myths and Legends, Babylonia
and Assyria", pp. 51-56 and Sir Walter Raleigh's "The History of
the World", Chap. II, Sec. 2, p. 172 and Chap. III, Sec. 4, p.
176.)
Abraham Published Proof of a Creator
The name of Abraham was well known in Ur of the Chaldees. He
was noted for being a skilled astronomer and mathematician. And
for publishing proof there was one Creator God.
According to Josephus, Abraham analyzed the "phenomena that
were visible both at land and sea, as well as those that happen
to the sun and moon, and all the heavenly bodies" as proof there
is one Creator God (Bk. i, chap. vii, sec. 1).
The existence of God, wrote Paul, the apostle, can be
understood by the things that are made (Rom. 1:20). Abraham saw
that Creation was proof of a Creator. He saw that a creation
which was subject to law was proof a Creator had made it so.
Abraham's proof of one Supreme-ruling Creator God attracted
widespread attention. No wonder. The Chaldeans had long been
teaching the masses that the sun, the moon, and the planets were
gods.
But Abraham declared, "If the sun, the moon, and the planets
were gods, they would regulate their own motion and not have to
follow laws which had been set in motion by a Creator God" (See
Josephus, Bk. i, chap. vii, sec. 3).
Abraham, the scientist, proved to his generation that the
moon, the sun, and the planets were mere bodies of matter which
had to react according to the physical laws which had been set in
motion by the Creator. But the leaders of that day didn't want
the truth of God's laws made known. That is why Abraham, who
dared to publish that "the creation is proof of a Creator," was
driven from his country.
Abraham was not the only one who recognized that the
heavenly bodies were made of matter which had to obey God's
physical laws.
The Chaldeans themselves knew. They publicly taught the
masses to believe the moon, the sun, the stars and the planets
were gods. But, privately, they knew how to predict for centuries
in advance just when the eclipses of the moon would occur.
They also knew just how to calculate where the planets could be found
in the sky at any given moment of the future (Israel Smith Clare,
"The Standard History of the World", Vol. I, p. 140).
These Chaldeans well knew that if these heavenly bodies were
gods, as they had deceived the masses into believing, then of
course man could never predict in advance where their positions
in the sky would be. For it was just as obvious to these
intelligent men as it ought to be to you that if the moon, the
planets and the sun be gods, they have minds of their own and can
go wherever they want to go at will!
But the educated Chaldeans predicted in advance the position
of the moon and the planets in the sky. They also knew these
heavenly bodies were subject to the physical laws of God. But
they hated God's laws -- like most people do today. Therefore
they also knew these heavenly bodies were not gods.
Your Bible proves they deliberately rejected Abraham's proof
of one Supreme, law-giving Creator God. So also did the later
Greek philosophers. "As they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind" -- a mind void
of judgment (Rom. 1:28).
Why Chaldeans Chose to Teach the People Religious Lies
What excuse did the Chaldeans give for rejecting Abraham's
proof of God?
The answer has remained hidden for centuries.
When Abraham published the proof of a Creator God -- proof
they could not deny, these Chaldean priests had to make a choice:
whether to continue to teach the same old lies, or whether to
repent, and begin to teach the truth about the Creator God. These
deceivers decided the praise and reward of men was better than
the praise and reward of God. Human beings, then as now, didn't
want to obey God. They knew that if God set physical laws in
motion to regulate the physical universe, then He must have set
spiritual laws also in motion regulating man's spiritual
relationship with the Creator. THAT law they DIDN'T want to obey.
Having made the choice to please men rather than God, these
religious hypocrites continued to deceive the masses into
believing the traditions of their ancestors. Today, physical
scientists are willing to teach physical laws -- laws of
chemistry, mathematics and physics -- only because they also
teach that these laws just evolved. They refuse to let God the
Lawgiver into their thinking!
Because Abraham dared to teach the people of Chaldea what
the priests called the dangerous doctrine of one Lawgiver, these
hypocrites, wrote Josephus, "raised a tumult" against him.
Why God Called Abraham Out of Chaldea
The priests would have tried to kill Abraham for publishing
the truth had not God intervened.
Now understand why God told Abraham, "Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto
a land that I will show thee" (Gen. 12:1).
According to Josephus, after Abraham began to publish his
proof, the "Chaldeans ... raised a tumult against him" (Bk. i,
chap. vii, sec. 1).
These Chaldeans did not intend to allow
Abraham to teach the people there was one Creator God.
Abraham knew that natural law which regulates the universe
is proof of a Lawgiver. He knew a Lawgiver strong enough to
establish control over the entire universe had to be God.
Unlike the priests of Chaldea -- who chose to teach a lie in
order to receive the praises of men -- Abraham chose to obey that
God.
That God appeared to Abraham. "Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house," He said,
"unto a land that I will show thee" (Gen. 12:1). Abraham left the
land of Chaldea and went to the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:5). He;
did as God commanded.
We read in the only truly reliable history book, the Bible,
that after Abraham had moved to the land of Canaan, a famine
occurred which forced him to move his flocks to Egypt until the
famine was over (Gen. 12:10).
While in Egypt, Abraham left another record in history.
According to Josephus, Abraham taught the Egyptians "arithmetic,
and delivered to them the science of astronomy." For as Josephus
records, before Abraham came into Egypt, the Egyptians were
unacquainted with arithmetic and astronomy (Bk. i, chap. vii,
sec. 2).
Why did the Egyptians have Abraham teach the science of
arithmetic and astronomy?
The answer is simple.
They had heard
about how great a scientist, astronomer, and mathematician
Abraham was.
As soon as he arrived, Egyptians asked him to teach
them about arithmetic and astronomy, which he did.
After the famine in Canaan was over, Abraham went back to
the land God had given him. That knowledge, meantime, prepared
Egypt for world rule and made Egypt the one land in which the
nation Israel could grow to maturity -- as it did 400 years after
Abraham.
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