Atheist's Attacks

Answering Humanist's Accusations Against the Bible

Christian Resources

Science IS NOT Superior to the Bible!

Does the Bible teach that the sky has windows? Nope!

THE HUMANIST'S CLAIM: This concept of the sky was common in the ancient Near East and taken for granted by the Bible writers.[38] Based on the Bible, most of the early church fathers accepted the notion of the firmament.[39] The same position was supported by Cosmas, and thus was part of orthodox Christian doctrine for several centuries.[40]

Orthodox doctrine also contained the related idea that the firmament has windows – which are opened by angels when God wants to send rain upon the earth. Cosmas believed that when the windows are opened, some of the waters contained above the firmament (which are mentioned at Genesis 1:17) fall to the earth. Cosmas’ basis for this belief was the statement, at Genesis 7:11-12, that at the time of the Noachian flood the “windows of heaven were opened” and the rain fell.[41]

Here are the references:

[38] Ecker, pp. 69, 70.

[39] White, Vol. I, pp. 114-115. See also Draper, pp. 62, 63.

[40] White, Vol. I, pp. 325, 326. See also Draper, p. 294.

[41] White, Vol. I, p. 325.

If you have read some of the previous pages you know that “White,” cited three times here, has been discredited as a reliable source. Please read the this page (tap hrere). The following quote provides a good summary:

This highly biased, untrained author [White] is one of the commonly used sources of the secularist argument that theists are violent opposers of discovery and new learning. Unfortunately the best that can be said about White's data was that it was wholly based on presupposition and designed to prove entrenched ideas. Though this is bad, it is even worse that these same falsehoods and erroneous conclusions are still taught as facts in classrooms today. - Michael J. Findley & Mary C. Findley, “What Is Science, Part 3,” Chapter 13, Copyright 2000

I have talked about Cosmas before. He was a monk whose full name was Cosmas Indicopleustes, Although Andrew White references Cosmas as being accepted by the church fathers, that is not what history records. His work was rejected by the church during his own lifetime. So once again, the humanists are using an unreliable source who fabricates his "evidence" (Andrew White), and who references an obscure monk whose teachings were rejected by the church.

I once read a comment by a biologist who, when confronted about including Ernst Haeckel's embryo drawings in a textbook he authored, said something like: "I know Haeckel's drawings are wrong, but they are the best evidence we have that supports evolution." In other words, it is okay to lie, if it supports evolution. That seems to be the humanist attitude here. It is okay to lie as long as it supports the fallacy that there are errors in the Bible. The humanist writer references Andrew White for nearly half of the “facts” he presents on their web page attacking the Bible. That is ridiculous!

The fact that unreliable sources are used is sufficient to reject these claims. In addition, I have discussed the use of the word "firmament" in the previous chapter, showing that it has nothing to do with claiming the sky is solid. A good, in-depth article on this topic is available online from Apologetics Press.

The Windows of Heaven

The only new accusation here concerns the "windows of heaven" mentioned in the King James Version of Genesis 7:11-12. One of the problems of the KJV, as much as many people love it, is that it uses archaic English words and phrases. As a result, unless you are familiar with old English words that are not used today, in some cases the KJV may not communicate clearly.

Here is how the NASB translates Genesis 7:11-12

11 - In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

12 - The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

The phrase "windows of the sky" is replaced with a term we more often use today, "floodgates." While “windows of the sky” made sense a couple of hundred years ago, today we have a different way of saying the same thing. No one ever thought there are windows nor huge metal and concrete "floodgates" in the sky that open when there is a heavy rain. These are figures of speech used to say that, it was not just raining, it was pouring down. "Floodgates" describes an extremely heavy rainfall... and that is an accurate description of the beginning of Noah's flood.

Conclusion: Once again there is nothing to Andrew White's myths and the humanist's accusations.

WHSAT's NEXT? Supernatural Signs in the Heavens

Bible stories led the Christian world to believe – for centuries – that God sends humankind signs in the heavens.

Christians thought comets warn of divine anger and imminent punishment;[42] stars and meteors portend beneficial events such as the birth of heroes and great men;[43] eclipses signify divine distress in response to events on earth;[44] and storms and other destructive weather result from the anger of God or the malice of Satan.[45]

Here are the references:

[42] White, Vol. I, p. 174, 175.

[43] White, Vol. I, pp. 171-173, 176.

[44] White, Vol. I, pp. 172, 173.

[45] White, Vol. I, pp. 331, 337.

I guess that once you find a reference who supports what you want to be true, even if he just makes stuff up, you stick with that source. It looks like we have a lot more of the discredited Andrew White in this humanist accusation. I hope that, by now, you know that if you see "White" as the reference, you can just move on.

This new topic deals with signs in the heavens. God has placed the stars in the sky in a way that speaks to us, but not in the way described above. Click here to learn the truth.

THE GOOD NEWS

The Good News


Before you get the good news, you need to know the bad news. It's about you. God says:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23

Sin means disobeying God, aka breaking God's law. God is perfect and perfection is required to enter heaven. It's a standard none of us can achieve. We all fall short. For example, compare yourself with just one of the Ten Commandments. Have you ever told a lie?

All liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. - Revelation 21:8. Or what about:

Have you ever taken something that does not belong to you, no matter how small? Have you ever looked at another person with lust? In Matthew 5 Jesus said:

Everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' Have you done that?

You have broken God's laws. You have sinned. There must be justice, and that means eternity in hell, the lake of fire, the second death. Unless...

Unless there was someone willing to pay that penalty on your behalf. Someone who will take on themselves the consequences you deserve. And there is. There is one person who can and will do that. That person is Jesus Christ. If you trust this is true (believe), and repent (turn away from disobeying God), Jesus' death is applied to your account and you are freed from the penalty of sin to be with God forever.