haloduderAre there any examples of a religion giving scientific knowledge that could not have been known to people at the time?
I know many will not like what I am going to say but still …
The Bible mentioned scientific facts long before they were discovered. For example, around 3,000 years ago, Job 26:7 said that God “hangs the earth on nothing,” describing the earth suspended in space—centuries before scientists understood this. Over 2,700 years ago, Isaiah 40:22 said that God “sits above the circle of the earth,” indicating its round shape, long before it was widely accepted.
Later, in the mid-19th century (around 1851–1852), the physicist Lord Kelvin (William Thomson) helped formulate the Second Law of Thermodynamics. As part of his theological reflections, he cited Psalm 111:2—“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them”—to affirm that scientific inquiry only deepens reverence for a Creator.
There are few other similar examples like these in the Bible.
The circle of earth is a very big stretch there. Circles are not spheres. So your assuming it means round because of your bias but it could mean a flat circle.
You are perfectly right, so a little research brought up the following:
The Hebrew word chûg in Isaiah 40:22 often referred to three-dimensional celestial or vaulted forms rather than a flat circle, a usage also found in nearby cultures. Moreover, the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaᵃ) dating from the second century BC, include the entire chapter 40 of Isaiah, confirming the stability of this wording over more than two millennia.
It is still a stretch, but not so big IMHO.
FlaxThat’s like saying that the Bible saying Jonah was swallowed by a big fish and another part a whale is a contradiction - different languages and cultures and times had different classifications.
The distance you can see standing on the earths surface looks like a circle. If he called it a sphere that would be more interesting.