Science and religion go hand and hand.
209. Science and religion go hand and hand: Some people, connected with the field of science, seem to have a problem with the religions of God. They are of the opinion that, to believe in God, one must reject the notions of the teachings of the physical sciences of the world, because God’s religious teachings seem to go against the teachings of what they feel, very strongly, are already known physical scientific facts, unquestionable in their validity. On the other hand, many people of faith, who believe in God, object to the teachings of science because they feel, very strongly, that the teachings of science go against, what they feel is, the very real word of God. One example of this is: mankind thought, for many centuries, that the earth was flat because of a statement made, by The Apostle John, in Revelations: 
Christianity: Revelation 7:1 “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” (The King James Bible) The first thoughts that come to my mind, when I read this statement is, how can you see the wind to know the angels are holding it and how can you hold the wind in the first place? The wind is just a mixed up collection of gaseous atoms, molecules and vapors floating in open space, you can’t physically put your hand on it or hold it. So how can this statement be taken as a real, literal, physical statement; not to mention being able to see to the ends of the earth, the physical eye of man is incapable of seeing such distances on this earth; but to this some people just say that there are other statements, in the bible, that indicate the earth is flat also, such as: 
Judaism: Deuteronomy 32:26 “I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:” Isaiah 11:12 “And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Isaiah 42:5 “Thus saith God The LORD, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it;” And then, there is this most interesting statement about the earth resting on pillars: 1 Kings 2:8 “The pillars of the earth are The LORD’s, and He hath set the world upon them.” (King James Bible) It should be noted however, that this statement, was not made by one of the prophets of God, but by Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel; when he was still only a small child. Samuel’s mother was mentioned very briefly, in the Old Testament, in two very short chapters and then nothing more was heard about her; let alone any statements indicating that she is a prophetess of God whose words need to be treated as absolute gospel, that is truth beyond question. Also, there seems to be much confusion about the context of the wording found here within these few verses, with no credible explanations as to why all the ambiguity. I leave it up to the reader to investigate these chapters for him or herself and come to your own conclusions.
Anyway… These verses, and other such, somewhat vague and questionable, quotations like them, had early man believing the earth was flat for centuries, and there are still people, to this vary day, who believe the earth is flat because of the wording in the bible. This is regardless of all the physical signs, found in nature, that can be observed today through just casual observations of activities such as ocean travel, modern day aviation, or simply just, taking the time and gazing up at the moon in the heavens; and this is not counting all the numerous other more technological driven activities such as space travel, or pictures taken of the earth from satellites located in space, as well as innumerable stellar objects that can be observed in outer space, by astronomers, through telescopes, space telescopes, spectral analysis and any number of untold other such evidences found in the universe that point to planets, including this earth, being spherical in nature. In this day and time it is almost unimaginable and inconceivable to believe that there are still people out there, in this modern world of ours, who believe that the world is flat, but if you take the time and search for them online, information about them and their beliefs can be located. Example: The Flat Earth Society. You don’t even have to be a scientist to prove the world is round anymore; children are doing it with cameras and weather balloons. You can see kids, teenagers and just your average, run-of-the-mill inquisitive adults, many without any scientific background what-so-ever, sending cameras up into the upper stratosphere, via weather balloons, taking pictures and films that show us pictures of the earth, just like the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle missions did. These pictures show us that the world is round; you can see it clearly with your own eyes. The news networks and internet are full of such examples of average people doing this on their own, and telling people just how they did it, while showing us amazing photographs and films, right from their own personal collections, of what the earth looks like from space; and yet there are still people who would take the words of God in the bible and in religion in general, as completely literally, even if boafided common sense and reason tell us a completely different story.
We are to use our minds and reason things out God tells us; why else did He create us with intelligent minds? Judaism: Ecclesiastes 1:13 “I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom (reason) concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.” In-other-words, Solomon is telling us that it is the “sore travail,” or the duty of men, to search out the reason and meaning of that which is found in the world, or “to be exercised therewith.” Solomon tells us that God has given us this duty to know and learn about nature and the physical world. We are to come to an understanding of the nature of this physical existence we live in, which sounds a lot like, we are to scientifically examine the world around us; which is science. Only, it is God telling us, through Solomon, to use scientific investigation to understand the physical nature of the world and existence around us; not just some scientists talking up the attributes of science. 
Baha’i Faith: “God has created man in order that he may perceive the verity of existence and endowed him with mind or reason to discover truth. Therefore, scientific knowledge and religious belief must be conformable to the analysis of this divine faculty in man.” (Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 287)
We also find that Isaiah, Samuel and Jesus tell us to use reason and wisdom to come to an understanding of what is going on around us: Judaism: Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith The LORD:” Isaiah 41:21 “Produce your cause, saith The LORD; bring forth your strong reasons…” Kings 12:7 “Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before The LORD.” Luke 7:35 “But wisdom (reason) is justified of all her children.” (The King James Bible) Sirach 14:20 “Blessed is the man that doth meditate good things in wisdom, and that reasoneth.” Sirach 37:15 “And above all this pray to the most High, that He will direct thy way in truth.” “Let reason go before (thy) every enterprise.” Sirach 27:5 “The trial of man is in his reasoning.” Wisdom 2:24 “For wisdom is more moving than any motion: she passeth and goeth through all things by reason…” Wisdom 11:15 “But for the foolish devices of their wickedness, wherewith being deceived they worshipped serpents void of reason, and vile beasts, thou didst send a multitude of unreasonable beasts upon them for vengeance.” Wisdom 12:25 “Therefore unto them, as to children without the use of reason, thou didst send a judgment to mock them.” (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha)
Does it not seem self evident, reading these quotations, found within Christianity, that we are being told to use our sense of reason to know and understand what is happening around us and how we should interact with one another and this world around us; which is just another way of saying that we are to use our inquisitive minds to understand the physical sciences found in the world of nature so we can explain what is happening in the world around us; and that to ignore our mental faculty for true rationality and reason is just another form of foolishness according to what true wisdom is all about? But then, what of the true religions of the world and how does real science truly interact with religion? God reveals Himself to mankind through His word, through His divine teachings; which, inadvertently, brought about the creation of religion and a shared belief in a metaphysical kind of existence of a spiritual realm.
CHRISTIANITY: John 4:23 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” So you see, “God is a spirit,” so the writings of God need to be studied in a more spiritual context according to Jesus Christ, and with our hearts truly open and spiritually seeking out the truth; because, “the Father seeketh such to worship him.” And, as John tells us: John 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” And, as Paul further reiterates: Galatians 6:8 “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” So, there is a distinct difference between the ignorant flesh found in nature and the spiritual man seeking out the spiritual content found in the word of God. Baha’i Faith: “God also created science because He created physical existence and since much of science is the study of physical existence, then by this reasoning we can only deduce that since both science and religion come from the same source, God, this can only mean that if both religion and physical existence came about through the one same God both science and religion must agree for this existence to make any sense. Religion and Science are intertwined with each other and cannot be separated. These are the two wings with which humanity must fly. One wing is not enough. Every religion which does not concern itself with Science is mere tradition, and that is not the essential. Therefore science, education and civilization are most important necessities for the full religious life.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 28 thru 29)
If we can accept that not everything in the scriptures should be taken literally, and if we can accept that “God is a spirit,” then His word should be spiritual in nature also, and it needs to be studied longer and harder looking for that deeper spiritual meaning that will allow us to see the true essence of His teachings for ourselves; without the bias that comes from multiple generations of handed down theology which can blind us to the truth of His words: Christianity: John 5:46 “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.” John 5:47 “But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” Christ warns us, in John, that there is more to his words then is readily understood at face value. John 4:23 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” We need to look more intently if we wish to find the truth of His words and we need to search more thoroughly if we wish to discover the physical sciences that lie buried within God’s words. Let us look for some of the scientific facts that can be gleaned from the study of the Holy writings: Judaism: Genesis 2:6 “But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.” This is science in action. This is how rain is really formed in the world not just idle words. Genesis 2:7 “And The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Man is created from water and carbon mostly, also sodium, potassium and chloride, elements that are found in nature, elements that come from the earth. Judges 13:3 “And the angel of The LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.” Judges 13:4 “Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:” We now know that drinking wine or strong drink can harm the natural development of the fetus, so the women of today are encouraged to not drink alcohol of any kind throughout their pregnancy for the safety of the baby. Isaiah 40:22 “It is He (God) that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.” Question: “the circle of the earth?” It is here that Isaiah, in fact, tells us that the earth is, in reality, round or a sphere. He uses the Hebrew term (chuwg) in place of the English word circle, which is used in the English biblical translations. History tells us that the Hebrew word chuwg means something that is round or a sphere, so Isaiah is clearly vindicating the modern scientific belief that the world is, in reality, a spherical, globe; only he is doing this hundreds of years before the rest of the world was able to prove it. “The Biblical Hebrew word for “circle” (חוג—chuwg) can also mean “round” or “sphere.” This is what I call prescientific knowledge of reality, and it can be seen throughout the existing religions of God. This is found when the religions of God relate scientific facts to the world before the rest of the world is aware of the scientific truth behind the teaching of God’s prophets; it is something anyone can search for.
Now then, getting back onto the subject at hand: Christianity: 1 Timothy 6:20 “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science…..” Even in the very early stages of Christianity there seems to have been a rift between religion and science in the eyes of some of the followers of the faith. Paul warns Timothy to avoid vain babblings and oppositions of science which one can assume are the vain babblings he is talking about. Science, real science, is the study of the physical world with the use of a seeking, reasoning mind to establish the real, truth of a matter. But, some believers in religion believe that science is bad and evil, they quote: James 3:15 “This wisdom (science) descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.” In-other-words they feel that science which is knowledge of the physical, or earthly, is nothing but evil, devilish and the bible tells them this is true. But, if you actually read what the bible is saying before the quote you get an entirely different picture: James 3:13 “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” James 3:14 “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.” James 3:15 “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.” James tells us first that knowledge and wisdom are both good for us and we should let them both shine out in our lives, but then he talks about coveting in our hearts and how it is sensual and devilish, which in reality has nothing to do with the study of physical nature and science. Clearly, The Old Testament tells us that the study of the physical world around us is a good thing and a duty given to us by God; this is something that we are encouraged to do:
JUDAISM: Ecclesiastics 1:13 “And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.” As I pointed out earlier in this topic, we are encouraged, by Solomon, to use wisdom to search out the truth of everything that is done under heaven or everything that is done under the sun. We are to exercise our intellect in this. Job 29:16 “The cause which I knew not I searched out.” Indeed, as pointed out earlier, we are encouraged to use reason to discover the truth of matters. Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason…..” We are told, by Isaiah, to use reason to understand what is happening around us. We are warned, in fact, to be vigilant of the world around us, Christianity: 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant…..” least events occur in the world that takes us unaware; and we are told to watch. Mark 13:37 “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Yet there are some who just won’t see, who believe more in superstition then in the spiritual nature of the creative word of God: Judaism: Deuteronomy 29:4 “Yet The LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.” Isaiah 6:10 “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” Baha’i Faith: “For every era hath a spirit; the spirit of this illumined era lieth in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. For these lay the foundation of the oneness of the world of humanity and promulgate universal brotherhood. They are founded upon the unity of science and religion and upon investigation of truth.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 109)
JUDAISM: Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:” Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.” Christianity: Matthew 13:13 “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” Matthew 13:14 “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” Matthew 13:15 “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Matthew 13:16 “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” Matthew 13:17 “For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” Romans 11:8 “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear) unto this day.” Romans 11:9 “And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them:” Romans 11:10 “Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.”
You may be asking yourself just how having ears that don’t hear has anything to do with science and scientific investigation, but a large part of the trouble most people have with science and religion being in agreement deals with statements found within religion that seems to go completely against know scientific facts, as I stated earlier; which again, causes many scientists to have problems with religion, and many people of faith to have deep problems with science. So, I want to, again, remind you: Christianity: John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit.” The bible is revealed by spiritual individuals who are trying to reach us and teach us spiritual truths through physical words. 2 Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” “Let those with ears hear,” This is a warning found all throughout the Holy Bible, and religion in general, trying to get people to look beyond the physical words into the deeper spiritual meaning beyond the mere words. Paul even goes a step further, going out of his way to warn us that if we only look at the literal interpretation of the meaning of the words found within the bible, or the literal letter of the book, this can only lead to the spiritual demise of the individuals doing this. 2 Corinthians 3:5 “Our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” The letter, or the literal words found within the writings of God, without the spiritual content to enlighten our souls, causes death to the soul found within man, but the spirit found within the Holy Word, or the spiritual meaning found within the Holy Word of God giveth life onto man.
If men were to try and look beyond the literal meanings of the words found within the books of the Supreme Being they would find that science is not at a variance with the spiritual word of God and that science and religion can in fact coexist in agreement with one another. If we then believe, that the sciences of the physical existence of the universe and the teachings of the written word of God both come to us from the one same Creator, then we have to accept the fact that both these philosophies come to us from the one same source. These are both signs of the one true God, we cannot accept the one without accepting the other; they both come to us from the one same God, they are both surfaces found on the one same coin, one has to agree with the other, or you have complete mass confusion on the one part and mere unsubstantiated superstition on the other; as we now see throughout much of the world in this day and time.
So now, lets look and see some of the interactions between real science and the spirit found within religion. In the beginning of Genesis we are told the story of creation, but if we remove the idea of man’s days being equal to God’s days, which we really don’t know what the true duration of God’s days really are, apart from what little we can glean from different examples found within the different scriptures of God, we can only deduce that we really don’t know the truth; and the writings of God even go a step further telling us different amounts of time for a day of God at different times, even within the same books. Example: Judaism: Numbers 14:34 “After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise,” Ezekiel 4:6 “I have appointed thee each day for a year.” or as we find in 2 Peter: Christianity: 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with The Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” With this in mind we can look at the biblical story of creation in a whole new light. Example, it took God six days to create the earth and Peter tells us that one day with God is a thousand years and that one thousand years is one day with God. I wonder has anyone thought about the fact that established human history is six thousand years or six days by God’s reckoning. And how many have realized that the first few days had no real time frame the lights in the heavens that separate day and night were created on the fourth day.
Anyway, getting ourselves back on track, let’s consider the biblical account of creation. When we do this we find that much of the biblical account of creation is scientifically accurate, in a very crude kind of way, and much of this ancient story is told in a way that many scientists now believe the earth and life on this planet actually came about; discounting such unknown factors such as what God’s true days really are; if in fact He really has true days, or even counts such insignificant concepts as time when you have all eternity before you. “For God is eternal life.” “Therefore I endure…with eternal glory.” “The world of God, is not limited by time or place; it is without beginning or end; beginning and end in relation to God are one.” (Baha’i World Faith, p. 315 and Romans 6:23 and 2 Timothy 2:10)
Genesis: The First Book of Moses: Judaism: Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:2 “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:6 “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” A super-continent example: Pangaea (the last of five super-continents) was a single land mass that existed on the earth hundreds of millions of years ago that eventually broke up into several large land masses called continents that did in fact divide the water from the water. Genesis 1:7 “And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.” There are in fact underground rivers and water sources which are separated from above ground lakes and rivers by the earth so this is true. Or, we may consider the clouds of water up in the sky that rain down upon the earth as a meaning. This is the word of God; it is open to multiple truths and meanings. Genesis 1:9 “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.” This, again, describes the super-continents: Vaalbara, Kenorland, Columbia, Rodinia and Pangaea, which were single dry land masses that existed on the earth hundreds of millions and billions of years ago. Genesis 1:10 “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:11 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.” Genesis 1:12 “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Vegetation did in fact form upon the dry land first long before animals walked the earth. Genesis 1:20 “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” Life did in fact come out of the sea or the oceans of the world and spread onto the land. This is a well known fact today, but 6000 years ago this sequence of events couldn’t even have been imagined. Genesis 1:21 “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” As I said scientists now know that life on earth originally came out of the water, so again this statement is the way evolution of the earth and evolution of animal life did in fact happen. Genesis 1:22 “And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” Genesis 1:24 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.” Genesis 1:25 “And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Genesis 2:7 “And The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground,” As I stated earlier man is in fact formed from the elements of the earth carbon, potassium, sodium, chloride etc… these are all elements of the earth which man is made up of. As for the story of creation it’s not exact word for word verbatim but one has to take into account the story was passed down from mouth to mouth then finally written down but the main ideas are correct.
Now at this point some people get stuck. I mentioned the word evolution and when the word evolution is used many people get extremely upset and state “My bible does not tell me my ancestors were apes!” And, to this I say correct, my faith, The Bahá’í Faith, doesn’t tell me that we, mankind, came from apes either, but we still accept that the main ideas of evolution are scientifically correct, so how can both of these statements be correct? And I ask you, have you ever considered that man has always been man, no matter what he has looked like externally? I mean if we came from apes, why are there still apes around, for us to see, and, at this point, many scientists will say we branched off from (hominidae), the family of apes, into a higher more suitable niche for ourselves in nature, but wait a minute, is that true? Apes are physically stronger than us and better adapted to survive in nature, whereas we are weak, susceptible to cold and not really physically equipped to deal with predators or survival in nature, and the first thing that comes to the mind of most scientists is that man has a more evolved brain to make up for the difference and we can use nature to our advantage and make tools etc…. Well, I am a scientist and I ask you, couldn’t the spirit found within man have made that special difference in man all along in whatever shape we might have been encased in? Now I could go on for pages explaining how evolution and the development of mankind travel along together hand and hand all along, but to do so would digress from the main theme of this religious dissertation. I just ask you to keep an open mind to the possibility that man has not always looked like man, but as a species we have always been man: Baha’i Faith: “We cannot prove man was always man for this is a fundamental doctrine, but it is based on the assertion that nothing can exceed its own potentialities, that everything, a stone, a tree, an animal and a human being existed in plan, potentially, from the very ‘beginning’ of creation. We don’t believe man has always had the form of man, but rather that from the outset he was going to evolve into the human form and species and not be a haphazard branch of the ape family.” (Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, Arohanui – Letters to New Zealand, p. 85) Baha’i Faith: “To recapitulate: as man in the womb of the mother passes from form to form, from shape to shape, changes and develops, and is still the human species from the beginning of the embryonic period — in the same way man, from the beginning of his existence in the matrix of the world, is also a distinct species, that is, man, and has gradually evolved from one form to another. Therefore this change of appearance, this evolution of members, this development and growth, even though we admit the reality of growth and progress, does not prevent the species from being original. Man from the beginning was in this perfect form and composition, and possessed capacity and aptitude for acquiring material and spiritual perfections, and was the manifestation of these words, ‘We will make man in Our image and likeness.’ He has only become more pleasing, more beautiful, and more graceful. Civilization has brought him out of his wild state, just as the wild fruits which are cultivated by a gardener became finer, sweeter, and acquire more freshness and delicacy.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 309) I leave it up to the reader to consider the possibility that mankind has evolved throughout the eons from one form to another and that evolution is science in action the way God originally planned it to be and we are just starting to discover some of the ways God does things, in the universe; but as I said I leave that determination up to the reader, as it should be, and continue on with this dissertation of science found within religion Leviticus 19:5 “And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.”
JUDAISM: Leviticus 19:6 “It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.” Here God was teaching man the importance of food sanitation and good health though man didn’t know it. God was protecting man form spoiled food by limiting the amount of time the food has to go bad, since man had no way of keeping the meat cold to help preserve the meat. Leviticus 25:3 “Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;” Leviticus 25:4 “But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for The LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.” Here God was teaching the basics of land restoration. Leviticus 25:5 “That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.” In this year the nutrients were allowed to go back into the ground to help revitalize the soil for future plantings. Also we find the instructions given to us, in the bible, for the practice of medicine. In Leviticus 13:1 thru 13:59 Moses gives the people instructions of how they should treat leprosy, while in Leviticus chapter 15 Moses tells the people to wash after touching an open sore to help stop the spreading of germs of infection. And in Leviticus chapter 11:7 thru 11:8 Moses warns the people not to eat or even touch pork, which today we know can have worms that can be harmful to man so the meat is unclean to eat, but during the time of Peter, when man had better means of cooking the meat, God, in a vision to Peter, abnegated the practice of this law in Acts 10:11 thru 10:15 allowing Peter to eat of the swine because properly cooked pork was safe. This is just a little bit of actual science and health that is found in the bible for those people who didn’t realize that science really is part of the bible and part of religion. For more science in biblical action a person just needs to read the bible while consciously looking for practical science in action. Also for the forward thinking person: Isaiah 45:18 “For thus saith The LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” Sirach 50:22 “Therefore bless ye the God of all, which only doeth wondrous things every where.” Psalms 72:18 “Blessed be The LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” Here the bible tells us God didn’t create the earth in vain, but He created it to be inhabited by living things, while life is hinted at on other worlds or wondrous things everywhere. Psalms 89:11 “The heavens are Thine (and) the earth also is Thine: as for the world(s) and the fullness thereof, Thou hast founded them.” Them as in plural, as in more than one world; God has founded them, all of the worlds. Colossians 1:16 “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible: all things were created by Him, and for Him: 1:17 And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” Hebrews 11:3 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.”
In the mean time this is just a little proof for the reader that science and religion do go hand and hand, and when they don’t seem to, either the science is not really valid or the biblical passage is really symbolic and not to be taken literally. Christianity: 1 Corinthians 10:1 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” Even statements that can only seem to be taken completely literally, Paul demonstrates to us, can have a spiritual meaning as well, if we look for it, which is why the religious theology could be saying one thing going only along with the literal meaning of the word and be completely wrong and off base as to the actual spiritual meaning of the word. Remember: John 4:23 “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” God is a spirit and He wants us to worship Him in the spirit, or by the spirit, looking for the hidden spiritual meaning within His spiritual words, and I do mean spiritual words, because as I stated earlier the letter by itself can kill the spirit of the indolent reader who takes everything at face value: Christianity: 2 Corinthians 3:4 “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:” 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;” 3:6 “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” Or, in-other-words, the word of God can be confusing to the lone reader and needs to be studied thoroughly and systematically that the truth can be known from falsehood and the reader becomes enlightened to God’s true wishes for us.
Anyway, getting back to the subject: We have looked at the principle of the agreement of science and religion from the stand point of the Christian Bible, now let’s turn our attention to the other religions of God to see what scientific facts can be gleaned from the other writings of God. Baha’i Faith: “The third principle or teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the oneness of religion and science. Any religious belief which is not conformable with scientific proof and investigation is superstition, for true science is reason and reality, and religion is essentially reality and pure reason; therefore, the two must correspond. Religious teaching which is at variance with science and reason is human invention and imagination unworthy of acceptance, for the antithesis and opposite of knowledge is superstition born of the ignorance of man. If we say religion is opposed to science, we lack knowledge of either true science or true religion, for both are founded upon the premises and conclusions of reason, and both must bear its test.” (Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 106)
BAHA’I FAITH: “Strange and astonishing things exist in the earth but they are hidden from the minds and the understanding of men. These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of the earth and their contamination would prove lethal.” (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 69)
Baha’i Faith: “There is in existence a stupendous force, as yet, happily undiscovered by man. Let us supplicate God, the Beloved, that this force be not discovered by science until spiritual civilization shall dominate the human mind. In the hands of men of lower nature, this power would be able to destroy the whole earth.” (Bahá’í Faith, Compilations, Japan Will Turn Ablaze, p. 51) Bahá’u’lláh predicts the development of nuclear weapons and the effect they would have on the planet, the effects they would have on life on the planet and their known effects on the atmosphere of the planet, nearly 80 years before their development. I would say this constitutes a proof that true scientific facts are found in the Bahá’í Writings.
Baha’i Faith: “That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today. The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different. Thus doth the Great Announcement inform thee about this glorious structure. Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its impact are indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the effects thereof. Verily thy Lord is the Expounder, the All-Wise.” (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 140) I might be just a lay person when it comes to the physics of the creation of the universe, but from what I have been able to glean from the theory of the big bang that is believed to be the beginning of the universe the heat generated through the active force and the recipient sounds a lot like the forces that were interacting with one another just prior to the big bang when the believed two forces interacting on one another generated so much heat that the primordial atom blew up creating the universe in the aftermath of the giant explosion. This theory of the two forces interacting with one another creating the big bang has only recently been proposed to the world at large and yet Bahá’u’lláh writes about it over a century ago. I think the prophecy about the creation of nuclear bombs and the description of the creation of the universe constitute the presents of science in the Bahá’í Writings. But one thing I want to draw your attention to, these statements found in the bible and the Bahá’í Writings talk about science before the discoveries were made thereby demonstrating the foreknowledge of God’s manifestations when it comes to science of the world. It just took the scientists of the world time to catch up to what God’s manifestations had already foretold.
Baha’i Faith: “Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the nature of the celestial spheres. To comprehend their nature, it would be necessary to inquire into the meaning of the allusions that have been made in the Books of old to the celestial spheres and the heavens, and to discover the character of their relationship to this physical world, and the influence which they exert upon it. Every heart is filled with wonder at so bewildering a theme, and every mind is perplexed by its mystery. God, alone, can fathom its import. The learned men, that have fixed at several thousand years the life of this earth, have failed, throughout the long period of their observation, to consider either the number or the age of the other planets. Consider, moreover, the manifold divergences that have resulted from the theories propounded by these men. Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute.” Here Bahá’u’lláh tells us that each star has its own fixed planets and that there is life on other worlds beyond our comprehension. In modern science we are just beginning to discover planets around other stars, just within the last few years and we are still arguing amongst ourselves about life on other worlds, though we have found hints of life. Recently we discovered a bacteria, right here on this earth, that has followed as completely different pathway of development and evolution, beyond anything we have considered possible, for life on this planet, that uses entirely different substances for nutrients, than life has up to this point used to support itself; with entirely new and different energy transport systems, or, in laymen terms, energy development and energy usage systems, then we thought was possible, which argues the point, that if it can happen right here, why not on other worlds, in forms that up to this point we might not have thought possible, that we might not even recognize as other forms of life; and Bahá’u’lláh was talking about this over one hundred years ago. If this is not a form religion teaching about science before the scientific discoveries are made I don’t know what else is? This life form is found in an environment that is completely hostile and alien to what we consider life to be here on this earth. (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 162) And again life on other planets is hinted at in the bible: Judaism: Isaiah 45:18 “For thus saith The LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” Sirach 50:22 “Therefore bless ye the God of all, which only doeth wondrous things every where.” Psalms 72:18 “Blessed be The LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” Here again the bible tells us God didn’t create the earth in vain, but He created it to be inhabited by living things, with life being hinted at on other worlds or wondrous things everywhere. Psalms 89:11 “The heavens are Thine (and) the earth also is Thine: as for the world(s) and the fullness thereof, Thou hast founded them.” Them as in plural, as in more than one world; God has founded them, all of the worlds. Colossians 1:16 “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible: all things were created by Him, and for Him: 1:17 And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” Hebrews 11:3 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.”
BABI RELIGION: “Thou art their Lord, The Lord of the heavens and the earth, The Lord of all the worlds.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 192) “How vast the number of people who are well versed in every science,’ ‘men of learning, versed in logic,’ ‘yet it is their adherence to the holy Word of God which will determine their faith, inasmuch as the fruit of every science is none other than the knowledge of divine precepts and submission unto His good-pleasure.” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of t’he Bab, pp. 88 and 104)
As for the other religions introduced into the world by God’s other manifestations I find that science and reason is a part of these religions as well. 
Islam: 189. “To Allah (God) belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and Allah hath power over all things.” 190. Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are indeed Signs for men of understanding.” 191. “Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (with the thought): “Our Lord! not for naught hast thou created (all) this (hinting at the existence of other life elsewhere)! Glory to thee! give us salvation from the penalty of the fire. (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 3)
ISLAM: 3:186 For the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth is God‘s, and God hath power over all things. Verily, in the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, and in the succession of the night and of the day, are signs for men of understanding heart; Who standing, and sitting, and reclining, bear God in mind, and muse on the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth. “O our Lord!” say they, “thou hast not created this in vain. No. Glory be to Thee! Keep us, then, from the torment of the fire. (The Qur’an (Rodwell tr), Sura 3 – The Family of Imran)
Islam: 189 “Unto Allah (God) belongeth the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. Allah is Able to do all things. 190 Lo! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and (in) the difference of night and day are tokens (of His Sovereignty) for men of understanding, 191 Such as remember Allah, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, (and say): Our Lord! Thou createdst not this (creation) in vain. Glory be to Thee! Preserve us from the doom of Fire. (The Qur’an (Pickthall tr), Sura 3 – The Family Of Imran)
Islam: “God‘s is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and God is mighty over all. Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, are signs to those possessed of minds; who remember God standing and sitting or lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. ‘O Lord! thou hast not created this (creation) in vain. We celebrate Thy praise.” (The Qur’an (E.H. Palmer tr), Sura 3 – Imran’s Family)
Islam: 54. “Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, (all) governed by laws under His command. Is it not His to create and to govern? Blessed be Allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds!” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 7)
Islam: 251. “But Allah is full of bounty to all the worlds.” 27. “Verily this is no less than a Message to (all) the Worlds:” 28. “(With profit) to whoever among you wills to go straight.” 29. “But ye shall not will Except as Allah wills, The Cherisher of the Worlds.” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2 and 81)
Islam: 30. “Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of Creation), before We clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 21)
Islam: 11. “Moreover He Comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: ‘Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly.’ They said: ‘We do come (together), in willing obedience.”’ Before our sun was born and the earth they were as dust in the cosmos, like a smoke filled nebula, before God used attraction to bring the solar system together, which demonstrates that creation was as one unit until God clove them asunder. (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 41) 33. “It is He Who created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course.” Muhammad tells us that each planet moves in a round orbit or we should say a more elliptical orbit, which is now known to be true, but in the science of the seventh century this kind of knowledge was not something readily known to science let alone someone who could not read who was not raised up with an education. (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 21) 5. “O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, (consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then out of a leech like clot, then out a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (Our Power) to you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much). And (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).” (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 22) 13. “Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed;” 14. “Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (fetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature: so blessed be Allah, the Best to create!” This sounds a lot like gestation of a pregnancy from a very simple medical point of view. (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 23) 45. “And Allah has created every animal from water: of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills: for verily Allah has power over all things.” Life did come from the water as I stated earlier. (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 24) “The Prophet said, ‘If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place.”’ This is the medical procedure of quarantining a population to help stem the spread of a disease. This a common medical practice of today but unknown in the seventh century. (Islam, Hadith, Bukhari Vol 7, Book 71, # 624)
ZOROASTRIANISM: 1. “Zarathushtra asked of Ahura Mazda (God): O Ahura Mazda, Thou most bounteous Spirit! Maker of the corporeal worlds, the Holy One!” Zoroaster acknowledges the presents of other planets that would be completely unknown during his time on this earth. (Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 19) 95. “We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, ….sleepless, and ever awake; ‘Who goes over the earth, all her breadth over, after the setting of the sun, touches both ends of this wide, round earth, whose ends tie afar, and surveys everything that is between the earth and the heavens,” Zoroaster tells us we live on a round earth a knowledge completely unknown during his time. People of his day thought the earth was flat and argued among themselves for centuries that it was flat not round, as some people still to this very day argue that the earth is still flat. (The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1) Denkard. Zoroaster, “It is said in accordance with religion that the heavenly creation is prior to the earthly.” This is a well known fact today, but it could hardly have been known during Zoroaster’s time on this earth. “The Gatha asserts the universe to be the result of the inter-play of two forces.” As I said earlier in Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings this sounds a lot like what was thought to be going on before the big bang. (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 96)
HINDUISM: “Thy Universe, Thy worlds are filled with wonder.” “Lord of Worlds.” “Who seeth Me, Lord of the Worlds, with faith-enlightened eyes, Unborn, Undying, Unbegun.” (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 5, 10 and 11) “I make and I unmake this Universe:” This sounds a lot like the theory that the materials of the universe keeps getting swallowed up by black holes and some believe gets redistributed in a big bang like explosion at a later time, with the simple components of atoms being recycled. (Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 7) “He goes, He never comes to the end of it. For space is endless.” This is the common belief of today, but during Krishna’s time, without even the invention of the telescope, this is something that could be hardly known to man. (Hindu, Upanishads vol. 2, Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad Part 2) 76. “From the sun comes rain, from rain food, therefrom the living creatures (derive their subsistence).” The sun does in fact cause the cloud formation that causes rain to fall on the earth. (Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 3) 19. “Let him daily pore over those Institutes of science which soon give increase of wisdom, those which teach the acquisition of wealth, those which are beneficial (for other worldly concerns), and likewise over the Nigamas which explain the Veda.” 20. “For the more a man completely studies the Institutes of science, the more he fully understands (them), and his great learning shines brightly.” (Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 4) 6. “The Germ of the world, ensign of all creation, be sprang to life and filled the earth and heavens.” (Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 10)
BUDDHISM: “There will come a time, when the mighty ocean will dry up, vanish, and be no more. There will come a time, when the mighty earth will be devoured by fire, perish, and be no more.” This is definitely talking about when our sun becomes a red giant, which will dry up the water, and eventually, with the growth of the sun, scorch our planet out of existence. ((The Eightfold Path), Buddha, the Word (The Eightfold Path)) “Even during the cataclysmic fire at the end of a kalpa. When ocean beds are burnt dry; Or during the blowing of catastrophic winds, when mountains topple; The everlasting bliss of Perfect Rest and Cessation of Change that is Nirvana Remains the same and changes not.” (Buddha, Sixth Patriarch) “The space of emptiness is manifested all throughout the universes, (but) Even open space is not nothingness.” (Buddha, Surangama Sutra) How could Buddha possibly know that space is not totally empty during his time on this earth. This is something that has only been proved in this day and time. “There are two factors of causation by reason of which all things come into seeming existence:–external and internal factors.” “There must be a principle vested with supreme authority like (Brahma, God) present and asserting itself;” on the internal factor to produce results.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra) Two factors in the beginning of creation. “The Lord Buddha continued: ‘Subhuti, within these innumerable worlds are every form of sentient life with all their various mental capacities, dispositions, and temperaments, all alike are fully known to the Tathagatas, and the Tathagatas are filled with compassion for them.” (Buddha, Diamond Sutra) Buddha tells us that there are innumerable worlds in this universe with sentient (comprehending) life forms on them, which, for its time, was a completely incomprehensible thing to say for the time frame. “I am known by uncounted trillions of names. They address me by different names not realizing that they are all names of the one Tathagata. Some recognize me as Tathagata, some as The Self-existent One, some as Gautama the Ascetic, some as Buddha. Then there are others who recognize me as Brahma, as Vishnu. Thus in this world and in other worlds am I known by these uncounted names.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra) Again Buddha tells us that God is known by countless names in this world and other worlds.
SABEANISM: “All worlds adore and praise The Mighty, (Life, God). When the worlds came into being and creations were called forth,” “Thou didst hold in Thy grasp the worlds and all of the generations.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 3 and 53) “In the waters Life established living creatures. They opened the waters and Life was established by its own” Here Adam is telling us what Genesis told us only Adam’s teaching was before Moses wrote Genesis, and this knowledge that life came out of the sea is only confirmed this day and time. Only this affirms that life started as micro-organisms, more or less, because it said, “Life was established by its own.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 18) “Eat not of that which was killed by lion or wolf, or of anything disgorged or (found) dead. But immerse yourselves and purify yourselves. Manda-d-Hiia will be your helper,” This deals with food sanitation, and health tips. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 30)