Here's some food for thought, many JW's point out that the bible isn't a scientific text book, but when it comments on science its always correct. They site many examples to try and prove this. Here's some you can throw back at them:
- Leviticus 11:6 states that rabbits chew their cud.
- Leviticus 11:20-23 speaks of four-legged insects, including grasshoppers.
- 1 Chronicles 16:30 and Psalm 93:1 state that the earth is immobile; yet it not only revolves and orbits the sun but is also influenced by the gravitational pull of other bodies.
- In Genesis 1, Adam is created after other animals; In Genesis 2, he appears before animals.
Here's another point to ponder; in Gensis 2 Adam is said to have named all the animals, then Eve is created, then in Gensis 5, it says that Adam was 120 years old when he had Seth. Now lets think about this for a second, according to Richard Dwakins there are about 40 million unique species on the earth today, now given that most of them have evolved from a common anstestor recently like the many breeds of dogs, I think its safe to reduce that number to around 1 million. If you were to do nothing but name one animal ever 30 seconds 12 hours a day it would take you over 120 years to finish this task for 1 million species.
Lets look at some specific points that witness use to prove the bible:
Claim: The Bible says the earth is round, showing that its authors were inspired to understand science beyond their time.
The passage saying the earth is round is Isaiah 40:22:
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
This passage may reasonably be interpreted as referring to a flat circular earth with the heavens forming a dome above it. Such an interpretation is consistent with other passages of the Bible which refer to a solid firmament (Gen. 1:6-20, 7:11; Ezekiel 1:22-26; Job 9:8, 22:14, etc.). It is also consistent with the cosmology common in neighboring cultures. Indeed the catholic church for many years taught that the earth was flat and the sun revolved around the earth (see above). Isaiah 11:12 refers to the "four quarters of the earth", but we do not take that as indicative of the earth's shape. There are other instances where the bible's passages would suggest a flat earth, think of when Satan took Jesus to the top of a high moutain and showed him "all the kingdoms of the earth". I'm sure that there are many more passages like this.
Lets look at one more claim: The Bible describes medical and sanitary practices remarkable for the time. It says you should bury your excrement (Deut. 23:13). It requires people to wash themselves after touching a dead body (Numbers 19:11-22). It notes that the eighth day after birth is the safest time to perform circumcisions (Gen. 17:12; Lev. 12:2-3).
Responce: Accuracy on one point does not show overall accuracy. Genesis 30:25-33, for example, describes a breeding program based on sympathetic magic. Deuteronomy 23:9-14 is not about hygiene. The purpose of burying excrement is so God will not be offended by seeing anything indecent and turn away. The idea is religious; uncleanliness would make one unfit for a religious war. There is also a danger that exposed excrement could be found by the enemy and used magically against one (Scott 1979).
Numbers 19:11-22 is not about hygiene. It refers to ritual purification conducted by sprinkling water, not washing with it. The purification is to be done not immediately after touching the body, as good health practice would demand, but on the third and seventh days. Whoever fails to perform the ritual is unclean and must be ostracized from Israel. Basically, it is a superstitious taboo. Similar taboos against people who have touched dead bodies appear to be universal in Polynesia (Frazer 1993, 206). Furthermore, unless they have died from pestilence or have been decaying for a few days, dead bodies are no less clean than live ones. The Bible does not include directives that really would indicate good medical practices, such as burying feces downhill from the source for drinking water, and washing ones hands in clean water in circumstances that really would prevent spreading dangerous germs. Attributing a requirement of some special knowledge to account for knowledge of good health practices assumes the ancient Hebrews were idiots. People can often see the results that come from bad practices.