Is God ignorant about the natural world, or just unwilling to share?

Question

I mean this as a serious question. Jesus reportedly went around healing lepers and others with a touch here, casting out a demon there. This is the kind of healing activity that was common at the time. I assume Jesus was one of the better faith healers, but could he have done much more? Could he have taught the people the germ theory of disease? Or, could he have pointed them in the direction of producing vaccines that would have saved the lives or spared the suffering of billions of precious little ones? Too advanced for the time? Then why not teach the importance of thoroughly cleaning and dressing a wound to prevent infection?

There are countless other important things the creator of the universe ought to have been able to teach us. Perhaps a simple liquid column barometer and the knowledge that unusually low pressure may indicate an approaching killer storm. Signs and wonders like this from an unscientific time might even impress a heard-headed 21st century evolutionist!

Has any prophet of God ever taught mankind anything useful about the natural world? If not, why not?

Answer 1

All you said is more proof that the Bible was written by Bronze age men who had no clue of science.They didn't know even other countries and other civilizations existed. They were also men who couldn't get laid and wanted to write rules to punish those who could get laid by saying that they're going to h**l if they lust. They were also dominating,sexist,and homophobic. They're horrible people,and people need to stop following these stupid religious books

Answer 2

the fact of the matter is.. it hasn't/won't

i'm also interested in what theists will come up with for this

Answer 3

Perhaps you should take the time to read the Bible someday.  You will find in that 1500 years before the time of Jesus, God gave 613 laws to the Jewish people.  Nearly 1/4 of these dealt with sanitation, washing, avoiding contact with sick people, infections, and corpse (human and animal), proper diet, and dozens of other "health" issues.

If you study the history of medicine, you will find that the idea of sanitation within hospitals, doctor's washing between patients, etc. came about because of an Italian doctor who saw it in the Bible and began to practice it, reducing death rates in his hospital by 90%.  (Something they forget to teach you in secular schools.)

As he already told them about that, why would he waste time having Jesus repeat it?  (Actually, he does make nine references to it in his teachings).  He had more important things dealing with the hearts of men to deal with.

Answer 4

God isn't ignorant. He just doesn't exist.

Answer 5

so now that we have that and more, are we any better off?

Answer 6

You ask a very valid question and it really doesn't have a proper answer.  I mean it didn't go into exact details in the bible about body hygiene, which is extremely important in staving off some illness, and the food advice of the time proved inaccurate.  I guess if people did get better you can chalk it up to faith(mind over matter)healing.  

Answer 7

Check the Law's requirement for cleanness.

For instance, it required that at a military encampment human excrement be covered over (De 23:9-14), thus providing considerable protection from fly-borne infectious diseases such as dysentery and typhoid fever.

Contamination of food and water was guarded against, the Law specifying that anything upon which an “unclean” creature fell in its death was rendered unclean and requiring that certain measures be taken, including the smashing of an earthenware vessel thus contaminated.—Le 11:32-38.

Significantly, it has been stated: “Prophylactic considerations were basic to this legislation, which when followed would go far toward preventing the incidence of food-borne polioencephalitis, the enteric fevers, food poisoning, and the parasitic worms. Insistence on the safeguarding of a clean supply of water was the most effective means of forestalling the rise and dissemination of diseases such as amoebiasis, the fevers of the enteric group, cholera, bilharziasis, and spirochetal jaundice. These prophylactic measures, which constitute a fundamental part of any system of public health, were of particular importance for the welfare of a nation living under primitive conditions in a subtropical region of the earth.”—The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, edited by G. Buttrick, 1962, Vol. 2, pp. 544, 545.

In his book The Bible and Modern Medicine, A. Rendle Short, M.D., pointed out that public sanitary law existed, if at all, only in elementary form among nations that surrounded ancient Israel, and stated: “It is the more surprising therefore that in a book like the Bible, alleged to be unscientific, there should be a sanitary code at all, and equally surprising that a nation just escaped from slavery, frequently overrun by enemies and carried away into captivity from time to time, should have on its statute books so wise and reasonable a code of rules of health. This has been recognized by good authorities, even those with no great interest in the religious aspect of the Bible.”—London, 1953, p. 37.

According to the Law, the hare and the pig were among animals the Israelites were not permitted to eat. (Le 11:4-8) Regarding this, Dr. Short states: “True, we eat the pig, the rabbit and the hare, but these animals are liable to parasitic infections and are safe only if the food is well cooked. The pig is an unclean feeder, and harbours two worms, trichina and a tape worm, which may be passed on to man. The danger is minimal under present conditions in this country, but it would have been far otherwise in Palestine of old, and such food was better avoided.”—The Bible and Modern Medicine, pp. 40, 41.

Answer 8

You get a star. I'm interested in seeing the answers.

Answer 9

Christ did so much more, Jesus healed us all not simply temporal healing but eternal healing defeating death.

Your focus in on the temporary and God is infinite.

All of these things you love will pass away but the truth is forever.

Useful to you is a temporary fix but the truth is we are meant to be eternal.

Answer 10

lets cut to the end question yes moses taught the health laws to people they still hold true today but fewer and fewer people follow them so more and more diseases arise

as for vaccines how can u possibly vaccinate against a disease that doesn't yet exist leprosy was a common disease but there is no such vaccine u yourself admit Christ healed such diseases so i say this Christ did as He was supposed to nothing more but not anything at all less the prophets taught how to be and stay healthy hoe to eat right to maintain health

as for the barometer thing and the like, God gave us the moon and the stars as signs signs of when to plant and harvest etc and there is a very old saying that goes red sky in the morning sailors take warning red sky at night sailors delight this is more than some old saying it hold true red sky in the morning is caused by a drop in the barometer and an increase in humidity these r signs of an impending storm so what you say about God and His prophets not doing enough is completely incorrect when noah built the ark and said a flood was coming did they not tell him basically he was nuts yes they did but there was a clear sing a huge boat where there was no water near but no they didn't listen anyway so i say what should have been done was done

Answer 11

thank god for the medical professionals in our world today

Answer 12

Star, i wanna see answers too

Answer 13

Yeah, strange how the bible doesn't contain such an obvious idea as that the earth revolves around the sun.

Answer 14

Perhaps God felt that it was more important for Humanity to make Moral progress rather than Material Progress.

Look at all the Tech, we've invented in the last 100 years and ask yourself; "Has any of it made us better people?'

Then again maybe he didn't us to get too uppity.