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(2 Minute Read. 24Apr2024)

Spider web silk is strong

Spider silk, the material of spider webs, has long been known to be the strongest natural silk on Earth. It has a higher tensile strength (breaking strength when stretched) than nylon and is tougher than Kevlar.

But it is much harder to harvest spider silk than silkworm silk. Spiders need beaucoup space for their webs and don’t produce nearly as much silk as silkworms. Moreover, spiders are territorial and aggressive. Thus running spider farms that produce spider silk is not feasible.

Can Silkworms Spin Spider Silk?

Scientists in China have now “combined” the benefits of spider silk with the production abilities of silkworms by genetically engineering silkworms to produce spider silk. In a paper published last fall in the journal Matter, researchers described how they introduced spider silk protein genes into the DNA of silkworms. They also modified the spider silk proteins to work with the proteins in the silkworm glands so that the silk would be spun properly.
(See High-strength and ultra-tough whole spider silk fibers spun from transgenic silkworms, Matter, September 20, 2023.)

The new “spider-silk” spun by the modified silkworms is six times tougher than the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests. Moreover, large-scale, low-cost production can be done with the genetically modified silkworms. Applications abound in fields like aerospace, law enforcement, and the military. In biomedicine, this spider-silk will be used for surgical stitches and meshes and for silk patches to monitor health conditions.

Shield That Never Fails

Even though these new “spider-silk” fibers can be used to make shields tougher than Kevlar, there is something neither the silk nor Kevlar will stop. Against this menace, an entirely different type of shield is needed.

These shields may stop projectiles like bullets and thereby save your physical life. But they will not stop the far more dangerous flaming arrows of the evil one which can cause mental disruption, moral dissolution, and ultimately eternal death. For those threats, one needs the shield of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In addition to all, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16)
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him. (Psalm 28:7)
He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. (Psalm 91:4)
Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
(Proverbs 30:5)

Questions to Ponder

1. What use at home or at the campsite would be great for Kevlar-tough spider silk?
2. What faces you today that spurs you to take up the “shield of faith” and put your confidence in the Lord, your strength and your shield?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Read more about silkworms:
Silk
Silkworms

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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

Disclaimer: BibleScienceGuy has no control over any advertising that may appear and receives no payment or consideration for it. Ads & “Related” links come from WordPress, not from BibleScienceGuy.

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(4 Minute Read 17Apr2024)

BibleScienceGuy watching eclipse
with eclipse glasses on April 8, 2024

Did solar eclipses cause the unusual dark periods in the Bible — like the Ninth Plague in Egypt or the Crucifixion Darkness?

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun in its orbit around the Earth. At that time it is in the “new moon” position, the opposite of the “full moon” position. In the “new moon” location, it is the Moon that either totally or partially blocks Earth’s view of the Sun.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks all direct sunlight, turning the day dark. The total eclipse occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth with a partial solar eclipse visible over adjacent bands thousands of miles wide.

Total eclipses are possible because the Moon is both 400 times closer to Earth than the Sun and 400 times smaller than the Sun. This way, when in proper position, it can completely block Earth’s view of the Sun.

A total eclipse lasts less than five minutes in any particular location, but a partial eclipse lasts several hours.

Path of totality for the 4-8-2024 solar eclipse.
115-mile-wide path across 15 US states
(Image by GreatAmericanEclipse.com)

My wife and I watched the recent solar eclipse of Monday, April 8, 2024. We were just outside the total band. For our viewing location, the eclipse of the Sun by the Moon was 98.3%. The partial eclipse lasted from 1:58 pm to 4:27 pm with maximum coverage at 3:14 pm.

We watched through eclipse glasses as the Moon gradually almost covered the Sun and then gradually uncovered it. At maximum coverage, just a very thin crescent sliver of the Sun was visible. At this point, the daylight was noticeably dimmer, and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. But there was still plenty of light and warmth, even with only 1.7% of the sun visible.

Solar Eclipse of 2024.04.08
Photo by Michael Zheng

A friend who viewed the total eclipse within the band of totality near Cleveland, Ohio, said the day turned pitch black. Another friend viewed the total eclipse from just north of Lake Erie at Kingsville, Ontario, Canada. His son took this beautiful photograph of the eclipse.

Notice the two little “bumps” on the top and bottom of the sun — enlarge the picture if necessary. Each of these is called a solar prominence. This is an eruption of gas from the surface of the Sun. It is many, many times larger than the Earth.

Prominences usually form in about a day and generally last for several months, looping hundreds of thousands of miles out into space. But they stay connected to the sun and do not explode off into space as solar flares do. The red, glowing material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium.

The Great Creator is a God of precision and order. Because of this, astronomers can predict eclipses hundreds of years in advance. Long before Monday, we knew exactly where, when, and for how long the eclipse would be visible, both for totality and partiality, down to the very second. The mathematical precision of this eclipse was a testament to the Great Creator’s power in upholding all creation by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3).

Even many who claim to not believe in the Creator could not help responding with awe at the eclipse spectacle He displayed in the heavens.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

Does the Bible Record an Eclipse?

The Bible frequently mentions the key components of an eclipse, namely the Earth, Sun, and Moon. God created one of the components, the Earth, on Creation Day One and the other two components, the Sun and Moon, on Creation Day Four.

BibleScienceGuy viewing eclipse with a
pinhole projection box on Aug 21, 2017.
We used this same box to view
the April 8, 2024 eclipse.

Throughout Scripture all three heavenly bodies are held up as reasons to praise and glorify the Great Creator.
He established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not totter forever and ever. . . .
He made the Moon for the seasons;
The Sun knows the place of its setting. . . .
O Lord, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The Earth is full of Your possessions. (Psalm 104:5,19,24)

Eclipses certainly occurred during Bible times. But does the Bible ever mention one?

Some people think the Ninth Plague of Darkness in Egypt under Moses and the Crucifixion Darkness could have been solar eclipses. Is this possible?

The Ninth Plague of Darkness in Egypt (Exodus 10:21-29) could not have been a solar eclipse because the darkness lasted for three days. The darkness of an eclipse only lasts a few minutes.

The Crucifixion Darkness (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45) lasted three full hours so it could not have been a solar eclipse.

Moreover, solar eclipses can only happen at new moon time when the moon passes between the sun and the earth. In this position, the moon reflects none of the sun’s light to the earth.

But Jesus was crucified at the Jewish Passover which is at the full moon, two weeks after the new moon. Jewish months are lunar with every month beginning at the new moon. The Passover Feast was the 15th day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish year (Numbers 28:16-17).

We don’t know the means by which the Great Creator formed these extended periods of darkness. Both these periods of darkness were supernatural in that they were not natural occurrences. They were miracles by the Great Creator who is Himself the Creator of light and darkness.
I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)

Questions to Ponder

1. Did you see God’s grand eclipse display? What were your impressions?
2. How can you use the recent eclipse to start a conversation about the Great Creator?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

Disclaimer: BibleScienceGuy has no control over any advertising that may appear and receives no payment or consideration for it. Ads & “Related” links come from WordPress, not from BibleScienceGuy.

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(4 Minute Read 10Apr2024)

Pantheon’s Concrete Dome

One of the hardest, most durable substances around today is concrete. But today’s concrete only lasts a few decades before it starts to crack and crumble.

However, did you realize that Roman concrete has lasted for 2,000 years? The Romans used concrete to build roads, buildings, aqueducts, bridges, and seawalls for harbors. Many of these structures still exist today, and some are still in use.

One example is the ancient Roman concrete aqueducts which today still deliver water to Rome. Another is the Pantheon in Rome which has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. The Pantheon was dedicated around A.D. 126, and the dome remains intact.

Europe, Africa, and the Mideast have at least 961 Roman bridges, mostly of stone and concrete, in at least 26 countries. Many are still in use and carry vehicles. For example, the Pons Fabricius is the oldest Roman bridge in Rome that still exists in its original state. It was built in 62 BC to span the Tiber River. It is 18 feet wide and 200 feet long.

Puente Romano in Mérida, Spain

The Puente Romano (Spanish for Roman Bridge) is a Roman bridge over the Guadiana River in Mérida, Spain. It is the world’s longest surviving bridge from ancient times. It was built around 100 AD and is about 23 feet wide and 2500 feet long. It carried vehicles until 1991 when road traffic was redirected to another bridge and it was reserved for pedestrians.

The Roman road system comprised 250,000 miles of roads, including 50,000 miles of paved roads. The road system covered western Europe, advanced well into Britain, and extended throughout Spain, northern Africa, and the Middle East.

Roman road in Sephoris ruins.

Zippori (Hebrew) or Sepphoris (Roman) was the capital of Galilee under Herod and the Romans in the first century AD. It was substantially destroyed by Roman soldiers in 4 BC and rebuilt during the lifetime of Jesus. Here is a picture of a Roman road excavated at Sephoris, Israel.

What was the ancient Roman secret for making highly durable concrete that has lasted for thousands of years?

Last year researchers from MIT, Harvard, and labs in Italy and Switzerland discovered a possible answer. In a research paper published in the journal Science Advances, they said the secret to the longevity of Roman concrete was millimeter-sized bits of limestone in the mix. (A millimeter is about 0.04 inches, about the thickness of a plastic credit card.)
(See Hot mixing: Mechanistic insights into the durability of ancient Roman concrete, Science Advances, 6 Jan 2023, Vol 9, Issue 1)

Roman concrete makers mixed in tiny limestone bits at very high temperatures. This gave the concrete a “self-healing” property. As soon as cracks start to form, the “cooked” limestone bits reacted with water to recrystallize to fill the cracks, react with the cement, and strengthen the concrete.

The team of researchers cracked samples of concrete they made like they hypothesized the ancient Romans had made it. Then they ran water through it. In two weeks the cracks completely healed. The team is now working to commercialize the process.

The Narrow Road

Today concrete is commonly used for roads and sidewalks — in other words, for pathways for people to get somewhere.

Jesus of Nazareth spoke of roads and pathways. In fact, He made a quite surprising statement about roads. He said the most important road is hard to find.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

However, there is a still-existent Roman Road that will help you find this most important road that leads to eternal life. It is a “road” through the Gospel using verses from the book of Romans to walk through the Good News of salvation from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ.

1. Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
   Everyone is a sinner.
2. Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   The penalty for sin is death, but God offers eternal life instead, as a free gift through Jesus.
3. Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
   Jesus died to pay the penalty for people’s sin.
4. Romans 10:9-10, 13 – If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. … For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
   Believe in Jesus and His resurrection. Verbalize your allegiance to His Lordship, and you will be saved.
5. Romans 5:1; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:38-39 –
   Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
   Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
   For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   The result of salvation is being made right with God (justification), peace with God, and eternal life with God.

I challenge my readers to follow this enduring Roman Road to find the narrow road of which Jesus spoke.

Questions to Ponder

1. Do you see contemporary concrete deteriorating near your home?
2. What “mile marker” have you reached on the spiritual Roman Road?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
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Click Bible-Science Guy Table of Contents for a list of all blog posts starting in October 2007.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, April 10, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

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(4 Minute Read plus video. 3Apr2024)

Is belief in God rational?

Is belief in God logical?

The Bible has so many hard-to-believe, even unbelievable, accounts. Why believe them?

For many, the Bible is hard to believe because of some very unusual events. Here are some strange things in the Bible that may be very hard for some to believe.

“Unbelievables” in the Bible

• God created heaven and earth and all life in just six days
  (Genesis 1)
• A talking snake
  (Genesis 3:1-5)
• A global flood destroyed the world except for Noah’s family
  (Genesis 7)
• God confused language at the Tower of Babel to disperse humanity
  (Genesis 11:1-9)
• The Red Sea parted to facilitate the Israelites’ escape from the Egyptian army
  (Exodus 14)
• A talking donkey
  (Numbers 22:21-35)
• The clothes and shoes of the Israelites did not wear out during their 40-year camping trip from Egypt to Canaan
  (Deuteronomy 29:5)
• Iron axe head floated in water
  (2 Kings 6:1-7)
• A great fish swallowed Jonah and regurgitated him alive onto land three days later
  (Jonah 1; 2:10)
• Three men thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s blazing furnace walk around inside the burning flames unharmed while the heat of the furnace kills those who threw them in
  (Daniel 3:8-30)
• Daniel saved from death in the lion’s den
  (Daniel 6)
• God became a man as Jesus of Nazareth
  (Rom 1:1-4; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-20; 2:8-9; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1:8-10)
• Jesus was born of a virgin without the agency of a human male
  (Luke 1:26-35; Matthew 1:18-25)
• Jesus turned plain water into first-class wine at a wedding in Cana
  (John 2:1-11)
• Jesus fed many thousands of people several times starting with only a few fish and loaves
  (Matthew 14:14-21; Mark 6:34-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-13; Matthew 15:32-38; Mark 8:1-9)
• Jesus walked on water and helped Peter walk on water
  (Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-51; John 6:16-21)
• Jesus calmed a storm that terrified experienced fishermen, causing them to marvel, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
  (Matthew 8:23-27; Mar 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25)
• Jesus healed lepers
  (Mark 1:40–45; Matthew 8:1–4; Luke 5:12–16; 17:11–19)
• Jesus healed paralytics
  ( Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26)
• Jesus gave eyesight to a man born blind
  (John 9)
• Jesus healed a 38-year-long cripple
  (John 5:1-15)
• Jesus cast many demons out of many people
  (Matthew 4:24; 8:16; 8:28-33; 9:32-33; 12:22-23; 15:22-28; 17:14-18; Mark 1:21-28; 1:32-34; 1:39; 5:1-20; 7:24-30; 9:17-27; 16:9; Luke 4:41; 8:2; 8:26-39; 9:37-42; 11:14; 13:32)
• Jesus raised people from the dead
  (Luke 7:11-16; 8:49-56; John 11:1-45)
• Jesus Himself was raised from the dead
  (Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-14; Luke 24:1-48; John 20:1-31; Romans 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:3-20)
• The spectacular physical return of the glorified God-man from heaven to earth to reign in His visible Kingdom
  (Matthew 24:27-31; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 11:15)

How can these things possibly be true?

Let’s table that for a moment and ask a more fundamental question.

The Most Important Question

Does God exist?

This is the most important question anyone can ask. It has potentially the most negative repercussions if the answer is wrong, and it has the most positive blessings if the answer is right.

What if God does not exist and you answer the question wrong saying that He does exist? In that case, there are really no significant negative repercussions.

But if God does exist and you answer the question wrong — saying that He does not exist — then there are major negative repercussions, particularly in the afterlife.

If the Great Creator, the God of the Bible, exists, then none of the strange reports listed above from the Bible is a problem. Miracles like these are the prerogative of the Creator. The Great Creator is sovereign over His creation and can do whatever He likes with it — including entering it as the God-man Jesus of Nazareth.

So, does God exist?

I am completely convinced the answer is YES. I think the strongest evidence is the existence of creation itself and its design. Anything that begins to exist must have a cause. Science and the Bible agree that the universe had a beginning. Therefore there was a cause for that beginning.

The questions
Who made all this?
Where did all this come from?
clearly point to a magnificent Creator.

The Apostle Paul said that everyone knows that God exists due to the testimony of creation.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (Romans 1:18-23)

For a more extensive look at this argument for the existence of God, see my series of blog articles Evidence for God.

My God How Great Thou Art

Here is a YouTube video of the exhilarating song How Great Thou Art sung by George Beverly Shea at age 93 in 2002 at Carnegie Hall in New York. The hymn begins by identifying creation as a reason for praise of God:
Oh Lord, my God
When I, in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

 
These verses from one of King David’s psalms no doubt inspired the song’s author:
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! . . .
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet. (Psalm 8:1,3-6)

Questions to Ponder

1. Assuming God exists, are any of the strange things listed at the beginning of this article too hard to believe?
2. What pointer to the Great Creator is most convincing to you?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

This is the 21st article in the Why? Series of articles that suggest answers to Why? questions.
Read the prequels in the series:
1. Why Is the Age of the Earth Important?
2. Why Apologetics?
3. Why Do Atheists Care?
4. Why Did Adam Sin?
5. Why Should Adam’s Sin Affect Me?
6. Why Do Leaves Change Color?
7. Why Do I Write the Bible-Science Guy Blog?
8. Why Is Ice Slippery?
9. Why Does Salt Melt Ice?
10. Why the Virus?
11. Why Is Christmas December 25?
12. Why the Week?
13. Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?
14. Why Light?
15. Why Water?
16. Why Oxygen?
17. Why Carbon?
18. Why Nitrogen?
19. Why Leap Year?
20. Why Stars?

Read the sequel:
22. Why ??? coming soon. . .

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
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Click Bible-Science Guy Table of Contents for a list of all blog posts starting in October 2007.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Disclaimer: BibleScienceGuy has no control over any advertising that may appear and receives no payment or consideration for it. Ads & “Related” links come from WordPress, not from BibleScienceGuy.

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(4 Minute Read 27Mar2024)

Halley’s Comet
March 1986 NASA Photo from Easter Island

Have you ever heard of a green devil?

Years ago it was common for mascots of high school and college sports teams to be Red Devils or Blue Devils. And some video games feature Yellow Devils.

However, I have never seen or heard of a Green Devil.

But from now through the third week of April, those in the northern hemisphere have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a Green Devil.

Green Devil Comet

The Green Devil is the nickname of a naked-eye-visible comet whose official designation is 12P/Pons-Brooks. It is one of the brightest known periodic comets and will be visible over the next few weeks in familiar constellations. To see it, look west-north-westward shortly after sunset near the Great Square of Pegasus. It will be moving toward and into Aries the Ram. It will be well to the right of Orion’s Belt near Jupiter.

The Green Devil is a large comet with a nucleus about 18-20 miles in diameter — roughly three times the size of Mt. Everest. This is even bigger than Halley’s Comet whose maximum diameter is nine miles.

The comet 12P/Pons-Brooks glows green and red and has a long blue tail. Outbursts from the comet occasionally increase its brightness by 100-fold and give it a horseshoe shape making it look as if it has two horns like a devil.

The sporadic bursts of extreme brightness are believed to be due to volcanic activity in the comet nucleus that releases gases and ice. As the comet nears the sun, pressure builds within its nucleus due to the sun’s heat. Eventually nitrogen and carbon monoxide gas explosively expel icy debris in a volcanic eruption. The debris is highly reflective of sunlight and greatly increases the comet’s brightness temporarily. For part of last year, the comet was erupting every 15 days.

The comet is racing toward the sun at a speed of 40,000 mph. It will reach its closest approach to the sun (perihelion) on April 21 at 72.5 million miles, closer than Earth ever gets to the sun (93 million miles). The closest approach of the comet to Earth will occur on June 2 at 144 million miles. This is about 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the sun.

The comet was first discovered by French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons (1761-1831) in July 1812. Pons holds the record for the most visual discoveries of comets with 37.

In September 1883, the comet was rediscovered by American astronomer William R. Brooks (1844-1921). Brooks is in second place with 27 visual discoveries of comets. Only after orbital calculations were completed was it realized that Brooks’ comet was the same as the one Pons discovered.

A naked-eye-visible comet mentioned by the Chinese in November 1385 was probably the Green Devil, as was also one seen by an Italian astronomer in January 1457. A bright comet dating back to 245 A.D. might also have been the Green Devil. Its previous appearance was in May 1954, and it will next return in 2095.

The Green Devil’s orbital period is about 71 years. Since it was the twelfth comet to have its orbital period calculated, its official name is 12P/Pons-Brooks. Similarly, Halley’s Comet is officially designated 1P/Halley since its orbit was calculated first.

The Green Devil’s orbit is highly elliptical, similar to that of Halley. But it orbits in the opposite direction of Halley’s retrograde orbit. (Halley orbits in the opposite direction of the planets.) The Green Devil’s orbit takes it out beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Jesus heals the demon-possessed man
in the synagogue at Capernaum
(Mark 1:21-27; Luke 4:31-36)

Devils in the Bible

Adam and Eve may have seen a Green Devil when Satan tempted them in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden. If the tempting snake was green (as is often the case in artistic representations), then they saw a Green Devil — and even talked to him!

Jesus encountered many devils during His earthly sojourn because demon possession was rampant in Israel.
And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district. (Luke 4:31-37; cf. Mark 1:21-28)

For 20 more reports of Jesus casting out demons that were extremely violent or causing insanity, muteness, blindness, and deafness, see Matthew 4:24; 8:16; 8:28-33; 9:32-33; 12:22-23; 15:22-28; 17:14-18; Mark 1:21-28; 1:32-34; 1:39; 5:1-20; 7:24-30; 9:17-27; 16:9; Luke 4:41; 8:2; 8:26-39; 9:37-42; 11:14; 13:32.

Eleven of the reports mention Jesus casting out multiple demons, sometimes many demons. The incident of the legion of demons cast out of the Gerasene demoniac and sent into a herd of 2,000 swine may indicate that number of demons (Mark 5:1-20). So it is conceivable that Jesus cast out literally thousands of demons from people during His years of ministry.

Who but God alone has the power to order demons out of people?
“He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” (Mark 1:27)

Demon possession was widespread in Jesus’ day causing mental illness, social disturbance, sickness, and violence as well as muteness, blindness, and deafness. Why would it not do the same in our world? I believe demon interference is just as much a problem today as when Jesus dealt with it, but we don’t recognize it. In fact, the Apostle Paul alludes to this:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

The Old Testament prophet Daniel gave us a glimpse of the spiritual struggle and warfare going on behind the scenes. An angel sent to Daniel with a message was delayed by an opposing spirit till assisted by the archangel Michael. (Daniel 10:1-21)

The Great Creator made the Green Devil Comet and the devils that Jesus ordered out of people. His absolute power and authority extend throughout all of creation, both material and immaterial.

Questions to Ponder

1. What do you think is most intriguing about the Great Creator‘s Green Devil Comet?
2. Martin Luther said, “When the devil comes to plague you, take hold of the Word of God and rely on it.” What Scripture do you plan to hang on to?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, March 27, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

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(3 Minute Read plus video. 20Mar2024)

BibleScienceGuy with a string
of four 16-inch lake trout

While camping beside a lake, have you ever been wakened by fish?

We have camped many times within a stone’s throw of a lake full of fish. Loud dogs have waked us up, but I have never been awakened by barking fish.

I have even caught fish from the lake at which I camped as shown here. But the fish I caught and ate never let out a peep that I heard.

Recently, however, I learned that fish are not always quiet. One of the world’s smallest fish makes one of the loudest noises in the animal kingdom.

Danionella cerebrum is a fish discovered in 2021 that lives in streams in Myanmar. These fish are only about 1/2 inch in length with the smallest known adult vertebrate brain volume of only 0.6 mm³. An adult of one of these fish would easily fit on top of a dime.

Amazingly, the little males produce noise exceeding 140 decibels in volume. This is as loud as a jackhammer used to break up concrete. Male Danionella cerebrum fish can trumpet louder than an elephant (110 decibels) and louder than a human can scream (125 decibels).

How is this possible from such a tiny little fish?

In a research study published less than a month ago in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists learned the little fish makes its noise using a specialized fatigue-resistant muscle, a rib, and its buoyancy-controlling swim bladder. It drums the rib against the gas-filled bladder by using the muscle to move the rib into a piece of cartilage and then release it to thump the bladder. Females do not produce sounds because their ribs are too soft.

Here is a short (1:36) YouTube video of the Danionella cerebrum fish:

 
Why did the Great Creator gift this giant noise to such a tiny fish? What is its purpose? Nobody yet knows.

Fish Make a Big Splash in the Bible

Fish have a prominent place in the Bible, but Biblical fish have only made metaphorical noise down through the centuries.

One of the most famous fish of the Bible is the one the Old Testament prophet Jonah met around 790 BC when he was fleeing from God’s orders to preach in Nineveh.

Jonah tells his riveting, almost unbelievable account of being pitched overboard into a tumultuous sea and then swallowed by a great fish. Yet three days and three nights later, the creature vomited Jonah onto the shore alive.

Retellings often link Jonah to a whale, but the Bible does not say the creature was a whale. The Hebrew Scripture of Jonah 1:17 uses the words gaḏowl dag meaning great fish.

By God’s sovereign appointment, a rebellious prophet, a raging storm, and a ravenous fish collided to illustrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and to bring revival to a sin-soaked city. Jonah’s preaching spurred Assyrian Nineveh to repent and believe in “the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” (Jonah 1:9; 3:3-10)

Jesus of Nazareth showcased Jonah’s fish encounter as a historical portrait of His own death, burial, and resurrection.
“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” (Matthew 12:40-41)

Many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. So it is not surprising that fish surface in the Gospel records of Jesus’ life.

St. Peter’s Fish (tilapia) served in a
Tiberias restaurant at the Sea of Galilee

On at least two separate occasions Jesus showed expert fishermen that He knew how to fish. Twice after His disciples had fished all night long on the sea of Galilee with no success, Jesus told them where to cast their nets for huge, miraculous hauls of fish. (Luke 5:4-11; John 21:1-12)

Jesus also used fish to demonstrate His identity as Creator.

At the Feeding of the 5,000, starting with only 5 loaves and 2 fish, Jesus created enough bread and fish to satisfy 5,000 men plus women and children and 12 baskets of leftovers.
(Matthew 14:14-21; Mark 6:34-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-13)

Later at the Feeding of the 4,000, Jesus started with 7 loaves and a few fish and created enough bread and fish to satisfy 4,000 men plus women and children and 7 baskets of leftovers. (Matthew 15:32-38; Mark 8:1-9)

These two mass feedings were major miracles of creation. From only a few loaves and fish Jesus created from nothing thousands more loaves and thousands more fish to feed everybody.

In a sense, these fish of the Bible have spoken more loudly than the thunderous drummings of the little Danionella cerebrum fish. For millions of people throughout the centuries have heard the messages of the fish of the Bible.

Questions to Ponder

1. As a “fisher of men” (Matthew 4:18-22), what bait do you find most effective?
2. What great work of the Lord do you most enjoy studying?
Great are the works of the Lord; they are studied by all who delight in them. (Psalm 111:2)

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 A.D.

Jonah said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” (Jonah 1:9)

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(4 Minute Read. 13Mar2024)

Map of the Milky Way Galaxy

Have you ever wondered why there are stars?

Why do we see stars out in space instead of only empty nothingness?

Why are stars out there in the blackness of space? Where did they come from?

It was only a century ago that mankind began to realize how numerous the stars are, and how enormous the universe actually is.

In 1920 two astronomers had an intense public debate about the size of the universe. It happened on April 26 at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Harlow Shapley (1885–1972) of Harvard University opposed Heber Curtis (1872–1942) of the University of Pittsburgh. Shapley argued for the prevailing scientific view that the Milky Way galaxy comprised the entire universe. Curtis argued in opposition that spiral nebulae like Andromeda were huge independent galaxies far distant from the Milky Way and not within the confines of the Milky Way as Shapley believed.

Within a few years, astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889–1953) showed that Andromeda was a galaxy far distant from the Milky Way.

How many stars exist out there? How many are in our Milky Way galaxy?

Nobody knows the answer to either question. We don’t even know how many galaxies there are.

The Milky Way is but one of many billions, likely even trillions, of galaxies in the universe. Astronomers estimate there are between 200 billion (200,000,000,000) and 2 trillion (2,000,000,000,000) galaxies in the observable universe. God only knows (literally and truly) how many galaxies are in the unobservable universe.

Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way contains between 100 billion and 400 billion stars, but some estimates are much higher. Nobody knows even a good estimate for sure.

Around 600 BC, before the invention of telescopes, the prophet Jeremiah made a startling pronouncement. At that time learned men thought there were only about 4,000 stars because that was all that could be counted with the naked eye. Yet the Word of the Lord taught differently. The prophet Jeremiah quoted words of the Great Creator saying that nobody would be able to count the stars:
“As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.” (Jeremiah 33:22)

The “settled science” of Jeremiah’s day would have disputed his statement. Yet 2600 years later we now can make observations and calculations demonstrating Scripture’s accuracy. Of course the Bible was correct. And regarding the stars, we have only definitively demonstrated this within the last century.

How much of today’s “settled science” disputes the Bible? Eventually the contradictory science will be proved wrong. I prefer to trust the Word of the Lord over that of fallible scientists.

Astronomers roughly estimate the total number of stars in the observable universe to be around 200 sextillion = 2 × 10²³ = 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. That’s 2 followed by 23 zeros! This comes from multiplying an estimate for the number of galaxies (2 trillion) by an estimate for the average number of stars in a galaxy (100 billion). However some scientists estimate the total number of stars in the universe to be 50 times this value, namely 10²⁵.

There is Someone, however, who does know the total number of stars in the universe. The Great Creator who made them has counted and named each one.
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:26)
He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:4-5)

Andromeda Galaxy
A spiral galaxy with a trillion stars
about 2.5 million light-years away.

Purpose for Stars?

Why are all these stars out there?
The simple yet complete and profound answer is that the Great Creator made all the stars on Creation Day Four and placed them in the heavens. That is why the stars are there.

What is God’s purpose for the stars?

I believe there are three main purposes for the existence of the stars.

One primary purpose is to glorify the Great Creator.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

A second primary purpose is to give clear evidence of the existence of the Great Creator to mankind. The multitude of stars in the immense expanse of the universe were created for mankind to see and appreciate the power and glory of the Great Creator. Their existence points to His existence.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

A third primary purpose of the stars, along with the sun and moon, is for signs and for seasons and for days and years.
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. (Genesis 1:14-16)

The total amount of energy of all these 200 sextillion stars and 2 trillion galaxies is incomprehensible to humans. The power of the Creator is far beyond man’s imagination. A Creator whose marvelous works include these stupendous feats of creating, numbering, and naming an unfathomable quantity of gigantic blazing stars merits our continual awe, worship, and enthusiastic praise!

Questions to Ponder

1. What aspect of God’s creative work in making, numbering, and naming the stars is most awe-inspiring to you?
2. Since all the stars have already been named (Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 147:4-5), what do you think about commercial offerings to “name a star” after someone?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

This is the 20th article in the Why? Series of articles that suggest answers to Why? questions.
Read the prequels in the series:
1. Why Is the Age of the Earth Important?
2. Why Apologetics?
3. Why Do Atheists Care?
4. Why Did Adam Sin?
5. Why Should Adam’s Sin Affect Me?
6. Why Do Leaves Change Color?
7. Why Do I Write the Bible-Science Guy Blog?
8. Why Is Ice Slippery?
9. Why Does Salt Melt Ice?
10. Why the Virus?
11. Why Is Christmas December 25?
12. Why the Week?
13. Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?
14. Why Light?
15. Why Water?
16. Why Oxygen?
17. Why Carbon?
18. Why Nitrogen?
19. Why Leap Year?

Read the sequel:
21. Why Believe?

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
new posts free by email. Click SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Click Best of Bible-Science Guy for lists of the best Bible-Science Guy posts of each year.
Click Bible-Science Guy Table of Contents for a list of all blog posts starting in October 2007.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, March 13, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

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(4 Minute Read plus video. 6Mar2024)

Chilean flamingo with egg
Bernburg, Germany Zoo

To what lengths would you go to save baby birds, baby rabbits, or little kittens?

Two summers ago a nest of little robins I was watching experienced tragedy, and I could do nothing about it. See Robins Hatch and the sequel Robin Mystery for the story.

But recently tragedy was averted for some little flamingos.

Saving Six Flamingos

An Alaska Airlines News article of February 5, 2024, reported that one of their stewardesses helped save baby flamingos on a cross-country flight last August 2023.

These flamingos were rare Chilean flamingos. This flamingo species is rated as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

A zoo official on board the plane was transporting flamingo eggs from Zoo Atlanta in Georgia to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. The eggs were in an incubator to keep them warm, and it had stopped working. He asked the stewardess to help keep the eggs warm to save the lives of six unhatched baby flamingos.

Stewardess Amber was compassionate and resourceful. She filled rubber gloves with warm water from the galley and gave them to the zoo official. He wrapped the water-filled gloves around the eggs, forming a cozy nest. Nearby passengers assisted by providing coats and scarves for insulation. As the water cooled, new gloves with more warm water replaced the old ones.

Amber & Granddaughter Sunny
meet Flamingo Sunny
(Photo from Alaska Airlines News)

The MacGyver-style process worked. Six healthy flamingos eventually hatched from those eggs at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo.

Several months later the zoo invited Amber to visit the six baby flamingos she had helped save. She and her granddaughter Sunny were treated to an exclusive meet-and-greet with the new chicks. The flamingo chicks are named Magdalena, Amaya, Rosales, Gonzo, Bernardo — and Sunny, after Amber’s granddaughter. The Woodland Park Zoo now has 49 flamingos.

Flamingos

The word flamingo comes from Spanish or Portuguese meaning flame-colored. Only adult flamingos exhibit the creature’s characteristic pink plumage, so Baby Sunny had to be content with scruffy gray feathers on her namesake.

The flamingo lifespan is about 30 years, although some in captivity have lived for 60. Flamingo pairs usually mate for life. The female lays a single chalky-white egg annually on a mud mound. Thus the eggs sent to the Woodland Park Zoo were likely from six pairs of flamingos in the Atlanta zoo.

Just as a group of cows is called a herd and a group of crows is called a murder, a group of flamingos is called — not a flock as you might expect — but a flamboyance. Flamingos are very social birds that live in colonies in the wild that can number in the thousands.

Flamingos are very noisy birds that produce sounds ranging from grunting to growling to nasal honking. Here is a YouTube video where you can hear their raucous vocalization and see some beautiful flamingos.

 
Flamingos are wading birds that usually stand on one leg in water with the other tucked beneath them. They are excellent flyers. In 2005, a pair escaped from the Wichita, Kansas, zoo. Over the course of 14 years, bird watchers spotted one of them in Texas, Wisconsin, and Louisiana.

In 1988, a Chilean flamingo escaped from the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City, Utah. Known as Pink Floyd, the flamingo ate brine shrimp in the winter from the Great Salt Lake. It flew north to Idaho and Montana for the spring and summer before returning to Salt Lake City in the autumn. In the spring of 2005, Pink Floyd flew north and was seen in Idaho, but he was never spotted again.

Last year Hurricane Idalia dropped flamingos all over the eastern United States. Shortly after the hurricane’s landfall, flamingos were sighted in Alabama, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio — states where flamingos are not normally seen. Over seventy flamingo sightings were reported all across Florida. In total, over 150 flamingos had been sighted only days after Idalia reached the US. Experts think Idalia carried the birds across the Caribbean from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula which is home to flamingo colonies. (See Flamingos in Ohio? Leggy pink birds showing up all over after Idalia for more details.)

Flamingos were a prized delicacy on Roman tables. Pliny the Elder wrote that the flamingo tongue “is of the most exquisite flavor.” The Roman historian Suetonius reported that Emperor Vitellius served flamingo tongues at a feast to celebrate his arrival in Rome. The Roman poet Martial wrote of flamingos, “My red wing gives me my name; but it is my tongue that is considered savory by epicures.”

Are Flamingos More Valuable Than Babies?

I commend all those involved in the flamingo rescue on Alaska Airlines. Mankind has a mandate from the Great Creator to oversee His creation, preserving and caring for it.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)

But people are far more valuable than all the rest of creation because they are made in the image of God.

It is ironic that so much care was devoted to preserving the lives of the unhatched flamingos, while at the same time “unhatched” babies in their mothers’ wombs were being killed all over the country.

Jesus Himself answered the question of the relative value of humans and birds:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

It is shameful and evil to kill “unhatched” human babies in the God-ordained safety of their mothers’ wombs.

Questions to Ponder

1. If you had been on the zookeeper’s flight, would you have been able to verbalize to your seatmate why nurturing the flamingo eggs mattered?
2. Have you ever faced a crisis where you had to innovate a process to save animal or human life?
3. What task falls in your corner to care for God’s creation?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
new posts free by email. Click SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Click Best of Bible-Science Guy for lists of the best Bible-Science Guy posts of each year.
Click Bible-Science Guy Table of Contents for a list of all blog posts starting in October 2007.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, March 6, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

Disclaimer: BibleScienceGuy has no control over any advertising that may appear and receives no payment or consideration for it. Ads & “Related” links come from WordPress, not from BibleScienceGuy.

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(4 Minute Read. 28Feb2024)

Happy Leap Day!
February 29
American Bullfrog

What was the longest calendar year in history?

You might guess that it’s a leap year of 366 days, but you would be wrong.

One particular calendar year was actually a great deal longer — several months longer! Once in history, a calendar year was 445 days long! A true jumbo year.

How and why did this happen?

Were calendar years ever shorter than 365 days?

Yes; several were only 355 days long.

How and why did this happen?

Calendar Years and Solar Years

Nowadays we usually think of a year as 365 days, and most calendar years are exactly this long. But the solar year, the time it takes Earth to orbit the sun, is slightly longer than the 365-day calendar year. The solar year is 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 56 seconds longer; that is, the solar year is 365.242190 days long, just short of 365 and a quarter days.

Thus occasionally time needs to be added to the calendar year in order to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons — which are determined by the solar year. This is the reason for Leap Years which add time to the calendar year in the form of Leap Days on February 29.

For example, if time were not added to the calendar year, then in around 700 years the calendar’s relation to the solar cycle would have shifted so much that the Northern Hemisphere’s summer would begin in calendar December instead of calendar June.

Leap Years occur every four years in years divisible by 4 except for end-of-century years, which must be divisible by 400. For example, 2016, 2020, 2024, and 2028 are leap years as was the end-of-century year 2000. But 1900 and 2100 are not leap years.

If the solar year were exactly 365 and a quarter days, then adding a Leap Day every four years would keep the calendar and seasons in sync. But since the solar year is slightly less than 365 and a quarter days, occasionally the fourth year is not a leap year, namely when the end-of-century year is not divisible by 400.

The current year, 2024, is a Leap Year. Tomorrow, February 29, is the extra day added into the year at the end of February. Instead of having 365 days, 2024 will have 366.

Why the Term “Leap”?

Normally, in 365-day years, a specific date only moves forward by a single weekday from one year to the next. This is because 7 divided into 365 is 52 with a remainder of 1. That is, a non-leap year is 52 weeks and 1 day long. For example, Christmas Day, December 25, was on Sunday in 2022 and on Monday (one day forward) in 2023.

In leap years, starting in March following the leap day of February 29, each calendar date “leaps” forward an additional weekday from the preceding year because 366 divided by 7 is 52 with a remainder of 2. That is, a leap year is 52 weeks and 2 days long. Thus Christmas Day in 2024 will not be Tuesday (one day forward from 2023), but it will “leap” over Tuesday to be Wednesday (two days forward from 2023). January and February dates will do their “leaps” in 2025.

Leap Years in the Bible?

It is interesting that Noah’s records of time during the Flood show his months had 30 days. The Flood began on the 17th day of the second month of Noah’s 600th year. At the end of 150 days, in the seventh month, on the 17th day of the month, the Ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat. Five months lasted exactly 150 days, for 30 days per month. (Genesis 7:11; 7:24-8:4)

Thus it is possible that in the beginning there was no need for leap years. It’s possible that months were 30 days long and years were 360 days long. The upheavals associated with the Flood, both causative and resultant, may have slightly altered the orbits of the moon and earth so that they were no longer so perfectly aligned as originally created.

The Longest and Shortest Years

When Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC) rose to power in the Roman Empire, the Roman calendar was badly out of sync with the seasons. The Roman calendar was based on the moon, and 12 lunar months is about 11 days short of a solar year. A lunar month is the time it takes the moon to orbit the Earth, and 12 lunar months is 354.36 days. Roman harvest festivals based on the Roman calendar no longer fell at harvest time.

Caesar added days to the calendar in 46 BC to fix the discrepancy. He made 46 BC 445 days long. Thus 46 BC is the longest calendar year in history.

The next year, in 45 BC, Caesar instituted the Julian calendar of 365 days divided into 12 months with an additional leap day every fourth year. Thus we have Julius Caesar to thank for Leap Years and Leap Days.

The Julian calendar worked well for hundreds of years, but by the mid-1500s the seasons began about 10 days earlier than indicated by the calendar because the solar year is slightly shorter than 365 and a quarter days. The Julian calendar runs one day ahead of the solar year every 129 years, or 3.1 days every 400 years.

To fix this, in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII (1502–1585) introduced the Gregorian calendar that we use today. He took out three leap days every 400 years by excluding leap years in end-of-century years not divisible by 400. He also took 10 days out of the year by having Thursday, October 4, 1582, be followed by Friday, October 15, 1582, to correct the drift of the Julian calendar. Thus 1582 was the shortest calendar year in history with only 355 days. The Gregorian calendar also changed the start of the year to be January 1.

Gradually the Gregorian calendar was adopted worldwide — but slowly. Great Britain and the American colonies only adopted it in 1752 and synchronized calendars by following Wednesday, September 2 with Thursday, September 14. Since 1752 was a leap year, this calendar year also had only 355 days.

The Gregorian calendar runs one day ahead of the solar year every 3,030 years. Maybe in a few millenia, to correct this a leap day will be skipped in some year. A BibleScienceGuy Blog article in the year AD 4612 might answer the question, “Why didn’t we have a February 29 leap day this year?” Maybe that article would propose a slight modification to extend the validity of the Gregorian calendar by eliminating leap years in years that are integer multiples of 3,000.

But maybe the Lord Jesus Christ will return to Earth before then and the issue will be moot. Let’s hope so!

Questions to Ponder

1. Do you know anyone born on February 29? Do they age slower than you since they only have birthdays every four years?
2. When people discuss leap year, how can you honor the Great Creator in the conversation?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Read the prequels in this Why? Series:
Why Is the Age of the Earth Important?
Why Apologetics?
Why Do Atheists Care?
Why Did Adam Sin?
Why Should Adam’s Sin Affect Me?
Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Why Do I Write the Bible-Science Guy Blog?
Why Is Ice Slippery?
Why Does Salt Melt Ice?
Why the Virus?
Why Is Christmas December 25?
Why the Week?
Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?
Why Light?
Why Water?
Why Oxygen?
Why Carbon?
Why Nitrogen?

Read the sequel:
Why Stars?

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
new posts free by email. Click SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Click Best of Bible-Science Guy for lists of the best Bible-Science Guy posts of each year.
Click Bible-Science Guy Table of Contents for a list of all blog posts starting in October 2007.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, February 28, 2024 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

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(5 Minute Read. 21Feb2021)

Last week’s 2024 Valentine Quiz consisted of 12 questions about love and marriage to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day has come to be a day in which romantic love is celebrated. It is an especially appropriate time to annually review marriage promises and recommit to faithfulness — one woman for one man for life (Matthew 19:4-6).

Valentine’s Day is in honor of the third-century Christian martyr St. Valentine of Rome who was beheaded by Emperor Claudius II, known as Claudius the Cruel. Claudius prohibited marriage in Rome because he thought that attachment to wives and families hindered Roman men from joining the army. Valentine defied the emperor by marrying couples in secret. He was executed for this defiance on February 14, 269 AD.

If you haven’t taken the quiz yet, click 2024 Valentine Quiz to take the quiz before you look at the answers below.

Here are the 12 original quiz questions followed by answers and explanations. Links to supporting Bible verses are included with each answer for the Bible questions.

Questions & Answers for 2021 Valentine Quiz

1. Who wrote, “How do I love thee, let me count the ways”?
A. King Solomon
B. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
C. Emily Dickinson
D. Lord Byron

Answer: B.
After exchanging 600 letters in 20 months, Robert Browning (1812–1889) married 40-year-old Elizabeth Barrett (1806–1861) in secret due to her father’s opposition. She died in Robert’s arms after 15 years of marriage and writing poetry together. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a fervent Christian. She learned Hebrew and read the Old Testament in Hebrew.

2. What is the oldest known Valentine?
A. A love poem from Charles, the French Duke of Orléans, to his wife
B. Henry VIII’s missive to Anne Boleyn
C. John Donne’s poem for Princess Elizabeth celebrating her Valentine’s Day marriage to Frederick V
D. Lancelot’s letter to Queen Guinevere following his banishment by King Arthur

Answer: A. Duke Charles’ love poem to his wife in the early 1400s
From the Tower of London following his capture at the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, the duke’s poem begins in French, “I am already sick of love, my very gentle Valentine.”

3. Who worked 14 years for his future father-in-law to earn his bride?
A. Amos
B. Andrew Jackson
C. Marco Polo
D. Jacob

Answer: D. Jacob (Genesis 29:15-30)
Jacob worked for Laban for seven years in order to marry Laban’s daughter Rachel. On the wedding night, Laban tricked Jacob by substituting Rachel’s older sister Leah. Jacob worked another seven years for Rachel for a total of 14 years.

4. What is a cherub?
A. An angel whose arrows cause people to fall in love
B. Angels that proclaim “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.”
C. An angel placed to guard the Garden of Eden after Adam’s sin
D. Angels of gold whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat in the Tabernacle

Answer: C & D. (Genesis 3:22-24; Exodus 25:17-22)
The angels of answer B are seraphim (Isaiah 6:1-3), not cherubim.

5. Who had a barber shave her boyfriend’s head while he slept?
A. Madonna
B. Taylor Swift
C. Jezebel
D. Delilah

Answer: D. Delilah (Judges 16:4-21)

6. Who told husbands to love their wives as they love their own bodies?
A. The Apostle John
B. The Apostle Paul
C. The Apostle Peter
D. No one

Answer: B. The Apostle Paul (Ephesians 5:28-33)

7. Who told wives to submit to (obey) their husbands as to Christ?
A. The Apostle John
B. The Apostle Paul
C. The Apostle Peter
D. No one

Answer: B & C.
(Ephesians 5:22-24; 1 Peter 3:1-6)
Both the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter give this instruction.

8. Who saved her husband from death by circumcising their son?
A. Sarah
B. Zipporah
C. Abigail
D. Gomer

Answer: B. Zipporah (Exodus 4:19-26)
Moses’ wife Zipporah circumcised their son on their way from Midian to Egypt to forestall the Lord’s attempt to kill Moses.

9. Whose newlywed wife nagged him with tears for seven days to tell her a secret?
A. Isaac
B. Ahab
C. Samson
D. David

Answer: C. Samson (Judges 14:15-17)

10. Which US president secretly married a woman 30 years his junior while in office?
A. James Monroe
B. John Tyler
C. Chester Arthur
D. Grover Cleveland

Answer: B. John Tyler (1790–1862)
Late in 1842 Julia Gardiner Tyler (1820–1889) went with her parents to Washington for the winter social season. She became the undisputed belle of the capital, charming and attracting the most eminent men of the city. She received marriage proposals from two Congressmen and a Supreme Court Justice as well as President Tyler (1841–1845) who had just been widowed in September. The next winter Julia and her father David Gardiner went on a Presidential naval excursion. David and six others died in an explosion of a large naval gun on the ship. Tyler’s comforting of Julia resulted in a secret engagement, and they married secretly in June 1944. Tyler had seven children with Julia after having had eight with his first wife. In a poem composed for Tyler’s 62nd birthday, Julia promised him, “What e’er changes time may bring, I’ll love thee as thou art!”

11. Which US president met his wife in Sunday School at age six?
A. George Washington
B. James Garfield
C. Teddy Roosevelt
D. Harry Truman

Answer: D. Harry Truman
Harry Truman (1884–1972) and Bess Wallace (1885–1982) first met in 1890 in Sunday school at the First Presbyterian Church in Independence, Missouri. He was six years old, and she was five. Harry often said that he fell in love with Bess right away. Years later he recalled that Bess was “all that a girl could be possibly and impossibly.” But she did not reciprocate for some time. He courted her for almost 30 years. Bess turned down his marriage proposal in 1911 but accepted it in 1917. They were married in 1919. Harry wrote 1300 letters to Bess over 50 years; they remain in the Truman Presidential Library. Bess was Harry’s main speechwriter throughout his political career. Harry no doubt never rued the day his parents took him to Sunday School.

12. How many women did astronomer Johann Kepler interview to be his wife after his first wife died?
A. 3
B. 5
C. 8
D. 11

Answer: D. 11
Following the death of his first wife Barbara, Johann Kepler (1571–1630) interviewed 11 different women for a wife over the course of two years. In 1613 he married 24-year-old Susanna Reuttinger, the fifth interviewee. He wrote that she “won me over with love, humble loyalty, economy of household, diligence, and the love she gave the stepchildren.” This led to an extensively studied math problem known as Kepler’s marriage problem: What is the optimal point at which to stop a series of interviews to get the best applicant?

Permission to Use

In the past, some readers have asked permission to use my quizzes with Sunday Schools, Bible study groups, or other applications. I give permission for such use provided the source website is included. For this quiz, please credit the quiz to the Bible-Science Guy Blog at 2024 Valentine Quiz, https://biblescienceguy.wordpress.com/2024/02/14/2024-valentine-quiz/.

Click Bible-Science Guy Quizzes for a complete list of links to all my quizzes.

Questions to Ponder

1. What steps can you take to strengthen the bond of love with your spouse?
2. Marriage is not prohibited today as it was under Claudius II, but what false ideas of our culture presently work against God’s good plan for marriage?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Read the prequels:
2021 Valentine Quiz
2024 Valentine Quiz

Click Bible-Science Guy Quizzes for a complete list of links to all my quizzes.

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
new posts free by email. Click SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Click Best of Bible-Science Guy for lists of the best Bible-Science Guy posts of each year.
Click Bible-Science Guy Table of Contents for a list of all blog posts starting in October 2007.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday February 21, 2021 A.D.

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS CAUSE A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND SHALL CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE; AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:22-33)

Disclaimer: BibleScienceGuy has no control over any advertising that may appear and receives no payment or consideration for it. Ads & “Related” links come from WordPress, not from BibleScienceGuy.