A Biblical Journey Supported by Science

Science, in the present state of our scientific knowledge, including the most advanced, can support our faith in order to make the texts not only understandable, but also interesting and often beneficial for our reflection or our interior life. This systematic alliance between faith and science is one of the most innovative aspects of the book, which is highlighted by its title. Thus, on a general level, history, geography, archaeology, linguistics, paleoanthropology, and other...
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Science, in the present state of our scientific knowledge, including the most advanced, can support our faith in order to make the texts not only understandable, but also interesting and often beneficial for our reflection or our interior life. This systematic alliance between faith and science is one of the most innovative aspects of the book, which is highlighted by its title. Thus, on a general level, history, geography, archaeology, linguistics, paleoanthropology, and other disciplines are now able to retrace the history of ancient palestine over a long period of time. Retracing by the same token, the history of the small territory of canaan that the hebrews conquered under the leadership of moses and then, joshua. You will discover egypt, master of the entire near east for more than a thousand years, and the invasions of the sea peoples who ravaged the land of canaan shortly before its conquest by joshua, as well as the hittites and the invasion of egypt by the hyksos.

If we place ourselves at the more modest level of the protagonists of the profane or sacred stories that are told in this volume 1, "the time of the patriarchs," science will teach us a lot about their habits, their fears, and their joys. Texts found in the remains of the city-state of nuzi will shed light on the lifestyle of these nomadic shepherds.

Finally, I propose to use the theories of information and communication, in a totally new way, as two scientific tools at the service of the bible. We will consider the sacred text as containing a series of "messages" (in the sense of telecommunications) that god addresses to us through time and space. The senders of these messages are characters "inspired" by god (the patriarchs in this volume 1). These messages reach our mailbox (either e-mail or brain). Communication theory and habits will dictate our first action: authenticate the sender so that he doesn't send spam or bugs!

You will discover how to authenticate abraham through history and plate tectonics, and jacob through paleoclimatology and hieroglyphic inscriptions.

Geophysics, including paleoclimatology, plate tectonics, volcanology, and seismology, makes it possible to convert facts tainted with divine wonder to simple manifestations of the earth's moods, which can often be dated, and which make it possible to take these great patriarchs out of the mythical fog in which our ignorance has tended to confine them.