Is the Bible a Book of Medicine?

"The Bible is not a book of science." We hear and read that statement a lot these days but there is a deceptive lie hidden with this claim.

In 1844 in Austria, it was a fearful thing when a woman went into the great Vienna Hospital to have her baby. One mother out of every five died of child-bed fever. Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, set out to find out why. In those days no one knew about bacteria and while the existence of "germs" was suspected it was merely a theory and many did not believe in the existence of "germs." Semmelweis noticed that after examining the dead patients the young doctors would then examine the living and never considered washing their hands between examinations. With great opposition Dr. Semmelweis insisted they wash their hands and the death rate dropped almost to zero. Sadly, Dr. Semmelweis was dismissed and the old practice continued with the awful death rate.

However, Dr. Semmelweis's discovery was not new knowledge. Thousands of years earlier God had given Moses this knowledge and the Israelites knew they were unclean after touching the dead. By Mosaic Law they had to wash and use hyssop branches. Today, we know that hyssop contains a powerful antibacterial and antifungal agent.

So when the Bible touches upon an area of science it is still completely accurate. After all, the Author of the Bible is also the Author of everything that science studies!