Jesus, nailed to the cross, shed his crimson blood in order to give abundant life to all his children.

There are many who believe that nature created itself. However, since the days of Job until the present day, millions have believed this to be impossible.

The allusion in the book of Job (39:26) provides surprising information about the habit of the Falco tinnuculus of hovering in the air and remaining stationary in order to be able to observe possible prey.

In Moses’s own language, the singular word for “onion” is bétsel, while the plural form is betsalim, which comes from the root batsal, meaning “to peel”.

The oriental plane tree is a tree with a smooth bark which easily peels away in strips, giving the trunk the appearance of a multi-coloured puzzle, or an artist’s palette of different shades of green and brown.

Sometimes the ram’s tail grew so much and was so heavy that it actually trailed along the ground, inflicting painful injuries on the animal. When the Bible refers to the “entire fat tail” (Lev. 3:9), this is what the writer has in mind.

They were ruminating mammals, capable of running more than a hundred kilometres without either eating or drinking. Their large feet are perfectly designed for walking across the desert sands.

It has a wing-span of 70 cm, and mainly preys on small forest birds.

The lack of food would remind the Israelites of the fact that when they were in the desert, and were hungry, they were fed by God. However, now, having turned their backs on God, they would suffer hunger again.

Although “virus” means “poison”, and we associate the term with diseases such as Ebola, AIDS or flu, among others, certain viruses are instrumental in the growth of our nervous system.

While pecking a tree the woodpecker is subjected to impacts of up to 1400 times the force of gravity. Human beings can only withstand impacts of up to 8 times the force of gravity before becoming unconscious.

The varying and changing climate in the Bible lands allowed for a wide variety of trees, which took root everywhere from the high, and very cold, mountain regions of Mt. Hermon to the hot Negev desert and the shores of the Dead Sea.

As a relict species it has only managed to survive on a handful of isolated mountain-tops.

There were insects that could be eaten, such as various types of winged locusts, which the New Testament also refers to as the food that John the Baptist ate.

The caper is native to Southeast Asia, but it is common throughout the Mediterranean basin and in many other parts of the world.

The ancient Egyptians tamed them and trained them to collect fruit from the tallest trees, like palms, and even to look after flocks of sheep, just as certain breeds of dog are trained to do nowadays.

It is a strong, timid, solitary and hard-to-find member of the heron family, whose brownish-red plumage bears a number of dark streaks, and which lives among the reeds in marshy wetland.

In the Bible, saffron is only mentioned in the Song of Songs, as one of the most prominent aromatic spices, and with the aim of highlighting the beauty of the beloved.

Why is it that, despite feeding on decomposing animal flesh, vultures never catch any diseases?

Henna is only referred to twice in the Song of Songs (chapter 1:14 and 4:13), in relation to beauty, fragrance and love.

There is only one verse in the Bible where cotton is mentioned (Esther 1 v 6), although many versions translate it as linen.

The term was translated as “cedar”, “poplar” and even “cypress” as it was thought that fir trees did not exist in Biblical lands.

In ancient times carob pods were used to feed horses, donkeys and pigs, though they could also be used as a source of food for humans.

Debora means “bee”, an animal regarded by the Hebrews as organised, wise and hard-working.

How could a life-long atheist abandon evolutionary materialism and embrace the existence of God?