Dear Colleagues:
A dear friend sent me a story about a NASA contractor discovering evidence
that the sun must have stood still about a day (Joshua 10:8 and 12,13) and
even gone backwards ten degrees (2 Kings 20:9-11) at some time in the past.
The technical details seem all wrong (e.g., the issue would be the earth's
rotation, not its orbit), but that's really beside the point, I think.
Below is my reply message to my friend (I've pasted the story ahead of my
reaction to it).
Does anyone know the history of this urban legend? I'd like to send that
to my friend too.
In my initial reply to my friend I didn't even get into the question of
biblical hermeneutics. I don't think God did perturb the rotation (or
orbit) of the earth or moon at the request of Joshua or King Hezekiah. I
see some myth in the Bible. But not all myths are of equal value. Myths
in the Bible convey theological truths; Babylonian, Greek, Roman, and other
pagan mythologies don't convey much theological truth, though they do
express insight about human nature.
******************************************************************
> Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2001 4:37 AM
>
> AMAZING -
>
> Science & the Bible:
> For all the scientists out there and for all the students who have a hard
> time convincing these people regarding the truth of the Bible, here's
> something that shows God's awesome creation and shows that He is still in
> control. Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has
> been called myth in the Bible is true?
>
> Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore
>Maryland
> and a consultant in the space Program relates the following development. I
> think one of the most amazing things that God has for us today happened
> recently to our astronauts and space scientists at Greenbelt, Maryland. They
> were
> checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets out in space where they
> would be 100 years and 1000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't
> send a satellite, up and have it bump into something later on in its orbits.
> We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite, and
> where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.
>
> They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries and it
> came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant
> that there was something wrong either with the information fed into it or
> with the results as compared to the standards. They called in the service
> department to check it out and they said, What's wrong? Well, they found
> there is a day missing in space in elapsed time.
> They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer.
>Finally,
> a Christian man on the team said, You know, one time I was in Sunday School
> and they talked about the sun standing still. While they
> didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, Show
>us.
> He got a Bible and went back to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty
> ridiculous statement for any one with common sense.
> There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, Fear not, I have delivered them
> into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee. Joshua was
> concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy and if darkness fell they
> would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun standstill!
> That's right The sun stood still and the moon stayed-and hasted not to go
> down about a whole day! (Joshua 10:12-13)
> The astronauts and scientists said, There is the missing day! They checked
> the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close
> but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua'sday
> was 23 hours and 20 minutes-not a whole day. They read the Bible and
>there it
> was about approximately a day. These little words in the Bible are
>important,
> but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes
> you'll still be in trouble1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be
>found
> because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits. As the Christian
> employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it
>said
> the sun went BACKWARDS. The scientists told him he was out of his mind,but
> they got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the
> following story: Hezekiah, on his deathbed, was visited by the prophet
>Isaiah
> who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as
> proof. Isaiah said Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees? Hezekiah said
> It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return
> backward 10 degrees. Isaiah spoke to the Lord and the Lord brought the
>shadow
> ten degrees BACKWARD! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes! Twenty-three hours
> and 20 minutes in Joshua, 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in
> the universe! References: Joshua 10:8 and 12,13 and 2 Kings 20:9-11.
>
> Forward this to as many people who you believe would think this is
>equally as
> cool. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the
>ark.
> Professionals built the Titanic.
>
My reply:
Dear XXXXX:
I appreciate seeing the story you sent; I've seen similar things over the
years. Of course, it would take a lot of digging to verify such a story.
Science and religion relate in such interesting ways. They shouldn't be
mixed as if they were the same, but then again they shouldn't be kept
completely and absolutely apart all the time either.
I've come to think of God as choosing to act most of the time in such a way
that us creatures experience a lawful, faithful creation. Only in such a
setting can we exercise true freedom and responsibility, in my opinion.
However, I also believe that God has the ability to act in surprising ways,
and does so on rare occasions (for example, Christ's resurrection).
In any case, God is not excluded from "natural" processes and events, in my
opinion. Unfortunately, like the people of Jesus' day, we tend to look for
signs and wonders as evidence of God's existence. Problem is, I don't
think we can always distinguish God's regular, law-like actions from God's
special, surprising actions, because events that seem surprising and
unexplainable might have "natural law" explanations that we just don't know
about.
If the story really happened, I doubt the space scientists would be
satisfied that they got their math right just because someone claimed
(based on the Bible) that God perturbed the normal motion of the earth and
the moon. I suspect they would keep trying to figure things out according
to natural law, even if they were devout believers in God.
Best wishes!
Charles (Chuck) F. Austerberry, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Member, Prehealth Sciences Advisory Committee
Creighton University
2500 California Plaza
Omaha, NE 68178
Voice: (402)-280-2154 or -2321
FAX: (402)-280-5595
e-mail: cfauster@creighton.edu
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