The "SUN" stopped moving? Surrrrrre it did.

R

razz

Registered Senior Member
Ok here is something id like christians to explain..

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Joshua 10:8 and verses 12,13
And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.

10:12
Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, ..Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

10:13
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
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Correct me if im wrong but the sun doesnt move...... we move around the sun.... there is no way God could have stopped the sun if it wasnt moving in the first place.
I mean if God made the Universe Im sure he knows that the sun doesn't rotate around the earth.

Since researching this subject I found Galileo was the first who realised this mistake and was tortured when religious icons became scared of his findings and the effects this information would have upon the validity of the bible.

The planets are perfectly balanced, in a perfect formation so that nothing bumps into anything else..... stopping the sun would have a major effect on other planets etc over thousands of years...seriously a bad move to save a few people.

I read a story that nasa computers found proof the sun actually did stop ( again ...the sun doesnt move damn it ) but this claim has since been proven to be a hoax. ..wow id never have guessed. (btw: email NASA yourself if you like. )
This story was generated by the christian community.
( noooo. they would never lie )
This hoax did little but hurt the christian movement once more. Come on fella's there gotta be other ways to prove scientists and athiests wrong without making up lies so easily disproven.


There are so many holes in the Nasa story from mathematics to basic common sense .. so lets not even go there.:bugeye:
 
Have any of you ever used the terms sunrise or sunset? Obviously the sun doesn't rise or set. I see the problem as a too literalistic interpretation. The Bible is allowed to use literary techniques just as any other literature.
 
Have any of you ever used the terms sunrise or sunset? Obviously the sun doesn't rise or set. I see the problem as a too literalistic interpretation. The Bible is allowed to use literary techniques just as any other literature.
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Pick and choose. The bible does this, the bible does that. I'll tell you want it doesnt do......tell the damn truth.
 
I answer the question with reason, and you respond with a useless statement of no value to the argument.
 
Shane-

I answer the question with reason, and you respond with a useless statement of no value to the argument.
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I give you a pat on the back for your answer to the intial post. No value???? I was trying to shed some light on the situation that presents itself concerning how to interpret the bible. Some people say the bible should be taken literal, some say methaphoricaly(sp), so much confusion within the ranks so to say. There is no maybe/maybe not in science, its pretty straighforward and to the point.

The Bible is allowed to use literary techniques just as any other literature.
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It employs literary techniques just like any other great fiction.
 
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if God temporarily reset the rotation of the earth

what would be the effect observed from the earth?
the earth has a circumference of 24000 miles and rotates at 1000 miles per hr.
if the rotation was slowed down to make its motion nearly geo-synchronous what would be the observed effect be?

with respect
:cool: :eek:
 
second thought

what if God speeded up the people.
if used to a slower speed would they interpret this as them moving faster or their surroundings moving slower.

with respect
:eek: :cool:
 
At the time the bible was written the common belief was that the world was flat and that all heavenly bodies revolved around a stationary Earth. If the sun stopped in such a scenario then the only expected side effect would be that the sun would stay in the sky longer than usual. For the author of such a bible story this would seem quite a reasonable action for an all-powerful god with apparent minimal consequences.

Now of course with our current knowledge to achieve this effect would require that the spin of the Earth would have to be stopped, with subsequent devastation to all life on the planet. The story now becomes somewhat more complex since if God has stopped the Earth spinning he is also defying a number of rules of physics. Presumably, being omnipotent he could do this. The Earth is not only spinning but is also orbiting the sun, would that motion have to be stopped also? In which case the gravitational interaction between all the planets would also have to be adjusted, etc.

Written from ignorance of reality such bible stories can seem reasonable, but such stories are claimed to be the word of God. At the time such a story was written it would seem obvious that the story was intended as literal. It is only now that we know more about cosmology that we can only interpret the story as symbolic of something.

Note also that the sun is not stationary but is also traveling at a rapid speed through space as part of our galaxy which is also moving at a significant speed. What would be the implications if God stopped the sun under those conditions? If the earth continued its usual motion then the sun would be out of sight pretty quickly and again all life would die within minutes.

Had the author understood reality would he have written such a story? It would seem unlikely. If this is the word of God then God is guilty of lying, but God never lies. However, I could see how this could be explained away by saying that Man’s knowledge at the time would not have understood that the earth spins so God just used words that would seem reasonable to the men of the time. But the bible is meant to be for all men of all times and the story now seems to us as preposterous. What then is the value of the word of God now?
 
Cris

At the time such a story was written it would seem obvious that the story was intended as literal. It is only now that we know more about cosmology that we can only interpret the story as symbolic of something.
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Now it appears as though they are backed into the metaphorical explanation as the way to interpret the bible , some still cling to the literal interpretation and deny scientific discoveries. Wouldnt you agree with these sentiments?
 
Originally posted by DefSkeptic


Now it appears as though they are backed into the metaphorical explanation as the way to interpret the bible , some still cling to the literal interpretation and deny scientific discoveries. Wouldnt you agree with these sentiments?
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Why can't some parts of the Bible be literal, and some be figurative? Also, why is the idea of figurative language in an old text so hard to accept? If you assume the Bible is divinely inspired, there is no reason that there could not be metaphors and figurative language.
 
not realy

Originally posted by DefSkeptic
Cris



Now it appears as though they are backed into the metaphorical explanation as the way to interpret the bible , some still cling to the literal interpretation and deny scientific discoveries. Wouldnt you agree with these sentiments?
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just trying all possibiltys

with respect
:cool:
 
Shane

Why can't some parts of the Bible be literal, and some be figurative? Also, why is the idea of figurative language in an old text so hard to accept? If you assume the Bible is divinely inspired, there is no reason that there could not be metaphors and figurative language.
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The idea of figurative language in an old text is not hard to accept, what is hard to accept is that the Bible, which is held as the word of God, thinks it needs to entertain and dazzle with brillant literature. You want enjoyment go read a sci-fi novel, the word of God should be clear, concise and easy to understand, not full of absurb stories, false events and contradictions. Scholars have been arguing the meaning of certain passages throughtout the bible's history, how strong can the message be if we dont truly understand the message?
 
Originally posted by DefSkeptic

The idea of figurative language in an old text is not hard to accept, what is hard to accept is that the Bible, which is held as the word of God, thinks it needs to entertain and dazzle with brillant literature. You want enjoyment go read a sci-fi novel, the word of God should be clear, concise and easy to understand, not full of absurb stories, false events and contradictions. Scholars have been arguing the meaning of certain passages throughtout the bible's history, how strong can the message be if we dont truly understand the message?
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First, you made several assumptions with none of the evidence that you constantly demand, in saying that the Bible is absurb, false, and contradictory. Also, these certain passages to which you refer are largely inconsequential to the basic foundation of Christianity. The fact that certain passages are not immediately clear also inspires Christians to do the reasearch that will allow them to understand what the Bible is saying. God wants Christians to be well educated, so we don't just read the Bible, but also understand it.
 
If life were accelerated

DefSkeptic

If some how all life where acceierated 10,50,100 times what would be the observed effect?
the idea is not orignal i got it from a startrek episode.

with respect
:m: :cool:
 
Originally posted by Cris

Note also that the sun is not stationary but is also traveling at a rapid speed through space as part of our galaxy which is also moving at a significant speed. What would be the implications if God stopped the sun under those conditions? If the earth continued its usual motion then the sun would be out of sight pretty quickly and again all life would die within minutes.
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God would have known this right? So to achieve the visual effect written in the bible safely, God may have stopped all motion in space...
 
All of the scientist here how could it be done

Have any of you thought of how could the observed effect have been done?

with respect
:cool:
 
Shane,

Why can't some parts of the Bible be literal, and some be figurative? Also, why is the idea of figurative language in an old text so hard to accept? If you assume the Bible is divinely inspired, there is no reason that there could not be metaphors and figurative language.
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This is fine. So is the story about stopping the sun figurative or literal? There is a significant difference between the two perspectives. How do you determine what text is which?

Another example is the Adam and Eve story. If it is literal and they were the first man and woman then how do you reconcile that with the facts of evolution? If the story is figurative then Christianity has no basis since it was those first sins that started the chain that required a savior to be sent. Without Adam and Eve being true then Christianity becomes a fraud.
 
Dave,

God would have known this right? So to achieve the visual effect written in the bible safely, God may have stopped all motion in space...
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Yup that was what must have happened. So God stops the universe to satisfy a rather minor issue. The claim lacks credibility.
 
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