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Post by elizabeth on Dec 14, 2016 20:03:27 GMT
My question concerns this portion of scripture:
Jos 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon." Jos 10:13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. Jos 10:14 There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
My father, an unbeliever asked me this question years ago. If God wrote the Bible why did it say the sun stood still when it is the earth that revolves around the sun. I know the people in Joshua's day believed the sun revolved around the earth, but that was a wrong belief. God does not lie. I've always wondered about this since my father pointed this out to me.
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Post by Benjamin on Dec 15, 2016 10:23:28 GMT
I don't really see an issue with that - it's about perspective. We still use that terminology today. The sun set this afternoon... we describe it as if the sun was the one instigating the movement, when really it's the rotation of the earth. I imagine that if I were to witness that same event, I'd describe it as the sun standing still too - even knowing that the earth rotates around the sun. In fact, if you're going to talk about the sun and the earth, you have to talk relative to *a* point (and this applies to anything spatial, it must be described relative to something else). All Joshua is saying is that the sun stood still, relative to the earth. That's a correct statement. In fact, it's even correct scientifically - because normally your point of reference is the NON-MOVING object - which in this case, would be Joshua himself. There's actually quite a good breakdown of this event here, and it also describes other records from around the world of Joshua's Long Day: www.geocentricity.com/astronomy_of_bible/jld/I hope that helps. I realize it perhaps doesn't directly answer your query, but I think the simple answer is that I just don't see a conflict here at all... just a difference in perspective.
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Post by elizabeth on Dec 15, 2016 20:55:55 GMT
Thanks Benjamin, when you wrote this, "I imagine that if I were to witness that same event, I'd describe it as the sun standing still too - even knowing that the earth rotates around the sun", I realized I would describe it the same way. Even knowing what we know, that's not the way it seems. I'm still puzzled why the holy scripture didn't somehow deal with this though.
Thanks for the link you provided, it had very interesting information on it.
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Post by Gr8tful on Dec 18, 2016 17:45:52 GMT
Good question Elizabeth, and good answer Benjamin! Funny how we have these 'things we ponder'. I know we all have them. I will be posting one of mine soon. If anyone has one to share, please do. It's a great way to share thoughts as well as learn something new. I always find this topic interesting.
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