Did the sun and the moon really stop rotating?
score:18
Yes it was a miracle. It is clearly stated that God did this for Israel. There is no need to fall back on "illusion" if this is marked as a miracle. When a miracle happens, "natural laws" might as well no longer apply, because God applies. That is part of what "miracle" means.
You've made a number of assumptions that I think are unwarranted. The passage states that both the sun and the moon stopped moving. Their orbits around the earth are not synchronized, so we can rule out the possibility that God only stopped the rotation of the earth. Though even if He did stop its rotation, why would there be a problem? Imagine the even application of a force to every single particle on the entire planet.
He might have stopped the rotation of the earth and then moved the moon as well. Or He might have turned space around the earth to counteract its rotation, and then turned space again at some point past the moon, to counteract its rotation.
Alternatively, God may have swung the sun and moon and stars around the earth. This would have caused the distant galaxies to move at far, far, far beyond the speed of light. Again, no acceleration forces if God were "putting His hand on" every particle. This would have been trivial for God, who created everything and is infinitely powerful. That's not mathematical infinity. It's Divine infinity.
Or He might have done it in some way far, far, far beyond our comprehension. It is a miracle, and marked as such. What's the problem, again?
Upvote:1
Remember that in the minds of the Hebrews (and pretty much all of humanity for most of our existence), the Earth has always been stationary and the various lights in the sky moved around us on some variation of a crystal sphere or firmament
Upvote:6
Similar to this question (Where did Noah find polar bears and penguins in Palestine?), there are two distinctly different answers, depending on your underlying assumptions.
- Everything in the bible is literally true as written. In this case the answer is simple: God made it so because God made it so. Reason, causality, laws of physics, and logic can be disbanded at will. If God can stop the earth (or moon, or sun) he can surely deal with physical side effects of this as well.
- The bible was written (and edited and translated) by humans that were trying to make a point to the best of their abilities and within their frame of reference given by their times, society, and environment. In this case the answer is equally simple: neither sun, moon, nor earth did actually stop and it’s just a metaphor, allegory, or symbolism used by the author to convey his/her message.
I don't think there are a lot of view points in between that hold together without internal contradictions, so you probably just have to have pick one.
More post
- 📝 In what sense do faith and hope remain?
- 📝 What is the basis of the argument that Open Theism is heretical?
- 📝 Can a Catholic marriage be annulled because one doesn't believe to Sacred Trinity anymore?
- 📝 What is the basis for the claim that the entire New Testament can be reconstructed apart from original and copied manuscripts?
- 📝 Positional and Relational Forgiveness, what is the Biblical Basis?
- 📝 On what bases do Eastern-Orthodox reject total depravity?
- 📝 Why did Mormons stop practicing polygamy?
- 📝 How were missionaries able to convert native populations?
- 📝 What is the rationale for forbidding priests to marry in traditions where already-married men are allowed to become priests?
- 📝 How to suggest more reasonable themes/paradigms for Covid-19 homilies (sermons) to Catholic priests and bishops?
- 📝 God's foreknowledge according to the Calvinist?
- 📝 When was "time" created in Genesis?
- 📝 How do believers in modern-day miracles interpret John 20:29 & 2 Corinthians 5:7 (faith without sight)?
- 📝 Is this interview with Pope Francis going to change Christianity?
- 📝 Did Adam need to have faith for his salvation?
- 📝 Did the Annunciation and Good Friday coincide?
- 📝 How voluntary is original sin in Adam's descendants?
- 📝 Why do images of saints often depict them with unusual hand gestures?
- 📝 What does "saving grace" mean in Christianity?
- 📝 How did Luther's view of Mary change after his new birth experience?
- 📝 How do adherents of sola scriptura respond to "extra" biblical beliefs?
- 📝 Does the Bible command women to cover their breasts?
- 📝 Why did Clement and Eusebius believe that Paul was married?
- 📝 What did the Early Church (ante-Nicene period) believe about Gehenna and the Second Death?
- 📝 What percentage of self-identifying Christians believe Jesus was not God, and instead was a messenger of God?
- 📝 In the Catholic Church's calender, what are Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials?
- 📝 What is the difference between "love" and "worship"? Do "love God" and "worship God" mean the same thing?
- 📝 Does "fasting" bring a Christian closer to God?
- 📝 The Cost of Salvation
- 📝 How many prayers (to Heaven) by believers are in the 66 books of the (Protestant) Bible? Are any literally addressed to anyone except God?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Did the sun and the moon really stop rotating?
- 📝 When, how, and why did the Moravians stop praying 24-7?
- 📝 Did St.Thomas really throw water in the air (in India) and it remained airborne?
- 📝 When and why did the devil, or Satan, really emerge as a force in Christian belief?
- 📝 When did the older English spelling of the endings of Isaiah and Elijah stop being used in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 When and why did the Catholic Church stop the Crusades?
- 📝 Why did the early Christian church stop building and worshiping in temples?
- 📝 If God created the sun and the moon on the fourth day what had been lighting the earth for three days?
- 📝 Was St. Patrick a really Roman Catholic and did he keep the 7th day Sabbath?
- 📝 Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith claimed that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. How did he know it was really the Father and the Son?
- 📝 What did Martin Luther really mean by saying "Reason is the Devil’s greatest who*e" and how do Protestants view this?
- 📝 How can the sun be created after day and night?
- 📝 According to those holding that Lazarus was literally raised from the dead, why did Matthew, Mark, and Luke not mention it?
- 📝 What were the Nephilim, and what role did they play in the Bible beyond just being mentioned?
- 📝 If both the Orthodox and Catholic Church affirm salvation by grace through faith, why did the Protestant Reformation happen?
- 📝 How did the Crusades affect the Pope's power and authority?
- 📝 When and how did the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John get attached to the gospels?
- 📝 Where did the notion that Adam and Eve ate an APPLE come from?
- 📝 How did Cain and Abel know to offer sacrifices before the Law of Moses?
- 📝 When did the split in crufix/empty-cross sybolism occur and why did it happen?
- 📝 Did the first Christian believers keep the Sabbath and if so on which day?
- 📝 How did John the Baptist have the "spirit and power of Elijah"?
- 📝 Why did God need to plant the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden in the first place?
- 📝 Did the gospels really copy from each other?
- 📝 Why did Daniel consider the allotment of food and wine to be wrong for him to eat?
- 📝 Did Martin Luther really nail his 95 Theses to the church door?
- 📝 How did the Seven Deadly Sins originate and how is it used?
- 📝 When did the Orthodox and Catholic Churches distinguish the manner in which the Sign of the Cross was to be made?
- 📝 Why did this Early Version of the Watchtower Magazine include Crosses, and what do these other Symbols on the Magazine Represent?
- 📝 How did Isidore of Seville become the patron saint of the Internet and computer programmers?