I remember this one WT-article that really made an impression on me! The article was about "the day the sun stood still", from Joshua, chapter 10. The claims made in the article, was that the Biblical accounts of this battle (that the sun stood still for a day) explained som "gap" in astronomy (or in "astronomical history", I don`t know the expression in english for this...you know, the exact positions of the stars at one particular date in history, something like that). This article would have been printed...around 1990? Or earlier? Does anyone know which article I am referring to?
What was that article?
by Hellrider 8 Replies latest watchtower bible
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blondie
Are you thinking of this?
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g70 11/22 pp. 4-5 Do You Believe Everything You Read? ***"Missing
Day" Verified?An example of this is the case of the "Missing Day." Some months ago a Mr. Harold Hill of Baltimore, Maryland, circulated copies of a story that was then widely reprinted in newspapers throughout the United States.
Mr. Hill stated that at the Greenbelt, Maryland, space center scientists were checking by computer the position of the sun, moon and planets to determine where these bodies would be in the future. Scanning centuries back and forth, computer calculations reportedly revealed that in the past there was a 24-hour day missing. One of the scientists was said to have remembered the Bible account of Joshua, chapter 10, which says that the ‘sun stood still’ for about a whole day. The computer was allegedly put back to work and found the missing time of Joshua’s account to be 23 hours and 20 minutes.
However, the story continued, what of the other 40 minutes? The same scientist reportedly then remembered the Bible account of Second Kings, chapter 20, which tells that King Hezekiah was given a sign as proof that he would recover from illness. The sign was that the shadow of a sundial would go backward "ten degrees" (Authorized Version), which is 40 minutes of time. Hence, put together, the two Bible accounts make up the 24 hours, the "Missing Day" that the computer is said to have found.
Was this published report true? A letter of inquiry was sent to Mr. Hill asking for further details concerning his account. In his reply he stated: "I am sorry I have misplaced the documentation relative to the names and places connected with the ‘Missing Day’ account, but will be glad to forward it to you when I come across it." That was many months ago. To this date no documentation has been forthcoming.
In addition, Awake! magazine sent a letter of inquiry to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt, Maryland. It asked officials there for verification of the story. Chief of the center’s Office of Public Affairs, Edward Mason, replied by letter: "We know nothing of Mr. Harold Hill and in no way can corroborate the ‘lost day’ reference in the article." Mr. Mason added: "Although we make use of planetary positions as necessary in the determination of spacecraft orbits on our computers, I have not found that any ‘astronauts and space scientists at Greenbelt’ were involved in the ‘lost day’ story attributed to Mr. Hill."
Does verification of this report of computer findings exist? It would be good not to say it does unless solid documentation comes along, particularly in view of the fact that Mr. Hill claims to have ‘personally seen the Lord Jesus Christ.’
Also, it must be regarded as very strange, to say the least, that an almost identical story is related in the book The Harmony of Science and Scripture by Harry Rimmer. But that book was first published in 1936! In a chapter entitled "Modern Science and the Long Day of Joshua" Rimmer refers to a book written in 1890 by a Professor C. A. Totten of Yale and claims that it "establishes the case beyond the shadow of a doubt."
In Rimmer’s version of Totten’s account, it is an "accomplished astronomer" who is said to have discovered that the earth was 24 hours out of schedule. In trying to prove it, the astronomer reportedly found by his astronomical calculations that the time of the "Missing Day" was only 23 hours and 20 minutes long. But then Professor Totten reportedly called the astronomer’s attention to the fact that Joshua did not say it was an entire day, but "about" the space of a day. He then is said to have found that the account of King Hezekiah filled in the other 40 minutes.
These two accounts are almost identical. However, the modern one, of 1970, attributes the discovery to space scientists and computers at Greenbelt (who in turn deny it); the older account of 1936 attributes it to an "accomplished astronomer" mentioned in a book written by someone else in 1890!
However, the lack of verification for such claims does not alter the truthfulness of the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word. It speaks the truth, for God cannot lie. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; John 17:17; Titus 1:2) Christians have an abundance of evidence showing that the Bible is what it claims to be, the Word of God. They do not need, nor would it be wise to try to build faith on anything that cannot be proved to have a solid foundation.
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blondie
*** g74 1/8 pp. 14-15 Our Mysterious Universe ***
The
Bible and AstronomySince there are "enormous gaps in our understanding of the behaviour of matter in bulk," why should men question what the Bible says about certain astronomical events? Yet many do. Some persons will challenge what the Bible says, for instance, about the sun and moon being motionless in the days of Joshua. Do you recall that event? The Bible account reads:
"Joshua proceeded to speak to Jehovah on the day of Jehovah’s abandoning the Amorites to the sons of Israel, and he went on to say before the eyes of Israel: ‘Sun, be motionless over Gibeon, and, moon, over the low plain of Aijalon.’ Accordingly the sun kept motionless, and the moon did stand still, until the nation could take vengeance on its enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun kept standing still in the middle of the heavens and did not hasten to set for about a whole day. And no day has proved to be like that one, either before it or after it, in that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man, for Jehovah himself was fighting for Israel."—Josh. 10:12-14.
Even some religious persons have questioned this account. The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: "In terms of modern science and modern theology it is just as impossible for God to obey man as it is for the sun to stand still." (1967; Volume XIII, page 795) But on what basis can solar behavior be called "impossible"? No human, of course, not even one who believes the Bible, can definitely explain how the sun stood still. But should that shake one’s faith in the Bible? No. As we have seen, men today do not understand the mysterious astronomical events taking place right now. But who can deny that they do take place? No one.
God could, as Creator, if he wished, stop the motions of the whole solar system. Or, he could stop the motion of only the earth so that sun and moon appeared to remain in the same position as viewed from the earth. On the other hand, it is possible that the sun, moon and earth all continued on in their regular movements, but that the light from sun and moon ceaselessly shone by some form of refraction that we do not now understand. In any event, this was a truly unique event, for the Bible says that "no day has proved to be like that one, either before it or after it, in that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man."
The simple reasoning of Henry Cooke in the last century is still valid regarding this Biblical event:
"Were even philosophers better acquainted with the causes of the annual and diurnal [daily] movements of the heavenly bodies, they would be better able to judge of this miracle. Though all miracles are alike easy to Omnipotence, it may still be fact, that some order of exceeding simplicity effected what appears so stupendous to our eyes. Something perhaps more simple than the stopping of the pulsation of the heart, . . . Had syncope, or fainting, never been witnessed but once some thousands of years ago, it would appear as incredible to modern physiologists as the standing still of the sun to infidel philosophers."
The humble person knows that the question that Jehovah God asked Job is still proper: "Have you come to know the statutes of the heavens?" The answer is still, No! (Job 38:33) Such a person is overwhelmed at the thought that the Maker of the vast heavens even condescends to deal with men. Said the Bible writer David: "When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have prepared, what is mortal man that you keep him in mind, and the son of earthling man that you take care of him?"—Ps. 8:3, 4.
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Leolaia
blondie....That urban legend is still being circulated and debunked into the 21st century. But interesting that the Society correctly researched and debunked the myth. I'm sure they would've so much wanted it to be true. I wonder if the Golden Age in the 20s or 30s had in fact reported the myth as true. That would be an interesting research question. But also curious that the healthy skepticism they exhibit here is not otherwise applied to their other reporting of urban myths and fake "experiences" as facts.
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Hellrider
WoW, that was fast! Yes Blondie, that was the story I was thinking about. I had no idea it was from the 70s though, I thought it was much later. Maybe it was a WT laying around that I had just picked up and read. LoL, that`s what I thought though, that it was just a myth/legend. I read that back then, and remember thinking that either, this (religion) is just total bs, or they`re really onto something. But I seem to remember that the article I read was much more "blatant", that it said pretty much flat out that this was the explanation for "the missing day" in astronomy...hmm... could it have been printed once more, later?
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blondie
I searched the WT-CD using the scripture reference and keywords such as "sun" "still" "joshua." This was all that popped up. I am an old one (was an older teenager in the 60's) and I don't remember the WTS ever supporting the "missing day" theory in the publications anyway.
Not that this is an idiot enough statement.
God could, as Creator, if he wished, stop the motions of the whole solar system.
Blondie
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Hellrider
Not that this is an idiot enough statement.
God could, as Creator, if he wished, stop the motions of the whole solar system.
Lol, yeah. COme to think of it, it probably was the one you posted. I must have just remembered it like it said it, straight out, that the "missing day" in astronomy was explained by the day in Joshua. It made an impression on me, that`s probably why I remembered it as "stronger" than the text you posted.Yes, it`s pretty dorky... ...but:
Scanning centuries back and forth, computer calculations reportedly revealed that in the past there was a 24-hour day missing. One of the scientists was said to have remembered the Bible account of Joshua, chapter 10, which says that the ‘sun stood still’ for about a whole day. The computer was allegedly put back to work and found the missing time of Joshua’s account to be 23 hours and 20 minutes.
God, they are good, aren`t they? The average JW reading this will be sooo exited: "they can even pinpoint it down to the exact number of hours and minutes! Modern science proved it!" - and pictures of that long day will pop up in their mind, Israelites charging after the enemy army with their swords and spears, Jehovah dropping stones from the sky, etc (stones from the sky, that was in all my Armageddon-fantasies and dreams too btw, ha ha). Who cares about that little covering-their-backs-in-case-they-are-wrong at the end of the article, the impression in the allready numbed-down and brainwashed mind has been made allready. The writers of these articles are truly masters of deception! -
hamsterbait
I don't see why saying that God as creator could stop the motion of the entire solar system is an idiot statement.
Presumably it is also an idiot statement to say that God as creator could bring back to life a man who had been dead for three days.
Is it an idiot statement just because the WBTS said it or because it has been demonstrated to be impossible?
After all, other christians manage to believe both accounts - some of them by no means anything like the idiots in Crooklyn Brothel.
HB
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Honesty
After all, other christians manage to believe both accounts - some of them by no means anything like the idiots in Crooklyn Brothel.
HB
Gotta remember, HB that a lot of JW's equate God with the Witchtower Lie and when they escape the cult it is hard to believe in a loving God after the deep plunge they were subjected to... the poisonous waters spewing out of the Faithful Discreet Slave's mouth.