FAQ - SCIENCE
It is claimed by scientists that the earth's
motion upon its axis has not varied a second for thousands of years. In view of this how
shall we account for the statement of `Joshua 10:13`, "The sun and moon stood still
and the sun hasted not to go down about a whole day." Does this record imply that the
earth's motion upon its axis was stopped or its velocity lessened? (J.W.A.)
<ANSWER>--A critical examination of this passage in the Hebrew language in
which the Old Testament was written, discloses the fact that Joshua never requested the
Lord to cause the sun and moon to stand still. His request was that the sunlight and the
moonlight might be restrained, or prevented from shining through the dark clouds of the
storm mentioned in `verse 11`, in which great hailstones had been formed, and doubtless
were accompanied by thunder and lightning, all of which would strike terror into the
hearts of the Amorites. Had the dark clouds rolled away and the sun shone forth, the
enemies of Israel, who were sun worshippers, would have plucked up courage and resisted
the onslaughts of Joshua and his army. So the sunlight and the moonlight remained dim
(Hebrew, <dum>) about a whole day, "until the people had avenged themselves
upon their enemies." The scientists are right and in harmony with the Scriptures, for
the earth did not cease to revolve upon its axis, but continued to pursue the even tenor
of its way. The Bible rightly interpreted and understood is consistent with reason and
with facts.
Are there not remains of buried cities in Egypt containing evidence, pictorial
drawings, hieroglyphics, etc., which antiquarians are in general agreed evidence a
civilized, prosperous, and opulent people living about 7,000 years before the Christian
era? And how many more thousands of years must it have taken for these to rise from
conditions of barbarism--the universally conceded, primitive state of the entire human
race? (R.J.S.)
<ANSWER>--It is passing strange that antiquarians which acknowledging the
skill, ingenuity and wisdom of the ancients, evidencing a degree of civilization far in
advance of any other prior to that of the present day, persist in calling the earlier
peoples of the earth, "barbarous" and "primitive." The Egyptian ruins
have been and are the marvels of modern times. Engineers and architects who have examined
those mighty monuments of a former age, have declared that with all of our boasted
civilization and enlightenment, it is doubtful if there is sufficient wisdom and knowledge
in the world today to even duplicate those wondrous structures. The oldest building in
Egypt is conceded by all recognized authorities to be the Great Pyramid, and the date of
this construction is well established, about 2170 B.C. It is still the wonder of the world
as it was in ancient times, when placed by the Greeks at the head of the list of the
"Seven Wonders of the World." The seven thousand years antiquity of the buried
cities of Egypt, has long been recognized as being fictitious, as pictorial
representations of the Pyramid have been discovered in all of those ruins showing that
they were erected after the Great Pyramid had been built. Therefore, there is nothing in
Egypt to disprove the Bible chronology, to the effect that the race had its origin 4128
B.C.