Did the sky really go dark as biblical inerrantists insist?

Indeed. The tendency to project one's emotional state onto the surrounding world is so common that a specific term--"the pathetic fallacy"--was coined for the phenomenon when it occurs in literature.You see it in everything from bad verse to blues ("the sky is crying").

It was recorded in the other synoptic Gospels, but since these guys all copied from each other this isn’t surprising.Matthew 27:45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.Mark 15:33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour Brian.Edited by Brian, : fixed quote box

I'm a little confused; was the event recorded in the other Gospels or not? You say they aren't in the first sentence but they are in the second.And they can't all copy from each other - someone has to have the original content.It is oft supposed that Matthew and Luke borrowed from Mark; however, consider that Matthew was one of the apostles and would have had no reason to borrow from Mark or any other source. Mark, supposed to be John Mark, received his information directly from the apostle Peter. And Luke, by his own testimony, was meticulous in gathering eye-witness testimony of the events of his gospel.

He was quoting Shraf

If the people in Jeruselem were not convinced by the protracted solar eclipse, the must have been overwhelmed by the unusual visitation.
Imagine David, Moses and Isiah mingling with the people, telling them about the wonderful event that has just occurred. It always puzzled me why Chritianity had such hard time getting off the ground with such a spectacular opening ceremony and why anyone believed the "stolen body" crap that was propagated by Caiaphas and his cronies.Again we see that the imagination of the Gospel writers knew no bounds.

It has been said that this event was recorded by numerous civilizations, and of those documents, two are said to have survived. One account comes from Thallus, a Grecian historian who wrote the histories from the Trojan War to his own time, the second is Julius Africanus, who is more suspect because he was a Christian in the 3rd century. Both writers come after Jesus' death, so obviously this has been called into question. However, when Thallus wrote his discourse in 52 AD, which is 19 years after the event, means that he once lived contemporaneously with Jesus. That also means he was alive at the time of Jesus' crucifixion and presumably lived through the experience himself described in Luke. What is most interesting about the whole event was that Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover which would make a solar eclipse impossible because of the positioning of the moon, earth, and sun would not have been aligned to allow for this.If there are any other accounts of this event, they remain undiscovered or time has destroyed them.Edited by nemesis_juggernaut, : edit to addEdited by nemesis_juggernaut, : No reason given.

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“If chance be the father of all flesh then disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear of, state of emergencies, sniper kills ten, youths go looting, bomb blasts school, it is but the sound of man worshipping his maker” -Steve Turner

As pointed out, it was not a solar eclipse. Here is one major reason why:http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/...as/SEatlas1/SEatlas0021.GIFABE - the path of totality for the eclipse of Nov. 24, 29 AD, the closest total eclipse still missed the area by over 100 miles although it would have made the sky slightly darker. There is now way it was anything near total darkness as I was some 100 miles from a total eclipse in Georgia in May or June 1984 and speak from direct experience. Edited by anglagard, : No reason given.

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.
Sir Francis Bacon

quote:

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And Luke, by his own testimony, was meticulous in gathering eye-witness testimony of the events of his gospel.

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Pardon?The actual passage reads :"Since many have undertaken
to compile a narrative
of the events that have been fulfilled among us,
just as those who
were EYEWITNESSES from the beginning and ministers of the word
have handed them down to us,"I too have decided,
after investigating everything accurately anew,
to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,
most excellent Theophilus,
so that you may realize the certainty
of the teachings you have received."Does Luke actually claim to have spoken to eye-witnesses?
No.Does Luke actually identify any eye-witness?
No.Does Luke directly connect his writings with the eye-witnesses?
No.All that he says about eye-witnesses amounts to :
"Many have written a narrative about the events based on what the eye-witnesses handed down to us."That's ALL he says about eye-witnesses.
In a nut-shell : "many have written ... based on eye-witnesses"No connection is made between the eye-witnesses and Luke or his writings.THEN
Luke describes his OWN VERSION :
"after investigating everything accurately anew,
to write it down in an orderly sequence for you"NO mention of eye-witnesses here, merely the claim his version is ACCURATE and ORDERLY.In summary,
the use of the word "eye-witnesses" has no bearing on Luke's writings.Luke was not an eye-witness,
Luke met no eye-witnesses,
Luke identified no eye-witnesses,
Luke does not directly connect his writing with any eye-witnesses.Iasion

Greetings,

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One account comes from Thallus, a Grecian historian who wrote the histories from the Trojan War to his own time, the second is Julius Africanus, who is more suspect because he was a Christian in the 3rd century. Both writers come after Jesus' death, so obviously this has been called into question. However, when Thallus wrote his discourse in 52 AD, which is 19 years after the event, means that he once lived contemporaneously with Jesus. That also means he was alive at the time of Jesus' crucifixion and presumably lived through the experience himself described in Luke. What is most interesting about the whole event was that Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover which would make a solar eclipse impossible because of the positioning of the moon, earth, and sun would not have been aligned to allow for this.

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Wrong.We have NO certain evidence when Thallus lived or wrote, there are NONE of Thallus' works extant.What we DO have is a 9th century reference by George Syncellus who quotes the 3rd century Julianus Africanus, who, speaking of the darkness at the crucifixion, wrote: "Thallus calls this darkness an eclipse".But,
there is NO evidence Thallus made specific reference to Jesus or the Gospel events at all, as there WAS an eclipse in 29. This suggests he merely referred to a known eclipse, but that LATER Christians MIS-interpreted his comment to mean their darkness. (Also note the supposed reference to Thallus in Eusebius is a false reading.)Richard Carrier the historian has a good page on Thallus:
Richard Carrier Thallus » Internet InfidelsThallus is no evidence for Jesus at all,
merely evidence for Christian wishful thinking.Iasion

The following essay with references clearly shows there are some major problems with this account.Richard Carrier Thallus » Internet Infidels

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.
Sir Francis Bacon

Greetings,

quote:

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It has been said that this event was recorded by numerous civilizations,

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Really?
WHO said it?Why is there NO evidence for it?Many writers of astronomical events did NOT record it :* Marcus Manilius wrote on astrology/astronomy in Rome early 1st C.* Hero(n) of Alexandria wrote many technical works, including astronomy in mid 1st C.* Geminus wrote on astronomy in Greece in mid 1st C.* Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) wrote a large Natural History in Rome, in late 1st C.* Theon of Smyrna wrote on astronomy/philosophy in early 2nd C.* Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) wrote the astronomical masterpiece the Almagest in Alexandria, in early 2nd C.There is NO historical evidence of this event happening at all.
None.Iasion

I know that's why I mentioned Julius Africanus. I also said that his works were suspect. I was being objective. Thallus was said to have described it similarly to Luke's gospel, as in what appeared to be an eclipse and an earhtquake that rent the ground. As I mentioned already, its not possible for a solar eclipse to occur on the Eve of Passover. So, nobody knows what darkened the saky so profoundly all over the Meditteranean, and/or what caused a contemporaneous earthquake.

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“If chance be the father of all flesh then disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear of, state of emergencies, sniper kills ten, youths go looting, bomb blasts school, it is but the sound of man worshipping his maker” -Steve Turner

Greetings,

quote:

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Thallus was said to have described it similarly to Luke's gospel, as in what appeared to be an eclipse and an earhtquake that rent the ground.

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Wrong.Thallus apparently described a normal eclipse.
Luke describes something very DIFFERENT to an eclipse.Thallus did NOT mention an earthquake.
Luke did.So,
Thallus did NOT support Luke at all.

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So, nobody knows what darkened the saky so profoundly all over the Meditteranean, and/or what caused a contemporaneous earthquake.

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Nonsense.We know what causes eclipses.And we know the fantastic events of Luke did NOT take place:
* they violate natural law.
* no-one recorded these events.It did NOT happen.
It's myth.Iasion

Both Thallus and Luke spoke about 'a strange darkness.' That could be anything really, except an eclipse because its not possible for an eclipse to occur during that time of the year. "On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake." -ThallusApparently he did. Right. And the moon, sun, and earth will not align itself during that time of year. What law did it violate? Thallus recorded it and Luke recorded it. If no one recorded it then we wouldn't arguing about that, now would we? We don't know who else may have recorded it. The scrolls may not have survived. Some bold words. I assume that you have absolute knowledge of the universe then. You know, I was trying to be objective and use candor, but you went straight for the jugular. Edited by nemesis_juggernaut, : add italics

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“If chance be the father of all flesh then disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear of, state of emergencies, sniper kills ten, youths go looting, bomb blasts school, it is but the sound of man worshipping his maker” -Steve Turner

Thallus recorded a three hour eclipse?How do you know the 'darkeness' recorded by both these people was the same event?Brian.