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Author Topic:   Where Science And The Bible Meet
Zhimbo
Member (Idle past 6011 days)
Posts: 571
From: New Hampshire, USA
Joined: 07-28-2001


Message 10 of 208 (396764)
04-21-2007 10:52 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by ArchArchitect
04-18-2007 7:47 PM


The verse in question
KJV: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken"
RSV: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken".
Point 1: There's no indication that the darkening of the Sun is the cause of the darkening of the moon.
Point 2: In both translations, the light is specifically attributed to the moon itself ("her light", "its light").
Point 3: In the very next phrase of the verse, a scientific impossibility is asserted - that the stars will "fall from heaven".

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by ArchArchitect, posted 04-18-2007 7:47 PM ArchArchitect has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 11 by ArchArchitect, posted 04-22-2007 1:52 AM Zhimbo has replied

  
Zhimbo
Member (Idle past 6011 days)
Posts: 571
From: New Hampshire, USA
Joined: 07-28-2001


Message 15 of 208 (396819)
04-22-2007 9:54 AM
Reply to: Message 11 by ArchArchitect
04-22-2007 1:52 AM


Re: The verse in question
quote:
" He saw in his vision that the Sun got dark, and AFTER that, the moon not longer was bright"
There is no "after" in the verse, only "and"'s. By your reading, we should also infer that the moon losing its light is causing the stars to fall from the sky, but you don't seem to be arguing for that.
I'm all for this verse being a poetic expression of Christian eschatology using the understanding of the natural world in the 1st century. And if this is understood as poetic expression, just because it doesn't fit with current understanding doesn't mean one must choose between religion and science.
But there's no indication in that verse that this is an example of science and the Bible "meeting", as per your thread title, nor that the author understood modern astronomical concepts at all, nor any indication of the three events listed being causally related to each other.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 11 by ArchArchitect, posted 04-22-2007 1:52 AM ArchArchitect has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 133 by sl33w, posted 06-27-2008 5:57 PM Zhimbo has not replied

  
Zhimbo
Member (Idle past 6011 days)
Posts: 571
From: New Hampshire, USA
Joined: 07-28-2001


Message 61 of 208 (397625)
04-26-2007 10:55 PM
Reply to: Message 55 by ArchArchitect
04-26-2007 4:03 PM


quote:
"So what good would it do for God to speak scientifically to the people of the time when this was written? They would not have a clue what He was talking about. "
I think it's perfectly acceptable that Jesus was being a bit poetical.
But that would nullify your opening post.
Remember your opening post?
Sure, consider it a poetic expression made in terms understandable by contemporary listeners - but you can't ALSO consider an example of scientific accuracy. These are contradictory opinions.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 55 by ArchArchitect, posted 04-26-2007 4:03 PM ArchArchitect has not replied

  
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