Astronomy and the Bible

The Bible and “Lights”

God created the “lights” in the heavens “for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years” (Genesis 1:14). Through the marvels of astronomy we now understand that a year is the time required for the earth to travel once around the sun. The seasons are caused by the changing position of the earth in relation to the sun—“astronomers can tell exactly from the earth’s motion around the sun when one season ends and the next one begins” (Worldbook Multimedia Encyclopedia). We also now understand that a “month [is] the time of one revolution of the moon around the earth with respect to the sun” (Encyclopedia Britannica). How could Moses (the accepted author of Genesis) have known 3,500 years ago that the “lights” of the sun and moon were the actual determining factors of the year’s length, unless his words were inspired by God?

The Bible and the Stars

In Jeremiah 33:22, the Bible states that “the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured.” When this was written, 2,500 years ago, no one knew how vast the stars were, since only about 1,100 were visible. Now we know that there are billions of stars, and that they cannot be numbered. The Bible also tells us that each star is unique (1 Corinthians 15:41). All stars look alike to the naked eye. Even when seen through a telescope, they still seem to be just points of light. However, close examination of their light spectra reveals that each is different from all others.

“How could Moses (the accepted author of Genesis) have known 3,500 years ago that the “lights” of the sun and moon were the actual determining factors of the year’s length, unless his words were inspired by God?”

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The Bible and Outer Space

“Long before the Hubble Space Telescope was available, the Bible spoke of both ‘the heavens’ and ‘the highest heavens’ (see Deuteronomy 10:14). Today we know that there are vast reaches in space, with galaxies, and clusters of galaxies, and super clusters—‘the highest heavens.’” Richard Gunther

The Bible and the Sun’s Circuit

In speaking of the sun, the psalmist (800 B.C.) said that “his going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof” (Psalm 19:6). For many years critics scoffed at this verse, claiming that it taught the doctrine of geocentricity (i.e., the sun revolves around the earth). Scientists at that time thought the sun was stationary. However, it has been discovered in recent years that the sun is in fact moving through space at approximately 600,000 miles per hour. It is traveling

through the heavens and has a “circuit” just as the Bible says. Its circuit is so large that it would take approximately 200 million years to complete one orbit.

The Bible and the Revolving Earth

The Scriptures tell us that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (which will happen at the speed of light —Luke 17:24) will occur while some are asleep at night and others are working at daytime activities in the field. This is a clear indication of a revolving earth, with day and night at the same time. Science didn’t discover this until the fifteenth century.

The Bible and the Expanding Universe

It is interesting to note that scientists are beginning to understand that the universe is expanding or stretching out. At least seven times in Scripture we are told that God “stretches out the heavens like a curtain” (e.g., Psalm 104:2).

Astronomy Confirms the Bible

In 1964, Drs. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of Bell Labs discovered a noise coming from all directions, permeating the universe. Physicists hailed this as the first observational evidence of the Big Bang known as “the radio echo of creation.” Penzias saw the philosophical significance in his discovery. “[T]he best data we have,” he said, “are exactly what I would have predicted, had I had nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole . . . [T]he creation of the universe is supported by all the observable data astronomy has produced so far.”

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