Expert: James Gort - 7/23/2005

Question
Hi,
 I'm a recent college grad. I was talking a lifer friend of mine (he's been in college for 6 years) and I was discussing science.  He's taken almost every class in the catalog, so when we debate he goes into techno babble, hence the need for this inquiry.

A.   He said that the biblical account of Joshua commanding the sun to stand still for a “day” is true!

“As the Amorites fled before Israel,
while they were going down the slope of Beth-horon,
the LORD threw down huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah,
and they died.
There were more who died because of the hailstones
than the Israelites killed with the sword.
On the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites,
Joshua spoke to the LORD;
and he said in the sight of Israel,
"Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon."
And the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?
The sun stopped in midheaven,
and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.
There has been no day like it before or since,
when the LORD heeded a human voice;
for the LORD fought for Israel.”

He supports this being true by saying that it has been proven that the earth is one day behind.  I have heard this is bogus, but he has had more physics classes than I have.  He also says that several cultures around the same time identify a very long day.  How could this possibly be true?!?!?!

B.   Also he says that the star of Bethlehem was Saturn and Jupiter near the solstice.  I don't think that even retrograde motion could account for this bizarre tale.

    Matthew 2:1--2: In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."
Matthew 2:7--10: Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.
Is this a feasible story???

Thankyou

AZ


Answer
Hello Amir,

A.  For the first question, I am not familiar with the earth being "one day behind".  From a physical standpoint, ceasing the earth's rotation (which is the same as causing the sun to stand still) would cause massive disruption to life.  Weather patterns would violently change and the deceleration would affect everything on earth.  I'm also not familiar with some cultures which identify a very long day.  From a scientific standpoint, I can't support this one.

B.  But the star of Bethlehem story is very possible.  In the spring of 6 B.C. (a date which, by the way, corresponds with calendar changes made by Pope Gregory and others), there was a conjunction of all 5 visible planets.  At that time a "star" was not just a star that we think of - it was any celestial event.  A conjunction of all 5 visible planets was a very rare event, hence it would be considered a "very bright star" and could be considered, at that time, to foretell an important event.  We can't prove that this was the "Star of Bethlehem", but it is a good candidate.

Hope that answers your question, from a scientific standpoint.  Science doesn't have all the answers, however, and the "real" answer could be different than I gave in either A or B.

Keep questioning!

Prof. James Gort