Pagan Apologetics

If the Bible is the infallible Word of God, then it stands to reason that it would not contain factual errors of science. By "factual errors" we mean errors that can be physically examined. We are not talking about contradictions between scientific theories and the Bible. We are talking about hard evidence that can be checked out.

But first, there is a question we must answer: "is it legitimate to judge the Bible?" Many Christians believe in the Bible as a blind leap of faith. They really do not care if it is filled with mistakes and contradictions. As far as they are concerned, they were born Christian and they will die Christian. The more closed minded they are, the more fanatical they become in their religion. When ignorance unites with arrogance, fanaticism is born.

We pity those whose religion is only the product of an accident of birth and culture. They blindly follow whatever religion they were born into. How sad it is to have an unexamined faith; a faith that cannot stand up to reason and science; a faith that merely shouts slogans, stamps its feet and beats its breast in a mindless mob. They do not believe in Christianity because it is true. To them Christianity is true because they believe it.

A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. (Macbeth Act V, Scene 5)

Thankfully, there are millions of Christians today who have received a university education and understand that an unexamined faith is a worthless faith. They are open minded to scientific facts and evidence. They want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The Movement of the Sun

One of the questions which puzzled the ancient Jews was, "How did the sun move through the sky?" The Bible gave them God's answer.

Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? (Deuteronomy 11:30)

Their [the heavens and the firmament] line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 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 19:4-6)

And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. (Joshua 10:12)

We agree with the Bible that these do indeed refer to the fact that the sun travels through the heavens, not the earth. According to these verses, the sun goes down on the other side of the Jordan, has his own tabernacle (house) in the heavens, and can stand still.

To the early Jews, these verses gave the divine answer as to whether the sun travels around the earth. They assumed that the sun, like the moon, was the size perceived by the human eye, about the size of a basketball. Darkness came with a mighty hissing roar as it went down into the Jordan. They boldly and proudly proclaimed that this marvelous answer proved that the Bible was indeed the Word of God.

Today, modern Jews and Christians are quite embarrassed by these passages and try to ignore them or to quickly dismiss them as poetry. But two of the passages are not parts of poems. Thus they cannot be dismissed as figurative laguage or poetic license. In the context, the Joshua verse is part of a historical narrative which relates several historical incidences in the life of Joshua.

The mistake was based on the erroneous assumption that the earth was flat. The authors of the Bible did not know that the earth was a sphere which revolved around the sun.

The reader must ask himself if he is prepared to believe and to defend the Bible in this passage. Either the sun moves around the Earth or it doesn't. It is either one way or the other. There can be no middle ground, no compromise, no evading the issue. If you agree with us that the sun is shining on the other side of the earth and thus it does not go into its tabernacle, then you must also agree with us that the Bible contains scientific errors.

"So what?" you ask. "Who cares!" you cry. Only those who are brave enough to seek the truth will care. Those who are intellectually lazy or dishonest will close their eyes and pretend to see nothing.

It only takes one error to disprove the Bible. That's right. Just one little error and the whole book goes down in defeat! You have just discovered one irrefutable error in the Bible. What are you going to do about it?

There is only one way you can turn for the truth. Science is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Accept it as truth and knowledge. To find out more truth on Christianity, do some research.