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Bible interpretation is often far more complicated and nuanced than many people assume.
Joshua 10:12-14 (RSV) Then spoke Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand thou still at Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Ai’jalon.” [13] And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. [14] There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD hearkened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
This miracle could simply consist of God changing the perception of the people there (an LSD trip, for example, does the same thing purely naturally); not literally making the sun do weird “unscientific” things.
First of all, we must understand that the Bible uses pre-scientific phenomenological language. We actually still do the same today, when we say “the sun came up” or “the sun went down at 6:36.” That’s not literal language, because we know that it is the earth’s rotation that makes it appear that way.
Joshua’s miracle was indeed a miracle, but it could still have been of a psychological nature, as opposed to exclusively an astronomical one. Or it could be something like, as the Protestant Jamieson Fausset, & Brown Bible Commentary put it: “the light of the sun and moon was supernaturally prolonged by the same laws of refraction and reflection that ordinarily cause the sun to appear above the horizon, when it is in reality below it.”
Atheists and other biblical skeptics frequently interpret the Bible hyper-literally, but they are often wrong, because they assume primitive ignorance, when in fact, ancient Hebrews possessed a high degree of sophistication that is often beyond the atheist’s willingness (not intellectual capacity) to understand.
Continued below.
Reflections on Joshua and “the Sun Stood Still”
Joshua 10:12-14 (RSV) Then spoke Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand thou still at Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Ai’jalon.” [13] And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. [14] There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD hearkened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
This miracle could simply consist of God changing the perception of the people there (an LSD trip, for example, does the same thing purely naturally); not literally making the sun do weird “unscientific” things.
First of all, we must understand that the Bible uses pre-scientific phenomenological language. We actually still do the same today, when we say “the sun came up” or “the sun went down at 6:36.” That’s not literal language, because we know that it is the earth’s rotation that makes it appear that way.
Joshua’s miracle was indeed a miracle, but it could still have been of a psychological nature, as opposed to exclusively an astronomical one. Or it could be something like, as the Protestant Jamieson Fausset, & Brown Bible Commentary put it: “the light of the sun and moon was supernaturally prolonged by the same laws of refraction and reflection that ordinarily cause the sun to appear above the horizon, when it is in reality below it.”
Atheists and other biblical skeptics frequently interpret the Bible hyper-literally, but they are often wrong, because they assume primitive ignorance, when in fact, ancient Hebrews possessed a high degree of sophistication that is often beyond the atheist’s willingness (not intellectual capacity) to understand.
Continued below.
Reflections on Joshua and “the Sun Stood Still”
