In the course of many Science and Religion debates, one of the favorite targets of the scientists is the passage in Joshua 10: 12-13, in which it is concluded that the sun stood still, and the moon stayed. Scientists like to point out the mechanical difficulty in this process, for which the religionists have little answer, except to rely on faith and belief. As it turns out, those in favor of the more literal translation of Joshua are probably correct, and the scientists have once again mistook phenomena for which they dont understand for religious enthusiasm.
The basic concept is contained in the article, "Sun, Stand Thou Still; A Consideration of the Possibility. Basically, the article relies on biblical and other ancient historical records which describe an occurrence in historical times (circa 1500-1400 B.C.E.) in which the Earth's rotation was apparently halted for a period of approximately twenty hours, after which normal rotation was resumed. The purpose is to consider if such an occurrence is even physically possible, and by implication whether or not the description on the one hand of the Sun and Moon standing still, and on the other hand the Sun not rising after a lengthened night of some twenty hours constitute accurate descriptions of a real event. The combination of supporting historical records and the viability of a physical mechanism to temporarily halt the Earth's rotation strongly suggests that at one point in historical times, the Sun did, indeed, stand still.
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Sun, Stand Thou Still; A Consideration of the Possibility
Dan Sewell Ward
Copyright 1990, 1995 Dan Sewell Ward
One of the more astounding passages in the traditional Bible [King James Version] is that contained in Joshua 10: 12-13:
"Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
"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."
This account is repeated without substantial modification in later and alternative versions of the Bible. While often viewed as a passage not to be taken literally, there are numerous other ancient historical accounts which describe in essence the same event, and thus lend credence to the accuracy to the Biblical description. More significant to the potential credibility of these observations are the accounts from the early civilizations of Meso America (e.g. from the Annals of Cuaulititlan -- as related by Immanuel Velikovsky [1]) which refer to a day when the sun rose slightly, set again in the east, and then after an extended night rose again. Zecharia Sitchin [2] has addressed this phenomena as well, noting the Andean tradition that during the third year of the reign of Titu Yupanqui Pachacuti II, the fifteenth monarch in Ancient Empire times, there occurred an extended night of some additional 20 hours.
