I was taught the following story in early morning seminary. I find it very interesting to revisit the topic and discover the origins of the myth.

First the myth:

"I think one of the most amazing things that God has for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at GreenBelt, Maryland. They were checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets out in space where they would be 100 years and 1000 years from now. We have to know this so we won’t send a satellite, up and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite, and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.

"They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong either with the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards. They called in the service department to check it out and they said, “What’s wrong?”

"Well, they found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time. They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer.

"Finally, a Christian man on the team said, “You know, one time I was in Sunday School and they talked about the sun standing still.” While they didn’t believe him, they didn’t have an answer either, so they said, “Show us.”

"He got a Bible and went back to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with “common sense.” There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, “Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.”

"Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy and if darkness fell they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That’s right — “The sun stood still and the moon stayed — and hasted not to go down about a whole day!” (Joshua 10:12-13)

"The astronauts and scientists said, “There is the missing day!” They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua’s day was 23 hours and 20 minutes — not a whole day.

"They read the Bible and there it was “about (approximately) a day” These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes you’ll still be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.

"As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS. The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story:

"Hezekiah, on his deathbed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die.

"Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said “Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?” Hezekiah said “It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.”

"Isaiah spoke to the Lord and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD!

"Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes! Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe!” Isn’t it amazing?

Read the full article here and discover how the myth began:

https://www.snopes.com/religion/lostday.asp

Really interesting.

Makes for good bedtime reading.

:)

After reading the article published by Snopes, it would seem that time travel would be easier than to reverse time itself.

Physicists agree on the possibility of time travel. Turning time backwards by pushing a reset button, maybe in an alternate universe?

Not ours. :-)

But he IS god. Are YOU god ?

I encountered this faith-promoting rumor when was trotted out in sunday school class when I was a teen in 1970 or so. I was no ignoramus on things astronomical. Science nerds are born, and I was already grinding mirrors for my telescopes at the time. The moon landings were in full progress. I remember that drivel because even then I knew it was something completely made up. Bullshit from start to finish. Amazing that it's still around.

Funny how "faith-promoting" stuff apparently needs to have "facts" to back up the "faith" isn't it?
'Cause "faith" clearly isn't enough.

Except the facts are made up, and aren't facts at all...


BTW Void, I've ground & polished 6", 8" and 12.5" telescope mirrors. Now I buy 'em :)

All hail astronomy nerds!

Ja, we're apparently brothers from different mothers. Except you're the smart one. You got out of the cult right after your mission. It took me another decade to get there. I ground a 6" and 8". The 6" was 550ish nm quarter wavelength parabolic, but the 8" was "disappointing". I didn't want to do another after that. Now I buy 'em. :)

Just different timing, that's all. :)

Yeah, after I did the 12.5" to 1/4 wave -- which took me almost 1 1/2 years -- I gave up doing 'em myself. The mirror, and the dob I put it in, are now in the hands of an old friend, who bought it from me, and says it's a fine mirror -- but also that he's glad he didn't have to grind it himself!

I remember hearing this from the pulpit in Sacrament meeting back
in the early to mid 1960s.

Yes, the days before the internet when it was difficult to verify many things.

Like how my teacher opened seminary class with "Did you know that Nasa could not have started the space program without the use of the Old Testament?" "Let me explain".

Then 1996 happened. The internet became mainstream. It was the death knell to the dissemination of untruths by vocal means. But not an end to logical fallacies. This shit takes time to get sorted out!

That's nothing. I remember Superman flying counter clock wise around the earth and time went backwards!

Reminds me of when my kid brother thought he was Superman. He tried flying off the top of the bunk bed at a church friend of the family's home where we were having Thanksgiving one year, screaming "Superman!!!!!" at the top of his lungs. Next thing I heard was him hitting the concrete floor below with a loud thud.

It ruined Thanksgiving that year. He went to the hospital for stitches to his head.

To this day he denies he was trying to fly or thought he was Superman. Yet I was there and know what I heard from the family room. We were the only two playing in the basement when that happened. I heard it all, from the bravado in his four-year old voice screech "Superman." To the jump from the top bunk, to his little boy cries and moaning after hitting rock bottom.

Maybe he had a sudden case of amnesia. That could explain his forgetfulness, ie, the trauma to his brain.

Kid bro no longer thinks he is Superman. Today he is under the grand delusion he is a mini god in embryo.

That's the mind f*ck the cult has done to him.

In his mind that's far better than Superman could possibly hope to become.