I stumbled across this old chestnut. I remember a JW telling me this when I was a kid, and he believed it.
I only recently found out how well known this is, and has been for some time. Does anyone know which of the JW mags or books had it in?
NASA's lost day
by goddidit 15 Replies latest watchtower bible
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blondie
*** g70 11/22 pp. 4-5 Do You Believe Everything You Read? ***
Missing Day” Verified?
An example of this is the case of the “Missing Day.” Some months ago a Mr. Harold Hill of Baltimore, Maryland, circulated copies of a story that was then widely reprinted in newspapers throughout the United States.
Mr. Hill stated that at the Greenbelt, Maryland, space center scientists were checking by computer the position of the sun, moon and planets to determine where these bodies would be in the future. Scanning centuries back and forth, computer calculations reportedly revealed that in the past there was a 24-hour day missing. One of the scientists was said to have remembered the Bible account of Joshua, chapter 10, which says that the ‘sun stood still’ for about a whole day. The computer was allegedly put back to work and found the missing time of Joshua’s account to be 23 hours and 20 minutes.
However, the story continued, what of the other 40 minutes? The same scientist reportedly then remembered the Bible account of Second Kings, chapter 20, which tells that King Hezekiah was given a sign as proof that he would recover from illness. The sign was that the shadow of a sundial would go backward “ten degrees” (Authorized Version), which is 40 minutes of time. Hence, put together, the two Bible accounts make up the 24 hours, the “Missing Day” that the computer is said to have found.
Was this published report true? A letter of inquiry was sent to Mr. Hill asking for further details concerning his account. In his reply he stated: “I am sorry I have misplaced the documentation relative to the names and places connected with the ‘Missing Day’ account, but will be glad to forward it to you when I come across it.” That was many months ago. To this date no documentation has been forthcoming.
In addition, Awake! magazine sent a letter of inquiry to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt, Maryland. It asked officials there for verification of the story. Chief of the center’s Office of Public Affairs, Edward Mason, replied by letter: “We know nothing of Mr. Harold Hill and in no way can corroborate the ‘lost day’ reference in the article.” Mr. Mason added: “Although we make use of planetary positions as necessary in the determination of spacecraft orbits on our computers, I have not found that any ‘astronauts and space scientists at Greenbelt’ were involved in the ‘lost day’ story attributed to Mr. Hill.”
Does verification of this report of computer findings exist? It would be good not to say it does unless solid documentation comes along, particularly in view of the fact that Mr. Hill claims to have ‘personally seen the Lord Jesus Christ.’
Also, it must be regarded as very strange, to say the least, that an almost identical story is related in the book The Harmony of Science and Scripture by Harry Rimmer. But that book was first published in 1936! In a chapter entitled “Modern Science and the Long Day of Joshua” Rimmer refers to a book written in 1890 by a Professor C. A. Totten of Yale and claims that it “establishes the case beyond the shadow of a doubt.”
In Rimmer’s version of Totten’s account, it is an “accomplished astronomer” who is said to have discovered that the earth was 24 hours out of schedule. In trying to prove it, the astronomer reportedly found by his astronomical calculations that the time of the “Missing Day” was only 23 hours and 20 minutes long. But then Professor Totten reportedly called the astronomer’s attention to the fact that Joshua did not say it was an entire day, but “about” the space of a day. He then is said to have found that the account of King Hezekiah filled in the other 40 minutes.
These two accounts are almost identical. However, the modern one, of 1970, attributes the discovery to space scientists and computers at Greenbelt (who in turn deny it); the older account of 1936 attributes it to an “accomplished astronomer” mentioned in a book written by someone else in 1890!
However, the lack of verification for such claims does not alter the truthfulness of the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word. It speaks the truth, for God cannot lie. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; John 17:17; Titus 1:2) Christians have an abundance of evidence showing that the Bible is what it claims to be, the Word of God. They do not need, nor would it be wise to try to build faith on anything that cannot be proved to have a solid foundation.
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Shador
They do not need, nor would it be wise to try to build faith on anything that cannot be proved to have a solid foundation.
Such as, you know, the notion that the earth stopped rotating for nearly a full day, because some ancient dude needed to finish his genocide.
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goddidit
Blondie, is this from Awake? If so, it looks like they are debunking the story. Is there an earlier JW claim that the story is true?
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Bungi Bill
I recall mention being made about this story in either a Watchtower or Awake article about a year after the one Blondie quotes. It, too, said much the same thing.
Bill.
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Apognophos
Thanks, blondie, I'd heard this urban legend too somewhere. That Awake quotation made me gasp. The Society did actual fact-checking?! *splutters* Although I'm dubious that they learned about the earlier version of the story on their own; they may have already read a newspaper article debunking the legend when they wrote this, and just didn't give credit where credit was due. I suppose, though, that someone there at Bethel might have had the old book in his library and remembered reading it there.
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prologos
but lurkers, remember, tomorrow's speaker in your KH believes in the inerrant bible and the TRUTH of that stationary sun*/stopped rotation of the earth story. He has to,-- to be on that platform, and the grey wonder sword he is using has that staircase & genocide story in it.
But: wether the earth rotates or not does not effect its position, or the length of the year ( a day missing from the month, or length of the year).
The rotation of the earth is an internal thing, and the havoc, seismic repercussions, resulting from the braking, and re-acceleration would have made Joshua"s genocide seem a picnic in the park.
not that his tribal god would be adverse to, or not up to it, though.
*stationary sun in the sky, that is --the Sun revolving AROUND the Earth, a la ptolomy. at a reduced rate for that day.
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goddidit
I've seen several people on this site say they used to believe the actual story (not the debunking) when they were under the WT spell.
If there is an article in JW literature presenting it as true, I'd love to see it.
Anyone?
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smiddy
If there is an article in JW literature presenting it as true, I'd love to see it.
Dont hold your breath goddidit *** g70 11/22 pp. 4-5 Do You Believe Everything You Read? ***
Missing Day” Verified?
blondies quote of the" Awake" article says it all .It was an urban legend as I recall , doing the rounds in the late 60`s and not exclusive to jehovahs witnesses . As blondies quote verifys the WT society tried to establish any authenticity to this claim and the awake article was the result.
At no time did the society ever give credence to this story that I am aware of.
smiddy