Christians Boo Speaker For Saying The Moon Reflects The Sun

Yes. 3 years ago.

Hi,

The problem with taking the Bible literally is first understanding what it says. There is no need even to go into the original languages to find out its true meaning as God has allowed the English language to make it understandable. If I was to say to you, “I took him under my wing and helped him to fly.” you would understand the meaning of what I was saying and take it “literally” to mean that I looked after this guy and helped him to excell. Not that I had actual wings and that the guy actually flew. Some people would take the latter view as it would excuse them from trying to think and understand instead of doing what God tells us to do in II Timothy 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved of God…” Unfortunately, as in all other religions (and also science) there are those who find it easier to not think for themselves.

1 Timothy 2:9-15 (which you incorrectly referenced) is speaking of a woman's role in the church.
And Bill Nye's obvious attack on the Bible was what outraged the Christians, not that they are defending any of the outlandish claims of those that don't understand this passage. I've heard so-called “Christians” say that Satan planted dinosaur bones. So using this to paint all Christians as ignorant is a straw-man argument.
The moon is not the source of light, it reflects the sun's light, yes we all know that, and if you read the passage nowhere does it say that the moon is producing the light, just that it is a “lesser light to govern the night” meaning one of it's purposes is to PROVIDE light, not to PRODUCE it.
P.S. The moon is a huge challenge to evolutionist thinking. It moves away at about 2 inches a year. A short (in evolutionary timelines) 2 million years ago, the entire earth would be flooded twice a year. No land animals would survive.

Hi! Well, I agree with your basic premise that the “booers” are reacting way out of proportion. Nye was also wrong, misinterpreting Genesis. The Bible speaks in plain language; the moon is surely a light. I can read by it on some occasions. The Bible did not say, as Nye implied, that the moon creates its own light like the sun does by fusion. But as to your misquote of 1 Tim, that is in the context of the church meetings, not a secular science talk. No hypocrisy there. Women in the church are called to submit to men regarding teaching and leadership. Other verses show the other side of this, with women being equal in life with men (Gal. 3:28), which was a radical idea in the first century. Females in the 1st century church had unheard of (in Greco-Roman culture) rights and responsibilities. They were treated like PEOPLE, for Christ's sake!
Anybody else like to misquote the Bible? It is the most published, least read, and most misunderstood book in the world.

As a Christian evolutionist (no contradiction there!) I will tell you that the moon is receding at about 3.8 cm per year. Since the moon is 3.85 × 1010 cm from the earth, this is already consistent, within an order of magnitude, with an earth-moon system billions of years old. Where is the evidence of global floods being caused by this recession? Thanks!

I understand the contention. Bill Nye has very little regard for scripture, why even quote it unless to devalue the faith of the vunerable ( the children in this case) – perhaps the parents were outraged about the contention rather then at the phenomological language of scripture, really, Christian understand that this is a expression for how we experience the world around us. Bill should of pointed out his own language is infused with the same understanding when he refers to the Sun rising and setting.

Unless I'm mistaken no where in that passage does it state that it was Bill that quoted the bible or any scripture for that matter. From what I can tell it was the author of this article that was referencing 1 Timothy. Remember the bible was written by man (these men my or may not have received divine inspiration I do not want to/will not, get into that argument), and has been translated and transcribed countless times.

It makes perfect sense to me that perhaps the rate at which the moon is receding is not constant, but instead accelerating over time as its distance from Earth grows. Just as a man-made satellite's rate of orbital deterioration accelerates as it progresses, so too would the Earth's gravitational hold on the moon if it's orbit is in a type of reverse deterioration.

The point is that science continues to answer questions, and there will never come a time when it will have answered every conceivable question. That does not necessitate my belief in an all-powerful religious source of answers to explain the otherwise instantaneously unexplainable.

Seriously? This is your way of attacking someone you disagree with? Finding some crazy people, then stereotyping the whole group?

Athiest/Anti-Christian regime murders thousands of people. (This happens everday)

Andrew, you seem to be steretyping “atheist regimes” yourself. The US is a secularist regime, Sweden/Germany are secularist, as is France, and Turkey. The difference is that Soviet Russia was not overwhelmingly atheist (it was Orthodox some of the time), nor is China, and nor was Pol Pot's reign. They were totalitarian states, built around communism, where all forms of authority other than the state were repressed – in religion's case, by enforcing atheism. Atheism means people can think for themselves – anathema to any totalitarian state.

If you still want to stereotype, though, Hitler was Christian.

Thank you for pointing this out. I usually just laugh at the “People are killed in atheists regimes” point every time. Stalin wasn't running the show saying “I'm killing you because you have belief.” He killed them because they stood in the way of his authority and his power. As you said, atheism is about thinking for yourself. It removes the dogma of religion and promotes self-discovery.

Of course, Hitler was Christian as well, believing he was doing God's work. Yet another example of the evils of religion, but I digress. I'm amused though how people seem to attack things they know nothing about. I read Christian blogs from time to time (for pure entertainment) and some of the things they say about science and atheism is absolutely ridiculous.

As for Alex: “Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

That says god made a light. That means the moon was giving light, not reflecting it. Regardless, most of Genesis 1 contradicts Genesis 2. That alone should raise questions. Instead, people are willfully ignorant and run amok without ridiculous delusions of our natural world.

I feel like a troll saying this, but that happened in 2006 and you're posting about it now? I know being a product of the information age makes me feel like any news a week old is just crazy, but 3 years? Did you write this 3 years ago on another blog and realized you needed some content right away, or did you think Nye getting booed because he mentioned the moon reflects sunlight happened recently? Anyway, I'm sure it's an honest mistake…

but THREE YEARS??? Are you still using a dailup modem? Are you going to reveal the Konami code to us? Can you tell us what Rosebud means? Do you know if Truman or Dewey won the election? We need your timecapsule-commentary! lol

You should start a new blog, “the blogger from 3 years ago” with a whole retro, time travel theme. You can say, “I COME FROM THE PAST to bring you witty observations about things you maybe hadn't heard of the first time around or had forgotten.” We can re-live with you the Badger/Mushroom meme and the Space Camp song and the angry German gamer. Screw cutting edge, man, cutting edge has been played out.

Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I kid. BTW, did you hear that Ted Stevens described the internet as a series of tubes and not like a big truck? I got an internet about it.

I am so fed up with these so called 'Christians' that cant' stand the fact that their bible is a complete joke full of ridiculous stories in which were not written or inspired by any God. So they take to this 'metaphoric' meaning which is complete bull. Either the bible is true or it isn't, either you take it literally or you don't take it at all. Why would God allow for such mistakes to be made in the book inspired by him? If you don't believe Jesus walked on water or did all of the miracle stated in the bible then you don't believe in Jesus either. You might believe he was a regular man but then you would be required to believe that God was not his son and himself Jesus.

Just admit you think the bible is a load of crap and you aren't a Christian. I'm so sick and tired of people sitting on the fence just because they are too cowardly to jump to the others side of logician and rationally.