But that's not what scripture says. This is one of many places the critics of a historical Biblical text say God gets it wrong and the heliocentric universe is the proof. And if the Bible is inaccurate about the nature of the universe then how can we trust it for ancient history of supernatural events? Then you, and others, create an irrational paradox that you think solves the problem but have only produced a non literal narrative.
--Dave
You are once again presenting a false dichotomy. You're saying that either the Bible is right and affirms your views of a flat earth and does not affirm my views of a round earth, or it's completely wrong, when you should be recognizing that it is possible that you are wrong and the Bible is still correct when it says "the sun stood still over Gibeon." Your interpretation of the Bible is not the only one, nor is it only opposing one other view.
Dave, my assertion is that
your interpretation of the Bible is wrong, not that the Bible
itself is wrong. I also assert that God doesn't do irrational things, that He is a rational God, hence my poser of, did God simply stop the rotation of the earth and moon or did he cause the sun and all the celestial bodies in our solar system to orbit the earth in geo-sync? (meaning the bodies farthest out from Earth would have to move at incredible speeds to stay in orbit around the Sun (again, assuming the heliocentric model of a round earth is correct for a moment).
*Then Joshua spoke 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 still over Gibeon;And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”*So the sun stood still,And the moon stopped,Till the people had revengeUpon their enemies.Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. - Joshua 10:12-13
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua10:12-13&version=NKJV
The passage says that the Sun stood still over Gibeon and the moon over the Valley of Aijalon. For a "round-earther," the most logical and simplest thing for God to do would be to halt the rotation of the earth and the moon, instead of causing the sun, moon and the rest of the solar system to orbit the earth geo-synchronously, while the rest of the system still orbits the sun.
Ancient astronomers had to deal with a similar problem with the geocentric model, because the orbits would have been so unusual if the sun were to orbit the earth AND have the planets orbit the earth. They couldn't be mapped properly, because using that model, no predictions could be made about where each planet would be at any given time. This is what led to the proposal of the heliocentric model, which, unlike the geocentric model, could actually predict the motion of the planets through our night sky, and even allows us to extrapolate forwards and backwards in time to where the planets should have been.
@AskMrReligion, One problem with you even giving credence to the notion that the sun is what stopped moving above the earth is that it doesn't match physics, ie it's not physically possible. I don't know the numbers, and I wouldn't know where to begin to be able to calculate it out, but It seems to me that in order for the
sun to start to orbit the earth geo-synchronously, and not mess up the planets, at the farthest point from earth the planets would have to be traveling FAR faster than is possible to keep the planets in orbit around the sun, let alone the sudden change in velocity (remember, speed in a given direction) would, unless God intervened supernaturally, literally tear the planets apart. Oh, and let's not forget the asteroid belt and all the rings around the planets that God would have to move all at the same time. Sure, God could do it, if he wanted to, but WHY?
Philosophical Question: Throughout the Bible, does God usually get really involved in supernatural events that involve the death of His creation (eg the Flood or this battle or any of the plagues of Egypt)? or does he typically do very little, letting nature do most of the work?
I'd say generally God lets nature do most of the work. So, given that God likes to let His creation do most of the work, Which seems more plausible (and as a reminder, none of this has to do with the flat earth model,:
A) the earth continuing to rotate once per day, but the sun begins to orbit the earth in one location over the earth (geo-sync), and have all the planets and objects in the solar system somehow maintain their orbit around the sun, but from earth's perspective there's chaos in the heavens.
OR
B) God halts the rotation of the earth and orbit of the moon for a few hours, but lets it continue in it's orbit of the sun, then starts rotating it again.
