Exploring Space
Psalm 115:16
“The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”
I grew up in the Apollo era. In my day, our family’s black and white TV screen was frequently filled with images of Apollo modules, Saturn V rockets, and American Astronauts.
That is all ancient history now. But unmanned exploration of the Solar System has continued, and now, instead of grainy monochrome images, we can get full-color quality, delivered almost as soon as they are taken to our smartphones. Of course, the timescale of a space mission means that the craft are always using yesterday’s technology. When I was a high school science teacher, I got my classes interested in the launch of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn in 1997, when few students had their own internet connections. Before the craft was destroyed in 2017, they could, if so minded, have watched the images on their smartphones.
Psalm 115:16 says: “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” There are some who suggest that this verse outlaws all forms of space exploration. It is unbiblical, they say, to go beyond the bounds of the Earth that God made for us.
I do not believe this is what the verse is saying. Spurgeon suggested that the verse shows that, although God reigns everywhere, He “allows and permits men to break his laws and persecute his people for the time being, and to set up their dumb idols in opposition to him”. The verse reminds us of God’s Sovereignty.
Prayer: More and more, our exploration of space should cause us to give You the Glory, Lord, for all Your great works in Creation. Amen.
Author: Paul F. Taylor
Ref: Lacey, T. (2012), Does the Bible Prohibit Space Travel?, < https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/does-the-bible-prohibit-space-travel/ >, accessed 6/4/2020.
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