Did the Sun stop shining?

[amortalman]

Did the Sun stop shining when Jesus was on the cross as the writers of Matthew, Mark, and Luke claim?

Matthew 27:45
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

Mark 15:33
33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Luke adds even more:
Luke 23:44-45
44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

Notice that Luke says the darkness lasted for three hours and was over all the earth!

Certainly, an event that goes beyond extraordinary should have been thoroughly documented by thousands of astronomers and writers all over the Roman empire and beyond. Yet there is not to be found a scrap of parchment or papyrus or stone carving or anything else that might lend support to this fantastic claim. Why is that?

The logical answer is that it never happened and is a made-up claim by Christians decades after the supposed event. What do you think?

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 1 by amortalman]

The Greek word (ge) translated as "earth" can also be rendered "region" or "land" so it may well have been a darkness that was localized (ie it could have been "all" the local area of as little as a couple of hundred meters square) ie just where Jesus died, rather than country wide or global.


source: https://biblehub.com/greek/1093.htm

Indeed if we take the gospels as a whole they mention different signs in different areas, so the darkness may relate only to the execution site which would not necessarily have been of note but to those in attendance.

NOTE The account doesnt say "the sun stopped shining", so the darkness could well have been as a result of an unusual cloud formation blocking the light from the sun similar to what happens sometimes during heavy storms.

JW




RELATED POSTS

Did the sun stop shining the day Jesus died?
viewtopic.php?p=1008274#p1008274

Did Joshua report the earth stopped spinning when the sun stood still ?
viewtopic.php?p=855182#p855182

When is the Passover "New Moon"?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 96#p911296

To learn more please go to posts related to...

BIBLICAL SEQUENCING, INERRANCY and ...THE RESSURECTION EVENTS

[Tcg]

[Replying to post 1 by amortalman]

The Greek word (ge) translated as "earth" can also be rendered "region" or "land" so it may well have been a darkness that was localized or just where Jesus died rater than country wide or global.

JW

None of these phrases point to a localized darkness:

• darkness over all the land
  
  darkness over the whole land
  
  darkness over all the earth
  
  <bolding mine>

Of course when the text presents genuine problems, it is always easy for anonymous internet posters to second guess the translations of scholars via simple word searches that ignore context.


Tcg

[bjs]

[Replying to amortalman]

Before I respond, I want to make sure I understand your case. Are you building your case on the idea Luke was saying that darkness literally covered the entire surface of the earth, as opposed to it being dark for about three hours in the in an unspecified amount of territory that included Jerusalem?

[Zzyzx]

.

Indeed if we take the gospels as a whole they mention different signs in different areas, so the darkness may relate only to the execution site which would not necessarily have been of note but to those in attendance.

Who, exactly, was 'in attendance' to witness the 'darkness' and write a report? The gospel named after Matthew was written decades or generations after the claimed 'resurrection' (perhaps fifty years).

“from noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land� (Matt. 27:45).

Additionally, who witnessed and reported these events?

“The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised� (Matt. 27:52).

“The earth quaked, and the rocks were split� (Matt. 27:51).

“The curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom� (Matt. 27:51).

NOTE The account doesnt say "the sun stopped shining", so the darkness could well have been as a result of an unusual cloud formation blocking the light from the sun similar to what happens sometimes during heavy storms.

Of course, BIG cloud “from noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land� (Matt. 27:45).

[amortalman]

[Replying to post 4 by bjs]

It seems to me that the writers clearly meant what they said, that there was darkness over the whole earth.

[amortalman]

[Replying to post 2 by JehovahsWitness]

JW wrote:

"The account doesnt say "the sun stopped shining", so the darkness could well have been as a result of an unusual cloud formation blocking the light from the sun similar to what happens sometimes during heavy storms."

But the text doesn't mention anything about a storm: no thunder, no lightning, no rain.

JW wrote:

"Indeed if we take the gospels as a whole they mention different signs in different areas, so the darkness may relate only to the execution site which would not necessarily have been of note but to those in attendance."

The plain language of the text is that this was a supernatural event that created darkness over the whole earth as the synoptic gospels claim.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 2 by JehovahsWitness]

But the text doesn't mention anything about a storm: no thunder, no lightning, no rain.

....

The plain language of the text is that this was a supernatural event that created darkness over the whole earth as the synoptic gospels claim.

I didnt say there was a storm I said the sun could have been blocked by clouds. Thick clouds that cause darkness for three hours from noon, with no accompanying storm, no thunder, no lightning and no rain would indeed be considered a supernatural event ie an inexplicable unnatural occurance.




JW

[Charles]

Did the Sun stop shining when Jesus was on the cross as the writers of Matthew, Mark, and Luke claim?

In what reality does darkness fall only because the sun stops shining??? My goodness....

Luke adds even more:
Luke 23:44-45
44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

Notice that Luke says the darkness lasted for three hours and was over all the earth!

Certainly, an event that goes beyond extraordinary should have been thoroughly documented by thousands of astronomers and writers all over the Roman empire and beyond. Yet there is not to be found a scrap of parchment or papyrus or stone carving or anything else that might lend support to this fantastic claim. Why is that?

The logical answer is that it never happened and is a made-up claim by Christians decades after the supposed event. What do you think?

The logical answer without all the hype is that the word used for earth is also used for land or region...: Strong's Concordance :1093. gé
gé: the earth, land
Definition: the earth, land
Usage: the earth, soil, land, region, country, inhabitants of a region.

[amortalman]

[Replying to post 2 by JehovahsWitness]

But the text doesn't mention anything about a storm: no thunder, no lightning, no rain.

....

The plain language of the text is that this was a supernatural event that created darkness over the whole earth as the synoptic gospels claim.

I didnt say there was a storm...

No, but you did say "similar to what happens sometimes during heavy storms" when you could have simply said the sun could have been blocked by clouds" and left it at that. Nevertheless, something caused the sun to stop shining (or appear so) and it did it over the whole earth for three solid hours...according to the gospels that are titled Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

I said the sun could have been blocked by clouds. Thick clouds that cause darkness for three hours from noon, with no accompanying storm, no thunder, no lightning and no rain would indeed be considered a supernatural event ie an inexplicable unnatural occurrence.

Indeed it would! So why are there no reports of this fantastic event that occurred "over the whole land" and "over the whole earth" in any writings apart from the authors of these three books? We don't even know who wrote these books because they were written anonymously and the names were a later addition being added by scribes years after they were written. That's a whole other subject but I mention it because it goes to the question of reliability. It is very doubtful they were written by eyewitnesses for they don't claim to be. We do know that the writer of Matthew was not a witness because it is written entirely in the third person.