Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 21
November 13, 1969
NUMBER 28, PAGE 6-7

What The Moon Landing Proved

Thomas F. Shropshire

This article is being written on a bus from Shreveport, La. to the Texas panhandle. As I look out the window and see the pine trees and other vegetation; the cars, trucks and other signs of life; the clouds in the sky and the presence of myself and other people on the bus, I think of the fact that "God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1) and "made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," (Acts 17:26).

As this article is being written, the men who walked on the moon, are on their way back to earth and are due to "splash down" some time today. But we do not have to wait for that event to know what they found because they have already relayed that information to us. They have told us that the moon is a rock-strewn, crater marked body of matter; void of life of any kind, as far as could be seen by those who stood upon it. It is said that there was no atmosphere, so there was no moisture nor vegetation. This condition makes life on the moon impossible and the only way anyone or anything living can survive on the moon is to transport the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat, from the earth.

That the moon landing was and is a great scientific achievement, certainly we, and we suppose anyone else, will not deny. Many have supposed that it would never be done. Others have questioned the wisdom of the venture and expressed their concern for the cost of the project. As to what has been accomplished, depends upon the point of view of various people.

As in many other scientific discoveries, scientists, who have all sorts of theories, see the proof of those theories confirmed. As one commentator put it, the idea that the moon was made of green cheese was exploded. We suppose no one believed the moon was made of green cheese, but the implication was that the facts discovered, discounted and discredited all that anyone might have believed about it, including its creation; except what scientists want to tell us. In the comments upon the samples of rock (later: and/or dust) being brought back from the moon, it was suggested that we could learn much more from them as to age, etc., because of the absence of erosion etc. This writer is not a scientist and does not claim to be, but somehow we have been under the impression that in such things as the age of matter, scientists have relied somewhat on the rate of erosion to establish the age of matter. In the absence of those things which establish age, how can the age be determined? Not that the age of the matter from the moon would prove or disprove anything.

As in every scientific fact which has ever been proven to actually be a fact, the known facts of the moon, confirmed by the moon landing, also confirm everything which is taught in the Bible about them. There is not now, nor will there ever be, any conflict between the Bible and true science or facts actually proven scientifically.

The Bible says the moon was created to rule the night, Gen. 1:16. That the sun gives us bright day light and that the moon gives us lesser light at night are scientific facts which did not have to be proven by a moon landing. But let us notice some of the facts which the moon landing has proven scientifically.

The moon, population-wise, has a total of zero inhabitants. If a dog barks at the moon, there are no dogs on it to bark back. There is no vegetation on the moon. There is no moisture because there is no atmosphere. There is no life on the moon because there is nothing there to support it nor sustain it. It was not designed for that purpose. All of which is in perfect harmony with what the Bible says about it. If anyone takes up residence on the moon, they will have to take with them everything necessary to sustain life. This will include the food they eat, the water they drink and the air they breathe. Personally, we prefer to remain on the earth, which God, who created it and us, designed for us to live on.

Scientists have said that the moon was once a part of the earth and that billions of years ago, a part of the earth separated from it and flew off into space. We predict that scientists will use the rocks (and/or dust), brought from the moon, to confirm this theory. What they will need to find is where one of these rocks has had something inscribed upon it which tells us that it was once a part of the earth. Otherwise, the theory will remain just a theory.

Scientists have told us that the moon has a certain amount of gravity. This being so, it must have had more than it now has if it was once a part of the earth, because it now has less gravity than the earth. This brings up an interesting question. If the moon has less gravity than the earth, what caused such a huge chunk of matter to "lift off" into space? The amount of fuel and the cost to accomplish such a "lift off," would make the cost of the space program look like a very small drop in an enormous bucket.

If the moon was once a part of the earth, in order for it to get to where it now is, something had to go wrong with gravity and gravitation holds the universe in place. We agree with scientists on this scientific fact. But, if scientists claim that something went wrong with gravity or gravitation, we must disagree with them. We believe there is a force far greater than gravity and gravitation behind them. That force is God who is the originator of these forces.

For practical purposes, I am too ignorant to see the wisdom in spending billions of dollars to learn what scientists have learned from the moon landing and departure. Maybe it was worth that much to them (or us, the taxpayers) to prove that they could do it. But we believe we can see where it was well worth the money it cost to add these facts to those already existing, which confirm scientifically what the Bible says. Actually, scientists and their discoveries, though most of them have sought for the opposite, have been of great assistance to the confirmation of Biblical truth. Added to the fact that the earth is round and that it revolves in space; the fact that human blood and animal blood are not the same; and many other facts that have been scientifically proven, now we learn as a scientific fact that the moon fulfills the purpose for which God created it and nothing more.

— 1714 North Gate Road; Bossier City, La. 71010