Does Genesis 1:15 say that the moon emits its own light?

[Garland-Green]

Relevant Verse

Genesis 1:15
“Let them [sun and moon] be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give [emit] light on the earth.”

Over the years, a number of skeptics have pointed to this verse to claim that if the Bible were really the inerrant Word of God, it wouldn’t make such a basic mistake as saying the moon emits light. The moon has not and does not—as far as we know—emit any sort of light. Instead, our rocky satellite simply reflects light from the sun.

To uncover the answer, consider first how earth-centric our discussions are. We say that the sun rises and sets, even though we know that the earth actually revolves around the sun and rotates on its axis. We say that the stars “come out” at night, even though we know they’re always there—just hidden by the brighter sunlight. Our point of reference determines how we discuss what we see.


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[Scarlet_Teardrops]

It's a fallacious argument against Scripture because people treat Genesis incorrectly. Genesis was not meant to be read scientifically but theologically, as Scripture. The importance of the Genesis passage was that God created, and that God made man in His image. It reflects that both the sun and the moon serve as lights to govern the day and night. That is what is observable.

It always irks me that people make the argument that the Bible cannot be scientifically accurate, and thus inerrant, simply because of its use of language. They make mountains out of molehills and completely miss the point of the Scriptures.
 

[Garland-Green]

Scarlet_Teardrops

It's a fallacious argument against Scripture because people treat Genesis incorrectly. Genesis was not meant to be read scientifically but theologically, as Scripture. The importance of the Genesis passage was that God created, and that God made man in His image. It reflects that both the sun and the moon serve as lights to govern the day and night. That is what is observable.

It always irks me that people make the argument that the Bible cannot be scientifically accurate, and thus inerrant, simply because of its use of language. They make mountains out of molehills and completely miss the point of the Scriptures.

True, at the same time when it is talking about something that we can use science to investigate we'll find that science is going to affirm it. ^_^