Terry ... 9:30 P.M. (CST), December 24, 1968, millions of persons, glued to TV and radio, were ... by a Bible reading from outer space. It was coming from Apollo 8, the first ...
Terry Dashner…
At 9:30 P.M. (CST), December 24, 1968, millions of persons, glued to TV and radio, were electrified by a Bible reading from outer space. It was coming from Apollo 8, the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. “Apollo 8 has a message for you,” announced Commander Frank Borman.
Major Bill Anders began reading, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…”
Back on earth, NBC’s David Brinkley said in a reverent comment, “If my memory serves me correctly, he’s reading from the first chapter of Genesis.”
Captain James A. Lovell, Jr., continued, “And God called the light day…”
Col. Borman concluded, “And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered…” Then he signed off, “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we pause with good night, good luck, a merry Christmas, and God bless all of you—all of you on the good earth.”
Those who heard the live telecast from this first moon-orbiting space probe will never forget how it captured the imagination of the whole world.
Christianity Today compared the event to Samuel F. B. Morse’s first wireless message from Numbers 23:23, “What hath God wrought!”
Contrary to popular belief, the astronauts did not read from Bibles, as they would have required fireproof plastic covering and been difficult to get to. So just before launch time, the three astronauts decided to type the Genesis selection right onto their flame-resistant flight plan.
Frank Borman, a member of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Houston, is credited with idea. Later he joked, “One of the truly historical things was that we got that good Roman Catholic, Bill Anders, to read from the King James Version.”
Over 100,000 letters poured into NASA’s Houston headquarters, with praise for the Bible reading running 1,000 to 1.
The New York Board of Rabbis said, “Your reading from Genesis evoked a responsive chord in the hearts of all spiritually attuned people throughout this good earth…”
A few verses from Genesis were appropriately typed on the flight plan of Apollo 8. All of the Bible, typed indelibly into our lives, would make a good flight plan for humanity.
Terry Dashner
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