Mike Farris:
My guest this week is Jay Ryan. He’s the author of a homeschool curriculum called Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy. Jay and his wife Debbie have five kids and they operate Fourth Day Press in Cleveland, Ohio. Jay, welcome to the program.

Jay Ryan:
Thanks Mike, it’s great to be here.

Mike:
Jay, can you explain to our listeners the biblical basis for classical astronomy?

Jay:
We read in Genesis 1:14 that God made the Sun, Moon and stars “for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.” So the Lord made them to tell time. Calendar keeping is a very practical and Biblical purpose for the celestial bodies.

In the Bible, Israel was instructed to follow a lunar calendar. Each month began with the New Moon, which was the first sighting of the waxing crescent Moon in the evening sky. The major Hebrew feasts were timed with the phases of the Moon. For example, Passover was the first Full Moon of spring. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus would have been under the light of the Full Moon, as accurately depicted in The Passion of the Christ.

Later, the early Christians developed a church calendar that included the Hebrew lunar calendar and the civil solar calendar. This eventually became the basis of the Gregorian calendar, which we still use throughout the world today.

Mike:
Jay, thanks so much, I look forward to talking to you tomorrow. I’m Mike Farris.