In the winter of 1968, a historic event took place that sent excitement throughout the entire world as few events had ever done before. The spaceship Apollo 8 made the first voyage from our planet to the moon. Commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the first men to orbit the moon. The complete fascination of our globe was captured by this mission. It was estimated that over one billion people would be watching them. These three men were granted the extraordinary privilege of being the first humans to view the moon from a window away.
Early in the morning of December 21, 1968, the blastoff took place from Cape Kennedy with flawless perfection. Commander Borman was well aware of the significance of this first historic flight, the mammoth audience that would have their eyes riveted to their T.V. sets, and the incredible opportunity the Apollo 8 crew had to do something special. Borman had thought long and hard on what his crew might prepare to say to a world that would be eagerly watching them. Finally a suggestion was made to read the creation story. The rest is history. While orbiting the moon, with the earth behind them and the entire universe before them, over one billion people began to hear the opening ten verses from Genesis.
I can imagine the excitement, the drama and the impact that must have been generated as the following words came into the ears of those firsthand hearers from almost 250,000 miles away: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” As the rest of the verses were read one could not help but stand in awe at this remarkable technological accomplishment, of man and nature rendezvousing in a never-before-journeyed-to corridor of our galaxy. It is only fitting that the creation story was read on man’s first flight to the moon. God’s Word has now not only been circulated throughout this world but to other world as well.
Again, whenever the Bible is read, controversy is bound to follow. This time, however, when all the returns were in, the Bible won by a landslide. In the words of Frank Borman: “One woman in particular began a campaign to prohibit astronauts from expressing their views in this way. She did have a certain following, because we received 34 letters of complaint. But it is interesting that there were almost 100,000 other letters from people who found the Genesis reading very meaningful indeed.”1 If a simple verse can generate such excitement, imagine what the entire Bible can do!
1 Col. Frank Borman, “Message to Earth,” The Guideposts Treasury of Faith (New York: Bantam Books, Inc., 1980), p. 405.
WHEN GOD SPOKE, THE COSMOS CLEARED ITS THROAT.
A slightly snarky Apologetic on Genesis, Apollo 8, and Why the Bible Still Outshines the Moon.
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Thematic Summary Statements
• Creation isn’t a metaphor – it’s the universe’s birth certificate. Genesis opens not with mythic fog but with declarative clarity: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NASB). The Apollo 8 astronauts simply read what the cosmos already knew.
• Revelation and creation are not rivals – they’re siblings. “The heavens tell of the glory of God; And their expanse declares the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1, NASB) The Scriptures articulate it. One sings, the other subtitles.
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Mr. Blattman’s retelling of Apollo 8’s lunar orbit is already cinematic, but let’s add seasoning: the blend of cosmic awe, theological precision, and a wink that says, “Of course the Bible holds up. It’s been doing this longer than astrophysics has had a name.”
Picture it:
Three men in a tin can, quarter-million miles from home, staring at a marble-blue Earth rising over a dead gray horizon. They could have read poetry. They could have recited technical specs. They could have said, “Hi Mom.”
Instead, they opened with the line that has outlived empires.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, NASB)
And suddenly the whole world…believers, skeptics, and the spiritually undecided…was confronted with the oldest truth spoken from the newest vantage point.
As Curt notes, while the reading generated controversy, the mail-in vote wasn’t close: 34 complaints versus nearly 100,000 letters of gratitude. The Bible, as usual, won by a landslide.
Why?
Because Genesis 1 doesn’t merely describe creation. It explains it. It gives the “why” behind the “wow.” Evolutionary theory can map the mechanisms, but it cannot answer the question every child asks instinctively: “Who made this?” Genesis answers without a stutter.
And the first verses of Genesis are not scientific textbooks. They’re sovereign declarations. They don’t compete with cosmology. They commission it. They tell us that before quarks quivered or photons sprinted, God already was. That the universe is not an accident but an act. That order, beauty, and intelligibility are not emergent properties…they’re fingerprints.
The Apollo 8 crew didn’t read Genesis because they lacked something profound to say. They read it because nothing they could say would be profound enough.
A pungent and perky old minister I know would put it this way:
“When humans finally left Earth, the first words worth speaking were the ones spoken before Earth existed. Funny how the farther we get from home, the more obvious it becomes that Someone built the place.”
The divine inspiration of Scripture shines especially bright in moments like Apollo 8. Although the astronauts weren’t theologians, they instinctively reached for the only text big enough to match the moment.
Genesis 1 is not provincial…it’s cosmic. It’s not ancient superstition. It’s ancient sovereignty.
And the creation–evolution debate?
Let’s be honest. The Bible never trembles. It simply states reality with the calm confidence of the One who authored it. Science changes its mind every decade; Genesis hasn’t revised a syllable in millennia.
As Curt’s document reminds us, the reading of Genesis from lunar orbit wasn’t a stunt. It was a homecoming. Creation recognized its Creator’s words echoing through the void.
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🌱 …Words for the Children
Little ones, when you look at the stars, remember: God made those. When you look at yourself, remember: God made you, too. And He didn’t whisper you into existence. He spoke you with joy.
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💫Leave the Tip:
The universe is big, but not big enough to hide the God who spoke it into being.
Thanks, Curt.