Christian Astronaut Experienced Job's Words

Teresa Neumann : Jul 6, 2010
Tim Townsend - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"I remember recognizing that he was in that nothingness God created and that he could just look around for a minute and really feel that void referenced in the Bible."

(St. Louis, Mo.)—Reporter Tim Townsend, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has written an evocative article on the experiences of former astronaut Col. Jeffrey Williams and the way Williams' Christian faith led him to write a book entitled, The Work of His Hands: A View of God's Creation from Space.

Williams was in St. Louis recently to speak to third- and fourth-graders for "NASA: Journey to Outer Space," a day camp program hosted by the St. Louis Science Center and Mad Science of St. Louis.

Townsend does a great job of educating readers, explaining what the "Levant" is (the area of present day Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories), and the Biblical significance of Mt. Zaphon, a mountain referred to by the Biblical Canaanites and also by Job who—in explaining God's creation of the universe—said, "He stretches out Zaphon over the void and hangs the earth upon nothing."

It is that reference from Job that Townsend says ran through the mind of Col. Williams as he looked down on Earth during two missions on the International Space Station.

"Any space traveler who has seen the Earth from orbit completely understands" Job's words, writes Williams in his new book, complete with photographs. "When one views the Earth from orbit through the window of a spacecraft for the first time—and perhaps, most every time—it is normal to be struck by the (obvious) reality that the Earth is a ball in the vastness of space. It is one thing to know that academically, quite another to view it. God really does suspend the Earth on nothing!" (A look inside the book)

"Good science and the Bible are consistent," Williams added. "I don't see any conflict there."

During Williams' missions, husband and wife would reportedly pray together sometimes over the phone, she on the ground in Texas, and he 225 miles above.

Said Williams' wife, Anna-Marie: "I remember recognizing that he was in that nothingness God created and that he could just look around for a minute and really feel that void referenced in the Bible."

To read the original article in its entirety, click on the link provided.