I looked and looked, but I didn't see God.
Many have speculated that he didn't really say this, but that the Soviet leaders at the time manufactured this quote to use in their various atheistic/communist propaganda.
I'm starting to wonder, because in looking at Yuri's other quotes, he doesn't sound like a scientist. He sounds like...a psalmist. Check it out:
"I see the earth! It is so beautiful!"
"When I orbited the earth in a spaceship, I saw for the first time how beautiful our planet is. Mankind, let us preserve and increase this beauty, and not destroy it!"
[Um, am I the only one reaching for Genesis right now?]
"I could have gone on flying through space forever."
I bet he could. I had planned to try and counter his purported denial of God, but in doing even the teensiest bit of research, all I could find were quotes of praise. There was a psalmist inside of him somewhere (placed by his Maker?) that like the rocks, could not keep silent.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Psalm 33:6
Yuri says he didn't see God. I say he did.
Have you read The Priviledged Planet? I am reading now (and at the rate I am going, will be reading it for a long time), so I can only comment on the beginning, but WOW - The earth is amazing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I read the 2nd post - you've probably already read Lost Moon, but I recommend it as well. (I really don't read mostly science/technology books, but sometimes they fall in my path...)