‘Do something appropriate’: Video resurfaces explaining how decision was made by astronauts to read Bible from space

A video has resurfaced at this Christmas season revealing the story behind one of the most memorable events of America’s space exploration: The Christmas Eve 1968 reading of the first part of the Book of Genesis from space.

A report at CBN News explains that on that Christmas Eve, three astronauts, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, were on NASA’s first manned mission to the moon.

CBN reports, “No one, not even the astronauts aboard, was certain that they’d be able to return safely. Their journey, the most hazardous and dangerous ever embarked upon, took them to the boundaries of another world…”

The report noted at 5:30 a.m. on that day, “something remarkable happened. After spotting the barren, far side of the moon for the first time, the astronauts onboard captured a photo that has since become known as ‘Earthrise.’ For all the turmoil, tragedy, and political tumult the world had experienced during 1968, this iconic, indelible image captured the beauty and fragility of our home planet. And then, with more than one billion people watching around the world on television, the astronauts delivered a message to the largest audience in human history. It was a sentiment for all mankind and one straight from the pages of the Bible. As the nation waited in prayerful consideration, astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders spoke the following words,” the report said.

They read:

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good.

A video clip, from a Salute to Apollo conference years ago, revealed how that event came to happen:

On Christmas Eve 1968 Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders recited the first 10 verses of Genesis in a broadcast from space.

It’s one of the greatest moments in history. I’ve heard the recording many times—but I’d never heard them discuss HOW it happened til now: pic.twitter.com/TOoO7CeWF5

— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) December 25, 2021

This original transmission: