The ultimate Bible contradiction.?

Question

After stumbling upon www.godhatesglobes.com one day, I thought it was a parody. The webmaster seemed so very intent on "proving" that the earth is flat that I figured, in the year 2006 AD, no one could seriously believe that planet Earth is flat.

I guess I was wrong.

How can someone truly say that the Earth is flat (which the bible clearly implies, read the latest post on the site for biblical verses) when there is an abundance of evidence to the contrary? How can someone believe that even though thousands of people take flights around the world every day, we haven't lost one plane "over the edge" or had one single person leak the "truth"? How do you explain satellites and pictures of the earth from the moon? How about how ships disappearing over the horizon? GPS? Gravity?

I think most everyone agrees that the earth is round. Is this just another contradiction or can someone clear this up for me without preaching?

Way to read my question everyone, and not be lazy. Christ.

Fine, here are the verses. You think you would have READ MY GODDAMNED POST and got them yourselves...

"Where their Bible clearly states in the book of Job chapter 38 verse for 4 that the earth has a length and a width, as opposed to a longitude and latitude."

"The bible also states in the book of Revelation chapter 7 verse 1 that the Earth has four corners from which four angels will hold back four winds to prevent them from blowing on the land or sea during the time of the apocalypse."

"The bible goes on to say in the book of Joshua chapter 10 that the sun rotates around the Earth, for in verse 12 Joshua prays for more sunlight in order to slaughter the Amorites and the lord commands the sun to stand still and not the earth."

"just like in Job chapter 38 verse 13 may you take the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it."

"And if the bible has parts that aren't ment to be taken litteraly, how are you supposed to know which are which?"

THANK YOU, Devil's Advocate, for pointing this out. I figured that I wouldn't have to write this out: "Where does the bible clearly differentiate the literal from the symbollism? People seriously believed this 500 years ago, and would have considered it literal, which got people like Galileo in big trouble. Today, supporters of evolution are in hot water for their beliefs, so what's the difference? Those people believed the earth was flat just as mucha s you believe in creationism, who's to say that science can't prove you wrong and creationism is the only way?"

There, I wrote it out. I never thought people could infer my real question from something like that, but hey.

Oh, and how can you still literally believe in the bible, every single character, but then just earlier post that it's "poetry?" Atleast poetry rhymes and makes sense.

Answer 1

I just read the link you posted. I fail to see any actual proof that the world is flat. I do understand your dilemma giving what the bible says, but the bible is a book that was written mostly by the same men that persecuted Galileo. The bible has been revised and edited so many times over the centuries that is it almost certain that no one will ever know what all the original versions ever said. There are other texts that were written at the same time of the bible and they were 'voted' out.

If you feel that this is an ultimate bible contradiction, then you really must read the remaining texts that the church decided should not be included in the book before you come to this conclusion. There are several contradictions in the bible and some of them are much more profound than this. As an example, what do you think would happen to the church if they had to admit that there is an omitted book where Jesus states that he was the one that convinced Eve to partake of the fruit?

I won't buy into anything that has exterior contradictions and I damn sure won't believe in something that contradicts itself, as the bible so often does.

Answer 2

Ok, here's the deal with this "contradiction:"
The authors of the Hebrew Bible did not benefit from the scientific knowledge we have today. To the ancients (not just the Hebrews, nut everyone else, as well) nature was the machinations of gods: sun, stars, weather, and the like. This is called the Divine Canopy paradigm; God covers everything like an umbrella.

The Biblical understanding of the world operated under this canopy. Ancient Hebrews believed that the earth was flat, covered by a cyrstelline dome upon which the sun, moon, and stars were fixed. Beyond the dome was water, allowed into the dome through gates (thus explaining rain). On the top of the dome was God's throne. Beneath the earth was the abyss (called Sheol), not exactly Hell, but a netherworld. That's ancient Hebrew cosmology.

I think it cust have occurred to some ancients that the earth might have been round, but I also think, to ancient Hebrews, they never would have thought of the possibility. For most of them, there was no scripture (the Old Testament was written only in the 4th centure BCE or so), so the religious teachings they had were passed orally. There wasn't opportunity to make theoretical speculation because they were not theoretical people. They could stand on the earth, so it must be flat. The could look for miles across the desert, so the ground must be flat. That's how they would have thought of it.

We, fortunately, have the benefit of things like space shuttles and satellites and the like. We can look at the earth from above and know it's a slightly oblong spheroid. We know we're the third mass in a stellar solar planetary system, of which we have discovered many.

All this doesn't, though, make the ancients wrong. Our turth is scientifically informed; theirs was religiously informed. The God who created everything regulated the world in such a way that they could not fall off it; it had to be flat.

That's the basic idea. I hope it hasn't been too preachy.

Answer 3

Frankly I can't see how anyone could seriously come to the conclusion - even from the quotes you gave - that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat. It just doesn't follow.

First of all, the Bible is not a high school science text book. It has a whole different purpose and a whole different context and spirit to it. No one in their right mind would use it to try to arrive at scientific proofs of physical phenomena.

Secondly, the Bible was written in the terms that the people who wrote it could understand and relate to. So if there was a general belief at that time that the earth was the center of the solar system or the universe or whatever, that would be reflected in Biblical writings. Not because it is scientifically true, or a claim to scientific truth, but because it was the prevalent belief of the people at the time the Bible was written.

So I don't see the big contradiction you refer to, and I think it's kind of meaningless to try to discredit the Bible with this kind of reasoning.

Anyway, whatever....

Answer 4

Bible difficulties, or apparent Bible contradictions, exist. The opponents of Christianity often use them in their attempts to discredit Christianity. Sometimes these attacks undermine the faith of Christians who either don't understand the issues or don't have the resources to deal with them.

Opponents of Christianity will cite what they consider a Bible contradiction or difficulty by comparing one verse to another (or more) that seems to disagree with the first. In doing this, several verses are often referenced as being contradictory or problematic. Therefore, to make this section of CARM easy to use, it is arranged by verse for easy lookup. Since many of the same "difficulties" deal with one verse in opposition to another or even several others, I have listed all the verses addressed in the same answer. This makes the initial list look larger than it really is. For example, how many animals did Noah bring into the ark? Genesis 6:19-20 says two while Gen. 7:2-3 mentions seven. Therefore, both verses are listed and both links point to the same answer.

http://carm.org/introduction-bible-difficulties-and-bible-contradictions

If we read the Bible at face value, without a preconceived bias for finding errors, we will find it to be a coherent, consistent, and relatively easy-to-understand book. Yes, there are difficult passages. Yes, there are verses that appear to contradict each other. We must remember that the Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors over a period of around 1500 years. Each writer wrote with a different style, from a different perspective, to a different audience, for a different purpose. We should expect some minor differences. However, a difference is not a contradiction. It is only an error if there is absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist. Many have found a supposed error in the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further archaeological evidence is discovered.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-errors.html

The Big Book of Bible Difficulties: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation
By: Norman L. Geisler, Thomas Howe
http://www.christianbook.com/difficulties-clear-concise-answers-genesis-revelation/norman-geisler/9780801071584/pd/071584?event=AFF&p=1011693&

Answer 5

Critic Paul H. Seely claims that the Bible teaches that the earth is a flat disc consisting of a single continent floating on a circular sea. In so doing, he once again makes the mistake of reading into equivocal biblical language definite statements of cosmology.

Isaiah writes about the "circle of the earth" (40:22), which may indicate merely the circular horizon but certainly does not obstruct a spherical earth model. As a matter of fact, Isaiah lived in a hill country and his horizon was not a circle. Isaiah's literary abilities were extraordinary and if he was speaking of the horizon, he would have chosen a different word than circle. Still, this remains conjecture.

In Job 26:7 however we read the astounding and accurate remark that "the earth is suspended on nothing"; something that is contradicted by every ancient world model, but confirmed by modern science.

Answer 6

Yes this was the way all people thought back then. From the prospective of people looking at the sky it would look like the sun circles the earth.and that the world is flattish the sun goes under the earth to come back up in the eastish. Most people did not travel very far from where they were born. so they only had their own observations to go by. We would still believe the earth was flat if one person hadn't made a ball and a ship in the same proportion and showed that the effect of moving the ship further away while looking at the horizon of the ball had the same effect as seen with ships moving away from land . it does not just look smaller as you move it the away put you lose sight of it from the bottom up as it moves down the edge of the globe.
no contradictions just a matter of prospective.

Answer 7

ROFLMAO
In a way its a very good question!
To even begin to understand you would need a working knowledge of dimensional theory!

In brief from the 4 or 5 dimension the earth would most likely be as flat as a pancake.

If we lived in a 2 dimensoinal world, if you could not go around a line it would be impassable!
there is no up or down.

On a 3 dimensoinal globle we can not see the sky on the other side of the globle, but from the 4 the dimenson you would just look, because you can see the other side!

Answer 8

OK. I looked at the verses you quoted. Since you quoted them, I did not look at the website. Maybe you got the first one wrong. When I read Job 38:4, and on into the reading, I see no reference to length or width. I see that God laid claim to laying the foundations of the earth, and that He measured its dimensions, but no reference to what those dimensions were.

Revelation 7:1 is written in apocalyptic, or symbolic, language. The idea is to understand that four angels are holding back forces from all directions

Joshua 10:12 relates how events looked from earth. Joshua counted time by the relative position of the sun in the sky, as well as the moon, and therefore from what he understood he asked God to stop time. God responded, and to Joshua's eyes the sun and the moon seemed to stop.

As for Job 38:13, it is sometimes difficult to determine a figure of speech from a literal statement. I think this is clearly a figure of speech, as most who read this verse will agree. Such as your request for God to damn your post when I am not sure that you believe in God. Was that literal, or a figure of speech?

Answer 9

The parable is this:
It, (the bible) the words contextualy depict (for a mind like a child), stories about the history of man, and others that create and describe consiquences for behaviours that go against the creators inherent and natural will for us and common sense.
Then it goes on in recording and stating what needs to be figured out by simple understanding a story og the tthen in relationship to the future for all. No-one can prove it untrue without lying, conjecturing and or assuming.

Answer 10

How about this verse? Isaiah 40:22 "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth . . " Does that sound square and flat? How about this verse? Psalm 91:4 "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;" Do you think the Psalmist is saying that God has literal feathers and wings or is he perhaps using poetic, figurative language?

I don't know any Christians who believe the earth is flat. How do you know this website isn't just trying to make Christians look stupid?