Where in the Bible does it say the Sun orbits around the Earth, or was it simply misguided church dogma?

Question

There is just the little problem of Galileo being accused of blasphemy by the church when he said the Earth actually moved around the Sun.

Answer 1

There is no science in the Bible. None. The people who perpetuate otherwise are either being willingly dishonest about it or they're just ignorant.

A. "He . . . hangeth the earth upon nothing." Job 26:7. This scientific fact is from Job, the Bible's oldest book.
---But Job 9 says that Earth rests upon columns. The Earth doesn't "hang" anyway.
B. "He . . . sitteth upon the circle of the earth." Isaiah 40:22. The Bible said the earth is round centuries before man found out.
Damian conveniently left out the rest of the verse. Isaiah isn't saying the Earth is a sphere. He's saying that the Earth is a circle.
Isaiah 40:22: It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
---Can't have a tent without a flat surface.
C. "To make the weight for the winds." Job 28:25. Long before scientists knew, God said air has weight.
--But that's the problem. Air is weightless. Damian is being willingly dishonest here.
D. "By Him [Jesus] all things consist." Colossians 1:17. The word "consist" here literally means "hold together" or "cohere."
--This does not prove that the Bible writers knew a damn thing about nuclear physics. Paul is being poetic here. The preceding verse is "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him..."
Nothing nuclear or scientific about that. Damian is once again being purposefully disingenuous.

I repeat.

There is no science in the Bible.

Answer 2

When Galileo rediscovered that the sun revolved around the earth (the Greeks knew that 500-800 BC), it was fought by the established teachers, scientist and religious leaders of that day because simply looking at the sun, it was obvious that it moved around the earth. At that time the majority of Europe was Catholic, so it was expected that everyone would accept what the Bible said. So they went to the Bible for an arguement, and found it in Psalms 104:4, which in the Latin Bible used at the time said "(God) laid the foundation of the earth and it shall not be MOVED forever". Therefore, the earth did not move around the sun.

If one actually reads the verse in context (the whole sentence, not just part) it is taking about how the earth will not be DESTROYED. Most translations today say that it shall not be "removed".

But here was a scripture that could be used to argue their point. It said the earth did not move, there Galileo was wrong. And he was forced to retract his teaching or be punished as a heretic.

The religious leaders objection was not that the earth "moved", but rather that they felt that if the earth was a little ball moving around a big sun, it somehow made the earth - and by default the people on it - less important, and of less value to God. So it is understandable that they would object to the idea.

There is no verse in the Bible that states the sun moves around the earth. There are verses that talk of "sunrise" and "sunset", but in the same way that we use those phrases today. We are not saying the sun actually rises, but rather stating how it appears. There is also no verse that states the earth goes around the sun. Probably because it is totally unimportant to who God is and how we relate to him. So the subject is never mentioned in the Bible.

When the church of Galileo's time objected, it was based on church dogma of that time, and not on any teaching in the Bible.

Answer 3

Genesis
"1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
1:7 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.
1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

1:17 "And God set them [the stars] in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth."

The people in those days thought the Earth had a huge shield around it to hold back the "waters of the universe". Into this shield, the stars were placed. They didn't realize how big stars were.

1 Sam 2:8 " for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them."

According to the Bible, the Earth is fixed, placed upon pillars.

2 Sam 22:8 "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth."

The foundations of Heaven is that firmament shield described earlier, which is why it shook when the Earth shook.

1 Chr 16:30 "Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved."

Another reference to the Earth not moving.

Job 9:6 "Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble."
9:7 "Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars."

Another reference to Earth being fixed on pillars with the Sun orbiting it.

Job 37:18 "Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?"

Another reference to the firmament being some kind of glass shield over the Earth.

I could list many more such references, but I'm only as far as Job and this post is already getting to be too long.

Answer 4

The Bible uses normal language to describe the sun "rising" and "setting" (luke 4:40; Isaiah 41:25). It makes no mention of the sun going around the Earth. People like to try to apply a strict literalness to the Bible, when you need to just use normal human language, which can include saying the sun rises or sets. You certainly wouldn't say Jesus was wrong because he thought that Herod was a fox or the Pharisees were vipers. If the early church came up with this, it certainly wasn't from the Bible.

Answer 5

The Bible doesn't say. The Church went along with the popular views of the times. In the day of Galileo, most people believed the earth was the center of the universe. Instead of sticking to religious matters, the Church chose to side with popular beliefs in secular matters and persecute anyone that disagreed with the majority.

Answer 6

The Bible does not say (or at least as far as I can Find) that the Sun orbits about the earth, it does say this about the shape of the earth in the Old testament.

Isa 40:22 [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof [are] as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

Answer 7

The Catholic Church has never had any "dogma" about things revolving around each other in space. Such things are a matter of science, not theology. Dogma deals with religious truth, not scientific facts.

Answer 8

Friend the sun does not rotate around the earth, it is the earth that rotates around the sun, & science about 20 yrs. ago said that this earth was out of true time, & they said that they come up 30 mintues short, I believe it was Joshua, (I COULD STAND CORRECTED ON THE NAME) because it has been many yrs ago since I study it, Joshua commanded the sun to stop, therefore this earth stop rotating for 30 minutes & Joshua turn back the hands of time for 30 minutes.

Answer 9

It doesn't say that but look at what it does say:

Yes, the Bible is true. The Holy Spirit, who guided the Bible writers, always speaks the truth. Here are a few Bible statements that have been confirmed by science:

A. "He . . . hangeth the earth upon nothing." Job 26:7. This scientific fact is from Job, the Bible's oldest book.
B. "He . . . sitteth upon the circle of the earth." Isaiah 40:22. The Bible said the earth is round centuries before man found out.
C. "To make the weight for the winds." Job 28:25. Long before scientists knew, God said air has weight.
D. "By Him [Jesus] all things consist." Colossians 1:17. The word "consist" here literally means "hold together" or "cohere." Many Bible translations put it "hold together." This is the answer to the nuclear physicists' worrisome question about the atom. The real mystery of the atom does not involve its benumbing mega-power, but rather, "Why doesn't the atom fly apart?" Scientific knowledge says it should, but it doesn't. Some scientists are wondering what puzzling power, completely unknown to them, is holding it together. The Bible says that mysterious power is the Creator, God Himself.

Answer 10

Why do you say the sun orbits the earth? All of us talk about the sunrise and the sunset and we all understand what we are talking about. If we go to watch the sunset the appearance to our eyes is that the sun is setting. I have never heard anyone say lets go watch the earth rotate.