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:
What can you say about this? they have known it even before christ...
2007-05-02 06:41:48 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
faw
2007-05-02 06:48:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Eratosthenes knew this from differences in shadow lengths from same size objects in different locations nearly 320 years before the birth of christ. Not only did he know it was around, but he used geometry of the angles of the sunlight making the shadows with the objects and assuming a spherical earth and actually measured its approximate circumference and diameter! Remember also that lunar eclipses have the round shadow of the Earth crossing the lunar face as seen from Earth. The moon itself was seen to be round in the sky. And many sailors always saw the curavature of the Earth on the horizon and could actually sail past that point and see a totally new curved horizon. As for that bible verse I'm not sure if he meant a sphere or a flat circle... but then again Isaiah was a scary accurate prophet... one of the best of all times... even named told of Cyrus hundreds of years before his birth and even got us his actual name!
2007-05-02 13:52:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I would say after Columbus did his thing, the people of the civilized world started believing the world was round before that most thought it was flat and you could fall off if you went too far. People did not understand the passage you quoted, it was there but not understood. We understand it now, but because we know the earth is round.
2007-05-02 15:24:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This could also be in reference to turning in a circle, If the earth was like a plate, as many thought it was, it could be flat and circular instead of round.
Also the moon and the sun didn't have to round either as plate shape would fit any primitive scenerio you can come up with.
2007-05-02 13:52:55 · answer #4 · answered by bob shark 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some very smart cookies realized it by looking at the moon. They figured that the moon changed shape because of the earth's shadow. Since the shadow was curved, they figured out that the only shape which would always produce a curved shadow is a sphere.
2007-05-02 13:47:31 · answer #5 · answered by harvityharvharvharv 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The ancient Greeks knew it through experiment. The bible also talks about going to the top of a mountain and seeing the entire world and all it's kingdoms. That would imply it was flat. It's not exactly a science text.
2007-05-02 13:55:24 · answer #6 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋