The Bible revealed that the earth is round. Job 26:10, Prov 8:27, Isaiah 40:22, Amos 9:6. people of the fifteenth century who feared sailing because they thought they would fall over the edge of the flat earth. Yet the Bible revealed the truth in 1000 B.C. 2500 years before man discovered it for himself!
Well?
2007-10-02 07:37:01 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Actually ancient civilizations such Egyptians and the Mayans knew the earth was round prior to the bible being authored.
2007-10-02 07:41:17 · answer #1 · answered by Primary Format Of Display 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Oh no, not THIS one again.
1) "Circle" of the earth could just as well refer to a flat disc and not a sphere.
2) You're reading from the KJV. Other translations don't even use "circle".
3) Explain Matthew 4:8. A round earth can't have a mountain tall enough to see all the kingdoms of the planet.
4) As others have mentioned, the earth was known to be round, at least by some cultures, long before the Bible came about. Hell, Eratosthenes even measured the circumference.
2007-10-02 07:43:10 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
When Europeans began to sail on the deep oceans, very few of them could read, or write. Bibles aren't much use to the illiterate.
You assume that man actually believes that the world is a sphere. Many do, but more don't. Even people who say they believe the world is round, really don't understand the words they are parroting.
The fact is; mankind doesn't know the world is round, never did. Only a few have a good mental image of what that world looks like, and most of them are artists, not scientists, or theologians.
2007-10-02 07:47:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
So when the Bible talks about the four corners of the Earth, what is that?
Oh, and the Greeks, Babylonians, Persians, and Carthaginians also knew the Earth is round. One Greek philosopher even undertook an experiment to work out its size, and was pretty close to the truth. In the 15th Century only the least educated people didn't know the Earth is spherical. The falling-off-the-edge story is enturely mythical.
Also, the verses you cited refer to CIRCLES, not spheres. A circular, flat Earth isn't much of a leap of the imagination - after all, the Sun and Moon are circles, as is the horizon. THAT'S what the Israelites believed.
2007-10-02 07:39:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 12⤊ 2⤋
there are just a number of things incorrect here...
First, the earth was known to be "round" (even though sphere would be more accurate, as a circle is round but the earth is certainly not a circle)
LONG before the bible was written
The ancient egyptians figured this out by watching solar eclipses
This alone invalidates your post
The claim that people sailing in the 15th century thought they would fall of the earth is a just a plain lie.
I hope you are trolling but I have a bad feeling you are for real
2007-10-02 07:40:48 · answer #5 · answered by Sheed 4 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Actually, it was known from seeing the shadow of the Earth on the Moon during eclipses. Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth around 240BCE.
Sailors got their superstitions from other passages in the Bible -- like the four corners of the Earth. Looks like the you and the Bible are sources of misinformation.
2007-10-02 07:45:18 · answer #6 · answered by novangelis 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
"The modern misconception that people of the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat first entered the popular imagination in the nineteenth century, thanks largely to the publication of Washington Irving's fantasy The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1828."
2007-10-02 07:45:24 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
When the Bible says round, it's talking about being shaped like a circle. They still believed it was flat, though.
2007-10-02 07:43:12 · answer #8 · answered by Jess H 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The people had been taught that the earth was flat in school and by the scientist of their day. So much so that it had even influenced the church to interprete scriptures in such a manner that it can be taken to support a flat earth. One of many examples from history where science was totally wrong.
2007-10-02 07:42:19 · answer #9 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 2⤊ 4⤋
So you're saying that the Bible was not wrong, it was people's interpretation at the time. How do you know your interpretation now is correct? Also, if it contains so much objective truth, why is it even open to interpretation?
2007-10-02 07:43:01 · answer #10 · answered by aaron p 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋