Will some Christians ever learn?

Question

The church said the earth was flat because the Bible said the earth was flat. They were wrong.

Job 38:12-13) "take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it

(Matthew 4:1-12) "[T]he devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them"

The Bible said that the earth did not move and the sun orbited around the earth because the Bible said that. They were wrong.

(Psalms 93:1)"The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty; The Lord is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established so that it cannot be moved."

Samuel 2:8)"For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, And He has set the world upon them". If you go to any seashore, you are bound to see houses built on pillars, and yet the houses don't move. How strange.

The church said the earth is 6000 years old because the Bible says so. Even most churches don't this is true nevermind the scientific evidence

What do you think you're wrong about now?

It's said that the religious belief lags 200 years behind scientifc evidence.
You can accept it now or wait until the year 2059..

The earth is not a circle, a circle is flat..., The earth is spherical. Did you fail geometry or something?

Matthew P, damn it's like reasoning with a brick wall...the church said that the earth was flat and stationery in the PAST..heard of Galileo, Copernicus? Galileo was imprisoned for his entire life because he thought the earth revolved around the sun.

Answer 1

Garsh - thanks for setting me straight. Wow was I stupid. All these years I thought those were metaphors.

You mean maybe God is really a great big chicken?
Psalms 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge.

Boc Boc!!!

Answer 2

I really don't get your point. Obviously, you are one who is not here to ask, but to make some sort of a point.

Some old version of the Church, as well as some current groups, still hold to the idea that the earth is 6000 years old. Those who are reasonable and read what the scripture says, will take note that the earth quite likely well over 6000 years old..."The earth was formless and void..." This shows that by the time God was ready to make the earth inhabited, it had already been there for an undetermined amount of time.

Now, life on this earth is likely to have been here for at least 6000 years, human life probably not a whole lot more.

As for what people took as the world being flat from scripture, they were wrong. There is another scripture which says, "The circle of the earth...", which led explorers to prove that the earth was round (along with the idea that ships disappeared over the horizon).

You surely don't think anyone still thinks the world is flat (outside of the mentally unsure)? If you are of any intelligence or observational ability, you would know that none of us thinks the world is flat, so what is your point?

Answer 3

Job 38:13 -
(1) That it might take hold of the ends of the earth - Margin, as in Hebrew “wings.” Wings are in the Scriptures frequently given to the earth, because it seems to be spread out, and the expression refers to its extremities. The language is derived from the supposition that the earth was a plain, and had limits or bounds. The idea here is, that God causes the light of the morning suddenly to spread to the remotest parts of the world, and to reveal everything which was there.


Psalm 93:
(1) "The world also is stablished - Is firm; is on a solid foundation. It cannot be shaken or destroyed by natural convulsions, or by the power of man.
That it cannot be moved - Moved out of its place; overthrown; destroyed. This seems to have been spoken in view of some impending calamity, as if everything were to be swept away. The psalmist consoles himself with the thought that the world was firmly established; that no storm or tempest could be so violent as to remove it out of its place. The ground of consolation is the essential stability of what God has ordained."

1 Sam. 2:8
(2) " For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's. (1.) If we understand this literally, it intimates God's almighty power, which cannot be controlled. He upholds the whole creation, founded the earth, and still sustains it by the word of his power. What cannot he do in the affairs of families and kingdoms, far beyond our conception and expectation, who hangs the earth upon nothing? (Job_26:7). But, (2.) If we understand it figuratively, it intimates his incontestable sovereignty, which cannot be disputed. The princes and great ones of the earth, the directors of states and governments, are the pillars of the earth, (Psa_75:3). On these hinges the affairs of the world seem to turn, but they are the Lord's, (Psa_47:9). From him they have their power, and therefore he may advance whom he pleases; and who may say, What doest thou?"

(3) Scientific Accuracies in the Bible
1. The spherical shape of the earth(Isaiah 40:22).
2. The earth is suspended in nothing (Job. 26:7).
3. The stars are innumerable (Gen. 15:5).
4. The existence of valleys in the seas (2 Sam. 22:16).
5. The existence of springs and fountains in the sea (Gen. 7:11; 8:2; Prov. 8:28).
6. The existence of water paths(ocean currents) in the seas (Psalm 8:8).
7. The water cycle (Job. 26:8; 36:27-28; 37:16; 38:25-27; Ps. 135:7; Ecc. 1:6-7).
8. The fact that all living things reproduce after their own kind (Gen. 1:21; 6:19).
9. The nature of health, sanitation, and sickness (Gen.17:9-14; Lev. 12-14).
10. The concept of entropy, that energy is running down (Psalm 102:26).

Answer 4

Well, this is more of a rant than a question, but I'll try.

The church isn't infallible. It is a group of people and opinions, sort of an aggregate of opinions (like Yahoo Answers) shaping itself slowly over 2,000 years. It has and will change and grow. Christian doctrine specifically expects the church to grow, not just in numbers, but in knowledge and maturity. That is happening, slowly, I think. But the church will always lag behind the popular tide of the day in some areas.

But in the interest of accuracy, the church didn't give the age of the earth, that was Bishop Usher, endorsed by many, rejected by many others. The Roman Catholic church did indeed insist that the world was flat, but so did the learned scholars of the day. It will be interesting to see what happens as quantum physics makes some college texts obsolete.

The "scientific" view has not been around all that long - about 200 years by the most liberal estimates. So to say that the church will always lag behind science is a bit of a stretch... when the scientific metaphysic has been around as long as the Christian world view, let's look at it again.

I am sorry that Christian opinion is not as enlightened as you would hope. But the Christian church holds enormous political (as in personal) power and probably should move slowly and carefully. When such bodies move too quickly, demagogues like Hitler are created. We're willing to get some things wrong to get other things right. We think we are focusing on the most important things, and we're willing to cede a lot of truth in other areas to their respective experts.

Just my take on it. Hope I haven't offended! Grace and peace to you!

Answer 5

You forgot to mention all the scientific facts in the Bible which were not known to science for thousands of years, how did the writers of the Bible know about atoms or springs in the sea and many other scientfic facts?...most of your arguments have been dispelled many times by true Bible scholars and some of your inferences are simply misunderstanding what the scripture is really saying. The Bible does not disagree with real science since God has omniscience (all knowledge) and is the ultimate scientist and creator of all things...visible and invisible. Many founders of a great variety of various scientific disciplines have been Christian and been inspired by the truths in the Bible or at least, have not evolutionists and prior to evolution being taught as truth, American scientists held the the most Nobel prizes in science of any country---guess they knew a little something back then.
http://www.creationevidence.org/scientific_evid/se_scripture.html

Answer 6

The church I'm a member of never said that the world was flat or that the sun moved around the earth... what are you talking about?

Answer 7

Hey, I read the politically correct guide to science, ya, I thought it was going to be funny, bill maher stuff, anyhow it said that never happened and the church always knew the world was round, Galileo and Bruno were just a big misunderstanding. Sad really.

Answer 8

1. What Tradition Means- Our Lord did not command His Apostles to write, but to teach, “Going therefore, teach ye all nations... to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28 19). The Apostles told their disciples orally what their Divine Master had communicated to them. “The things which thou had heard of me by many witnesses,” St. Paul writes to Timothy, “the same commend (i.e., tell) to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach to others also” (2 Tim. 2,2). Most of the truths which the Apostles preached at the command of Christ were afterwards written down by the Apostles themselves or by some of their disciples. But many important truths continued to be handed down by word of mouth. In fact, n the whole New Testament we cannot find any sign of a purpose to put on paper all that Christ revealed. St. John, the last of the Apostles to write, says expressly that he has recounted only a part of what Christ had done: “Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of His disciples, which are not written in this book” (20,30). And St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians: “brethren, hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle”( 2 Thess. 2, 14). It is these truths, precepts, and counsels, revealed by God, but not founding the Written Word of God, that we call tradition.

3. Necessity Of Tradition- The Bible nowhere tells us how many inspired books there are. If we did not know this for certain from Tradition, we should not even have a Bible. When Protestants appeal to Scripture against the Catholic Church, “they forget that it is from this very Church, and on her authority, that Scripture is received.” If we consulted the Bible only, we should still have to keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is Saturday, with the Jews, instead of Sunday; we should have to abstain from eating things strangled and from blood (acts 15,20); we should let little children die without baptism, because, according to mere words of the Bible text (Matt. 28, 19), Christ gave the command first to teach, and then to baptize, we sho0uld not know that nay many, or woman, or child that has attained the age of reason can validly baptize; we should not know the exact rite of validly administering each particular sacrament. The Bible does not, in doubtful passages, decide upon the true meaning of its words; this Tradition does for us. All sects appeal to the Bible to prove their contradictory doctrines, and each one of them pretend to have hit upon its true meaning. Thus we see that Tradition is necessary, and that the Christan must believe all that God has revealed and the Church proposes to his belief, whether it be contained in Holy Scripture or in Tradition.

Answer 9

The Bible does not say that the earth is flat. You're leaving out the passages that describe it literally as being circular and suspended in space, which it is.

Answer 10

The Bible says (of implies) that the earth is flat, and the sun "rises" and "sinks". But they are both false.