About the year 300 AD Christian apologist Lucius Lactantius preached against Aristotle and in favour of a flat Earth:
"Those who defend these marvellous fictions, why all things do not fall into that lower part of the heaven ... they have once erred, consistently persevere in their folly, and defend one vain thing by another ... they either discuss philosophy for the sake of a jest, or purposely and knowingly undertake to defend falsehoods ... "
("Divinae institutiones, Book III - Of the False Wisdom of Philosophers " ).
Certain biblical passages implied support for this view:
"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12)
"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them." (Matthew 4:8)
2007-10-12 06:00:09 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You all know it's a fact the bible once said the earth was flat and many people were arrested for not believing in the ways of the bible and for thinking the earth was round, not only were they arrested but they were branded as heretics and most put to death. What do you say about that?
2007-10-12 06:01:08 · update #1
Atheists know Christian history better than Christians.
2007-10-12 06:04:55 · answer #1 · answered by S K 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
If this be true, how did this so called believers miss 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."
"circle of the earth" doesn't sound flat to me.
Four corners of the earth I have always interpreted as North, South, East, and West.
The sailors years ago thought if they sailed out far enough in the ocean that they would fall off the end of the earth, but this is not in the Bible. The flat earth theory is just that a theory. I can't find the word "flat" in the Bible. Maybe they got it from the land being flat with mountains bumped up on it or something out of their heads but not biblical teaching.
2007-10-12 13:39:29 · answer #2 · answered by Jeancommunicates 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The bible never, I repeat never proposed a flat earth. The verse cited from Isaiah is simply a case of common speech using the four cardinal directions as a basis for saying the whole world. That idiom is still in use today with no implication of a flat earth.
2007-10-12 13:08:57 · answer #3 · answered by mzJakes 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The four corners is just an expression still used to this day.
Isaiah 40:21&27
Proverbs 8:27
Job 26:7&10
Genises 1:16&17
the earth was round.
The word in the original Hebrew text was..... chun...the Hebrew word for sphere.
2007-10-12 13:19:23 · answer #4 · answered by pestie58 the spider hunter 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First off, the Bible never states that the earth is flat. 4 corners ...4 hemispheres. The Bible was written in a language that even the poor could understand, because it was written as so it's going to use words that all could relate to ...instead of just the knowledgeable.
2007-10-12 13:09:31 · answer #5 · answered by zero_or_die77 3 · 3⤊ 2⤋
I'd conclude a lot of people all over the earth have probably believed the world was flat in the past.
2007-10-12 13:03:41 · answer #6 · answered by Jack P 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Isaiah 40:22:
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
2007-10-12 13:09:34 · answer #7 · answered by Red neck 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The bible never says outright that that world is flat. Those passages you quoted are ambiguous to the world being round or flat. They can easily be interpreted either way.
2007-10-12 13:08:39 · answer #8 · answered by Mello Yello 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Think with your mind.
What some Christian said thousands of years ago doesn't mean it is the view of all of Christianity
"Four corners of the world" is a saying, still used today.
All the kingdoms of the world is also figurative.
If you have every climbed a mountain, you know when you get to the top you think "man I can see the whole world from here". Can you really see the whole world? No. Did you really think you could see the whole world? No. It is figurative, an exaggeration. Same as this.
2007-10-12 13:02:29 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 5⤋
it says that as things are proven enough to convince the majority of christians they will find scipture to support their new belief---keep smiling and enjoy the night
2007-10-12 13:04:35 · answer #10 · answered by lazaruslong138 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋