What does the Bible teach about the shape of the earth?

[McCulloch]

Critics of Bible believers have repeatedly made the assertion (for example Capella) that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat.

Question for debate: Does the Bible really teach that the earth is flat?

Note: We are in the Theology, Doctrine and Dogma forum. The question is not, "Is the earth flat?"

[adlemi]

Critics of Bible believers have repeatedly made the assertion (for example Capella) that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat.

Question for debate: Does the Bible really teach that the earth is flat?

Note: We are in the Theology, Doctrine and Dogma forum. The question is not, "Is the earth flat?"

Why not make it "What does God teach about the actual shape of the earth both in material and spritual realm of perception?" Don't just confine it with the bible because we cannot put God in a box. Anyway, I'm just making a suggestion which you may turn down if you do not want to give in to.

[McCulloch]

Why not make it "What does God teach about the actual shape of the earth both in material and spritual realm of perception?" Don't just confine it with the bible because we cannot put God in a box. Anyway, I'm just making a suggestion which you may turn down if you do not want to give in to.

I think that you miss the point of the question.
Critics of the Bible say that the Bible writers taught something we now know to be false; that the earth is flat.
Defenders of the Bible say that the Bible writers did not actually teach this. The passages which seem to imply that the earth is flat have been deliberately misinterpreted by the critics.
The question then is what does the Bible really say on the matter. Is it in error or is the flat-earth criticism a strawman?

Unless we have a common agreed upon source of what God teaches about the actual shape of the earth, then it would be impossible to debate what God teaches about the subject.

[micatala]

If by "teach" we understand that there is an express intention to convey certain information explicitly, then no, the Bible does not teach that the earth is flat.

Now there are other ways to put the question. For example, are Biblical passages related to the shape or nature of the earth more easily seen to be consistent with a flat earth then a spherical one?

IMV, clearly yes. This is a product of the authors of the Bible having a flat earth world view, as I would surmise most people living in "Biblical lands" did over the period in which the Bible was written. I do no know for sure, but I would imagine some or perhaps many in Greek areas might have accepted a spherical earth.

Have Biblical critics deliberately misinterpreted the Bible in order to claim that it teaches the earth is flat? Perhaps. Being 'deliberate' implies an intention, and so it would depend on the particular person. However, I don't think one has to misinterpret the Bible to conclude that most or all of it is written from, or at least is consistent with, a flat earth world-view.

However, the shape of the earth is at best a tangential issue, and better characterized as irrelevant, as far as the Biblical authors are concerned.

[adlemi]

Why not make it "What does God teach about the actual shape of the earth both in material and spritual realm of perception?" Don't just confine it with the bible because we cannot put God in a box. Anyway, I'm just making a suggestion which you may turn down if you do not want to give in to.

I think that you miss the point of the question.
Critics of the Bible say that the Bible writers taught something we now know to be false; that the earth is flat.
Defenders of the Bible say that the Bible writers did not actually teach this. The passages which seem to imply that the earth is flat have been deliberately misinterpreted by the critics.
The question then is what does the Bible really say on the matter. Is it in error or is the flat-earth criticism a strawman?

Unless we have a common agreed upon source of what God teaches about the actual shape of the earth, then it would be impossible to debate what God teaches about the subject.

Actually I know your point but I am just suggesting another thing which you may or may not agree with. Kindly ignore my suggestion then since God is infinite and we cannot impose any agreed parameters on how God really teaches mankind. I'll just watch and see any reply to this thread. God bless you.

[achilles12604]

If by "teach" we understand that there is an express intention to convey certain information explicitly, then no, the Bible does not teach that the earth is flat.

Now there are other ways to put the question. For example, are Biblical passages related to the shape or nature of the earth more easily seen to be consistent with a flat earth then a spherical one?

IMV, clearly yes. This is a product of the authors of the Bible having a flat earth world view, as I would surmise most people living in "Biblical lands" did over the period in which the Bible was written. I do no know for sure, but I would imagine some or perhaps many in Greek areas might have accepted a spherical earth.

Have Biblical critics deliberately misinterpreted the Bible in order to claim that it teaches the earth is flat? Perhaps. Being 'deliberate' implies an intention, and so it would depend on the particular person. However, I don't think one has to misinterpret the Bible to conclude that most or all of it is written from, or at least is consistent with, a flat earth world-view.

However, the shape of the earth is at best a tangential issue, and better characterized as irrelevant, as far as the Biblical authors are concerned.

I agree fully with this assertation. I for one have asked critics to provide me with the verse and the inevitably pull out the one with the angels at the 4 corners of the earth. When I point out that this is simply a metaphor, I am greeted with the usual, "how do you know this is what they meant?" or the ever popular ," Then how can you pick and choose what to take litterally."

This usually ends up in a debate over context which had nothing to do with the earth being flat, so I submit that critics themselves do not really think that the bible says the earth is flat but rather that they use it as a convenient poke toward theists and as an entry into another topic which leaves the theist looking like he is holding a totally unscientific book.

this is why I rarely engage in this debate anymore. I have played it a few times and it always goes about the same way.

[BeHereNow]

Those who used the bible to teach truth, pointed to the bible as a text which proves the world is flat.
The text they used to teach the "truth” that the world is flat, was the bible.
The bible was a text held in example as proof that the world was not spherical, but flat.

Men did the teaching, the bible was the basis of that teaching.

[tpbarn]

Critics of Bible believers have repeatedly made the assertion (for example Capella) that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat.

Question for debate: Does the Bible really teach that the earth is flat?

Note: We are in the Theology, Doctrine and Dogma forum. The question is not, "Is the earth flat?"

From KJ - should answer the question directly from the scriptures.

Isiaha 40 Vs 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"

Proverbs 8 vs 27 When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he decreed a circle upon the face of the watery deep

[scorpia]

From KJ - should answer the question directly from the scriptures.

Isiaha 40 Vs 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"

Proverbs 8 vs 27 When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he decreed a circle upon the face of the watery deep

But what does it mean by circle? A flat disk or a sphere? Not at all specific. And as for "tent", I'd say it sounds more like a poetic description anyway. You get that here and there in the Bible and it might be confusing for some but in other places it is obvious (eg. song of songs)

[micatala]

But what does it mean by circle? A flat disk or a sphere? Not at all specific. And as for "tent", I'd say it sounds more like a poetic description anyway. You get that here and there in the Bible and it might be confusing for some but in other places it is obvious (eg. song of songs)

pardon the all smalls. i am not turning into the flip side of suzanne. it's just that my shift key has gone blatzo.

i would agree with scorpia. this passage is poetic. the tent metaphor is consistent with the ancient view of the sky as a 'dome', as in genesis where it is described as the firmament.

again, the author is simply reflecting his world view based on the knowledge he had available. i don't believe it is reasonable to assume that the intention is to 'teach this worldview' as fact. the intention in this passage is to underscore the insignificance of men in comparison to god.

also, clearly the proverbs passage is not consistent with a spherical earth. if one considers the 'placing of land on the watery deep', it seems to be implying a flat circle being placed within or on top of a flat watery surface.