And your point
The earth could be round and still be flat so round earth doesn’t quite get us there.
Up until about 500 years ago the church taught that the earth was flat. Galileo (from 1564 to 1642) was condemned for deviating from that concept during the inquisition. There are quite a few scriptures that were used to support the flat earth position. Just for fun I’ll list a few, then we’ll move on to the firmament.
- After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Revelation 7:1 (ESV)
- He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. Psalm 104:5 (NIV)
- The tree
grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen
to the ends of all the earth. Daniel 4:11 (NKJV)
The firmament is where it really gets interesting. Firmament scriptures are also used by Flat Earthers as supporting their ideas.
- And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Gen 1:6
- And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. Gen 1:7
- And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. Gen 1:8
- And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. Gen 1:20
That’s not anywhere near all the scripture related to the flat earth or the firmament but you get the idea.
Primitive people believed the earth was flat. Science changed the minds of the powers that be in the church at that time. Super conservative religious leaders responding to science. Hard to believe I know but there you are. This novel concept should be tried out by the Evangelical Party of today since they’re still struggling with science.
The point is that strongly held beliefs changed as knowledge was gained. The bible was believed to have said one thing and then it was decided that the bible meant something else entirely.
What’s the point of this? The point is:
Interpretation of the bible evolved.
Back to inerrancy
Another major point of all of the above is that for hundreds of years people believed that the bible was inerrant and taught that everything in it was true. They were taught the world was flat. There are those today that believe that the errant bible for those before they were enlightened by science is once again inerrant. (That’s a complicated sentence but I think that it works.)
In other words people that believed in the inerrancy of the bible were told that they were wrong to believe what they had been taught and that in fact the earth was not flat and the bible remained inerrant.
THE EARTH IS FLAT! GOD SAID SO!
Um, science says the earth is round and not the center of the universe.
THE EARTH IS FLAT! KILL THE HERETIC! GOD SAYS SO!
Saying its flat doesn’t stop the earth from being spheroid. Science says so.
THE EARTH IS NOT FLAT! GOD SAYS SO!
Once again the bible is considered inerrant by hardcore religious believers until the church decides otherwise. How about the rest of us don’t decide to wait for the Evangelical Party to let the bible evolve some more. That could take a couple more centuries. OR we could decide now that it’s wrong to use an ancient text to justify hate and dangerous activity they support and espouse.
Science was here before Jesus.
The world was never flat.
Five hundred years before Jesus, Pythagoras figured out the world was round (Spherical). Regardless of what anyone thought or thinks the world is as it always was. That’s the truth of the world.
The wealthy highly political Pharisees of the Evangelical Party that claim to be the arbiter of the bible’s meaning and have told us to support their idol of the material world and the power that they seek. Theirs is a static flat world of a bygone era that they would bring back along with pestilence and the rule of oppressive Kings.
Getting back to my point concerning the bible. It is a book of which at least 50 different versions in English alone exist. Still, it’s a book. It’s a book about an idea. No more. No less. It isn’t anti-science; it’s a book made possible by the progress of science through the ages. It doesn’t say that the world is a few thousand years old. It says nothing about intelligent design. It isn’t anti-evolution. It isn’t a book that is against vaccines or LGBTQIA+ people. It isn’t a book against progress. It’s a book that says there is more than this and that love is the primary consideration. It’s a book about humanity. It’s a book about salvation through loving people. It’s a book that has the overriding commandment that above all else to Love God. Love people.
That’s the bible.