Bible Writers Believed the Earth Was Flat

JosephAlward

The best evidence that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat is found in the following passages. The first is in Matthew:

"[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"
(Matthew 4:1-12)

Certainly, if the earth were flat, standing atop "an exceedingly high mountain" would allow Jesus to see the whole earth, but there is no mountain tall enough to allow him to see the other side of a spherical earth. At most, one hemisphere would be seen, but not the other, unless the Bible is teaching us that Jesus had Superman-like "X-ray vision" which enabled him to see through the earth to kingdoms on the other side.

The other passage is in Daniel:

"The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth." (Daniel 4:10-11)

The "whole" earth? No matter how tall the tree was, it would not have been visible from the other side of the earth. Only a writer who thought the earth was flat, or one who was merely repeating a silly folk tale, would have written such a thing.

If these writers had been inspired by a god to write these words, that god would not have let them suggest that the "whole earth" could be seen at once if one had a tall enough vantage point.

Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"
http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html

kes152

There is more than one "earth"... which earth you talking about?

The physical one, or the spirit one?

Ecclesiates 1:8-10

Peace to you,
Aaron

D wiltshire

Just because the writers of the Bible where inspired does not mean they had to know the Earth was a spere.

Just because one is inspired does not mean he would have to know the truth about everything.

If someone lived a trillion X longer than you, and had a billion X more reasoning ability would he come to the same conclusions as you?

JosephAlward

If one believes the Bible, one must believe that the words the writers penned were straight from the lips of an all-knowing God, and contain truths to be learned: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Thus, the authors of the books of Matthew and Daniel wrote God-breathed words which convey images of a flat earth. Either this “god” didn’t know that the Earth was a sphere, or else the writer of 2 Timothy was wrong. If the former, then the god of the Bible isn’t really all-knowing; if the latter, then the Bible is in error.

Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"
http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html

Scorpion

JA,

You are drawing at straws if you think that Matthew 4:1-12 teaches the earth is flat.

Please provide other scriptures that will prove what you claim. I in no way believe the Bible is without error, but what you are saying is a strrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch.

JosephAlward

Scorpion,

It's not enough merely to state that you don't accept someone's argument; you're expected to explain why the argument is not valid. Then you will have earned the right to ask for a better argument.

Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"
http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html

Quester

JosephAlward wrote:
"If one believes the Bible, one must believe that the words
the writers penned were straight from the lips of an all-knowing
God, and contain truths to be learned: “All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching” (2 Timothy 3:16)"

And therein lies the problem.
That is what a fundamentalist Christian would say.
But not all Christians are fundamentalists (literalists).

I visited your website.
Lots of heavy artillery against the Bible.

I did see a link on the Jesus Seminar.
Now that would be a positive, constructive place to
start if a person wants to learn of a different
way to view the Bible.

I tried the link on Myths and legends, but it
didn't work. Bummer. That is another topic
worth researching--the Bible as mythology
and what that means.

I think the Bible writers probably had the worldview
of their day and culture. So, yeah, they probably
thought the earth was flat.

I think it is interesting that Thomas Paine was a
deist. With all the negative things he had to say
about the Bible, he still believed in God's existence.

Quester

Scorpion

JA,

Thanks for your non-reply and lack of evidence to back up your own personal opinion. You have presented a few scriptures in the Bible and you believe the Bible teaches the world is flat. LOL

Also, where did I say I did not accept your opinion or argument? I asked for more details or scriptures to prove your claim. If you actually had some credible information on this, I might be convinced, until then, I see your personal opinion and no actual proof.

patio34

Hi Joseph,

The fact that the devil had to take Jesus up to a tall mountain indicates to me that it was to be taken literally.

If it were all a vision, why go up to a very tall mountain? The writer seems to have thought that if you were high enough you could see all the kingdoms of the world. Ergo, he thought the earth was flat. As did Daniel.

Pat

siegswife

This isn't meant to be taken literally. Where was this mountain? How did he take him up there? Did they climb, fly, transport, what?

Bible Writers Believed the Earth Was Flat

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