The Bible says: The Earth is flat!
The sections of this article are:
- The Bible says: The Earth is flat!
- The Earth is flat and never moves?! The Sun hurries back to where
it rises?!
- The Earth has pillars?!
- The Earth has Edges?! The wicked might get
shaken off of it and fall off in
space?!
- Does Isaiah 40:22 really say that Earth is Round? The Earth is a flat circle?!
- Christian Theologians' Commentaries that
further suggest that the Earth
is flat.
- Conclusion.
When it comes to scientific claims, the Bible has the dumbest claims, with all due respect to Jews and Christians. The Bible claims that Earth has four ends and four corners. Nobody can ever think a ball or a cycle to have corners and ends! Only flat items can have corners and ends, and this is exactly what the bible is trying to express regarding the shape of the earth. The earth is not flat, as once thought and it has no corners or ends at all. If Magnetic Poles can be taken as ends or corners of earth, then this definitely opposed to the axis of rotation.
Isaiah 11:12
12 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. (KJV)
Revelation 7:1
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on FOUR
CORNERS OF THE EARTH, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind
should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. (KJV)
Job 38:13
13 That it might take hold of the ENDS OF THE EARTH,
that the wicked might be shaken out of it? (KJV)
Jeremiah 16:19
19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of
affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ENDS OF THE EARTH,
and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is
no profit. (KJV)
Daniel 4:11
11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached
unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the ENDS OF ALL THE EARTH:
(KJV)
Matthew 4:8
8 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; (KJV)
Astronomical bodies are spherical, and you cannot see the entire exterior surface from any place. The kingdoms of Egypt, China, Greece, Crete, sections of Asia Minor, India, Maya (in Mexico), Carthage (North Africa), Rome (Italy), Korea, and other settlements from these kingdoms of the world were widely distributed.
The Earth is flat and never moves?! The Sun hurries back to where it rises?!
The following verses from the Bible in this section were sent to me by Abdullah Bisyir; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him.
"He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. (From the NIV Bible, Psalm 104:5)"
"The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. (From the NIV Bible, Ecclesiastes 1:5)"
Well, I don't think there is any need for much explanation to the nonsense above! It is crystal clear that the Bible is full of man-made corruptions and alterations.
Since when the Earth is flat and can never move?! We all know that the Earth and the other planets rotate and move in space around the Sun.
Since when the Sun hurries back to where it rises, like if there is some hole it rises from and another hole it sets through on Earth?!
For those Jews and Christians who would like to see where in the Noble Quran does Allah Almighty say that the planets in space rotate and move, read the following Noble Verse:
"It is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its orbit with its own motion. (The Noble Quran, 21:33)"
For more information and other Noble Verses, please visit:
Science in the Noble Quran and Islam.
The Earth is round according to Islam.
The Earth has pillars?!
"He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. (From the NIV Bible, Job 9:6)"
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. (From the NIV Bible, Job 38:4)"
The Earth has Edges?!
"that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? (From the NIV Bible, Job 38:13)"
"He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. (From the NIV Bible, Job 37:3)"
"for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. (From the NIV Bible, Job 28:24)"
"Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. (From the NIV Bible, Job 11:9)"
Does Isaiah 40:22 really say that Earth is Round?
It is quite clear that the above Biblical Verses suggest and claim that the Earth is flat, has Edges, has Four Corners, has Pillars, and has Foundations. No unbiased person would deny the straight forward quotes above. Only the desperate biased Jews and Christians would.
Some desperate Christians have gone as far as presenting Isaiah 40:22 to try to prove that the Bible claims that the earth is round.
Let us look at what the Verse says:
"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. (From the NIV Bible, Isaiah 40:22)"
First of all, a circle is not a ball or sphere or an egg-shaped object. A circle is a flat round surface, similar to flat rectangular, or square, or triangular surfaces. So if the Bible claims that the Earth is a circle, then this is still bogus because the earth is obviously not a flat surface.
We have two conditions here:
1- Isaiah 40:22 is claiming that the Earth is a flat circle.
2- Isaiah 40:22 is claiming that the Earth has a circle above it.
If we were to take condition #1, then we are left with a clear and irrefutable contradiction between Isaiah 40:22 and some of the Bible's verses that I mentioned above in the article, because a flat circle doesn't have "four corners", and ironically in either case, we still have a scientifically false claim about the Earth's shape.
IF we were to take condition #2, then it doesn't prove that the Earth is an egg-shaped figure, and Isaiah 40:22 surely becomes irrelevant to this subject.
One thing is for sure clear, and that is Isaiah 40:22 is obviously ambiguous and not clear if we wish to prove from it that the Earth is not flat and is egg-shaped. If we look at what the entire Bible says (as presented above by all the Verses) about the shape of the Earth as the Roman Catholic Church did in the past, then we would reach the same conclusion they reached, and that is: The Earth is Flat!
Certainly, when Christopher Columbus thought that he could reach India by going west in the Atlantic ocean instead of east as it was traditionally done, the Church in Europe was afraid that he will eventually reach the "end of the earth" and the "Edges of the earth" as the Bible clearly says above, and fall off into the space and die.
After he was able to convince the Queen that the adventure was worth the try, Christopher Columbus had survived several assassination attempts while he and his people were sailing in the ocean, because his Christian Church-believing mates were afraid and wanted to go back.
When he finally found America, he thought he reached India. That's why the North American Continent was called "India", and the Native Americans were called "Red Indians".
This is at least what I learned from my "US History" class when I was in High School.
Christian Theologians' Commentaries that further suggest that the Earth is flat:
The following is an email I received from brother Mohammed; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him.
Subj: (no subject)
Date: 4/24/02 8:22:58 AM Central Daylight Time
From: MOHAMMEDALTAFK@aol.com
To: ISLM4EVR1@aol.com
Assalamu alaikum Dear brother
Look at this Pre-scientific view: Ancient Pagan religions in the Mediterranean area and Middle East taught that the universe was quite tiny. Earth is more or less flat, like a dinner plate. Mountains around the edges held up a rigid dome which formed the sky. The sun, moon, planets and stars traveled across the underside of the dome of the sky on a daily basis. God sits on his throne in Heaven, which lies above the canopy. This applies to Isaiah 40:22.
The site that is talking about this is at: http://www.religioustolerance.org/cosmo_bibl.htm
Further on we now have refuted those layman scholars who say the word in Isaiah means a Globe: EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN scholars who agree that Isaiah 40:22 does NOT speak of a spherical earth. There are even Evangelical publishers of books and Bible commentaries who do NOT teach that Isaiah 40:22 speaks of a spherical earth. BAKER BOOKS and evangelical publisher published the following book about Isaiah 40:22:
What You Know Might Not Be So: 220 Misinterpretations of Bible Texts Explained by David C. Downing Paperback (September 1987) Baker Book House; ISBN: 0801029759.
And EVANGELICALS now have a commentary on Genesis available which takes the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis seriously. It is Genesis, The NIV Application Commentary by John H. Walton (past professor of OT at Moody Bible Institute, and now at Wheaton),published by Zondervan, 2001.
Although it is not a technical commentary like Gordon Wenham's, it is a solid scholarly piece of work. 759 pages, nearly half of which deal with Genesis 1-11. Paul Seely, an Evangelical scholar, has even written a paper that was published in the WESTMINSTER REVIEW (an EVANGELICAL college), in which he says the following:
The Geographical Meaning of Earth Seas in Genesis 1:10
by Paul Seely:
"There is one verse in the OT, however, which has often been cited at least by laymen as a proof that the earth was understood to be a globe. I refer to Isaiah 40:22 which speaks of God as the One sitting above the circle of the earth. This verse does imply that the earth is circular, but there is nothing either in the underlying Hebrew word (hug) or in the context which necessarily implies anything more than the circularity of the flat earth-disc which the historical context and Genesis 1 have given us as the meaning of. If Isaiah had intended to speak of the earth as a globe, he would probably have used the word he used in 22:18 (dur), meaning 'ball.' "
For as E. J. Young noted, Isaiah 40:22 describes God as seated on the zenith, the highest point directly overhead. Thus the verse implies that earth's dwellers, all mankind according to Psalm 33:13, 14, are clearly visible from a very high point directly overhead. This imagery fits most naturally the conception of the earth below as a flat disc, not a globe. For if the earth were a globe, part of all mankind namely earth's dwellers in Australia, Argentina, South Africa, etc... could not be seen from a point directly overhead. One could force the issue by appealing to God's omniscience, but Isaiah 40:22 (as well as the other verses which mention God looking down) is focused on God's height above the earth; and his seeing all mankind is derived from that height. That phrase "the circle of the earth" in no way implies sphericity is confirmed by the fact that in Egypt this phrase was used to refer to the earth as a flat circular disc. So when interpreted within its historical and biblical context Isaiah 40:22 implies indeed that the earth is circular in shape but also that it is flat.
Conclusion:
The Bible not only failed to claim that the Earth was egg-shaped, but it also claimed in numerous verses as shown above that the Earth is flat, has Edges, has Four Corners, has Pillars, and has Foundations. As I said above, no unbiased person would deny the straight forward quotes above. Only the desperate biased Jews and Christians would.
Back to Historical Corruption and Contradictions in the Bible section.
Just who wrote the Bible? See comments from the Historians and Theologians of the NIV Bible itself admitting to the corruption of the Bible right from the NIV Bible's commentary itself.
The Earth is round according to Islam.
Please email me at Osama Abdallah
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