Earth: Is it spherical (as the Koran says )? Or flat (as the Bible says)?

PinkZebra said:
The Bible also says this:

Isaiah 40:22 (New International Version)
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.



So, I take it that the Bible says that the Earth is round. I think the "four corners" mentioned is not literal, but figurative.
Click to expand...

That's a poor interpretation. "circle" of the earth implies a disc, which is two dimensional and flat whereas a sphere is three dimensional. Even before the bible (and long before the Koran) ancient civilizations described the flat earth and the "dome" of the heavens.
 
lumpenstein said:
That's a poor interpretation. "circle" of the earth implies a disc, which is two dimensional and flat whereas a sphere is three dimensional. Even before the bible (and long before the Koran) ancient civilizations described the flat earth and the "dome" of the heavens.
Click to expand...
Actually, you bring up a good point. If everyone back in the day believed that the earth was flat and square, the best way God could relate to them was by saying the "four corners of the earth," which would have been taken literally by the people of the time, and figuratively (but still holding it's meaning) for people today.
 
lumpenstein said:
That's a poor interpretation. "circle" of the earth implies a disc, which is two dimensional and flat whereas a sphere is three dimensional. Even before the bible (and long before the Koran) ancient civilizations described the flat earth and the "dome" of the heavens.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does. But it does show that obviously the writers did not believe the earth had 4 literal corners, right?
 
dt3 said:
Yes, it does. But it does show that obviously the writers did not believe the earth had 4 literal corners, right?
Click to expand...

Correct-a-mundo! The four corners are, as others here have mentioned, is a metaphor but it was an ancient civilization (I forget which) that described the sky as being a great dome supported by four pillars. The extent of the knowledge of ancient man was limited by how far he could see and that is limited by geographical features including oceans, mountains and forests. Stand in an open area and slowly turn around while looking at the horizon. It certainly appears as if the world extends the same distance in all directions. I don't blame him for believing the earth was round.

It was Eratosthenes in the 3rd century BC that used simple geometry, a stick, feet and brains to prove irrefutably that the earth was definitly a sphere and even measured it at a reasonable degree of accuracy of 40,000 Km. That is why in my first post I said "The earth can best be described as an oblate spheroid. All other options are just fucking stupid."
 
literal translation is literal.

no relgious texts is going to make sense if you try to read it for face value. If you havent realized that yet, you are in absolutely no position to create any post about it, let alone a post of TWO religious texts with flashing colors and large fonts.
 
IMG_0461.jpg


Now, look at that delicate thin skin of atmosphere and the detectable curve of the earth! What a glorious and wonderful sight!

Now just think. We fuck up that atmosphere with the poison our technological society pumps out and what's worse is some people want to fuck up the curve of the earth by flattening it to support the ignorant errors of some antiquated text just to save face and not have to admit their precious text - and themselves - are wrong. If that isn't self-serving I don't know what is! :rolleyes:
 
Back
Top