does the bible reveal that the earth is round.

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   sooner than laterposted 14 years ago

   yes it does.
   
   never does it say the earth is flat.   
   
   Isaiah 40:22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.    (He being God)

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      Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      LOL
      
      Tricky concept to grasp I know - but a circle is a two dimensional shape. This would be why earlier literal religionists such as yourself thought the earth was flat.
      
      This is rather hard a belief to hold on to nowadays so you are forced to say it is not flat.
      
      Oh dear.
      
      I genuinely expect future editions of the bible to be edited to say "He who sits above the oblate spheroid which is the earth."
      
      Then it would be accurate and "proof," that it was the word of a perfect god who knew his fan club would rightly surmise that a circle - being a 2 dimensional shape - would mean the earth is flat - you know - like a circle.
      
      Sheesh. No wonder you cannot get to grips with evolution and all that science stuff.

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         Pacal Votanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Actually, the circle is a symbol and should not be confused with a physical object. Nisi solis nobis scripsimus. To know the inner and outward properties of these symbols is the condition required from those who seek to understand the knowledge behind the words of the Bible. That's why folks who ask questions like the above reveal to us that they have absolutely no understanding of it.
         
         This debate is such a show.

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      Pacal Votanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      And do you take this literally?

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      tantrumposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      so what ?
      it also reveals that there are dragons with horns, wheels that fly, people awaking from deathbeds, men fighting with angels,devils bound for thousand of years, etc
      
      And nobody can sit above the circle of the earth. That's figurative. As everything else.

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2. 66

   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   I didn't know about that quote Sooner. I think that a lot of people then knew more than we think they do.  They had an interest in the stars and in their own way might have been able to figure this out without having to take a man up to the moon.

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      sooner than laterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Well God didn't leave us in the dark. Adam and Eve knew more than us- and so did those previous generations. Especially pre flood. we aren't getting any smarter we just have the luxury to work off of discoveries as they come. Not like we are any brighter.

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   (Q)posted 14 years ago

   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)
   
   "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)"
   
   Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he walks about on the vault of heaven.
       — Job 22:14
   
   Can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
       — Job 37:18
   
   The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth.
       — Daniel 4:11
   
   He who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and sets its vaulted dome over the earth.
       — Amos 9:6
   
   the earth is turned upside down to scatter its inhabitants.
       — Isaiah 24:1, KJV
   
   The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
       — Psalm 93:1

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      Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you for pointing these verses out to me.
      They reinforce something that I had been contemplating.
      I think that most if not all of the references in the bible about the "earth" are talking about the Holy Land,and  the wilderness referring to the lands of trouble and turmoil outside the boundaries of Israel as it was in those days. The sea as representing all other peoples and theologies. Or something like that. I'm not swearing to this; though my intuitions tell me that I should.

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4. 66

   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   It is interesting an thought that with each discovery, there is more mystery and yet there is a certain design.  I think this is what Einstein liked so much about physics.  Underneath it all there seems to be a pattern which seems to hold everything together.

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   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   Those verses could also be written as a metaphor.  We still use the same metaphor, the four corners of the earth, the ends of the earth.  I don't know enough of bible research or translation but a lot of the verses mentioned can be metaphorically speaking and not literal.

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      (Q)posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      As with everything else in the bible?

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   earnestshubposted 14 years ago

   The bible is very versatile. it says whatever you want it too!

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   diamondtipposted 14 years ago

   Perhaps you have heard that the Bible says that our earth hangs upon nothing and is round. (Job 26:7; Isaiah 40:22) ‘Why is that so remarkable?’ you may ask. Keep in mind that these Biblical comments agree with proved scientific fact and they are in contrast to ancient myths about the shape of the earth and how it was supported. Why, up till just a few hundred years ago most men, even those involved in science, believed that the earth was flat! So it is extraordinary that the Bible writers knew these facts about the earth thousands of years ago and that without modern scientific instruments!

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      Flightkeeperposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It's intriguing that they indicate a sense that the earth is not flat.  Many ancient civilizations have watched the heavens in order be closer to their god.  It would be interesting to find out what they did in order to come to the conclusion that the earth they live in is round or spherical or at the very least, not flat.

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         (Q)posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         What they thought in regards to the "circle" reference is that they believed they lived in a dome with a flattened bottom.

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   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   I would also have to say that the early mathematicians in observing the heavens and nature around them probably contributed a great deal towards the thinking that the earth is not flat.

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      prettydarkhorseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      hi flight, but truth is also up to the time that other developments had not been discovered yet, during the time that they made the bible, they believe that the earth is round and not oblate spheroid, Only Galileo Galilei upon his inventions of telescope he discovered that the earth is also not the center of universe and not round, they call him heretic..

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         Flightkeeperposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         True, that's why it's fascinating when there are new findings that can either correct or confirm what was established "fact".  Even as early as Aristotle's time, there were arguments for the heliocentric view instead of the geocentric view but it could not be convincingly proven because of the limited tools that they have.
         
         As for Galileo, his fight with the Catholic Church was not that he believed that the earth was not the center of the known universe. The church was prepared for him to argue that but only in the realm of science not as theology and he did it right after the Reformation when the Catholic Church was being attacked.  Needless to say the Catholic Church probably didn't want the bible to interpreted in an individualistic manner the way that Protestants do and didn't want to put up with Galileo and his unproven theory to be held as theological truth.

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      (Q)posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's a very good point and you would be correct, however many of the ideas towards that thinking were quickly squashed in favor of the belief.
      
      For example, imsc, it was the Greeks who thought the world was round based on the shadows the sun cast on the ground. At the same time of day and same time of year, the shadows were longer as you went north.

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