Refuting 200+ Flat Earth Bible Verses
Many flat-earth believers circulate lists or memes that allege that there are 200 Bible verses supporting a flat earth. The list can be found in many places online, and has a history unknown to most FE believers, being originally compiled by people who were trying to mock the Bible, not support it. We sourced the list below from a site called Flat earth doctrine, but it is basically the same as many others. However, this oft-parroted list contains the usual scholarly sloppiness and leaps of logic that we have come to expect from flat-earthers. Most of the verses have absolutely nothing to do with the shape of the earth, so the list is basically elephant-hurling.
We want to address this list here for one specific reason: we do not want to see anyone else get caught up in this deception!
Many of the verses below are actually dealing with a different issue: whether the earth is stationary or moves, i.e. geocentrism vs. geokineticism, which is distinct from whether the earth is flat or spherical. Almost all geocentrists, from the time of the classical Greek astronomers, to Galileos opponents, to the present day affirmed a spherical earth. For example, the leading geocentrist authors today, Gerardus Bouw and Robert Sungenis, are staunchly opposed to flat-earthism . For additional discussion of this class of verses, see our other paper, Refuting absolute geocentrism: Biblical phenomenological language.
Grid Distortion On A Spherical Surface
A meridian of longitude is a line where local solar noon occurs at the same time each day. These lines define “north” and “south”. These are perpendicular to lines of latitude that define “east” and “west”, where the Sun is at the same angle at local noon on the same day. If the Sun were travelling from east to west over a flat Earth, meridian lines would always be the same distance apart âthey would form a square grid when combined with lines of latitude. In reality, meridian lines get farther apart as one travels toward the equator, which is only possible on a round Earth. In places where land is plotted on a grid system, this causes discontinuities in the grid. For example, in areas of the Midwestern United States that use the Public Land Survey System, the northernmost and westernmost sections of a township deviate from what would otherwise be an exact square mile. The resulting discontinuities are sometimes reflected directly in local roads, which have kinks where the grid cannot follow completely straight lines. This distortion also affects how aerial photographs taken over large areas can be stitched together.
Mercator projection has examples of size distortions.
Spherical versus flat triangles
In spherical geometry, the sum of angles inside a triangle is greater than 180° unlike on a flat surface, where it is always exactly 180°.
Does The Bible Teach A Flat Earth
Some people believe in the flat earth because they have been convinced that the Bible teaches it. So they believe that by denying the FE, people are denying Gods word. IF the Bible taught the earth is flat, their argument would be sound. But the Bible does no such thing, so appealing to biblical inerrancy for non-existent flat-earth proof texts makes no sense. This is the classic fallacy of begging the question, or assuming the conclusion in the premises. As the list below shows, the Bible does not teach a flat earth!
Yet they are afraid of their opponents using a valid form of argument called denying the consequent: if Gods Word teaches a flat earth, and if the earth is not flat , then Gods word is not true.
But since the earth is not actually flat, and since the Bible does not teach that it is flat, they fall into a trap of their own making and must hold onto an illogical and untenable position despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Before we address specific verses, we note again that if the Bible really taught a flat earth, then its inconceivable that almost no one throughout the entire history of the church taught it. Thats despite a demonstrably high view of Scripture in general held by many of the global earth teachers throughout church history.
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Did Bible Writers Believe The Earth Was Flat
No, this false idea is not taught in Scripture.
Some Bible critics have claimed that Revelation 7:1 assumes a flat Earth since the verse refers to angels standing at the four corners of the Earth. Actually, the reference is to the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. Similar terminology is often used today when we speak of the sun’s rising and setting, even though the Earth, not the sun, is doing the moving. Bible writers used the language of appearance, just as people always have. Without it, the intended message would be awkward at best and probably not understood clearly.
In the Old Testament, Job 26:7 explains that the Earth is suspended in space, the obvious comparison being with the spherical sun and moon.
A literal translation of Job 26:10 is He described a circle upon the face of the waters, until the day and night come to an end. A spherical Earth is also described in Isaiah 40:21-22the circle of the earth.
Note, the Biblical Hebrew word for circle can also mean round or sphere.
The Hebrew record is the oldest, because Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. Historians generally credit the Greeks with being the first to suggest a spherical Earth. In the sixth century B.C., Pythagoras suggested a spherical Earth.
Eratosthenes of Alexandria calcuated the circumference of the Earth within 50 miles of the present estimate.
When the Bible touches on scientific subjects, it is entirely accurate.
Ancient Hebrew Cosmology Is Full Of Subtleties That Often Go Unnoticed By The Contemporary Reader
In a nutshell, ancient Hebrew cosmology, as found in the Old Testament, considers the world in which we live a relatively flat disk, covered by a dome. Something like a gigantic cake stand covered with one of those classic glass domes, if you will.
As you can see in the diagram included, below the disk you would find the Sheol and the so-called deep waters, the waters underneath or, even more dramatically, the great deep.
Now above the dome, in the outside of the dome youd find even more water. You guessed it right: those are the upper waters and, above them, the high heaven or the heaven of heavens, where God Himself dwells, as can be seen in the graphic.
However, as explained by the Catholic blog St. Peters List, who in turn quote the Catholic Encyclopedia, the idea that the sky is an enormous solid dome is not to be found exclusively in Hebrew cosmology. Actually, it wouldnt be a mistake to say that such an idea is, to some extent, a common heritage of ancient peoples, particularly Mediterranean.
The firmament, on the other hand, was considered as a sort of gap separating the upper waters, which are above the heavens, and the lower waters of the deep. The latter would include seas and oceans.
Anyhow, in this particular case, the word hell is used in a very general sense to refer to the realm of the dead, both the good and the bad.
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The Order Of Creation
The Genesis creation story provides the first key to the Hebrew cosmology. Theorder of creation makes no sense from a conventional perspective but isperfectly logical from a flat-earth viewpoint. The earth was created on the first day, and itwas without form and void . On the second day,a vaultthe firmament of the King James versionwas created to divide the waters,some being above and some below the vault. Only on the fourth day were the sun, moon, and stars created, and they wereplaced in the vault.
Observation Of Certain Fixed Stars From Different Locations
The fixed stars can be demonstrated to be very far away by diurnal parallax measurements. Such measurements show no shifts in the stars’ positions. Unlike the Sun, Moon, and planets, they do not change position with respect to one another over human lifetimes the shapes of the constellations are constant. This makes them a convenient reference background for determining the shape of Earth. Adding distance measurements on the ground allows calculation of Earth’s size.
The fact that different stars are visible from different locations on Earth was noticed in ancient times. Aristotle wrote that some stars are visible from Egypt which are not visible from Europe. This would not be possible if Earth was flat.
A star has an altitude above the horizon for an observer if the star is visible. Observing the same star at the same time from two different latitudes gives two different altitudes. Using geometry, the two altitudes along with the distance between the two locations allows for a calculation of Earth’s size. Using observations at Rhodes and Alexandria and the distance between them, the Ancient Greek philosopher Posidonius used this technique to calculate the circumference of the planet to within perhaps 4% of the correct value. Modern equivalents of his units of measure are not precisely known, so it is not clear how accurate his measurement was.
Observation of constellations on North and South hemispheres at different seasons
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Bible Verses About Flat Earth
What does the bible say about the flat earth theory? Although the theory of Earth being flat is not directly spoken about, some verses describe the potential shape of our planet. One verse mentions the “four corners of the earth” and could be interpreted as a flat earth belief but this theory was proven wrong by the Church 500 years ago. Learn more from our list of Bible verses about the flat Earth theory.
How Old Is The Earth According To The Bible
I preferred to start with the Bible and go out from there. When I read Scripture, I realize that the history of the world is not an unbroken linear succession of years but is rather broken up into catastrophic events that altered everything in the world. This is what the Apostle Peter meant when he said that in the last days there will be scoffers claiming that things have been as they have always been .
These mockers say that there will not be a cataclysmic in-breaking of the kingdom of God in the second coming of Jesus Christ because, they would say, “Look at history! Everything is just the same as it has always been from the beginning.”
Now, the Bible, and observable data, conflict with anyone who might be tempted to join the scoffers. Those who hold to the biblical record, and the observable record in Creation, are those who hold to catastrophism. The scoffers who dont believe in a flood, in Peters epistle, hold to a philosophy of earth history called uniformitarianism.
The Bible teaches us that there was creation, which was a rather catastrophic rearranging of chaos, and then there was the fall. The earth was without form, and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters .
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Appearance Of The Moon
The Moon’s tidal lock to Earth results in the Moon always showing only one side to Earth . If Earth were flat, with the Moon hovering above it, then the portion of the Moon’s surface visible to people on Earth would vary according to location on Earth, rather than showing an identical “face side” to everyone. If Earth were flat, with the Moon revolving around it tidally locked, then the Moon would be seen simultaneously at all places on Earth at once, but its apparent size, the portion facing the viewer, and facing side’s orientation would gradually change for each viewer as its position moved across the sky over the course of the night.
Class : Non Sequiturs
Earth Created Before the Sun: Genesis 1:119
We agreesee How could the days of Genesis 1 be literal if the sun wasnt created until the fourth day? But how does this prove that the earth is flat? They are attempting to argue against a fictitious sun worship they claim has crept into science. But the Bible clearly teaches against this, so citing the verse goes nowhere. Just because the earth came first does not mean the earth is flat.
Universe is Complete, NOT ever expanding: Genesis 2:1
The expansion of the universe can be debated, and is debated within our circles, but how would a non-expanding universe prove that the earth is flat? Arguing against the big bang is not the same thing as arguing that the earth is flat.
Earth Measurements Unknown: Job 38:45, Job 38:18, Jeremiah 31:37, Proverbs 25:3
How does this prove that the earth is flat? In any case, these passages were written before Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the earth quite accurately, so at the time of writing this was true. And modern flat-earthers typically tell us the size of their disk , so how does this passage not equally apply to them? By citing these passages, they are condemning themselves.
Earthquakes shake Earth, and does not move: 2 Samuel 22:8, Isaiah 13:13, Revelation 6:1213
Earth is fixed and immovable: 1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalm 33:9, Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, Psalm 104:5, Psalm 119:89-90, Isaiah 14:7, Isaiah 45:18, Zechariah 1:11
Be still, and know that I am God: Psalm 46:10
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Modern Flat Earth Beliefs
Jump to navigationJump to searchFlat Earth Flat Earth Society
Modern flat Earth beliefs are promoted by organizations and individuals which make claims that the Earth is flat while denying the Earth’s sphericity, contrary to over two millennia of scientific consensus.Flat Earth beliefs are pseudoscience the theories and assertions are not based on scientific knowledge. Flat Earth advocates are classified by experts in philosophy and physics as science deniers.
Flat Earth groups of the modern era date from the middle of the 20th century some adherents are serious and some are not. Those who are serious are often motivated by religion or conspiracy theories. Through the use of social media, flat Earth theories have been increasingly espoused and promoted by individuals unaffiliated with larger groups. Many believers make use of social media to spread their views.
What Can We Know
There is one final cataclysmic event that will happen in the earth and the cosmos: the second coming of Jesus Christ, the judgment of the world, and an extraordinary molecular rearrangement of all things that will bring about a New Heaven and a New Earth. And here is the most important thing I could write: your faith or unbelief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ determines whether you will be part of that New Heaven and New Earth.
I cannot date the age of the earth because so many things have changed. But I can say with certainty that because Christ is risen from the dead so we will rise again from the dead. We will live with him in a new heaven and new earth forever. I do not fully understand even that. But that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Faith is trusting in God the things we cannot see: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen .
At the end of every great question in the Bible , the Holy Spirit appeals to the incomprehensible divide between man’s finite existence and God’s infinite reality .
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Things Disappearing Over The Horizon
People have often noted that ships coming up over the horizon appear sail-first. That is, the highest portion of the vessel comes into view while the lower parts are still hidden by the bulge of the earth. Its so well known that there is an old naval term for it: hull down. Sailors could even roughly estimate distance from their own height and how far down the other ship was. And the same happened in reverse, with observers on ships seeing objects on land. Also, higher observers could see further, hence the advantage of the crows nest . Indeed, this was explained well back in the Middle Ages by John Sacrobosco in his Tractatus de Sphaera :
That the water has a bulge and is approximately round is shown thus: Let a signal be set up on the seacoast and a ship leave port and sail away so far that the eye of a person standing at the foot of the mast can no longer discern the signal. Yet if the ship is stopped, the eye of the same person, if he has climbed to the top of the mast, will see the signal clearly. Yet the eye of a person at the bottom of the mast ought to see the signal better than he who is at the top, as is shown by drawing straight lines from both to the signal. And there is no other explanation of this thing than the bulge of the water.
Does The Bible Say Earth Is Flat
A Response to Paul H. SeelyCreation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal14
ritic Paul H. Seely claims that the Bible teaches that the earth is a flat disc consisting of a single continent floating on a circular sea. In so doing, he once again makes the mistake of reading into equivocal biblical language definite statements of cosmology.
In a previous article,1 I explored and refuted the contentions of Paul H. Seely that the Bible taught that the raqiya was a solid dome over the earth. In this study, we will address a subsequent article by Seely in which he argues that the Bible teaches that the earth is a flat disc with a surrounding sea and a continent that floats upon this sea. We find, not surprisingly, that Seely follows much the same line of argument as he did in his previous articles:
When a biblical text is interpreted outside of its historical context, it is often unconsciously interpreted in terms of the readers own culture, time and beliefs. This has happened more than once to Genesis 1. To avoid distorting Genesis 1 in this way, the serious exegete will insist upon placing this chapter within its own historical context. When we do this, the meaning of earth and seas in Gen 1:10 is found to be quite different from the modern western notions.2
Being a scientifically naive people, it is probable that like other scientifically naive tribal peoples the Hebrews thought of the earth as being surrounded by a circular sea and floating upon that single surrounding sea.4
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