Arabic Word And View Of The Earth From Space
Further when we look at Surah Zumar verse 5 the word used are He wraps the night over the day. The Arabic word translated as Wraps and it means to revolve upon, fold up, flow into, shroud, make one thing lap over an other. It is used for the act of wrapping one thing around another in the way that a turban is folded on the head. This revolving or folding of the day and night can only take place if the earth is spherical. If the earth was flat, then the day and night would change suddenly. If we look the earth from space this is exactly what we see that day and nights are rolling over a spherical ball like the image on the right.
The Number Of The Stars
The Bible often uses the stars of heavento represent an extremely large quantity.Genesis 22:17 teaches that God wouldmultiply Abrahams descendants as the starsof the heaven, and as the sand which is onthe sea shore.
makesit clear that this represents anumber which is uncountable by humans:the sand of the sea, which cannot be numberedfor multitude.
2 These are excellentanalogies. Clearly the sand of the sea andthe stars in the universe cannot be countedexactly by humans, though of course, theycan be roughly estimated. Interestingly, thetwo quantities come out to about the sameorder of magnitude: 1022, or ten billiontrillion, give or take a factor of ten or so.3
It was not always believed that the starswere so numerous. The astronomer ClaudiusPtolemy cataloged 1,022 stars inhis work The Almagest.4 Many astronomersbelieved that these were the only stars that existed,even though Ptolemy never claimed thathis catalogue was exhaustive.5 Of course, thereare many more stars than this number. The totalnumber of stars that can be distinctly seen with the unaided eye is around10,000. The precise number depends on howgood ones vision is.
Does The Bible Teach That The Earth Is Flat
Flat Earth Theory support has grown rapidly. This is largely due to the influence of social media. Unfortunately, many well-meaning Christians fall for this theory. These websites claim that until 500 years ago, it was largely taught that the earth was flat. However, if you look at many of the ancient scholars this claim is disproven. Geoffrey Burton Russel, a medieval scholar taught that the earth was spherical. So did Aristotle. Even Eratosthenes in the 2nd century accurately measured the circumference of the earth. These early writers held to a geocentric view, it included a spherical earth.
Two late 19th century skeptics are largely to blame for this theory. John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. These two men held to the Conflict Thesis. They believed that due to the religion that largely dominated medieval Europe certain intellectual advancement was halted. And that it was only after man escaped his religious bindings in the Renaissance that he was able to think for himself. They claim that the church opposed Galileos heliocentric theory due to their blindness from their faith. However, the contention in accepting Galileos theory was largely due to the geocentric theories promoted by Aristotle and Claudius Ptolemy.
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The Flat Surface Of The Earth
How can you tell if the earth is flat or round? According to some flat-earthers, if you climb to the highest central point and you can see everything to the end of the earth, then it is flat. This idea of the ends of the earth is mentioned in the Bible, which says in Daniel 4:10-11: These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky it was visible to the ends of the earth. On a round earth it would not be possible for such a tree to be visible from everywhere on earth. Does this Bible verse then say that the earth is flat?
In reality, the text does not refer to a physical reality rather it is the description of a dream of king Nebuchadnezzar. As we know, dreams do not abide by the laws of physics. The Bible is actually very clear about this passage. The dream, as interpreted by Daniel, refers to something completely different to a physical tree on earth. The tree in the dream is actually Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Ok So How Do We Know Scientifically That The Earth Is A Sphere
At a very basic level, we can see the Earths curvature through satellites that weve launched into space. Additionally, through the use of high-powered telescopes, weve been able to examine planets both in our solar system and beyond, and all of them are spherical in shape.
There is a very deep, fundamental reason why the Earth is round: the force of gravity depends upon the distance between two interacting objects, and the only three-dimensional object you can make with a single distance is a sphere. We can measure the behavior of gravity in the laboratory with a variety of highly sensitive experiments. Each of these experiments shows that the force of gravity depends only on the mass of the two objects and the distance between them. If, on the other hand, you wanted to form a flattened object using gravity alone, the force of gravity would have to depend upon two, perpendicular distances in two perpendicular directions.
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The Immovability Of The Earth
These passages are often sited as being able to prove a flat earth. These verses are all poetry and must be hermeneutically applied as such. Poetic passages are never meant to be taken literally. A fixed earth could not be destroyed by God as He has promised to do so in order to create a new one.
In Psalms we see a unique Hebrew word kun which means fixed or established. This word is also used in 1 and 2 Samuel when it is describing Davids kingdom. We also see it in Psalm 10:6, and Proverbs 10:30 where it says that the righteous shall not be moved. It doesnt mean that the righteous are frozen to the spot. This word has an opposite: mut which means moveable. It is often translated slip or sway. From understanding the Hebrew words used, we can understand that the earth is firmly established in its construction. It is very well designed. God has created laws of chemistry and biology and physics to allow the earth to function well. We know that the sun will rise and will set and that winter will eventually give way to spring and to summer. These fluctuations are still well within the realm of immoveable. We cannot take these verses literally without altering the meaning of the verses in other places where this word is used.
12)1 Chronicles 16:30 Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established it cannot be moved.
14)Psalm 10:6 He says to himself, Nothing will ever shake me. He swears, No one will ever do me harm.
Creationism And Flat Earth
The Bible clearly teaches that the Earth was created before the Sun. Many flat earthers claim that sun worship from ancient pagan societies had made its way into science. This is simply not true. Many flat earthers promote the Big Bang. The earth is not continually expanding. It is complete.
2) Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
3) 2 Samuel 22:16 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
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Do Heights In The Bible Teach The Earth Is Flat
Perhaps the most bizarre argument that the Bible teaches a flat earth relies on Daniel 4:11, which reads,
The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.
The same sort of reasoning is used to argue that Matthew 4:8 teaches a flat earth. Matthew 4:111 gives an account of the temptation of Jesus. The temptation began in the wilderness, after Jesus had fasted for 40 days and nights. Satan first tempted Jesus to change stones into bread to satisfy Jesus hunger . Presumably, this was while still in the wilderness. Next, the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and suggested that Jesus cast himself down . Note that there was considerable distance between the wilderness and the Temple . Did Satan instantly and literally transport Jesus from the wilderness to Jerusalem? Or did Satan present this view to Jesus while still in the wilderness, perhaps in a vision? Matthew 4:8 records the third temptation:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Does The Bible Ever Describe The Earth As Being Round
Question: Sirs: I have been told there is a reference in the Bible to the earth being round. Can you help me locate the specific Scripture? Thanks & God Bless
Response: As the Ryrie Study Bible edition of the NASB notes on Isaiah 40:22, the phrase “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” … “allows for the concept that the earth is a sphere”. The NASB actually translates the Hebrew word chugh as “vault” rather than circle, but circle is more the idea . This quote from Ryrie is, to my thinking, really well put. Commentators and critics are probably right in seeing this “circular vault” above us as phenomenological, that is, the dome-like appearance of the night sky, for example, really does look like an enclosing “circular vault” on a brilliantly clear night . In this, the Lord’s use of inspired writers of the Bible seems to me to be about as perfect as anyone could imagine. For while speaking of the earth as “flat” would clearly be wrong , on the other hand to actually describe the earth as a ball, globe or sphere would probably have strained the credulity of the audience of that time .
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The Expansion Of The Universe
The Bible indicates in several placesthat the universe has been stretched out orexpanded. For example, Isaiah 40:22 teachesthat God stretches out the heavens like acurtain, and spreads them out like a tent todwell in.
This would suggest that the universehas actually increased in size since its creation.God has stretched it out. He has expanded it. This versemust have seemed very strange when it wasfirst written. The universe certainly doesntlook as if it is expanding. After all, if youlook at the night sky tonight, it will appearabout the same size as it did the previousnight, and the night before that. Ancient starmaps appear virtually identical to the nightsky today. Could the universe really have beenexpanded? It must have been hard to believe atthe time.
In fact, secular scientists once believedthat the universe was eternal and unchanging.The idea of an expanding universe would havebeen considered nonsense to most scientistsof the past. It must have been tempting forChristians to reject what the Bible teachesabout the expansion of the universe. Perhapssome Christians tried to reinterpret Isaiah40:22, and read it in an unnatural way so thatthey wouldnt have to believe in an expandinguniverse. When the world believes one thing,and the Bible teaches another, it is alwaystempting to think that God got the detailswrong, but God is never wrong.
Balloon illustration
Surah Rahman Use Of Word Miracle
Lastly, in Surah Rahman verse 33, we see that God is talking about ..if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth Now again as before past Commentators of Quran took the meaning of word as regions but now when we have modern terms of science than the Arabic language have adopted the word for defining Diameter And this was done independently by the evolution of language without knowing that this is something going to serve as another miracle of the Holy Quran. Now we know that Diameter is a straight line passing from side to side through the center of a body or figure, especially a circle or sphere. Thus look again Quran is consistent in representing Earth as a sphere thats why the word is used which again shows the rounded shape of earth.
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Verses That Bible Critics Use
Revelation 7:1 is usually the first verse that critics come to in order to prove that the Bible teaches a flat square earth. Many of these critics claim that if the writers of the Bible believed that the earth was square and flat, it would prove that the Bible is not inspired, but that it was merely myths based on the worldview of society at that time. Because if Gods Word teaches that the earth is a flat disk or square, and if the earth is actually spherical then Gods Word cant be trusted about this issue. And if Gods Word isnt totally and completely true about this issue what else in it is not true? Historically, we can see a COUPLE of examples in ancient societies that believed in a flat round earth. However, NONE of these held to a square shaped earth.
The four winds in Revelation 7:1 refer to the four cardinal points: north, south, east and west. Most scholars agree that this was probably an idiom referencing every location on earth, even the most distant. The King James Version translates this as quarters instead of corners. Most idioms sound peculiar when translating them into another language. Someone left the barn door open, an Appalachian idiom talking about dealing with a lot of traffic on the road, would sound absurd in another language, and its usage indiscernible from the idiom itself.
Another verse that is used is Job 37:10, and the breadth of the waters is straitened
8) Job 38:18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
The Earth Floats In Space
A very interesting verse to consider is Job 26:7 which states that God hangs the earthon nothing. This might evoke an image ofGod hanging the earth like a Christmas treeornament, but hanging it on empty space.This verse expresses the factthat the earth is unsupported by any otherobjectsomething quite unnatural forthe ancient writers to imagine. Indeed, theearth does float in space. We now havepictures of the earth taken fromspace that show it floating inthe cosmic void. The earthliterally hangs on nothing,just as the Bible teaches.
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The Sun And Moon Circle Over The Earth
God understands its way, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth and it was so. God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises. Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. He said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand still on Gibeon! You, moon, stop in the valley of Aijalon! The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isnt this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and didnt hurry to go down about a whole day. here on NASA’s websitebecome a God Every Morning Tier or above patron on Patreon
Flat Earth Theorists Say That If The Earth Is A Spinning Sphere Why Cant They Feel It How Did Scientists First Prove That The Earth Rotates
Though the shape of the Earth had been settled for over two millennia, a scientist by the name of Leon Foucault designed an experiment in 1851, using a very long pendulum, that showed both that the Earth is round and that it rotates. If you place the pendulum at the North Pole, the direction of its swing changes with respect to the ground and completes a full circle each day. Placing the same pendulum on the equator yields no change at all in the direction of the swing. These facts, and the behavior of the pendulum when it is placed anywhere else, agree with Foucault’s prediction.
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What Does The Bible Mean By The Four Corners Of The Earth
The expressions the four corners of the earth and the ends of the earth used in the Bible are not to be taken literally, as if the earth were square or had ends. Instead, these evidently are figures of speech referring to the entire surface of the earth. The Bible uses the four points of the compass in a similar way.Luke 13:29.
The Hebrew term translated corners or ends seems to be an idiom based on the word for wings. According to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, because the wing of a bird is used as a covering for its young, acquires the meaning of the extremity of anything stretched out. The same reference work adds that at Job 37:3 and Isaiah 11:12, the term means the coasts, boundaries, or extremities of the land surface of the earth. *