I doubt that any ancient Israelite believed, for example, that if he traveled far enough north he would eventually come to some gigantic pillar supporting the dome of the sky. Soden, In the Beginning… We Misunderstood: Interpreting Genesis 1 in Its Original Context (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 2012) of what a literalistic understanding of such myths would involve. In order to appreciate this point just take a look at the artistic illustrations in Johnny V. These accounts are often metaphorical or symbolic, and ancient people would have been quite surprised if one of these modern literalists were to confront them with the claim, ”So you believe that the world literally _ (fill in the blank) ?”. There I discuss ancient creation stories such as ancient Egyptian creation myths and ask whether ancient peoples understood these literally.

I suggest you listen to or read my Defenders lectures (Series 2, Section 9) on Creation and Evolution, parts 9-12. I have seen one person even claim that when the Bible uses such figures of speech as “the four corners of the Earth” it asserts that the Earth is a square! Imposing such wooden literalism on even modern parlance would make all of us Flat Earthers as well! These people have no understanding of literary interpretation or literary genre. If you were to travel to the places designated by the four corners of the map, that would indicate you are traveling “all over” the map, but it is still not an attempt to state a fact about the shape of the Earth.Īnother common idiomatic biblical expression is “the ends of the earth.” But once again, it is an expression of great distance and not an attempt at a factual statement.I suspect what’s going on here is internet infidels masquerading as Christians in a misguided attempt to make the Bible look silly.

Even in biblical times, people usually traveled with a flat map that had four corners. 11:12). This phrase is also used simply as an expression of north, south, east, and west (Rev.

20:8) or to emphasize the vastness of something (Is. One such example is the expression “the four corner of the Earth.” This idiom is used only when expressing how far something is to travel (Rev. No, the Bible does not say that the Earth is flat. There are some common idioms the Bible uses that if taken literally might give the impression that it’s claiming the Earth to be flat, but idioms are not meant to be taken literally. After all, if you tell me something outrageous and I say, “You’re pulling my leg!”, am I accusing you of a physical assault or accusing you of telling a fib or a joke?

Bible says the earth is flat