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[THREAD]
The Biblical Flat Earth
Not a single passage anywhere in the Old Testament alludes to the spherical shape of the earth. There do exist some 'possible' exceptions in the 'New' Testament epistles (which we may discuss) but, Paul being versed in Greek philosophy, this...
![[THREAD]The Biblical Flat EarthNot a single passage anywhere in the Old Testament alludes to the spherical shape of the earth. There do exist some 'possible' exceptions in the 'New' Testament epistles (which we may discuss) but, Paul being versed in Greek philosophy, this...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E52J-UXWQAMs0yz.png "[THREAD]The Biblical Flat EarthNot a single passage anywhere in the Old Testament alludes to the spherical shape of the earth. There do exist some 'possible' exceptions in the 'New' Testament epistles (which we may discuss) but, Paul being versed in Greek philosophy, this...")
The Biblical Flat Earth
Not a single passage anywhere in the Old Testament alludes to the spherical shape of the earth. There do exist some 'possible' exceptions in the 'New' Testament epistles (which we may discuss) but, Paul being versed in Greek philosophy, this...
...we ought to expect.
Some try to make appeal to Isaiah 40:22's mention of the 'circle of the earth', however, Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts also make reference to the 'Circle of the Earth', without any indication that it might be round.
Then there is Job 26:7, which...
Some try to make appeal to Isaiah 40:22's mention of the 'circle of the earth', however, Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts also make reference to the 'Circle of the Earth', without any indication that it might be round.
Then there is Job 26:7, which...
...speaks of the earth being 'suspended over nothing' (probably the chaotic waters) with no reference to the shape of the earth.
Before we make a positive case for the flat earth existing in the biblical conception, we first need to explore what the neighbours of Israel as...
Before we make a positive case for the flat earth existing in the biblical conception, we first need to explore what the neighbours of Israel as...
...well as *some* of the Bible's early exegetes thought about the shape of the earth.
First, the obligatory caution that contrary to popular belief most people before Columbus knew full-well that the earth was spherical, the spherical earth being first proposed by Greek...
First, the obligatory caution that contrary to popular belief most people before Columbus knew full-well that the earth was spherical, the spherical earth being first proposed by Greek...
...philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, and taken for granted by medieval scholars and philosophers.
However, there also exists a counter-myth that seeks to minimise or even erase the existence of flat earth cosmologies in the ancient past, particularly in early Jewish...
However, there also exists a counter-myth that seeks to minimise or even erase the existence of flat earth cosmologies in the ancient past, particularly in early Jewish...
...and Christian thought, but also among others. A very silly claim made by Ancient Astronaut theorist Zecharia Sitchin, and repeated by Joe Rogan, and probably others, is that the Sumerians knew the earth was round, and orbited the sun, based on a misidentification of a...
...depiction of the star of the goddess Inanna surrounded by the Pleiades.
We know this claim is bunk because the central star is not the image of the sun that is consistently used. But I'll let Sitchin critic Dr Michael Heiser explain the rest:
https://sitchiniswrong.com/VA243seal.pdf
But...
We know this claim is bunk because the central star is not the image of the sun that is consistently used. But I'll let Sitchin critic Dr Michael Heiser explain the rest:
https://sitchiniswrong.com/VA243seal.pdf
But...
...now that that's out of the way, how did the Mesopotamians 'actually' depict the earth?
MESOPOTAMIA
One Mesopotamian name for the earth is 'Kippat erṣeti', 'circle of the earth'. This is significant, because according to Wayne Horowitz, 'Akkadian kippatu are always flat...
MESOPOTAMIA
One Mesopotamian name for the earth is 'Kippat erṣeti', 'circle of the earth'. This is significant, because according to Wayne Horowitz, 'Akkadian kippatu are always flat...
...circular objects, such as geometric circles or hoops'. Likewise, two Akkadian terms for 'sky' are 'Kippat Burūmē' and 'Kippat Šamé', both meaning 'Circle of the sky'. There is some 'possible' indication that dome shaped heavens may also have existed in Mesopotamian...
...astronomy, but the point remains, that whether disk-shaped or dome-shaped, unless half the earth has no sky, the earth, in these texts, must be flat.
This is important, for as we have discussed before, Mesopotamia was a major influence on the Old Testament, and in...
This is important, for as we have discussed before, Mesopotamia was a major influence on the Old Testament, and in...
...particular it's cosmology.
On to the next civilisation:
ANATOLIA
Whilst little is known about the Anatolian cosmology, they do seem to have believed in a flat earth, which was held up by the god Upelluri, according to the Song of Ullikummi:
"When heaven and earth were...
On to the next civilisation:
ANATOLIA
Whilst little is known about the Anatolian cosmology, they do seem to have believed in a flat earth, which was held up by the god Upelluri, according to the Song of Ullikummi:
"When heaven and earth were...
...built upon me I knew nothing of it"
The implication is one of a flat earth, level enough to be able to rest on the back of a giant creature (think Discworld). This will be of significance when we discuss biblical cosmology, but it also existed in the myths of another...
The implication is one of a flat earth, level enough to be able to rest on the back of a giant creature (think Discworld). This will be of significance when we discuss biblical cosmology, but it also existed in the myths of another...
...ancient people.
GREECE
In the Iliad, Poseidon, god of the sea is described as the 'earth-holder', again suggesting that the earth is supported, perhaps by the sea (this idea has a parallel in the Bible, we shall see), which matches the common conception of the Ancient...
GREECE
In the Iliad, Poseidon, god of the sea is described as the 'earth-holder', again suggesting that the earth is supported, perhaps by the sea (this idea has a parallel in the Bible, we shall see), which matches the common conception of the Ancient...
...world, that a body of water existed below the earth (referred to as Apsu in Akkadian, Abzu in Sumerian, Nun in Egyptian, etc).
Having looked at the views of some of the peoples around Israel, let's now look at the last group of people:
ANCIENT JEWS AND CHRISTIANS
Though...
Having looked at the views of some of the peoples around Israel, let's now look at the last group of people:
ANCIENT JEWS AND CHRISTIANS
Though...
...we shouldn't overstate our conclusions, most early Christians (such as Origen, Basil and Augustine), and many early Jews (such as Philo) believed in a spherical earth, the concept of a flat earth did exist in Ancient Judaism and Christianity. The Book of Enoch perhaps gives...
...a clear statement that the earth has literal edges. In Chapter XVIII, Enoch reaches a place where the heavens and the earth drop off into an abyssal void where rebellious angels are punished. Clearly the writer of 1 Enoch did not believe in a spherical earth.
Even forward...
Even forward...
...in time, Jewish writers continued to believe in a flat earth.
In the Rabbinic text Bereishit Rabba, it is mentioned that a dispute existed as to whether the sun travelled above the firmament or below the earth at night. On a spherical earth the sun is always in the sky...
In the Rabbinic text Bereishit Rabba, it is mentioned that a dispute existed as to whether the sun travelled above the firmament or below the earth at night. On a spherical earth the sun is always in the sky...
...with no objective place of sunrise or sunset, so the fact that this wasn't even discussed would suggest that the flatness of the earth was taken for granted by the Rabbis.
Another Jewish text B. Hagigah speaks of the earth being placed upon pillars, which stand upon water...
Another Jewish text B. Hagigah speaks of the earth being placed upon pillars, which stand upon water...
..., which stand upon mountains, which stand upon wind, which stand upon a storm, which stands upon the arm of God.
Like with the Hittite and Greek cosmology, presumably the earth is flat in this cosmology, as it is level enough to rest on supports.
Now lets turn to the...
Like with the Hittite and Greek cosmology, presumably the earth is flat in this cosmology, as it is level enough to rest on supports.
Now lets turn to the...
...early church. Whilst a consensus of the church had always held the earth was round, in the Antiochene School, of the east, many held to biblical literalism, and therefore insisted that the earth was flat. Cosmas Indicopleustes is probably the most famous exponent of a flat...
...earth, believing it to be literally shaped like the tabernacle, but he was not alone, and gained his cosmology from his mentor, the great Syriac Churchman 'Mar Aba'.
Diodorus, fourth century bishop of Tarsus likewise states explicitly that the heavens are 'not round or...
Diodorus, fourth century bishop of Tarsus likewise states explicitly that the heavens are 'not round or...
...spherical, but in the form of a tent or arch'. Severian the bishop of Gabala likewise explicitly stated the
heavens were not spherical. Again, unless half the earth has no sky, clearly Diodorus and Severian believed in a flat earth also.
There are many more examples of a...
heavens were not spherical. Again, unless half the earth has no sky, clearly Diodorus and Severian believed in a flat earth also.
There are many more examples of a...
...belief in a flat earth amongst early Christians, Jews, and Muslims (who seem to have been influenced by the former two), so I'm only scratching the surface. In the next thread, we'll discuss the evidence that the Biblical writers, like the Hittites, Homer and the Rabbis...
...believed in a flat, supported earth. We will also discuss a possible verse in the New Testament that 'may' be the exception.
Until then, see you next time!
[To be continued]
Until then, see you next time!
[To be continued]
