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09 of 10 - Fundamentalist
Counterarguments
Fundamentalist Counterarguments
• Christian Fundamentalists do not accept that the Bible
assumes a Flat Earth and have developed a number of
spurious counter-arguments.
• They believe that the Bible is inerrant and therefore cannot
imply a Flat Earth – no matter how much evidence to the
contrary there is.
• There are several common counterarguments put forward in
order to “prove” that the Bible writers knew that the Earth was
a sphere.
• It is claimed that this information written down thousands of
years ago was unknown until AD1492.
• This is taken as evidence of supposed scientific
foreknowledge and an indication of the Bibles supposed
supernatural origin.
• However, all this is nonsense
Counterargument 1: Isaiah 40:22
The Circle of the Earth.
“It was made by the one who sits on his throne above the Earth and beyond
the Sky; the people below look as tiny as ants. He stretched out the sky like a
curtain, like a tent in which to live.” GNB
“He who sits enthroned above the circle of the Earth, the inhabitants of which
are like grasshoppers, stretches out the Heavens like a cloth, spreads them
out like a tent to live in.” JB
“There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the Earth, the dwellers in
which are as grasshoppers, the One who is stretching out the Heavens just
as a fine gauze, who spreads them out like a tent in which to dwell” NWT**
“He stretches out the north over the void,and hangs the Earth upon nothing“
RSV & KJV
“God stretched out the northern sky and hung the Earth in empty space.”
GNB
“He it was who spread the north above the void and poised the Earth on
nothingness.” JB
“He is stretching out the north over the empty place,Hanging the Earth upon
nothing ” NWT
Job 26:7 What Job actually describes
The “North”
refers to the
Celestial North
Pole, the point
that the Stars
appear to
revolve around.
Is a used as a
synonym for
the whole Sky
Job 26:7 Analysis
• If the Sky can be stretched out, then it must be solid.
• The “empty place” is most likely the empty space below the
dome of the Sky.
• If the Earth hangs in its place then it must not be moving.
• Hanging implies something to hang upon like a coat hanging
on a peg.
• Job 9:6 & 38:4- 6 refer to Pillars and Foundations for the
Earth.
• The word for “nothing” or “void” is the Hebrew word “Tehom”.
In Genesis 1:2, the same word is used to describe the
formless chaos of the waters of the Great Deep.
• This adds up to the Earth supported on pillars above the
formless chaos of the waters of the Great Deep. (See next
slide)
Job 26:7 What Job actually describes
Tehom
Counterargument 3: Job 38:14
The turning of the Earth
According to Christian
Fundamentalists, this is a reference
to the Earths turning or rotation
every 24 hours like clay on a
potters wheel.
This was supposedly written around
1500BC, 3000 years before
Copernicus
Job 38:14 The turning of the Earth
“It [the Earth] is changed like clay under the seal,and it is dyed like a
garment.“ RSV
“It [the Earth] is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment“ KJV
“Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment,
clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.” GNB
“She [the Earth] turns it as red as a clay seal, she tints it as though it were a
dress.” JB
“It [the Earth] transforms itself like clay under a seal,And things take their
station as in clothing” NWT**
Job 38:14 Analysis
1. The word “turn” is used here to mean “change” or “transform”
and not “rotate”. This verse has nothing to do with rotation of
any sort.
2. The Earth is compared to the imprint of a seal on clay. This is
usually fairly flat and circular.(See overleaf)
Job 38:14:Earth is like a Clay Seal
According to this
argument, the Bible
often uses descriptive
or Phenomenal
Language that describes
appearances rather than
Reality.