Simply put, men have known the earth was round for centuries, and the Bible confirms this truth implicitly. When standing on the shore looking out on the horizon, the curvature of the earth cuts off the bottom of ships in the distance. In the following centuries, many scientists have devised simple experiments validating the earth is a sphere, and more recently high-altitude aircraft, satellites orbiting our planet, and manned space travel have confirmed those earlier findings.Įven our own observations from the ground confirm the earth to be a sphere. As early as the 6th century B.C., men had mathematical proofs demonstrating the earth is spherical in shape. Science long ago confirmed the spherical shape of the earth. Nevertheless, the Bible is not our only (or even our best) source of information on the shape of the planet. Geometrically, this can only happen on a sphere, and therefore Genesis 1 implies a round earth. For example, the Creation account in Genesis 1 says that the earth began as water only, and water suspended in space always takes the form of a sphere due to the surface tensions of water molecules.įurthermore, when dry land appeared, Genesis 1 describes all the land as existing “in one place” in Genesis 1:9 while all waters are gathered likewise.
In the case of the earth’s shape, scripture never explicitly states the shape of our planet, nor does the Bible propose to teach the physical design of earth explicitly at any point, but it does confirm a round earth implicitly in various places. Therefore, we cannot become blind to obvious truths of nature, nor should we dismiss or ignore extra-biblical sources of truth so long as they do not contradict scripture. On the other hand, the Bible is not the sole source of knowledge in Creation.įor example, the Bible does not attempt to teach mathematics, chemistry, biology or many other areas of knowledge that are self-evidently true despite being absent in God’s word.
Teaching that contradicts the Bible is false, by definition. The Christian faith recognizes the Bible above all other sources of knowledge as the inspired word of God.
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