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Atheists when the Bible speaks of the circle of the earth, is it not a reference to the spherical Earth?

As you know the Earth from above doesn't look like a sphere. Infact no celestial object looks like a sphere because we have no way to see the third dimension. So we see its 2D projection on our retina. Which is in case of spheres a circle. So the expression circle of the earth is very correct. Especially that he's speaking about the way Earth is seen from above as indicated in the same Verse that people look like grasshoppers.

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  • 4 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    The Bible is correct because the Hebrew word translated "circle" (i.e. chuwg) literally means roundness. It may be a bridge too far to claim it necessarily means sphere, but to claim it absolutely means flat circle is uninformed. The word is commonly used to describe domes or bowls or bows - none of which are 2 dimensional.

    Circle is not technically incorrect either way. A sphere is a 3D circle. A 2D circle is a disc. A 1D anything is a point. Furthermore, the criticism is anachronistic, since distinctions between different dimensional objects weren't characterized until the Greek civilization (many hundreds of years after these Bible passages were written) - i.e. there was no word differentiating 3D from 2D circles at the time of writing (the meaning would be assumed from the context). Some claim the Hebrew word duwr means sphere, but they are also uninformed. Duwr means a gathering around. It can mean ball (e.g. a gathering of snow is a snow ball), but it is also used of armies gathering around cities (neat trick if it means 3D) and piles of wood.

  • 4 years ago

    I'm not sure what the point of this is. We see in three dimensions because we have binocular vision.

  • 4 years ago

    is it not a reference to the spherical Earth?

    - No, it is a circle.

  • 4 years ago

    Except that we know the difference between a flat circle and a sphere for the very reasons you describe. We have no reason to believe that early humans suspected a sphere. Most likely it was the experience of standing in one place, rotating and hypothesizing a flat circle since the curve of a sphere would have been impossible to detect at that time. Lastly, Earth big and people small, therefore grasshoppers (or ants) is a reasonable analogy... even for early humans. Nothing special, impressive or divine about the comparison.

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  • Charlz
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

    No, because circle and sphere are not the same shape. One is 2D, one is 3D. There are other hints in the bible that hint as flat earth and not sphere.

  • 4 years ago

    So, you are suggesting that God has no perception of depth because we cannot see in three dimensions? Even we can tell that a ball is a ball and not a circle.

  • Rayal
    Lv 7
    4 years ago

    Earth is an oblate spheroid It is wider at the equator than in its N/S dimension.

    Earth photo where it is obviously 3d and "spherical".

    "the way Earth is seen from above as indicated in the same Verse that people look like grasshoppers."

    If people looked like grasshoppers you would not be high enough to see the curvature of the Earth.

    Attachment image
  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    No, the word literally means circle, as in a flat disc.

  • 4 years ago

    4000 years ago they knew the difference between a circle and a sphere. We can see the shape of planets and moons through telescopes and they are definitely spherical. You might think the Moon looks like a flat disc but when you see it in a total lunar eclipse (which happens at least every two years), it is obviously three dimensional to the naked eye. If you work out why the Moon has phases, and the Greeks did that a couple of thousand years ago, the only possible explanation is that the Moon is spherical.

    A circle is not a sphere, the Bible is wrong yet again.

  • 4 years ago

    The bible speaks of a flat earth with four corners.

    See Rev 7 and Rev 20.

    It also speaks of earth on pillars.

    See Psa 75 and Job 26

    And the sun revolves around us.

    See Ecc 1:5

    The bible was simply a product of its time. There is no special knowledge given to any of the biblical authors which is why they don't know about the Aztecs and Aborigine and that a large mythical hydra would one day appear and sweep a third of all the stars in the sky down to the earth!

  • 4 years ago

    Which kinda proves it was written by humans, not a God who knew he created a sphere.

    As you pointed out, the humans writing it didn't know, and made an error. Which puts all the claims into suspect.

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