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by eaglecreek on Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:52 amyou ever think back to the middle ages and wonder why the church considered a spherical world sacrilege ? this has always been a subject that has left me baffled . why ??? how did they get to this point ? where in the bible does it say the world is flat ?one of the only ref to this i could find (and i will continue to look ) is the phrase "four corners of the earth" an example of this is in the prophetic cannons in the book of isaiah . isa 11:12 - And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. in my opinion the word "corners" is what is mis leading .
if this passage (mainly the term "corners") is broke down and researched it dosent take to long to understand the meaning . in the original hebrew text of isaiah we find the word כַּנְפֹ֥ות -kan·fo·vt meaning : wings or extremities . this was translated to latin as "corners".
i dont think this passage has anything to do with giving a description of the earth and its shape. even if one used the term "four corners of the earth " the passage is taken out of context if your using it to prove the shape of the earth. if one was to read further they would see isa 40:22 - It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth ... Isaiah seems to imply that it is disk-shaped here. The Hebrew word used here is "khug", which unambiguously means circle, not sphere.
are you confused yet ? i think i am , but the lessen to be learned here is that Jesus Christ was the only one qualified to be a final authority on the tough interpretations that can be found in the Bible. when one (other than the savior) tries to presume the inner meaning of scripture and make it church doctrine it can very easily lead to chaos. as for the children of the Lord all we can do is study diligently and when it comes to interpreting the scripture we should do it on a fellowship of other Christians as well as have ordained preachers present and always pray for the Lords wisdom and guidance. and always understand that our decisions are never the final say
if this passage (mainly the term "corners") is broke down and researched it dosent take to long to understand the meaning . in the original hebrew text of isaiah we find the word כַּנְפֹ֥ות -kan·fo·vt meaning : wings or extremities . this was translated to latin as "corners".
i dont think this passage has anything to do with giving a description of the earth and its shape. even if one used the term "four corners of the earth " the passage is taken out of context if your using it to prove the shape of the earth. if one was to read further they would see isa 40:22 - It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth ... Isaiah seems to imply that it is disk-shaped here. The Hebrew word used here is "khug", which unambiguously means circle, not sphere.
are you confused yet ? i think i am , but the lessen to be learned here is that Jesus Christ was the only one qualified to be a final authority on the tough interpretations that can be found in the Bible. when one (other than the savior) tries to presume the inner meaning of scripture and make it church doctrine it can very easily lead to chaos. as for the children of the Lord all we can do is study diligently and when it comes to interpreting the scripture we should do it on a fellowship of other Christians as well as have ordained preachers present and always pray for the Lords wisdom and guidance. and always understand that our decisions are never the final say
(I believe some "fruity" smilies are appropriate here!)
