Is The Earth Flat?

Abstract:

There are many verses in the Bible that seem the prove the Bible teaches a flat Earth; here, we will go over some of these verses broadly and bring back the cultural context of the biblical world. The biblical authors during the writing of the Bible were most likely flat Earthers as this would have been an extremely popular idea at the time; even so, we still have reason to reject such a premise. 

Speech-Act Theory:

No person in this discussion claims the biblical authors did not believe the Earth was flat as this is likely; rather, we must use hermeneutics while reading texts. The book of Psalms says: "By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea," (Psalm 65:5 KJV). This verse contains the phrase, "all the ends of the Earth"; however, we must realize the Bible was not made to be a scientific text, but one that records history and important messages. Their point(in this example) was to show all people must have confidence in the Lord. The same is so when we speak modernly, when one says, "My love for you goes from the edges of the Earth", they are not making a scientific statement; rather, they are expressing their great love for a specific person, that their love is great. If someone said that statement, we would not scream "scientific error", but instead realize what the person was intending to mean by their statement. "The relevant hermeneutic is based on our close attention to speech-act theory and the ways that comparative studies can help us to arrive at a clearer understanding of the locutions of ancient texts, including the Bible," (Walton 48). As John H. Walton, the professor and scholar of Old Testament at Wheaton College and Graduate School noted, using Speech-Act theory is a necessity when analyzing a text such as the Bible.

This theory in linguistics shows us that a phrase can be used to present information, but also to carry out actions. This theory has three basic points: locution(literal meaning), illocution(intended meaning), and perlocution(the effect of the locutionary and illocutionary acts). For example, if one says "the sun sets at 8pm, so do not stay outside long", the locution is the sun will set(or move) at 8pm; however, the intended meaning(illocution) is merely it will begin to become dark at 8pm. The person who said this statement did not mean the sun will literally set for it does not move around the Earth, but it will begin to become dark at this time. The perlocution would be getting the person to realize they must hurry back home as it will become dark soon.

So, back to our original verse. "By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea," (Psalm 65:5 KJV). The locution is that there are literally ends of the Earth, but the illocution is to mean God gives confidence to all people. The perlocution is for people to understand information about God, not to make a scientific claim. Thus, we have no reason to take these claims literally for this is not the actual meaning of the text. 

It is important to realize who wrote the biblical texts as well, nonomnicient humans. Due to this, they use phrases that are scientifically incorrect; even so, this was not the intent God had. We must take the illocution and perlocution, not the locution. In the Bible, it speaks on subjects such as a firmament(Genesis 1:6) which was believed by many to be a sort of dome in the sky. Some scholars have claimed the word used for firmament(rāqîa or רָקִ֖יעַ) may simply refer to an open space, as Walton notes,"If this is the case, rāqîa instead refers instead to the space created by the separating waters," (Walton 37). Even if Walton is wrong here, we once again can go back to Speech-Act Theory.  

Evidence For The Globe:

The Lunar-Eclipse Argument:

Occasionally, from one's own backyard, a lunar eclipse can be observed approximately every few years. During this event, the Earth becomes directly positioned between the sun and the moon, resulting in the Earth casting its shadow onto the moon. In the case of a total lunar eclipse, the moon becomes entirely enveloped by the Earth's shadow, causing a darkening of its surface.

The spherical shape consistently exhibited by the Earth's shadow on the moon during lunar eclipses is a direct consequence of our planet's shape. 

Works Cited:

“Eclipses.” NASA, 14 Oct. 2022, moon.nasa.gov/moon-in-motion/eclipses/#:~:text=A%20lunar%20eclipse%20occurs%20when,and%20may%20even%20turn%20red.

Sandy, Brent, and Walton, John H.. The Lost World of Scripture: Ancient Literary Culture and Biblical Authority. United Kingdom, InterVarsity Press, 2013.

Walton, John H., and Wright, N. T.. The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate. United States, InterVarsity Press, 2015.