Why do Flat-earthers consider themselves Bible literalists, and why do they still think the Earth is flat?

"If the Bible said it's flat, then it must be flat..." is an answer I got from a Flat-earther, but I personally think Flat-earthers misinterpreted the Bible...



Samuel Rowbotham supported the notion of a flat Earth, based on literal interpretation of certain biblical passages. After Rowbotham's death in 1884, his followers established the Universal Zetetic Society. In 1956, Samuel Shenton took over the Universal Zetetic Society, which would later become the Flat Earth Society. The Flat Earth Society took the position that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax, because the photos of Earth taken from Apollo 8 was spherical and not flat. The Flat Earth Society still exists today under president Daniel Shenton...



These are Bible references that the Flat Earth Society think supports the notion of a flat Earth, because if taken literally, according to Flat-earthers, the Bible says the Earth is a flat circle, the Earth has ends, edges and four corners, the Bible tells about a tree so high that it was visible from the ends of the Earth, the Earth is set on pillars and cannot move, I personally think Flat-earthers misinterpreted the Bible, what do you think?



Isaiah 40:22: He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth...

Isaiah 11:12: ...the four quarters of the earth.

Revelation 7:1: ...I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth...

Job 38:13: ...that it might take the earth by the edges...

Jeremiah 16:19: ...the nations will come from the ends of the earth...

Daniel 4:11: The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth.

Psalm 93:1 and Psalm 96:10: ...the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved...

Psalm 104:5: He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

Job 9:6: He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.

Job 38:4: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

Job 37:3: He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.

Job 28:24: for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

1 Samuel 2:8: For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world.



Sources:



Flat Earth Society - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society

Flat Earth - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth

The Flat-Earth Bible - http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/febible.htmWhy do Flat-earthers consider themselves Bible literalists, and why do they still think the Earth is flat?
First of all, wow you did some thourough research!

Secondly; I think that the flat-earthers know what they want to believe, and they interprate the Bible to support that. I feel that if they wanted to believe differently, they would interprat differently. The terms edges and ends of the earth are not very literal; the earth still has ends, a circle has a top and a bottom. It doesn't have definite edges, but there's no saying what God can do in the Bible.

So I agree, they misinterprate to support their own ideas.
I don't know anyone who thinks this and I know a lot of Christians. I guess some people don't understand figures of speech. The Bible has a lot of poetry and figures of speech in it, and so does our modern day writing, too.Why do Flat-earthers consider themselves Bible literalists, and why do they still think the Earth is flat?
Flat earth, Creationism; talking donkeys; 4 legged insects - yes the bible is a wow for grasping the nature of the real world.
Ignorance can be cured, stupidity is often terminal.Why do Flat-earthers consider themselves Bible literalists, and why do they still think the Earth is flat?
Well, flat-earthism fits right in with talking donkeys and snake-handling.
I have always considered those thought to come from idiots,

it sure is not bible.
Because they're really really stupid!!
They are the left behind in education
I wonder if any of them have ever heard of a satellite. I could not even watch TV without one.
Because they're about 600 years behind in science
And Jesus said "I will separate your sins as far as the East is from the West"



That is not flat.
I just read a great article recently that show how the bible has always been ahead of scientific discovery. It gave so many examples of scripture saying things WAY before science confirmed it. If I can remember the name I will leave it in the comment box.
@ The real truthseeker



The earth doesn't move relative to us. If you are on a train that is moving at 50mph, relative to you, the train isn't moving. Actually everything around you is moving at 50mph in the opposite direction.





Anyone that thinks that the earth is flat, based on whatever the Bible says is deluded and needs to go back to school. A flat earth cannot explain the seasons, day and night, or explain the fact that you don't need to go via England to get from America to Japan.
I spent a few days on their forum. They believe the Earth is flat because the Bible says it is.



There is more than what you put there including things from the New Testament.

It clearly says you can see it all off a mountain. That only works if it's flat.



Matthew 4:8-9

The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee.
You haven't presented the half of it.



Let's see. According to Ecclesiastes 1:5 the sun actually goes around the earth--as, of course, it must, since, according to Ps 93:1, Ps 96:10, and 1 Chr 16:30, the earth does not move. And the earth cannot move because, according to 1 Samuel 2:8 and Ps 75:3, it is placed on pillars. And because it is placed on pillars, it has an underside and an upper side, as confirmed by Isaiah 40:22 which indicates that the earth is a flat disk.



(If earth were a sphere it would not have an under side and an upper side. The Hebrew word translated as "circle" in Isaiah 40:22 is chuwg, which means "circle" not "sphere." Strong's Concordance: "circle"..."describe a circle." Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament: "Circle...the earth conceived as a disc, Is 40:22." Hebrew-Aramaic and English Lexicon of the Old Testament: "draw round, make a circle." If a sphere were meant, the Hebrew word duwr would have been used.)



Since the biblical earth is flat, it has an underside and under the earth is the abyss, which is referred to several times in the Bible. That is also what is being referred to in Job 26:7 when it says that the earth hangs over nothing. Job 26:7 implies that the earth has an upper side and an underside, which the actual earth does not have. (The original Hebrew word translated as "upon" in that passage in the KJV also means "over.") The actual sphere of the earth in space is not "suspended' or "hanging" "over" or "upon" nothing. It is orbiting the sun at 66,700 miles per hour.



There are several other verses in the Bible indicating the earth is flat. Nebuchadnezzar's vision in Dan 4:10-11 clearly indicates the earth is flat (if it were not flat the tree could not be seen from all the earth), and Dan 2:28 states that the visions of Nebuchadnezzar are from God. If the biblical god says the biblical earth is flat, it must be flat.



The original Hebrew word translated as firmament is raqiya. That is a noun derived from the Hebrew word raqa, which is a verb meaning "to beat out." That term is used in the bible in reference to beating out metal into plates or expanses of the metal (as in Exodus 39:3). So raqiya, as a noun, would literally mean "that which is beaten out."



The idea is that the firmament, or sky, is a solid, beaten out expanse or vault set on the rim of the flat disk of the earth. The firmament holds back the waters that are above the firmament, as stated in Genesis. If the firmament were not solid, it could not hold back the waters.



This understanding is confirmed in Job 37:18, which states:



"Can you beat out the vault of the skies as he does,

hard as a mirror of cast metal?" (New English Bible. .)



There, the Hebrew word translated as "beat out" (or "spread out" in other versions) is, as noted above, raqa.



Also, the stars in the biblical cosmos are just lights set in the firmament. As mere lights in the sky, they will fall to the earth in the Last Days (Matt 24:29), something that is ridiculous considering the actual stars are other suns and many times larger than the earth.



Some might say that the language of such things is just poetic allusion. If that is so, how does one determine what is allusion and what is not? Even if it is poetry, that does not mean that it cannot reflect what the writers of the Bible actually believed. And if the Bible is the word of god and god does not lie, would he make statements that are not factual even if they are in the form of poetry? Moreover, the above descriptions provide a coherent, structurally consistent view of the biblical cosmos and that view is consistent throughout the whole Bible.



So, if god is not a liar, and the Bible is god's word, then the present, modern-day view of the cosmos is totally wrong.



On the other hand, if one fully accepts the modern, present-day view of the cosmos as factual, then one would have to conclude that either god is a liar or the Bible is not the word of god.



Added:



@Lotak: "Anyone that thinks that the earth is flat, based on whatever the Bible says is deluded and needs to go back to school. A flat earth cannot explain the seasons, day and night, or explain the fact that you don't need to go via England to get from America to Japan."



I'm not sure why you addressed that to me. I'm not saying the earth is flat. I'm saying that, according to the Bible, the earth is flat, and there is absolutely nothing in the Bible to indicate that the earth is a sphere.