Critics of Bible believers have repeatedly made the assertion (for example Capella) that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat.
Question for debate: Does the Bible really teach that the earth is flat?
Note: We are in the Theology, Doctrine and Dogma forum. The question is not, "Is the earth flat?"
What does the Bible teach about the shape of the earth?
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McCulloch
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What does the Bible teach about the shape of the earth?
Post #1Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
First Epistle to the Church of the Thessalonians
The truth will make you free.
Gospel of John
First Epistle to the Church of the Thessalonians
The truth will make you free.
Gospel of John
Post #22
No, they probably didn't. BUt I don't think we should fault them too much.
I saw a very interesting short video a number of years ago called something like "OUr private universes". THe film-makers visited Harvard on graduation day and asked a number of the nation's best and brightest, as well as a distinguished religion professor, to explain the phases of the moon.
They all failed miserably.
The film then switches to an elementary classroom, around 5th grade I think. The teacher first asked students to explain what caused the phases of the moon. She got lots of answers having to do with clouds and the shadow of the earth. She then painstakingly led students through an explanation of the phases of the moon with 3-d models of the sun, moon, and earth, and had students successfully reproduce the explanations and answer questions. The spent a number of class periods on this topic.
Then, they had another adult come in and 'grill them' individually. It was a bit painful to watch, but interesting nonetheless, that the more the students were questioned, the more they were asked 'are you sure', the more they tended to revert to the pre-concieved notions they held before the teacher's lessons.
Many of the types of explanations provided by the 5th graders were pretty much the same as those given by the Harvard grads, only with bigger words and more complete sentences.
Is it really that much of a suprise that lots of people don't understand things that are much more complicated and involve more indirect evidence, like evolution?
I saw a very interesting short video a number of years ago called something like "OUr private universes". THe film-makers visited Harvard on graduation day and asked a number of the nation's best and brightest, as well as a distinguished religion professor, to explain the phases of the moon.
They all failed miserably.
The film then switches to an elementary classroom, around 5th grade I think. The teacher first asked students to explain what caused the phases of the moon. She got lots of answers having to do with clouds and the shadow of the earth. She then painstakingly led students through an explanation of the phases of the moon with 3-d models of the sun, moon, and earth, and had students successfully reproduce the explanations and answer questions. The spent a number of class periods on this topic.
Then, they had another adult come in and 'grill them' individually. It was a bit painful to watch, but interesting nonetheless, that the more the students were questioned, the more they were asked 'are you sure', the more they tended to revert to the pre-concieved notions they held before the teacher's lessons.
Many of the types of explanations provided by the 5th graders were pretty much the same as those given by the Harvard grads, only with bigger words and more complete sentences.
Is it really that much of a suprise that lots of people don't understand things that are much more complicated and involve more indirect evidence, like evolution?
