Talk:Bible says the earth is unsupported

From EvoWiki

It would be nice if someone would explain why the words used in 1 Samuel 2:8 are strictly literal in their usage when compared to those used in Job 26:7. If this cannot be demonstrated, then the response is a weak one. EvoWiki contributors must keep in mind that the Bible is a complex and deep collection of texts that requires just as much study and analysis as does, for example, the theory of neo-Darwinian evolution. If a poor understanding of hermeneutics and of the languages used in the Holy Scriptures is demonstrated, then the credibility and reliability of the articles here on EvoWiki will be sorely diminished in the eyes of the religious one browsing its pages. Obviously, I do not have devastating rebuttal of the reponse on this page at hand, else I would have gladly provided it. Nonetheless, I feel that it either needs to be significantly strengthened or removed. The same should apply to any such responses to quotes taken from the Bible, for the sake of honesty first, and thoroughness second.

I think you are right to point out that there is no reason (given) to accept passage A as literal, over and above passage B. But the reverse is also true: why should we accept the Watchtower's passage B as literal, over and above Evowiki's passage A? Without further argument, both interpretations are equally valid (or equally invalid, if you prefer). And as long as that remains the case, there is no cause for removal.

Or maybe Samuel was supposed to mean that God supports it, like in His hand? It's interesting to note that the Bible says the Earth is supported by nothing, yet cannot be moved from that foundation. This points toward the Bible supporting the notion that we are suspended in orbit. Interesting! - 71.50.252.193 (moved from article to here by --Doddy 21:33, 15 February 2007 (UTC))

The Bible read in context

The phrase foundation/s of the earth appears many, many times throughout the Bible, Old Testament as well as New, and it is a metaphor borrowed from building construction. If you read the whole of Job 38:4-6 you will see this quite clearly. "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone…?” The writer no more believed the earth has a literal foundation than that it has a literal cornerstone or that God used a plumb line and laid brick upon brick to build it. Nor did the writer of Psalm 137:7 believe that Jerusalem was built on one single foundation, yet he refers to it.

Actually the phrase was a common saying, like when we say, “Your argument has no foundation” or “I’m gonna rock your world”.

Jeremiah 31:37 says the opposite. The foundations of the earth can’t be discovered, like the heavens can’t be measured by man (we’re still having some difficult with the latter today). I have a private theory that the foundations of the earth aren’t what the earth rests on, but simply the depths of the earth’s crust.

Psalm 18 is replete with descriptions of pretty dramatic natural disasters, including fire, earthquakes, arrows fired from heaven, lightning and, yes, the uncovering of the foundations of the world, but if you read the whole psalm you find that the whole thing is a metaphor. The writer was actually referring to how God rescued him from the attacks of his human enemies. When you read in the newspaper that Bush blasted Pres. Kim Jeong Il, you don’t seriously believe he took a gun and shot him, do you? It is totally valid to see both the literal and the metaphorical in the Bible. You have to consider the context. In fact the statement about God hanging the earth over nothing is itself a metaphor that happens to reveal a literal truth – that the earth is suspended in space. By the way, Job lived before the time of Moses, who appears to have written down the first account of creation. Moses, who also wrote the book of Job, would hardly have ascribed literal foundations to the earth, when he himself wrote that it hangs over nothing, would he?

Even if it were true that Bible writers mixed up their metaphors, you haven’t responded to the accuracy of an ancient Bible statement that God hangs the earth over nothing. rufrankarl@yahoo.com, Nov. 24, 2007