Many Bible scholars believe that what science there is in the Bible was simply the way people of that time understood things. This does not mean that the scripture is in error. It simply reports what people believed.
One example of this is the matter of the firmament, or expanse, or, more broadly, cosmology. I am using God Against the Gods: Storytelling, Imagination and Apologetics in the Bible, by Brian Godawa, as a guide to some scripture on this topic, in this discussion.
Consider this passage: Philippians 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Scripture from the World English Bible, in this color.). This important exaltation of Christ seems to take for granted that there's a three-fold universe. In heaven (above the firmament), on earth, and under the earth. Furthermore, though this passage doesn't say so, the earth, and perhaps the firmament and the sky, were flat, and circular.
As to the previous sentence, see Daniel 4:10 These were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and behold, a tree in the middle of the earth; and its height was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached to the sky, and its sight to the end of all the earth. The idea of a globular earth probably hadn't occurred to anyone alive at the time of Daniel. He saw the earth as a flat circle, where a tall tree would be visible all over the earth.
In previous posts, I have argued that there is no such thing as a firmament. The people of the times thought there was, and God let them describe the way things were, according to their belief. God doesn't correct us when we say that the sun rises and sets, even though it doesn't.
Here are three examples of the concept of the ends of the earth:
Isaiah. 41:9a You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners…
Psalm 65:5b You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth, of those who are far away on the sea.
Zechariah 9:10b and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Searching for that phrase turned up 27 additional uses of "ends of the earth." It seems clear that people in Bible times didn't think of the earth as a globe!
The ancient Hebrews believed that the earth was in a fixed position, supported by pillars:
1 Samuel 2:8 For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s. He has set the world on them.
Psalm 75:3 The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars.
Psalm 96:10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.
Psa. 104:5 He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
Job 9:5 He removes the mountains, and they don’t know it, when he overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble. 7 He commands the sun and it doesn’t rise, and seals up the stars.
Job 26:7 He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing. 10 He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke. 12 He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab.
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? 6 What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Psalm 75:3 The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars.
Zech. 12:1a A revelation: Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth ...
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