How people of Bible times understood cosmology

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 ...

For more on ancient Hebrew cosmology, see this Wikipedia article.

 

On September 27, I added a link to the book by Godawa, and wrote a little about how I had used it.

 

Thanks for reading!

The earth is fixed in place?

Some quotations from the Bible:

1 Chronicles 16:30 Tremble before him, all the earth. The world also is established that it can’t be moved.

 

Psalm 93:1 Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved.

 

Psalm 96:10a Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved.

Psalm 104:5 He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever. (World English Bible, public domain)

The Bible seems to say, in at least these four places, that the earth can’t be moved. But it does move! It goes around the sun, and the sun, itself, is in motion through space.  And it rotates. What’s going on? Is the Bible in error? No. The Bible was mostly written according to the culture and world view of the times. If the writers had said something like “The world is traveling in a stable elliptical orbit, and has done so for many years, and will continue to do so,” the readers or listeners, to say nothing of the human author(s), would not have understood what was said, and might well have thought that the speaker or writer was insane. Like most of the Bible, these passages used the worldview of the current speakers, writers, readers and hearers. 

None of these four scriptures were statements about the principles of astronomy. All of them were statements about God's glory and power.

Thanks for reading.

Science, the Bible, affirmation, and accomodation to culture

Psalm 104:5 He laid the foundations of the earth,
    that it should not be moved forever.
13b The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons.
    The sun knows when to set.
24 Yahweh, how many are your works!
    In wisdom have you made them all.
    The earth is full of your riches. (World English Bible, public domain)

This is from probably the greatest nature poem ever written, Psalm 104. Poetry is often not meant to be taken literally. That doesn’t mean that it is in error. It can speak truth, often in ways that straightforward prose cannot.

The Old Testament accommodated the culture of the day. If David had said, in verse 5, “The earth is in a stable orbit around the sun,” instead of “it shall not be moved forever,” he, nor others of his day, would have understood that. But David accommodated the culture of his day*. The Bible even accommodates the culture of OUR day. The sun really doesn’t set (verse 19). The earth rotates so that the sun appears to set. God knows that, of course, but He didn’t make David write that, and doesn’t correct us if we talk about the sun setting or rising! 

This post owes a lot to one by John Walton,  “Does the Bible Contain Errors?” Walton doesn’t think so, because, to him, an error would be some wrong thing that the Bible affirms.The Bible doesn’t affirm that the earth has four corners. It's not trying to teach geology and astronomy. The Bible just makes poetic statements which had meaning to the culture and beliefs of the time.

Walton writes: “Throughout the Bible, we find constant accommodation to the way that people thought in the ancient world. In the realm of science, the Bible makes no claims that transcend what someone in the ancient world would have thought and believed. They believed in a geocentric universe with a flat earth at the center, and the Bible speaks in those terms; but the Bible does not affirm this particular cosmic geography.”

*Other examples: Isaiah 11:12 and Revelation 11:1 say that the earth has four corners.

Excerpts from Orthodoxy, by Gilbert K. Chesterton, 20

In the last chapter it has been said that the primary feeling that this world is strange and yet attractive is best expressed in fairy tales. The reader may, if he likes, put down the next stage to that bellicose and even jingo literature which commonly comes next in the history of a boy. . . . Whatever the reason, it seemed and still seems to me that our attitude towards life can be better expressed in terms of a kind of military loyalty than in terms of criticism and approval. My acceptance of the universe is not optimism, it is more like patriotism. It is a matter of primary loyalty. The world is not a lodging-house at Brighton, which we are to leave because it is miserable. It is the fortress of our family, with the flag flying on the turret, and the more miserable it is the less we should leave it. The point is not that this world is too sad to love or too glad not to love; the point is that when you do love a thing, its gladness is a reason for loving it, and its sadness a reason for loving it more. All optimistic thoughts about England and all pessimistic thoughts about her are alike reasons for the English patriot. Similarly, optimism and pessimism are alike arguments for the cosmic patriot.

Orthodoxy, first published in 1908, by G. K. Chesterton, is in the public domain, and available from Project Gutenberg. The previous post in this series is here.  Thanks for reading! Read Chesterton.