judge

Well I was not suggesting that really , but rather that their neighbors may in fact have understood the earth was round in actuality.

I posted a thread on the science/sceticism board and it seems there are others who suspect this may have been the case.
Haven't seen the details yet though.

See here

BTW thanks for your info.

orac

You know, if we tortured logic sufficiently we could probably find biblical support for the claim that the earth is shaped like a dog eating a banana. However, taking vague verses (and usually taking them out of context) and waiting until scientists work out what's real and then screaming that the bible predicted it thousands of years before hand could possibly be described as dishonest.

What would impress me is a scientific prediction that goes against common sense and is clearly expressed instead of being hidden behind vague symbolism and subsequently verified by genuine scientists. Sure, all it would prove is that not everyone living thousands of years ago was completely mistaken about everything, but it would be better than the pathetic attempts to pretend that the bible predicted scientific discoveries we have to endure at the moment.

It also doesn't account for the fact that people have known for thousands of years that the earth is roughly a sphere, anyway, making it a less than amazing piece of "evidence" for the accuracy of the bible's description of god.

John Kesler

Have you ever noticed that the the same people who interpret verses like this and Job 26:7 (which says that God "hangs the earth on nothing") literally, and see it as evidense of the Bible's divine inspiration, will play the "figurative language" card when it comes to other passages which, interpreted literally, betray the Bible's lack of scientific knowledge? Why don't they quote Job 9:6 or 26:11?

John A. Broussard

The Book of Job has always been a problem. Read carefully, it seems to be alien to much of what else there is in the OT. The prominence of Satan, the presence of an obviously malign god, the tremendous emphasis on "testing" (which is itself a problem in the scriptures, with Abraham's near-killing of his son), make this Book very different from the others.

I suspect many theists would feel more comfortable if it had been left out of the official list.

judge

Excellent point.

Dryhad

Huh. How very viking.