The Bible Doesn't Say the Earth is Flat

Every now and then, history is misrepresented in order to advantage a particular interest-group.

This is seen perhaps over land disputes in the Middle East. Perhaps it's also seen when the motives behind the British Commonwealth's annexation as protectorates of other nations is concerned.

There is often an element of myth involved in such distortions.

One field of history where an element of myth has become widely accepted is the view that Christianity and the Bible were always obstacles to scientific advances.

Myth: that everyone before Capernicus thought the earth was flat.

In fact, much of the world had already thought of the world as a sphere since hundreds of years BC.

Myth: that the Church persecuted Christopher Columbus for in effect asserting that the world is round.

In fact no such persecution took place, and this mistaken view of history has been listed as one of the top 20 common mistakes in people's understanding of history.

Myth: that the Church universally persecuted scientists who proposed that the sun, and not the earth, is the centre of our solar system.

In fact this proposal was taught very early by a Church leader, and later during the Middle Ages by a bishop of a church, and the view was widely held by Christians. Resistance by the Church did exist in some parts of the Church at some times in history - but it certainly was not universal across the Church, it was not permanent, and it was not as strong as what is widely purported.

Myth: that the Bible says the earth is flat.

The Bible mentions the circle of the earth. The sphericity of the earth and the centrality of the sun were depicted in early drawings long before the Middle Ages.

Conclusion: the popular criticism that the Bible has stood in the way of scientific discovery is an imbalanced and somewhat biased distortion of history that is commonly presented in a synical way against people of faith, but is not based on as much historical fact as has been widely purported.

The extent to which Capernicus may have been persecuted is over-stated. The extent to which the organized Church may have resisted scientific discovery has been over-represented, and is not an accurate reflection on the longheld concepts contained in the Bible itself and always adhered to by groups of Christians.

A more balanced view of history is to understand that the Bible and Christians were some of the earliest to assert and promulgate the scientific concepts of a spherical earth with the sun as the centre of the solar system, concepts which have now found universal acceptance.

While some church-groups and Christian individuals at some times in history did criticize those concepts, there were always other church groups and Christian individuals at the same time in history who always did embrace them.

It's important to understand this point of history in a balanced way, because it removes the myth that the Bible is largely at odds with science on that particular fundamental point of science.

It means that when a Christian sits down to consider other scientific theories, he can do so knowing that the Bible and Christians were among some of the earliest proponents of other scientific concepts which later found universal acceptance.

It means that when he sits down to consider some other scientific hypotheses - such as macro-evolution, or the age of the universe, for example - he need not bring with him the notion that his Bible has proven historically to be an obstacle. Rather, he can come without that false inferiority, knowing that his Bible has proven historically to be a positive catalyst for a growing and good understanding of natural philosophy (science).

It puts whatever other scientific hypothesis he is considering on a level playing-field with his Bible - rather than on an apparently imposing pedestal based on mis-history.

And that can only be of assistance towards openness.