Re: Does the Bible teach a flat earth?

From: Michael Roberts (michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk)
Date: Wed Dec 18 2002 - 13:45:56 EST

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    In response to Peter Ruest's reply to Bob Schneider.

    1) Biblical criticism is not necessarily contrary to holding to inspiration.
    Basically every book on biblical studies in the IVP catalogue accept both
    criticism and inspiration. It is impoosible to read the bible with holding
    to some kind of criticsim, whether source-, historical- redaction- or
    anything else.
    To write as you do you aresaying Luther, Calvin, Blocher and every other
    scholar who holds to full inspiration is lying or misguided.

    2) Consider Calvin who lived for a time in Geneva. He stressed that God
    "accommodated" himself to the thought forms of the day and thought questions
    on astronomy were theological irrelvant and Moses wrtoe for the "rude and
    unlearned" Remeber Galileo - the bilbe teachs how to go to heaven and not
    how the heavens go.

    3) > The historical-critical method has rewritten virtually all of Israel's
    > OT history and made suspect or irrelevant much of the theology conveyed,
    > in God's plan, by this history. A historical-critical analysis ignoring
    > divine influence and inspiration of the entire canonical Bible as a
    > whole is sure to go off on a tangent.

    This is a gross half-truth as it depends on what presup[ositions one has
    behind one's use of critical methods.
    >
    4> "The Bible claims to be inspired by God. He designed it for all
    > cultures, but letting it be contaminated with gross errors would
    > compromise it in some of them.
    The Bible has to use the thought forms of the day.

      I think Peter you overstate your case. It is most likely that the OT
    writers were flat-earthers but Luke and Paul were not. Also one cannot
    expect biblical writers to write in a compatible way with modern science -
    there aim was to expalin the ways of God to the common man.

    Regards

    Michael



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