Editing Flat Earth (section)

==Religious views==
Many [[Biblical literalist]]s claim the Bible disproves [[evolution]] and other scientific theories ''prima facie''. Since there is no real debate about the shape of the Earth, these passages call Biblical literalism into question. The irony of Flat Earthers encouraging people to [[Pseudoskepticism|stop blindly accepting what they've been taught and do their own research]] has not gone unnoticed, considering that the primarily cited origin of flat earth theories is indeed the Bible.

In numerous passages, the Bible claims that the Earth is [[flat earth|flat]] and/or rectangular, usually implicitly.  Whether or not the Bible "really" says this is often debated &mdash; but if the Bible was written by people who lived in societies who were unaware that the Earth is a more-or-less spherical object which orbits the Sun, then we would expect this ignorance to be reflected in their writings.

Biblical flat-earthism is very rarely accepted. Wilbur Glenn Voliva even offered $5000 as a prize for anyone who can prove that Earth is not flat. Of course, his predictions about Earth ending in 1923, 1927, 1930, and 1935 also failed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Martin|authorlink=Martin Gardner|title=Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science|year=1957|edition=Second Edition|chapter=Flat and Hollow}}</ref> Teaching about spherical Earth was banned in the schools of Zion, [[Illinois]], at that time.

Former President of the [[United States]] [[Jimmy Carter]] mentioned flat-earthers in passing (though he was actually speaking against mandatory teaching of [[creation science]]):<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/01/30/georgia.evolution/ Carter slams Georgia's 'evolution' proposal]</ref>
{{cquote|There can be no incompatibility between Christian faith and proven facts concerning geology, biology, and astronomy. There is no need to teach that stars can fall out of the sky and land on a flat Earth in order to defend our religious faith.}}

===Christianity===
====The king seeing all the earth====
*"{{bible|Daniel|4|10}}-11. In Daniel, the king “saw a tree of great height at the centre of the earth… reaching with its top to the sky and visible to the earth's farthest bounds.” Only with a flat Earth could a tall tree be visible from "the Earth's farthest bounds" &mdash; this is impossible on a spherical earth.

'''Theological rebuttal:''' The strength of Daniel 4:10-11 as an argument for a flat Earth is considerably reduced by the fact that this part of the Book of Daniel recounts a dream experienced by the Persian king during a fit of madness. Thus, it does not necessarily refer to an actually existing tree or make any statements about real cosmology. This fact would seem to indicate that biblical literalists do not even know how to read the Bible properly.

====Jesus seeing all the kingdoms====
[[File:Flat Earth versus Spherical Earth (Matthew 4 - 8 and Luke 4 - 5), for RW.PNG|350px|thumb|upright| Shows why you couldn't see all the kingdoms. To be fair, you can [[shoehorning|suggest]] that those outside of lines of sight are not kingdoms.]]
*{{bible|Matthew|4|8}}: "Again, the [[devil]] taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world"
*{{bible|Luke|4|5}}: "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time."
'''Theological rebuttal again:''' The strength of using [[Matthew]] and [[Luke]] as flat Earth claims is reduced by the fact that "kingdom" is a human construct. If you classify all the places on Earth that you can't see from that particular location as "not kingdoms", such as barbaric tribes and non-monarchies, it can be fitted within that description. However, how the devil knows that those places are not ruled by kings (again, the concept of "king" is also a human concept) is not exactly clear.

====The earth is a circle====
*{{bible|Isaiah|40|22}}: "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in."
Jews and Christians use this quote to "prove" that the Bible implies that the Earth is spherical, although the word is "circular", and may refer to the perception of a 360 degree panoramic view. Some scholars point out that [[Isaiah]] never uses the Modern Hebrew word for sphere ''Kadur'', anywhere.<ref>''In His Name'' by E. Christopher Reyes, p. 568</ref> It is not clear to Theists whether this is relevant, because the interpretation of the word ''Kadur'' in the Bible is disputed by Theists.<ref>http://he.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D7%9B%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8</ref>

===="Four Corners"====
*{{bible|Isaiah|11|12}} "And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of [[Israel]], and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the '''four corners''' of the earth." 
*{{bible|Revelation|7|1}} "And after these things I saw four [[angels]] standing on '''four corners''' of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree."
As with the Daniel quote, modern Jews and Christians, who have been educated by Science, don't take this literally; to them: the events described in [[Revelation]] are a series of visions, rather than an accurate description of the world (which would indicate that you shouldn't take the Holy Bible literally). Another interpretation of this verse is that four corners of the earth don't refer to literal four corners but to cardinal directions, which is further supported by the description of the four winds which are commonly referenced by their cardinal direction. Also, considering that {{bible|Leviticus|19|27}} refers to the "corners of the head", either the ancient Israelites looked like Minecraft characters or the Bible has no problem with using "corners" non-literally about round things.

===Islam===
Some [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalists]] possibly believe the earth is flat, using a literal interpretation of several [[Qur'an]] verses. [[Iraq]]i astronomer [[Fadil Al-Sa'd]] declared that the earth is flat, and that the Sun is much smaller than the Earth and revolves around it.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A15iuoHEnWQ</ref>. In 1966 the supreme religious authority of [[Saudi Arabia]], Sheik [[Abdul-Aziz Ibn Baaz]] is rumored to have declared "The earth is flat. Whoever claims it is round is an [[atheist]] deserving of punishment." However historians such as Robert Lacey believe that this quote was misinterpreted (and that Ibn Baaz was actually asserting that the [[modern geocentrism|Earth doesn't orbit around the Sun]] &mdash; but not that the Earth was flat).

Like all scriptural quotations, this is a combination of very vague readings and picking the right translation.

'''{{Qur'an|18|47}}'''

:''And (remember) the Day We shall cause the mountains to pass away (like clouds of dust), and you will see the earth as a '''levelled plain''', and we shall gather them all together so as to leave not one of them behind.''

The Muhsin Khan and Shakir translation seem to use "levelled plain", other translations, apart from Yusuf Ali, which says "level stretch" rather than "levelled plain", suggests this is just seeing the Earth prominently. Or something.

'''{{Qur'an|20|53}}'''

:''Who has made earth for you '''like a bed''' (spread out); and has opened roads (ways and paths etc.) for you therein; and has sent down water (rain) from the sky. And We have brought forth with it various kinds of vegetation.''

Translations again disagree on this. Like a "carpet" and like a "cradle" are also popular.

'''{{Qur'an|43|10}}'''

:''Who has made for you the earth '''like a bed''', and has made for you roads therein, in order that you may find your way.''

Other translations of this "like a bed" indicate that it's metaphorical, with "resting place" being the most popular use. The Dr. Ghali translation still uses "cradle" in place of bed.

;'''{{Qur'an|43|38}}'''

:''Till, when (such a one) comes to Us, he says [to his Qarîn (Satan / devil companion)] "Would that between me and you were the distance of the two easts (or the '''east and west''')" a worst (type of) companion (indeed)!''

One presumes that this is a tacit admission that there is an absolute point marked "east" and a point marked "west" which isn't possible on a globe because it wraps around. It's not entirely possible on a flat Earth, either as there is no fixed reference. In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'', set on a flat disc, they use radial co-ordinates of "hubward" (meaning toward the centre) "rimward" (towards the outside) and "turnwise" and "widdershins" for clockwise and anticlockwise respectively. Analogous with east and west on a globe, there are no fixed points on this reference frame.

'''{{Qur'an|78|6}}'''

:''Have We not made the earth as a '''bed''','' 

Only Muhsin Khan says "bed". The rest are "expanse" or variations of it. Dr Ghali continues with "cradle". One has to ask, if the Earth is like a bed, one usually thinks of beds as small, warm, comfortable things you sleep in. Flat is usually quite far down the list of words associated with beds.

'''{{Qur'an|79|30}}'''

:''And after that He '''spread''' the earth;''

Ironically, the flat Earthers would have been better off with Dr Ghali here, as he is less ambiguous about it: "''And the earth, after that He '''flattened''' it (for life).''"

====Logical proof====
What follows is a more complicated logical proof that the Qu'ran claims that the Earth is flat. Unlike the above, this proof is independent of translation (provided that your translation is moderately literalist) because it is based on logic, not quotation.

Much of Surah 18 (The Cave) is dedicated to an account of a figure called Dhu'l-Qarneyn, which translates as "The Two-Horned Lord". Most scholars identify this figure as [[Alexander the Great]], although there is some debate over this, but the identity of the figure is not relevant to this discussion. Consider {{Qur'an|18|83|86}} and {{Qur'an|18|89|90}} (emphases mine):

:''They will ask thee of Dhu'l-Qarneyn. Say: I shall recite unto you a remembrance of him. Lo! We made him strong in the land and gave him unto every thing a road. And he followed a road, Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout. …'' 

:''Then he followed a road, Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.'' 

This implies that:
*The Sun has concrete places where it sets and rises (rather than remaining suspended in space, with the earth moving around it).
*It is possible to reach the setting- and rising-places of the sun by travelling along a road (which could be some kind of cosmic space-road, but that seems unlikely, because…)
*There are people living at the setting- and rising-places of the sun, presumably implying that they are concrete locations upon the Earth.
*There is mud at the setting-place of the Sun, presumably implying that there is soil and water to make it, again implying that it is a concrete location upon the Earth.

Now try to create a cosmological system where these Qu'ranic pseudofacts remain consistent with the actual scientific facts regarding the Sun and the Earth. I'm pretty sure that Dhu'l-Qarneyn lived on a thoroughly flat Earth which was the centre of the universe.

====Acceptance====
Mohammed Yusuf, founder of terrorist group [[Boko Haram]], stated that the [[Theory of Evolution]] as well as spherical Earth teachings should be rejected because they are against [[Islam]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/africa/8172270.stm Nigeria's 'Taliban' enigma]</ref> In a 2007 TV debate, an [[Iraq]]i Astronomer, Fadil Al-Sa'd, tried hard to push the ideas that the Earth is flat and '''Qur'an'''ic verses also support that the Sun (also flat) is much smaller than Earth and [[Geocentrism|revolves around it]].<ref>[http://boingboing.net/2008/03/27/iraqi-astronomer-goe.html Iraqi astronomer goes on TV to explain why Earth is flat]</ref>