flat earth bible 08 of 10 - early & medieval christians

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  • 8/14/2019 Flat Earth Bible 08 of 10 - Early & Medieval Christians

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    The Flat Earth Bible

    08 of 10 - Early & Medieval Christians

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    Views of Early & Medieval Christians

    1. The early Christians believed in a Flat Earth because the Bible

    implies that this is the case.

    2. A Spherical Earth was rejected as being Pagan and unscriptural.

    3. However, the Greek Philosopher Pythagoras had proposed thatthe Earth was a sphere around 550 BC

    4. Educated Greeks and Romans had known that the Earth was a

    sphere since around 350BC.5. The early Christian Church eventually came to be led by educated

    Greeks and Romans.

    6. Between 300AD and 500AD, the Christian Church reconciled itsbeliefs with a spherical Earth.

    7. This synthesis was a Geocentric Cosmology based on Aristotle &Ptolemy and nothing to do with the Bible.

    8. Passages in the Bible implying a Flat Earth were interpreted in anon-literal or allegorical manner or simply ignored.

    9. This synthesis was accepted until around 1700AD.

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    The Biblical Cosmos (See next page)

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    Legend for Biblical Cosmos

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    Views of the Church Fathers

    Spherical Earth

    Flat

    Earth

    By AD500 most Christian Scholars had accepted that the Earth was a Sphere.

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    Saint Augustine of Hippo (AD354 - 430)

    Christian Scholars such

    as Augustine attempted to

    reconcile the Bible with the

    ideas of Greek Sciencesuch as a Spherical Earth.

    Although the Greeks and

    Bible disagreed on the

    shape of the Earth, both

    agreed that it was in the

    centre of the Universe.

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    Medieval

    Christian Cosmos

    The Medieval Synthesis of

    the Bible and Greek Science

    imagined a Universe like this.

    God looks down upon a static

    spherical Earth in the centre

    of the Universe as Shown

    in Martin Luthers Bible of 1534

    This is the view of the Universe

    challenged by Copernicus

    and Galileo.

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    Medieval

    Cosmos of

    Dante

    Above the Earth were sevenHeavens or crystalline spheres

    Holding a planet.

    Hell was at the Earths core

    And divided into nine levels.

    Hell could be accessed from

    Jerusalem

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    Columbus and the Medieval Flat

    Earth Myth

    Contrary to popular

    belief Medieval Europeans

    In the time of Columbusdid not believe that the

    World was flat.

    This story s a C19th Myth

    Created by WashingtonIrving and perpetuated by

    Andrew Dickson White

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    Columbus and the Medieval Flat

    Earth Myth

    Washington Irvine Andrew Dickson White

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    The real Christian Cosmos AD300 -

    AD1700

    This is the image

    of the Universe that

    Columbus & other

    Medieval Europeans

    had.

    A Spherical Earth

    Sits fixed in the

    Centre of the

    Universe.Crystalline spheres

    holding the various

    Heavenly bodies

    revolve around it.

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    This was the view of the Universe that

    was challenged during the Renaissance.

    Between AD1543 &

    1689, this view of the

    Universe was

    overturned by

    Copernicus Kepler Galileo Newton

    Many Christian

    Churches did not

    come to terms with

    this until the C19th.

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    The Modern view of the Earth

    We are here

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    Continued on next Presentation