Is the earth a circle? The bible says it is. It uses the term circle more than a few times to describe the earth. But we have to consider the perspective of the term circle.
Unfortunately, supporters of a flat earth use this to push their ideas on others. They take the word circle and apply it to a coin or a pizza and leave it at that. What is not considered is the ball or any other spherical shape and how they relate to the circle as well.
Circle in the Bible
Multiple, if not all, flat earth sites claim the earth as a circle, being shaped like a pizza or a coin. They get this from verses in the bible throughout the Old Testament. Here are a few examples:
- Isaiah 40:22 – …He who sits on the circle of the earth…
- Proverbs 8:27 – …when He drew a circle on the face of the deep…
- Job 26:10 – He has inscribed a circle on the waters…
About the circles
A circle is merely 2-dimensional. Think of a coin having 2 sides – essentially a heads and a tails. There are only two distinct sides to choose from.
This attempts to say that God, being omniscient, would only have one side of a coin to worry about with us and His creation. Everything and everyone in a nicely protected garden with defined borders. God can just sit on His throne and watch over us just like we watch television. One can’t help to think the reasoning behind this actually limits God and his omnipresence.
The difference between a circle and a sphere
Circles and spheres are without a doubt related in appearance. The major difference is their dimensionality. Circles are 2-dimensional, flat and without depth. Conversely, spheres are 3-dimensional – they are basically circles with depth. This means that as the sphere contains a specific volume according to its size where a circle does not. A circle is flat after all.
The beauty of a sphere is that the shape of it is a circle. Look at the outside of a ball – isn’t it circle-shaped? That’s what we say the shapes of balls are – circles.
Of Circles and Spheres
Let’s look at a few different images of the earth with this in mind. Although the earth is in fact a sphere, on a 2-dimensional medium such as on paper or a computer screen, it is a circle shape. By default.
Here is an image of the earth showing Australia wrapped with the great waters that surround it. From this perspective it is clearly in the shape of a circle.
This is an image of the same earth showing North and South Americas. It is plain to see this also shows our earth as a circle.
Here is a false-color image of the earth showing the Indian Ocean limited by Africa, Asia, Australia, and a smidgeon of Antarctica down toward the bottom of the image. Different types of satellite imagery are briefly explained here.
Notice once again that looking down on the earth presents us with a circle shape.
Any way you look at a ball, or a globe, or a planet, you will see it as a circle. This is complimentary of a sphere.
Limitations and Validations
A person limits God by suggesting the earth is flat while pointing to the Bible using the over literal term of circle to justify it. As stated above, a flat earth indirectly proposes God watching us as on a television.
Who can say God cannot watch from everywhere since He is omnipresent? Are the flat-earthers trying to say God is human like us? Doesn’t the Bible in John 4:24 state that God is Spirit? Why would we limit what He can do if this is the case? Who are we to suggest He could or would be limited watching over His creation from a single point of view?
So, is the Earth a Circle?
In a nutshell, believing the earth is a flat circle actually limits God. God is Spirit and as such cannot be limited to what we think might or might not be. God is all around, not just above since He is spirit and not human.
A sphere being the 3-dimiensional form of a circle permits a person to accept the omnipresence of the creator. Therefore, His omnipresence is validated as such.
Why would all the other celestial bodies be shaped as spheres yet not the earth if God is a God of peace and not confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33)? So far there have not been any logical arguments made to support a flat earth. Much less, there is no basis to suggest that spreading a flat earth message is akin to spreading the Gospel of Christ, but that’s a thought for another post.
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