Atheists’ Myths: Part 1
Richard Deem
For the time will come when men
will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own
desires, they will gather around
them a great number of teachers
to say what their itching ears want
to hear. They will turn their ears
away from the truth and turn aside
to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Atheist Myth #1: Bible
Teaches a Flat Earth and
Solid Dome Heavens
Atheists’ Claims
The Bible teaches that the earth was “flat
and circular sitting on pillars with a
rotating solid sky dome overhead which
carried the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
and allowed water to leak through
‘windows of heaven’ or sluice gates to
form clouds and rain.”
http://www.goatstar.org/the-bibles-flatearthsolid-sky-dome-universe/
Sun
Moon
Stars
Earth
Underworld
Pillars of Earth
Ancient Cosmologies
Sumerian Cosmology
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Heaven (An) and the earth (Ki) were
formed within primeval sea (Abzu),
which existed before anything else.
The boundary between the primeval
sea and the earth (a flat disk) was a
solid vault, within which was the
gas-like atmosphere (Lil).
The stars, planets, sun, and moon
were embedded in this solid vault.
Four major Sumerian deities
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An (god of heaven)
Ki (goddess of earth)
Enlil (god of the air, son of An and Ki)
Enki (god of the primeval sea)
Greeks
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The Greek philosopher Anaximenes
described the heavens as like a felt cap
that turned on its head, with the stars
fixed to this surface like nails.
Anaximenes. Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
(http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/anaximen.htm)
Jews
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Flavius Josephus:
“After this, on the second day, he
placed the heaven over the whole
world, and separated it from the other
parts, and he determined it should
stand by itself. He also placed a
crystalline [firmament] round it, and
put it together in a manner agreeable
to the earth, and fitted it for giving
moisture and rain, and for affording
the advantage of dews.”
Jews
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Jewish Talmud:
“The learned of Israel say, ‘The
sphere stands firm, and the planets
revolve’; the learned of the nations
say, ‘The sphere moves, and the
planets stand firm.’ The learned of
Israel say, ‘The sun moves by day
beneath the firmament, and by night
above the firmament’; the learned of
the nations say, ‘The sun moves by
day beneath the firmament, and by
night beneath the earth.’ ”
Christians
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Theophilus of Antioch:
“For the Spirit being one, and holding
the place of light, was between the
water and the heaven, in order that
the darkness might not in any way
communicate with the heaven, which
was nearer God, before God said, ‘Let
there be light.’ The heaven, therefore,
being like a dome-shaped covering,
comprehended matter which was like
a clod.”
Christians
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Book of Enoch:
“And to the east of those beasts I saw the
ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests,
and the portals of the heaven open. And I
saw how the stars of heaven come forth,
and I counted the portals out of which they
proceed, and wrote down all their outlets, of
each individual star by itself, according to
their number and their names, their courses
and their positions, and their times and
their months, as Uriel the holy angel who
was with me showed me.”
Christians
Islam
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Quran:
The heavens and the earth were once
joined together as one unit before it
was split into two parts (Surah 21:30)
 Allah created seven heavens and the
stars are found in the lowest heaven
(Surah 65:12, 67:3-5, 41:12)
 Earth is like a carpet, held in place by
the heavy mountains, described as
being like tent pegs, so that it won't
move or shake (Surah 71:19-20, 78:67, 31:10)
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The Bible
The Firmament
Found in the KJV Bible
 Refers to a solid structure?
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And God said, "Let there be a firmament in
the midst of the waters, and let it divide the
waters from the waters." And God made
the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the
waters which were above the firmament;
and it was so… (Genesis 1:6-8, KJV)
“Firmament”
Comes from the Latin word
firmamentum, from Jerome's Latin
Vulgate translation of the Bible
 Firmamentum has the meaning of a
“support” or “prop”
 Open and shut case that the Bible
refers to the heavens as a solid object?

“Raqia”
Hebrew noun (‫ )רקיע‬from the verb raqa
(‫)רקע‬, which means "beat," "stamp,"
"beat out" and "spread out.“
 Raqa:

stamp one's feet" (2)
 stamp something with the feet (1)
 spreading metal (4)
 spreading out the earth (3)
 spreading the sky or the clouds (1)
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“Raqia”
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Used 17 times in the Old Testament
Eleven times in 7 verses from Genesis 1
Five times in Ezekiel's visions - once referring to the
extent of the angels' wings and the other four
referring to something that appeared to be like a
gleaming crystal, although it is never identified as
being a solid object
Two times in the Psalms, once referring to the
expanse as described in Genesis, and the second
referring to the mighty expanse of God's power.
So, raqia itself does not always refer to a solid
object.
“Raqia”
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Defined by God in Genesis 1:8:
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God called the expanse [raqia] heaven…
So, the raqia is nothing more than
heaven itself and does not comprise a
separate structure
 Genesis 1:20:
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"... let birds fly above the earth in the open
expanse [raqia] of the heavens”
It is unclear how birds can fly through a
solid dome!
Pillars of the Heavens
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Skeptics say that the “pillars of the heavens” refer to
pillars that hold up the dome heavens.
Job 26:
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He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he
suspends the earth over nothing. (Job 26:7)
He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not
burst under their weight. (Job 26:8)
He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds
over it. (Job 26:9)
Earth
He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a
boundary between light and darkness. (Job 26:10)
Underworld
The pillars of the heavens
quake, aghast at his rebuke. (Job
26:11)
Pillars of Earth
Pillars of the Heavens
From the Hebrew word ammûd (‫)עמוד‬
 Pillar of cloud/fire (Exodus 13:21)
 Suspended the veil of the temple
(Exodus 26:32)
 Knocked down by Samson (Judges 16)
 Column of smoke (Judges 20:40)
 Solomon’s palace (1 Kings 7)
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Pillars of Solomon’s Temple
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2 Chronicles 3:15
The Pillars of the Heavens are
the Mountains
The Bible associates quaking or shaking with the mountains:
Psalms 46:3; Isaiah 54:10; Isaiah 64:1; Nahum 1:5;
The Ends of the Earth
of the gods of the peoples who are
around you, near you or far from you,
from one end of the earth to the other
end), (Deuteronomy 13:7)
Ends of the Earth
 If the earth has “ends,” doesn’t that
imply it is flat? Earth
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Underworld
Pillars of Earth
The Ends of the Earth
“Earth” is the translation of Hebrew
erets (‫)ארץ‬
 land (1581), earth (655), ground (119),
lands (57), country (44), countries (15)
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Erets Often Refers to People
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Shall not the Judge of all the earth [erets] deal justly?
(Genesis 18:25)
…His judgments are in all the earth [erets]. (1 Chronicles
16:14)
Sing to the LORD, all the earth [erets] (1 Chronicles
16:23)
Tremble before Him, all the earth [erets] (1 Chronicles
16:30)
Let all the earth [erets] fear the LORD (Psalm 33:8)
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth [erets] (Psalm 66:1)
All the earth [erets] will worship Thee... (Psalm 66:4)
…Sing to the LORD, all the earth [erets]. (Psalm 96:1)
Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all
the earth [erets]. (Psalm 96:9)
The whole earth [erets] is at rest and is quiet; They break
forth into shouts of joy. (Isaiah 14:7)
Erets Refers to Local Land
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…he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the
earth [erets] (Genesis 18:2)
Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the
earth [erets]… (Genesis 27:28)
And the people of all the earth [erets] came to Egypt to buy grain from
Joseph... (Genesis 41:57)
Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent
thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth [erets]. And the LORD
rained hail on the land of Egypt. (Exodus 9:23)
and the earth [erets] opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and
their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their
possessions. (Numbers 16:32)
So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the
earth [erets] as far as Gaza. (Judges 6:4)
And all the earth [erets] was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear
his wisdom which God had put in his heart. (1 Kings 10:24)
The Ends of the Earth
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of the gods of the peoples who are
around you, near you or far from you,
land to the other
from one end of the earth
end), (Deuteronomy 13:7)
The Four Corners of the Earth
And He … will gather the dispersed of
Judah from the four corners of the
earth. (Isaiah 11:12, NASB)
 If the earth has “corners,” doesn’t that
imply it is flat?
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The Four “Corners” of the Earth
The four “corners” refer to the points of
the compass - north, south, east, and
west
 The Hebrew word is kanaph (‫)ּכנף‬,
which refers to the wing of birds
 Other English translations use the word
“quarters,” “directions,” “wings,” and
“all over”
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The Four “Corners” of the Earth
The Molten Mirror
Can you, with Him, spread out the
skies, strong as a molten mirror? (Job
37:18)
 Doesn’t this verse imply that the skies
are solid?

The Molten Mirror
“Skies” does not come from the usual
Hebrew word for “skies” or “heaven,”
shamayim, but from shachaq
 In context, the passage is referring to a
storm, referring to “clouds,”
“lightning,” and “darkness”

The Molten Mirror
The Hebrew word rei (‫)ראי‬, translated
“mirror” is found nowhere else in the
Old Testament
 Rei comes from the Hebrew verb raah
(‫)ראה‬, which means “to appear” or “to
see”
 The Greek Septuagint translation (3rd
century BC) of this verse used the
Greek word horasis (ὅρασις), which
means “appearance”

The Molten Mirror
Can you, with Him, spread out the
mighty clouds, with a molten
appearance? (Job 37:18)
 In addition, the sermon given by Elihu
(Job 37) was immediately rebuked by
God in chapter 38, who says “Who is
this that darkens counsel by words
without knowledge?” (Job 38:2)
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The Vaulted Dome
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The One who builds His upper
chambers in the heavens And has
founded His vaulted dome over the
earth... (Amos 9:6, NASB)
The Vaulted Dome
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It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and
hath founded his troop in the earth... (Amos 9:6,
KJV)
he who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and
sets its foundation on the earth... (Amos 9:6, NIV)
He built his palace in the heavens and let its
foundations rest on the earth... (Amos 9:6, CEV)
He that buildeth his ascension in heaven, and hath
founded his bundle upon the earth... (Amos 9:6,
DRB)
It is he that builds his ascent up to the sky, and
establishes his promise on the earth... (Amos 9:6,
LXX)
The Vaulted Dome
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The Hebrew word in question is aguddah
(‫)אגּדה‬, meaning a “band” or “bunch”:
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"And you shall take a bunch [aguddah] of hyssop
and dip it in the blood which is in the basin..."
(Exodus 12:22)
And the sons of Benjamin gathered together
behind Abner and became one band [aguddah],
and they stood on the top of a certain hill. (2
Samuel 2:25)
this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the
bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands
[aguddah] of the yoke, And to let the oppressed
go free, And break every yoke?" (Isaiah 58:6)
The Vaulted Dome
The One who builds His upper chambers
in the heavens And has founded His
band [of people] over the earth... (Amos
9:6)
Biblical Cosmology
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Time had a beginning (1 Corinthians 2:7, 2 Timothy 1:9,
Titus 1:2, Jude 1:25)
The universe had a beginning. (Genesis 1:1, 2:4, Isaiah
42:5, 45:12, 18, Colossians 1:16, Revelation 4:11)
The universe was created from the invisible. (Hebrews
11:3)
The dimensions of the universe were created. (Romans
8:38-39)
The universe is expanding. (Job 9:8, Psalm 104:2, Isaiah
40:22, 42:5, 44:24, 45:12, 48:13, 51:13, Jeremiah 10:12,
51:15, Zechariah 12:1)
Creation of matter and energy has ended in the
universe (refutes steady-state theory). (Genesis 2:3-4)
The universe is winding down and will "wear out"
(Psalm 102:25-27, Romans 8:21)
The heavens rule over the earth (refutes geocentrism)
(Job 38:33)
Biblical Cosmology
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Three heavens:
1.
2.
3.
Raqia – the atmosphere
The “highest heavens” – Where the Sun,
moon and stars exist
The “third heaven” – God’s abode,
outside of the universe
Conclusion
Biblical cosmology is amazingly
accurate, and does not teach
geocentrism or flat earth theology
 The atheist claim that the Bible teaches
that the earth was a flat circle covered
by a solid dome heavens is a myth
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More Atheist Myths
GodAndScience.org
More In-Depth Research Papers
The Bible Teaches a Flat Earth Covered
by a Solid Dome
 False Teachings in the Bible?
 Science Contradicts the Bible?
Accurate Biblical Descriptions of
Scientific Principles
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