Originally posted by Anthony
The Bible says the earth doesn't rotate, and that the sun rotates around the earth?
Where does it say that in the Bible, I must have missed that? Could you point this out?
Deduction from the flat earth and immovable earth passages. If you read the Bible
literally, then there are passages that mean the earth must be flat and immovable. I've posted some of the immovable earth passages. If the earth doesn't move and is flat, it can't rotate.
As to the sun moving, remember Joshua 10:13 "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day."
It doesn't say the earth stopped rotating. Taken literally, this says plainly that the sun is moving, not an illusion because the earth is rotating.
Now, before you tell me I am being silly and misrepresenting the Bible or creationists, let me add that this isn't my interpretation. However, it
is the interpretation of many Biblical literalists. For a full study of the move to restore geocentrism within Christian fundamentalism, see
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/ce/2/part1.html
and the succeeding pages.
Also remember that the cosmology of the Bible is the Babylonian cosmology. That's OK, Babylonian cosmology was the best science of its day. The passages on the "firmament of heaven" and "waters above" and "waters below" reflect how Babylonian science viewed the universe. There was flat earth with a crystal shell above to keep the "waters above" up there and large caverns with the "waters below" under the earth. Both of these were released to get Noah's Flood, remember? The sun goes about the earth.
What puzzles a lot of us is why so many Christians are willing to modify a literalistic interpretation of the Bible (including the implications) when the extrabiblical evidence shows it to be wrong but are unwilling to modify a literalistic interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2 when the extrabiblical evidence shows that interpretation to be wrong.
While the extreme Biblical literalists are terribly wrong, at least they are consistent in their interpretation.