Does the Bible Teach a Flat Earth?

The biblical text is meant to be interpreted naturally, according to the genre.

No, it doesn’t. Now, flat earthers will frequently bring up poetic passages, such as verses from Psalms or Job, and say those verses teach a flat earth because phrases like “ends of the earth” or references to a setting sun appear. But those passages are poetry—by definition poetry is filled with literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and figures of speech. The biblical text is meant to be interpreted naturally, according to the genre. And poetry is clearly intended to be understood within the context of abundant literary devices that are not meant to be taken so woodenly and literally (i.e., God does not literally lie us down in green pastures as per Psalm 23:2).

You can learn more about supposed biblical arguments for a flat earth, and why they are poor arguments, in this article: "Does the Bible Teach That the Earth Is Flat?”

Dr. Danny Faulkner, our astronomer here at AiG, recently sat down with Billy Hallowell, the host of PureTalk, a Pure Flix interview program (you can find this show on Facebook), to discuss the idea of a flat earth, the myth that science must be naturalistic, evidence for God in astronomy, and more.

This conversation was filmed at our Ark Encounter south of Cincinnati and is part of the “Answering Atheists” series produced by the leading faith and family video streaming service Pure Flix. I encourage you to watch it below:

Pure Flix hosts all our Answers in Genesis video content (about 500 AiG titles), as well as many inspiring movies, shows, and Pure Flix original productions. It’s a great resource for families to find fun content as well as be equipped to think biblically.

And you can enjoy a year of Pure Flix and a year of our award-winning biblical worldview magazine, Answers (6 issues) as well as 8 free digital downloads, and more—a $200 value—for only $99.99. It’s a super-combo that will equip and encourage you. Learn more at AnswersMagazine.com/PureFlix.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.