Fw: firmament

Sara and/or John Hamilton Sara and/or John Hamilton" <sarajohn@pacbell.net
Sun, 1 Mar 1998 20:46:29 -0800 (00888835589, 01bd4596$2acc87a0$0100007f@localhost) 



>Greg, Nancy, and James Todd wrote:

>>

>> HELEN

>> >Hey guys,

>> >Everyone knows I'm not the English major on this list, but doesn't

>> >"firmament" mean air or atmosphere in Elizabethian/Jacobean English. I

>> >believe Hamlet at one point refers to "the brave and hanging firmament".

>> >Firmentations is derived from this would because it causes gas (CO2) to

>> >appear in an airtight barrel.

>>

>> NANCY

>> Uh, that's fermentation, Helen, from the Latin "fermentum" meaning that

>> which causes fermentation, yeast. From the verb "fervere," to boil,

seethe.

>> Firmament comes from the Latin word "firmamentum," a means of support,

prop.

>> >From the verb "firmare," to make firm, strengthen.

>

>HELEN

>Sorry about that. So, I'm not a Latin major either. However, I am quite

>sure the Jacobean English word "firmament" refers to air or sky and not

>land. This leads to the interesting question of why the word is left

>unupdated in almost ever modern Bible. My suspicion is that even the

>most inerrant fundy has problems with waters above the sky.


JOHN HAMILTON
Don't bet on it, haven't you ever heard of the 'water canopy' theory used by
some young earth fundies to explain where the water for Noah's flood came
from?  Waters above the sky is exactly what they claim.



>> HELEN

>>  So the waters were divided by air, the sky

>> >is blue because there's a lake up there, and when it rains heaven simply

>> >springs a leak. God said it and I believe it.

>> >Helen

>> >hhiwater@bright.net

>> >

>> >> Genesis

>> >> 6

>> >> And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,

>> >> and let it separate the waters from the waters."

>> >>

>> >> SJW

>> >> Now I am picturing this huge slab of earth (firmament) jutting out of

>> >> the waters, creating a wall between the bodies of water.  We still

>> >> don't have a sphere called earth, just a blob of water and a wall.

>> >> So Ian, how do you like my interpretation?  Are we done yet?

>> >

>> >

>