The firmament
Comley, Filip errancy@infidels.org
Tue, 11 May 1999 03:34:44 +0100 (00926408084, 5357281BA58AD2118A840008C71E833D234A4F@CDCR-S04)
>From Eastons Biblical Dictionary
FIRMAMENT - from the Vulgate firmamentum, which is used as the translation
of the Hebrew raki'a. This word means simply "expansion." It denotes the
space or expanse like an arch appearing immediately above us. They who
rendered raki'a by firmamentum regarded it as a solid body. The language of
Scripture is not scientific but popular, and hence we read of the sun rising
and setting, and also here the use of this particular word. It is plain that
it was used to denote solidity as well as expansion. It formed a division
between the waters above and the waters below (Gen. 1:7). The raki'a
supported the upper reservoir (Ps. 148:4). It was the support also of the
heavenly bodies (Gen. 1:14), and is spoken of as having "windows" and
"doors" (Gen. 7:11; Isa. 24:18; Mal. 3:10) through which the rain and snow
might descend.
So, according to Genesis V1:6-7, there is a solid arch or dome above our
heads. I have difficulty imagining an arch over a sphere, unless the arch
only looks like an arch from one perspective, and like a bowl from the other
(obviously the northern hempisphere because thats where most if not all of
the space rockets take off from, and I haven't heard of any bumping into it.
Also is it just me who has trouble with the phrase 'the foundations of the
earth' used so often in the Bible, and the tower of Babel story only seems
to make sense on a flat world, with Heaven above (as it is so often
described). I have yet to find any mention of the Lord attacking mans pride
in the story, as some Xtians have argued to me. In fact Ch 11:6 says: And
the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language;
and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they
propose to do will now be impossible for them.
This sounds like he was frightened.
Fil