Re: Hyers' Article - Cods Wallop

Paul wrote (to Peter):

>In your article and response to me you give two reasons for saying that
>raqia' is not something solid. One is that the cognate verb is used to
>speak of something that is thin and spread out. You cite Isa 42:5 which
>says the earth and its products (perhaps vegetation) is spread out
>(raqa'). But, the earth and its vegetation are both SOLID. So this is
>evidence against your view, not supporting it. There is some evidence that
>some Jews thought of the raqia' as thin but also as solid. There is no
>evidence that they thought of it as not solid.

Hope you two (apostles) don't mind my interjecting a thought. The Bible
writers also thought the earth was flat. When they spoke of earth or land,
to them it was flat. Today, we know it is a sphere. So when they spoke of
"earth," were they wrong because they didn't understand its shape? I don't
think so. The word "earth" is still valid as a description of what lies
under our feet, round or flat.

And if we know the "raqia'" is gaseous where they might have thought it was
solid, what difference does that make? I'm not as interested in what the
Bible writers understood as I am about what the Holy Spirit chose to
communicate through them. The writers were selected to write the
Scriptures. They had no special knowledge. We can't get hung up on their
lack of scientific expertise.

But let's be practical for a minute. What could they have thought was
solid? The sun and moon would have to be between the earth and this "solid
barrier." The planets move about with freedom. Nothing solid between us
and the planets. Can't see stars if they are behind something solid. So
if any solid barrier had been thought to be in existence it would have to
be located beyond the sun, moon, planets and stars. Is that what they thought?

I know they were uneducated men compared to the knowledge base we have
today. But I don't believe they were stupid.

Dick Fischer - Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Tue Feb 24 21:20:58 2004