A careful reading of the Old Testament, supplemented with some other Near Eastern texts, reveals the strange and outdated cosmology of the Bible.

The old testament presumes a flat Earth sitting atop 4 pillars (even the medieval scholars knew the Earth was a sphere, so this is pretty sad). The Earth is covered by a dome. The dome keeps out primordial which sits above the dome. Rain is created by god opening up holes in the dome, and allowing the water to fall downward.

The sun, of course, moves across the sky, while the Earth is stationary.

Best of all, the primordial waters once contained sea monsters that Yahweh had to subdue prior to the creation.

Fun stuff, and not something that you'll hear about in seminary.

Just out of curiosity, which Bible verses talk about the cosmology you mentioned? I'd like to look them up myself for a laugh :)

Unfortunately, you have to do some digging to get the full picture, but I'll try to hit the high points.

I would start with Job 41 (the whole chapter), there Yahweh brags about subduing the Leviathan (a primordial sea monster). Also see Psalm 74 for an account of God's battle with the primordial sea (which pre-dates the creation).

Genesis chapter 1 is good too, especially if you use a more recent translation. The word "firmament" is more properly translated as "dome." There you will learn about the nature of the dome that covers the Earth.

Genesis 7:11-12 is an example of water falling through openings in the heavens (the dome).

Exodus 20:4 discuses the water under the Earth. In the Biblical view, there is water beneath the Earth, as well as above it. The Earth is protected above by the firmament or dome.

Joshua 10:12 shows that the Sun moves, not the Earth.

There is also some great material in the Psalms, and in Isaiah.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2012 08:45PM by archytas.

You know what's weirder than Biblical cosmology? Book of Abraham cosmology.

In the Book of Abraham, our Sun is not a star and does not, of itself, provide light. It just reflects like from Kolob, which is the star closest to where God dwells.

Joseph must have been drunk of his a$$ when he made that $#it up.

Actually, a lot of it is defunct cosmology theories from Joseph Smith's age. They didn't understand nuclear fission, so the source of the Sun's light was a great scientific mystery in that day. "It must be from God," was a common argument, and the mystery of the sun's eternal fires were waved around by the religious folks the same way they like to go on about this or that gap in current scientific theory.

It seams you are referring to the Ethereal (World) Earth, which of course was the first planned condition, God and the heavenly energies (Humans) will need, to take the first step into pursuing a more consistence entity, first in the Ethereal World, in an effort to teach and show other energies, How the Celestial Bodies of the Human Energies was planning to pursue and achieved a more, concrete, and consistence entity, (Body=Container), by using the matters and substances of matter available, before moving on into a more material, "better yet" Physical Body=Container) entity. Physical Entity, to be have and posses in the material World (Earth). The plan was to accomplish life first, in the Ethereal world, and perfect the matter and the substances with our own energy, and be able to leave the matters and only use the purified substances to create a Physical Body, base in the sensitivity of the essences, " Essences that can only be produce by positive, heavenly and Human Energies" (Potential Essences) With which the substances, could transform the material entity into a Physical and more perfect Human (Body) a/o entity. And, not just a Physical appearance. To achieved and pursue, a more clean and perfect Physical reality, with less impurity, no sickness, illness, Viruses etc, that are more likely to grow and multiply by the Substances in an environment of matters. All of what was base in the control the Human Energies could exercise over the substances through the work of the sensitivity of their own essences, and work torch a true Physical identity. Physical entity than the true Human beings could have exercise and practice with their own essences, and allow other energies to experience and learn the first step in a semi-material world, (Ethereal World) of a new existence (life). To then slowly move on into a more material (physical existence), on Earth. So a higher level of perfection could have been achieved in the Planned Physical World. Such idea will not survived, and Satan's persecution of the Spirits will continue, so God decide to create the material World and not the perfect Physical World the true Humans, had hope for. Remember God isn't from this World, Jesus Born in heaven, Human and perfect. Perhaps, in what I said you can find the true why Jesus will die in the cross, being the perfect Human being, and certainly fur superior, to day him(Jesus), is the only one closer to exercise the knowledge and know How our Living energies need to tame the matter and substances of matter, and command then not through the intensity, powers and potentials of the Living energy, but through the Sensitivity, powers and potentials of the Essences, Reason being is because the essences of our own Human living energy, is sensitive, different to the Human Living energy it self that its normally very Intense dense and solid if you which?. Man was create Physical to the Images of God and the true Humans in the Ethereal World. God Created man, Humans where at First Energies in heaven and then with the help of matter, the Ethereal World became a reality, so the Physical Image became a dream to achieved base in the substances of matter, physical Image that Humans know they need to experiences and perfect our self's, and our Material (Physical) container, Call it Body. So in the future we can use such experience, knowledge and practice to teach the substances to accept the protection of the essences, a new environment for cells to reproduce instead of continuing using matter to do so. ?

a wall'o'text.
Even though I regard myself as someone with an interest in the nutty things people believe - I cant be bothered to wade through that 'word porridge'.

I have the feeling that the writer would feel more at home with a sheet of torn A4 and a green crayon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2012 08:56AM by EssexExMo.

F- Him

This is your brain. This is your brain on Jesus^

I lost count of the made up terms.

Science teachers wept.

Remember the "windows of heaven"? Just as noted above. God opens windows and pours out rain. Also, see Duane Jeffrey's article in Sunstone October 2004. "Noah's Flood". Graphic shows the cosmology of the ancient mind.

The difference between Bible cosmology and BoA cosmology is that the former is not taken literally but the latter is because it was written by a modern prophet! Remember, also, that the BoM claims the earth stood still (sun did?). JS was not a prophet at all and his science fiction is a croc.

The New American Bible (Catholic) in explaining what was meant in the Bible as a literal translation would be, has a diagram of what the thread poster referred to. The Catholic church does not take the myths as literally true and the diagram helps explain how the ancients thought things were.

Cool. Do you have a link to that diagram by chance?

If Old Testament seminary were worth its salt, they would explain this stuff to the students, but they don't.

The day they taught us in primary that there was no rainbow or rain before Noah, and that plants were watered by moisture coming up from the earth... was the day I began to doubt. Even as a small child I had a BS-ometer that was starting to work pretty well.....

Everything Joseph Smith said about cosmology is 100% correct,


for a certain mindset of a certain man in America in the mid 1800's.