You're missing the point of my argument. I am not using science to argue my point. And, yes, mathematics does contribute highly to the majority of scientific discovery relating to astronomy. Black holes and dark matter are incredibly elaborate theories which in no way alter the fact that we've seen many other contributing elements to the universes beginnings and ends. And, yes, we have witnessed absolute evidence of a blackhole. We've seen an entire system disappear.
But, you're going to simply ignore the fact that the author references EVERYTHING in the bible by simply considering it to be nitpicking? Someone's in denial. Grow the forget up.
The fact of the matter is that the bible was once incorrect according to modern science (which still isn't the primary of the argument; even though it's ridiculous to assume that anyone could still believe in such a fable as fiction after it blatantly constructs what isn't reality, it still doesn't imply that it is, in fact, mathematically untrue). In turn, the book has gone through numorous changes. Each and everyone one of these changes contradict the original context that the bible is entirely consistent with god being "perfect". This states, mathematically, that the book and its texts can never act as appropriate proof for the religion's claims.
Your condescending little acts aren't going to benefit you when you simply don't have a clue as to what you're talking about.
I'm not entirely certain why you've brought up religion in the first place, it wasn't relevant to my argument to begin with yet you bring it out of nowhere and put it centerstage. I'm not religious in the slightest, but I'm perfectly aware that 90% of the criticisms of the Bible are done by dumbasses that don't have any substantial knowledge of the text.
I'm all for tar-and-feathering morons that think that they're experts on the subject by nitpicking the word choice of a 400-year-old TRANSLATION of the Hebrew bible. For example, your source claimed that the Bible says the Earth is a circle in the book of Isiah, which according to that mouth-breathing author, means that the Earth is flat.
Now we get to something that many people have said is proof of the Bible knowing the true shape of the earth. The following verses have been sent to me with notes like "See, the Bible says the earth isn't flat":
Proverbs 8:27- When he prepared the heavens, I was there, When he drew a circle on the face of the deep
Isaiah 40:22- It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And it's inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
But anyone with a basic grasp of geometry knows what a circle is. It's a flat, two dimensional object. According to these scriptures, the earth is shaped like a CD. Again, as much as many people want to believe this proves that the world is a sphere, they are only proving the Bible talks of a flat earth. There are many who say "it says circle, it got the shape right". But this was also a common mistake of the day. People thought the earth was shaped like a plate. They got this belief because if they pointed at the horizon and they spin while tracing the horizon, it appears that they live on a flat circle. And they could travel 1000 miles and do the same thing and they got the same result. It made sense.
In fact, there is no unique Hebrew word for "sphere," in Hebrew, "sphere" and "circle" are the same word, and their definition depends on the context.
To further drive home how insultingly stupid that author is, in Luke 17, the Bible mentions that the hour Jesus returns, it will be day in some places and night in others, which can only happen on a round planet.
Then your author nitpicks the "firmament" mentioned in the bible, which claims a thick layer of water vapor once shrouded the Earth.
In Genesis 1:6-8 God created a firmament (which he named "Heaven") to divide the water on earth and the water in the sky. Do we really have a solid sky holding water over us? How the heck did we get to the moon? Does the space shuttle have a "firmament opener" on the front of it? This would explain why every time it rained in the Bible, that God had to "open the windows of heaven" (Gen. 7:1 and Isa. 24:18 are examples). These openings allowed all the water above the solid sky to leak out. Maybe we broke a window on our first space mission, and have flown out the broken window every time since.
While fantastic in and of itself, the author completely fails to mention that the firmament collapsed in the story of Noah's Ark, and that was where the first rainfall came from. It would take some kind of blubbering moron who someone completely ignorant of the text to assume the firmament should still exist today.
The Stationary Earth
The idea of a stationary earth has been touched on by nearly every mythological tale. There was Atlas who held the earth on his back, and let's not forget the turtle and elephants in Terry Pratchett's Disk World series. It seems like this inaccurate belief found its way into the Bible also.
Job chapter 38 has a lot of mentions of a stationary earth, and as direct quotes from God. Quotes like the following:
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding." - Job 38:4
"Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;" - Job 38:6
This is an obvious metaphor comparing the construction of a building by a mason to the construction of the Earth by god. God is telling Job "Hey, you weren't here when I created the universe, how can you possibly understand what I do with it?" The second verse is God reminding Job that he is all powerful, and the "laid the cornerstone thereof" basically means he was solely responsible for the creation of the Earth. Nowhere in the Bible does it mention literal pillars that hold up the world, in fact, it STATES the complete opposite a few chapters before in the very same book:
He stretcheth out the north over empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing
Seems pretty straightforward, but your author likes to keep making an ass of himself:
Psalms 93:1 flat out says that the world doesn't move. "The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty; The Lord is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established so that it cannot be moved."
I just, don't know what to say to this. The phrase "cannot be moved" is a translation of a Hebrew phrase that means that the Earth cannot be affected. In old English it had the same meaning regardless, and the fact that the world is "established" means literally that it's established, and nobody but God has the power to change it.
The sun and the moon are mentioned in the Bible. Why wouldn't they be? After all they are these two huge things in the sky every day. Every society has mention of them in their writings, just as every religious text. Some people thought they were gods, others thought they influenced luck and so on. Even today some people won't go out when there's a full moon.
Today we know that they sun is a massive fireball which provides the earth with light and heat... not to mention is a requirement for life on Earth. The moon on the other hand is just another chunk of dirt and rock that floats in space, it just happens to revolve around our little planet. It does effect some things here on Earth, like the tide. The only reason we see it every night is because it reflects light from the sun.
The Bible doesn't always reflect the truth about the sun and moon.
In Genesis 1:16 says "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also." According to this, the moon is a light source just like the sun, only not as bright.
The moon IS a light source. On a full moon visibility at night is considerably increased. Is the author completely loving handicapped? It doesn't say that the moon is a star or that it's a fireball, it says it's a light source. A glow stick is a light source and it's not as hot as the sun. But your author doesn't stop there:
If this was the case, we couldn't land on the moon, it would be too hot. It is also strange that it took God the day to make the sun and the moon, but the stars are portrayed as an afterthought of sorts. "He made the stars also", this is a definite sign that the Bible is inspired by man. It is clear that man could not have perceived that the stars were the same as the sun, but in most cases much larger. Naturally they thought that these specks were just thrown about. The verse should read "God created the stars and planetary objects, he also made the earth, sun, and moon". But man, in those days, would have never seen it that way.
God doesn't care about the stars? REALLY? The bible says that they're all an afterthought? I guess this verse must've not made it into the King James version:
He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
Oh wait, I just checked, it's still in there. Maybe God made a billion stars as an afterthought and named each individual one of them because he didn't care at all.
Isaiah 13:10 also says that the moon is a source of light. "moon shall not cause her light to shine." Again this is another example of the Bible seeming to be inspired by man and limited to his own perception.
Here's an example of the author not being familiar with the ENGLISH language. Here's a quick Google search of the word "shine:"
Wait, what's that?
