Flat-Earth / Spherical Earth

 

CHURCH FATHERS QUOTES:

 

Niceta (brother of Clement of Rome):

Such is the declaration of Plato; but though he and the other Greek philosophers had chosen to be silent about the making of the world, would it not be manifest to all who have any understanding? For what man is there, having even a particle of sense, who, when he sees a house having all things necessary for useful purposes, its roof fashioned into the form of a globe, painted with various splendour and diverse figures, adorned with large and splendid lights; who is there, I say, that, seeing such a structure, would not immediately pronounce that it was constructed by a most wise and powerful artificer? And so, who can be found so foolish, as, when he gazes upon the fabric of the heaven, perceives the splendour of the sun and moon, sees the courses and beauty of the stars, and their paths assigned to them by fixed laws and periods, will not cry out that these things are made, not so much by a wise and rational artificer, as by wisdom and reason itself? But if you would rather have the opinions of others of the Greek philosophers — and you are acquainted with mechanical science, — you are of course familiar with what is their deliverance concerning the heavens. For they suppose a sphere, equally rounded in every direction, and looking indifferently to all points, and at equal distances in all directions from the centre of the earth, and so stable by its own symmetry, that its perfect equality does not permit it to fall off to any side; and so the sphere is sustained, although supported by no prop. Now if the fabric of the world really has this form, the divine work is evident in it. But if, as others think, the sphere is placed upon the waters, and is supported by them, or floating in them, even so the work of a great contriver is shown in it. – Recognitions of Clement, book 8, chapter 20-21

 

Athenagoras:

For if the world, being made spherical, is confined within the circles of heaven, and the Creator of the world is above things created, managing it by his providential care of these, what place is there for the second god, or for the other gods? – A Plea for the Christians, Chapter 8

Beautiful without doubt is the world, excelling, as well in its magnitude as in the arrangement of its parts, both those in the oblique circle and those about the north, and also in its spherical form. Yet it is not this, but its Artificer, that we must worship…- A Plea for the Christians, Chapter 16

 

Clement of Alexandria:

“And how the Earth and sea their place should keep; And when the seasons, in their circling course, winter and summer, spring and autumn, each should come, according to well ordered plan; out of a confused heap who didst create this ordered sphere, and from the shapeless mass.” – Paedagogus (Instructor of Children), book 3, hymn to Christ

 

Origen:

But from what Clement seems to indicate when he says, The ocean is impassable to men, and those worlds which are behind it, speaking in the plural number of the worlds which are behind it, which he intimates are administered and governed by the same providence of the Most High God, he appears to throw out to us some germs of that view by which the whole universe of existing things, celestial and super-celestial, earthly and infernal, is generally called one perfect world, within which, or by which, other worlds, if any there are, must be supposed to be contained. For which reason he wished the globe of the sun or moon, and of the other bodies called planets, to be each termed worlds. Nay, even that pre-eminent globe itself which they call the non-wandering (ἀπλανῆ), they nevertheless desire to have properly called world. Finally, they summon the book of Baruch the prophet to bear witness to this assertion, because in it the seven worlds or heavens are more clearly pointed out. Nevertheless, above that sphere which they call non-wandering (ἀπλανῆ), they will have another sphere to exist, which they say, exactly as our heaven contains all things which are under it, comprehends by its immense size and indescribable extent the spaces of all the spheres together within its more magnificent circumference; so that all things are within it, as this earth of ours is under heaven. And this also is believed to be called in the holy Scriptures the good land, and the land of the living, having its own heaven, which is higher, and in which the names of the saints are said to be written, or to have been written, by the Saviour; by which heaven that earth is confined and shut in, which the Saviour in the Gospel promises to the meek and merciful. For they would have this earth of ours, which formerly was named Dry, to have derived its appellation from the name of that earth, as this heaven also was named firmament from the title of that heaven. But we have treated at greater length of such opinions in the place where we had to inquire into the meaning of the declaration, that in the beginning God made the heavens and the earth. – Origen, On First Principles, book 2, chapter 3, paragraph 6

For the world possesses unity throughout its whole self and therefore cannot have been made by many makers. Nor can it be held together by many souls which move the whole heaven. For one soul is enough, which bears up the whole fixed sphere from east to west, and comprehends within itself all that the world needs and that is not complete in itself. – Origen of Alexandria, Contra Celsum, Book I, Chapter 23

 

Methodius:

“Resuming then, let us first lay bare, in speaking of those things according to our  power, the imposture of those who boast as though they alone had comprehended from what forms the heaven is arranged, in accordance with the hypothesis of the Chaldeans and Egyptians. For they say that the circumference of the world is likened to the turnings of a well-rounded globe, the earth having a central point. For its outline being spherical, it is necessary, they say, since there are the same distances of the parts, that the earth should be the center of the universe, around which as being older, the heaven is whirling. For if a circumference is described from the central point, which seems to be a circle, – for it is impossible for a circle to be described without a point, and it is impossible for a circle to be without a point, – surely the earth consisted before all, they say, in a state of chaos and disorganization. Now certainly the wretched ones were overwhelmed in the chaos of error, “because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” – Discourse On the Virgins, Dis. VIII, Thekla, Ch XIV

 

Lactantius:

[Mocking the spherical earth proposed by others]: “It followed, therefore, from this rotundity of the heaven, that the earth was enclosed in the midst of its curved surface. But if this were so, the earth also itself must be like a globe; for that could not possibly be anything but round, which was held enclosed by that which was round. But if the earth also were round, it must necessarily happen that it should present the same appearance to all parts of the heaven.” – False Wisdom of Philosophers, Bk 3, Ch 24, On the Antipodes

 

Athanasius:

And in yet another way one may refute their godlessness by the light of truth. For if God is incorporeal and invisible and intangible by nature, how do they imagine God to be a body, and worship with divine honour things which we both see with our eyes and touch with our hands? And again, if what is said of God hold true, namely, that He is almighty, and that while nothing has power over Him, He has power and rule over all, how can they who deify creation fail to see that it does not satisfy this definition of God? For when the sun is under the earth, the earth’s shadow makes his light invisible, while by day the sun hides the moon by the brilliancy of his light. – Athanasius, Against the Heathen, part 1, chapter 29

 

Eusebius:

“The sun and the moon have their settled course. The stars move in no uncertain orbits round this terrestrial globe. The revolution of the seasons recurs according to unerring laws. The solid fabric of the earth was established by the word: the winds receive their impulse at appointed times; and the course of the waters continues with ceaseless flow, the ocean is circumscribed by an immovable barrier, and whatever is comprehended within the compass of earth and sea, is all contrived for wondrous and important ends.” – Life of Constantine, Bk 2, Ch LVII

 

Gregory of Nyssa:

“For just as those skilled in astronomy tell us that the whole universe is full of light, and darkness is made to cast its shadow by the interposition of the body formed by the earth; and that this darkness is shut off from the rays of the sun, in the shape of a cone, according to the figure of the sphere-shaped body, and behind it; while the sun, exceeding the earth by a size many times as great as its own, enfolding it round about on all sides with its rays, unites at the limit of cone the concurrent streams of light; so that if (to suppose the case) any one had the power of passing beyond the measure to which the shadow extends, he would certainly find himself in light unbroken by darkness.” – On the Making of Man, XXI, 3

“As, when the sun shines above the earth, the shadow is spread over its lower part, because its spherical shape makes it impossible for it to be clasped all round at one and the same time by the rays, and necessarily, on whatever side the sun’s rays may fall on some particular  point of the globe, if we follow a straight diameter, we shall find shadow upon the opposite point, and so, continuously, at the opposite end of the direct line of the rays shadow moves round that globe, keeping pace with the sun, so that equally in their turn both the upper half and the under half of the earth are in light and darkness. – On the Soul and the Resurrection

 

Basil:

“These are lakes, and there is only one sea, as those affirm who have traveled round the Earth.” – Hexameron, Homily IV, 4

I know the laws of allegory, although I did not invent them of myself, but have met them in the works of others. Those who do not admit the common meaning of the Scriptures say that water is not water, but some other nature, and they explain a plant and a fish according to their opinion. They describe also the production of reptiles and wild animals, changing it according to their own notions, just like the dream interpreters, who interpret for their own ends the appearances seen in their dreams. When I hear ‘grass,’ I think of grass, and in the same manner I understand everything as it is said, a plant, a fish, a wild animal, and an ox. ‘Indeed, I am not ashamed of the gospel.’ (Romans 1:16). And, although those who have written about the world have argued much about the shape of the earth, whether the earth is a sphere, or a cylinder, or is similar to a disk and is rounded off equally on all sides, or whether it is like a winnowing fan and hollowed out in the center (the cosmographers have suggested all these notions, each one overthrowing the ideas of the other), I shall not be persuaded to say that our version of the creation is of less value because the servant of God, Moses, gave no discussion concerning the shape and did not say that its circumference contains one hundred and eighty thousand stades, nor measured how far its shadow spreads in the air when the sun passes under the earth, nor explained how, when this shadow approaches the moon, it causes the eclipses. Since he left unsaid, as useless for us, things in no way pertaining to us, shall we for this reason believe that the words of the Spirit are of less value than their foolish wisdom? Or shall I rather give glory to Him who has not kept our mind occupied with vanities but has ordained that all things be written for the edification and guidance of our souls? This is a thing of which they seem to me to have been unaware, who have attempted by false arguments and allegorical interpretations to bestow on the Scripture a dignity of their own imagining. But, theirs is the attitude of one who considers himself wiser than the revelations of the Spirit and introduces his own ideas in pretense of an explanation. Therefore, let it be understood as it has been written. – Basil the Great, Homily 9 on the Hexaemeron

 

Ambrose of Milan:

“So when you hear so many oracles by which God testifies that he created the world, do not believe that it has no beginning; for it is said that the world is like a sphere, so that no beginning seems to exist; and when it thunders, as if everything is moved around in a circle, it is not easy to comprehend where they begin and where they end; for it is considered impossible to infer the beginning of a circuit by the senses. For you cannot find the beginning of a sphere, or from where the globe of the moon began, or where the monthly eclipse of the moon ends. And indeed, even if you yourself do not comprehend, therefore you do not begin, or by no means cease. If you yourself draw a circle or a line with ink or pen or compass, you do not easily gather visually or mentally where you began or where you ended, with an interval in between; and yet you are witness to both beginning and ending.” – Ambrose of Milan, The Six Days Of Creation, Book 1, chapter 10

 

Fortunatianus of Aquileia:

Nothing is covered which will not be revealed. The preaching of the Law and the Prophets was covered among the Jews who could not understand the coming of the Lord, as the Apostle related: The veil of Moses is over their heart. But when one of them has turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For this reason Moses, too, knowing long before that this people would not believe in the coming of the Lord, used to place a veil over his face and speak like this to the people. This showed that what was covered and closed to them because of their unbelief was to be revealed and made evident to the entire globe by the preaching of the apostles. – Commentary on the Gospels, M. LV. [Matthew 10:26]

 

John Chrysostom:

“A minister of the sanctuary, not simply a minister, but a minister of the sanctuary. And of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.” You see the condescension. Did he not a little before make a separation, saying: “Are they not all ministering spirits?” Hebrews 1:14 and therefore (he says) it is not said to them, “Sit on my right hand,” Hebrews 1:13 for He that sits is not a minister. How is it then that it is here said, “a minister,” and “a minister of the Sanctuary?” For he means here the Tabernacle. See how he raised up the minds of the believing Jews. For as they would be apt to imagine that we have no such tabernacle [as they had], see here (he says) is the Priest, Great, yea, much greater than the other, and who has offered a more wonderful sacrifice. But is not all this mere talk? Is it not a boast, and merely said to win over our minds? On this account he established it first from the oath, and afterwards also from the tabernacle. For this difference too was manifest: but the Apostle thinks of another also, which (he says) the Lord pitched [or made firm] and not man. Where are they who say that the heaven whirls around? where are they who declare that it is spherical? For both of these notions are overthrown here. – John Chrysostom, Homily 14 on Hebrews

 

Jerome:

“… So all substance shall be refined into its most perfect form and rarified into aether which is a pure and uncompounded essence; or else the sphere which I have called motionless and all that it contains will be dissolved into nothing, and the sphere in which the antizone itself is contained shall be called ‘good ground,’ and that other sphere which in its revolution surrounds the earth and goes by the name of heaven shall be reserved for the abode of the saints.” – Letters, 124, To Avitus

Augustine:

“But they do no remark that, although it be supposed or scientifically demonstrated that the world is of a round and spherical form…” – City of God , Bk XVI, Ch 9