# Does the Bible Say the Earth Is Flat? > The Bible says four corners, a firmament, the circle of the earth, pillars, and foundations, and it says God hangs the earth upon nothing. The church texts fetched here do not teach a flat earth. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/does-the-bible-say-the-earth-is-flat - Religions: none - Denominations: none - Beliefs: Moral Questions - Tags: science-and-society, bible, creation - Updated: 2026-10-10 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) The Bible does not say the earth is a flat disk. It does say “four corners,” “firmament,” “circle of the earth,” “pillars,” and “foundations,” and [Job 26:7](/bible/job/26/7) says God hangs the earth upon nothing. Those are the sentences. The church texts fetched for this page confess that God created the world. They do not teach that the earth is flat. ## Key points - [Isaiah 40:22](/bible/isaiah/40/22) says God sits upon the circle of the earth, and that the heavens are stretched out as a curtain and a tent. - [Job 26:7](/bible/job/26/7) says he hangs the earth upon nothing. - [Isaiah 11:12](/bible/isaiah/11/12) and [Revelation 7:1](/bible/revelation/7/1) say “four corners of the earth.” Revelation pictures four angels on those corners, holding the four winds. - [Genesis 1:6–8](/bible/genesis/1) says God made a firmament to divide the waters, and called the firmament Heaven. - [Psalm 104:5](/bible/psalms/104/5) says God laid the foundations of the earth. [1 Samuel 2:8](/bible/1-samuel/2/8) says the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s. - [Psalm 19:6](/bible/psalms/19/6) speaks of the sun’s circuit. [Joshua 10:13](/bible/joshua/10/13) says the sun stood still. The sentences describe the sun in the sky. - Westminster Confession 4.1 says God created the world, visible and invisible, in six days. It does not say the earth is flat. [(8)](#ref-8) The Catholic paragraphs on creation and the age of the cosmos are on [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation). ## Four corners and a firmament [Isaiah 11:12](/bible/isaiah/11/12) says God will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. [Revelation 7:1](/bible/revelation/7/1) says John saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds so that the wind would not blow on the earth, the sea, or any tree. “Corners” here is the word in a vision of angels and winds, and in a sentence about gathering exiles. Neither verse says the ground is a disk. [Genesis 1:6](/bible/genesis/1/6) says God made a firmament in the midst of the waters to divide waters from waters. The firmament is then called Heaven. The chapter is also the chapter of the two great lights and the stars. [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation) quotes what the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod have published about those days. This page is about shape, not about the length of a day. ## Circle, nothing, pillars, and the sun [Isaiah 40:22](/bible/isaiah/40/22), King James Version: > It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: The verse says circle. It also says the heavens are like a curtain and a tent, and the people like grasshoppers. It does not use the word sphere. [Job 26:7](/bible/job/26/7) says he stretches out the north over the empty place and hangs the earth upon nothing. That sentence does not set the earth on a floor. [Psalm 104:5](/bible/psalms/104/5) says God laid the foundations of the earth so that it should not be removed. [1 Samuel 2:8](/bible/1-samuel/2/8) says the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he has set the world upon them. Foundations and pillars are in those verses. Hanging upon nothing is in Job. A reader has all three images. None of them is the sentence “the earth is flat.” [Psalm 19:6](/bible/psalms/19/6) says the sun’s going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it. [Joshua 10:13](/bible/joshua/10/13) says the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and did not go down for about a whole day. Both sentences talk about the sun’s motion as it is spoken of in the sky. They do not add a sentence about the shape of the ground. ## What the churches fetched here say The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 4, on the Orthodox Presbyterian Church site: [(8)](#ref-8) > It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all very good. That paragraph is about creation in six days, out of nothing. It does not say the earth is flat, and it does not say the earth is a globe. [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation) quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the age and dimensions of the cosmos and on the six days as a symbolic presentation of what God revealed for salvation. Those paragraphs, as quoted there, do not say the earth is flat. This page does not repeat them. A Jehovah’s Witnesses page on the shape of the earth was not fetched for this article, so this page does not state their teaching. Their New World Translation’s wording on other verses is handled on the Jehovah’s Witnesses articles linked from [Christianity](/christianity). ## Age, dinosaurs, and the days [Genesis 1](/bible/genesis/1) does not name dinosaurs, and it does not give a year for the age of the earth. What churches have published about the days, the age, and human origins is [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation). That page quotes the disagreement and does not add a second verdict. This page does not move that disagreement over to the shape of the earth. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does the Bible say the earth is round? [Isaiah 40:22](/bible/isaiah/40/22) says “the circle of the earth.” [Job 26:7](/bible/job/26/7) says the earth is hung upon nothing. The verses do not say “sphere.” They also do not say “flat disk.” ### What are the four corners of the earth? [Isaiah 11:12](/bible/isaiah/11/12) uses the phrase for the places from which Judah is gathered. [Revelation 7:1](/bible/revelation/7/1) uses it for where four angels stand. The phrase is in both verses. Neither verse defines a map. ### Did the sun stand still? [Joshua 10:13](/bible/joshua/10/13) says the sun stood still in the midst of heaven for about a whole day, and it points the reader to the book of Jasher. This site has no separate page for Jasher. The sentence is about the sun in that battle. [Psalm 19:6](/bible/psalms/19/6) is the sun’s circuit across the heaven. ### Do Christians have to believe the earth is flat? The Westminster paragraph fetched here, and the Catholic paragraphs quoted on the evolution page, do not say that. They confess God as Creator. [Genesis 1:1](/bible/genesis/1/1) is that confession in the Bible’s own opening line. ### Does “firmament” mean a solid dome? [Genesis 1:6–8](/bible/genesis/1) says the firmament divides the waters and is called Heaven. The verses do not add the word dome. What the chapter teaches about God as Creator, and how churches read the six days, is [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation). ## Keep reading - [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation) - [Does the Bible Contradict Itself?](/christianity/does-the-bible-contradict-itself) - [Who Created God?](/god/who-created-god) - [Does God Exist?](/god/does-god-exist) - [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) ## Passages quoted on this page ### Job 26:7 King James Version. > He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. ### Isaiah 11:12 King James Version. > And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. ### Revelation 7:1 King James Version. > And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. ### Genesis 1:6–8 King James Version. > [1:6] And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. [1:7] And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. [1:8] And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. ### Psalms 104:5 King James Version. > Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. ### 1 Samuel 2:8 King James Version. > He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them. ### Psalms 19:6 King James Version. > His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. ### Joshua 10:13 King James Version. > And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. ### Genesis 1:6 King James Version. > And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. ### Genesis 1:1 King James Version. > In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Book of Isaiah, 40:22; 11:12](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/40/22). King James Version 2. [Book of Job, 26:7](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/job/26/7). King James Version 3. [Book of Genesis, 1:6–8](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/genesis/1). King James Version 4. [Book of Revelation, 7:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/revelation/7/1). King James Version 5. [Book of Psalms, 19:6; 104:5](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/19/6). King James Version 6. [Book of Joshua, 10:13](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/joshua/10/13). King James Version 7. [1 Samuel, 2:8](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-samuel/2/8). King James Version 8. [Westminster Confession of Faith, 4.1](https://opc.org/wcf.html) (The Orthodox Presbyterian Church publishes this English text. The paragraph creates the world in six days and does not say the earth is flat.) ## See also - [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation) — Christians confess that God created the heavens and the earth and made humans in his image. They do not agree on the age of the earth or on the means. - [Does the Bible Support Slavery?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/slavery-in-the-bible) — The Bible condemns kidnapping a person to sell them, and it says every person is made in God’s image. It also regulates slavery in ancient Israel and the Roman world. - [Is Hell Real? What the Bible Says about Hell](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/hell) — Jesus speaks of everlasting punishment and of fire that is not quenched. Some churches, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, teach a different end for the wicked. - [What Does the Bible Say about Abortion?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/abortion) — Historic Christianity treats the child in the womb as a human life that must not be killed. Churches differ on the rare case in which the mother’s life is in danger. - [What Does the Bible Say about Divorce?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/divorce) — Jesus treats marriage as a covenant God joins. He names sexual immorality in Matthew 19:9. Churches disagree about desertion, abuse, and remarriage. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/does-the-bible-say-the-earth-is-flat.md)