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Scriptural passages about the stability


(immobility) of the Earth

If you can rightly say that Scripture does not indicate anywhere that the earth is strictly in the
middle of the universe, however it is clearly stated that he is still (geostatic). This excludes in texts
related to these things, absolutely, any rotational movement, be it a daily one on its axis or a yearly
orbital around one the sun. These movements of the earth have not, as we shall see below, any sense,
theological, physical or astronomical, being just some suggestions of some thinkers who have sought
alternative explanations to the scriptural and patristic ones. Scriptural passages are found in many
Psalms:

"Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at
Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils." (Psalm 18:15)
"For He hath founded it upon the seas" (Psalm 24:2)
"It is I who keep steady its pillars" (Psalm 75:3)
"Like the earth which He hath established for ever." (Psalm 78:69)
"Yea, the world is established; it shall never be moved." (Psalm 93:2)
"Say among the nations: "The Lord reigns! Yea, the world is established, it shall never be
moved; He will judge the peoples with equity." (Psalm 96:10)
"Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands."
(Psalm 102:25)
"Thou didst set the Earth on its foundations, so that it should never be shaken." (Psalm 104:5)

And in order not to be accused that we are stacked as the neoprotestant fundamentalists in the
strict literally sense of the word, we bring the interpretation of Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus:

"5. "Who laid the foundations of the earth


And Achille and Simmah "over his stay."
that it should not be removed for ever.
Because, putting the foundations over itself, gave to it the stillness, and it will remain so as long
as He wishes. Thus saith and elsewhere: "hanging the earth over nothing."
Ps. 119:90: "Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth."
Blessed Theodoret: "Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth
By Thy order the day stay on,
You gave the land long-lasting stability. And it remained as You commanded."

"To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters" (Psalm 136:6)

"Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites
over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand thou still
at Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the
moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written
in the Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten
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to go down for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since,
when the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man…" (Joshua 10:12-14).

"The sun and moon stood still in their habitation at the light of thine arrows as they sped, at the
flash of Thy glittering spear." (Habakkuk, 3:11).

"Who before him stood so firm? For he waged the wars of the Lord. Was not the sun held back
in His hand? And did not one day become as long as two? He called upon the Most High, the Mighty
One, when enemies pressed him on every side." (Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 46:3-5)

"And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I
shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the
Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go
back ten steps?” And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps;
rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” And Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord; and he brought the
shadow back ten steps." (2 Kings 20:8-11)

"This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised:
Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So
the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined." (Isaiah 38:7-8)

"And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to
inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to try him and to
know all that was in his heart." (2 Chronicles 32:31)

"Hell is naked before Him, and destruction hath no covering. He stretches out the north over the
void, and hangs the earth upon nothing." (Job 26:6-7)
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding:
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon
it? Whereupon are the foundations fastened?..." (Job 38:4-6)

"Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth
into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and
glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb,
I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the
earth by myself;...
Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the
heavens." (Isaiah 44:23-24; 48:13)

"God with wisdom founded the earth and the heaven-minded cook cooked sky... When He
established the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He made
firm the skies above, when He established the fountains of the deep, when He assigned to the sea its
limit, so that the waters might not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the
earth..." (Proverbs 3:19; 8:27-29)

"A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever." (Ecclesiastes 1:4)
By the will of God, the earth stay unmoved and "remains for ever"

"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may
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behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."
(John 17:24)

"And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth" (Hebrews 1:10)

The only exceptional case of earth motion is the earthquake1. But in no case is a rotating
permanent whatsoever, but a temporary wobble:

"He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth" (Psalm 104:32)

"And I will shake all the nations" (Haggai 2:7)

2 Samuel 22:8, 1 Chronicles 16:30; Job 9:6; Psalm 60:2; 77:18; Isaiah 13:13; 24:18.

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See also http://www.scribd.com/doc/51055314/The-Earthquake-is-the-Sign-of-God-s-wrath

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