THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407150027
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
David Clive must have had a lot of fun making up his attacks in ``North, Dole and the flat-Earth folks'' (Another View, June 26). His basic thrust was that North ``cynically hitched his wagon'' to a group of far-right Christians who believe in a Bible written by folks convinced that the Earth was flat. Wrong! Such nonsense by anti-Christian Democrats drives me further to the right.
The truth is that when the Bible was written, most folks did indeed believe the world was flat - even the scientists of that day. In fact, mankind also believed that there were only a few thousand stars (Hipparchus said there were 1,022 stars, Ptolemy claimed 1,056, and Kepler said 1,055). However, the Bible stated then, as now, that the Earth is round (Isaiah 40:22), that it hangs on nothing (Job 26:7), and that the stars are not countable but number like the grains of sand (Jeremiah 33:22, 31:37). Pretty interesting for a book that's not scientific.
The Bible may be ``a fascinating tale'' to Mr. Clive, but it is God's word to millions, and worth hitching your wagon to.
WILLIAM G. HENRY
Virginia Beach, June 27, 1994 by CNB