At Galileo´s time, the Catholic Church had its own interpretation of the Bible and so does the Flat Earth Society today.
God knew that more accurate understanding on things would only come with the passage of time. For example, the Bible writers could write nothing on bacteria, virus, etc. which could only be described after the invention of the microscope. However, nothing in the Bible suggests a flat earth. Also the Bible writers described sunset and sunrise from the perspective of a person on our planet´s surface. They were not stating a scientific law. Nonetheless, the prophet David described the microscopic DNA under inspiration at Psalms 139:16:
Your eyes even saw me as an embryo;
All its parts were written in your book (DNA)
Regarding the days when they were formed,
Before any of them existed.
For example, "to Aristotle, the universe was packed full. He saw the earth and its atmosphere as composed of four elements—earth, water, air, and fire. The universe beyond was filled with crystalline spheres, all composed of an eternal substance he called ether. The heavenly bodies were attached to the invisible spheres. Aristotle’s idea long appealed to most men of science, for it seemed to fit a basic assumption: An object must rest on or be attached to something, or else it will fall.
What about the Bible? It contains a record of the words of a faithful man named Job, who said about Jehovah: “He is . . . hanging the earth upon nothing.” (Job 26:7) Such a notion would surely have struck Aristotle as preposterous.
In the 17th century C.E., some 3,000 years after Job’s day, prevailing scientific theory held that the universe was filled, not with crystalline spheres, but with a kind of fluid. Late in that century, though, physicist Sir Isaac Newton proposed a completely different idea. Gravity, he said, caused an attraction between the heavenly bodies. Newton had come one step closer to understanding that the earth and other heavenly bodies did indeed hang in empty space, what would appear to humans as “nothing.”
Newton’s theory about gravity met with a great deal of opposition. It was still hard for many scientifically minded men to envision that stars and other heavenly bodies were not held in place by something substantial. How could our massive earth or the heavenly orbs simply hang there in space? The idea struck some as supernatural. Since Aristotle’s day, most men of science had believed that space must be filled with something.
Of course, Job knew nothing of the invisible means by which the earth is held in a stable orbit around the sun. What, then, led him to say that our planet hangs “upon nothing”?
Further, the notion that nothing holds up the earth raises another question: What keeps it and other heavenly bodies on course? Notice the fascinating words with which God once addressed Job: “Can you tie fast the bonds of the Kimah constellation, or can you loosen the very cords of the Kesil constellation?” (Job 38:31) Night after night of his long life, Job saw those familiar star formations rise and set.* 1 But why did they look the same, year after year, decade after decade? What bonds held those stars, and all other heavenly bodies, in their relative positions? Surely, thinking about that was awe-inspiring to Job.
If the stars were simply affixed to celestial spheres, there would be no need for such bonds. Only thousands of years later did scientists learn more about the invisible “bonds” or “cords” that hold the heavenly bodies together in their long, slow dance through the blackness of space. Isaac Newton and later Albert Einstein became famous for their discoveries in this field. Of course, Job knew nothing of the forces God uses to bind the heavenly bodies together. Yet, the inspired words in the book of Job have withstood the test of time far better than have the notions of the learned Aristotle. Who but the Lawmaker could have such insight?
Eternal or Subject to Decay?
Aristotle believed that there was an enormous distinction between the heavens and the earth. The earth, he said, is subject to change, decay, and deterioration, whereas the ether of which the starry heavens are made is utterly changeless, eternal. Aristotle’s crystalline spheres and the heavenly bodies attached to them could never change, wear out, or die.
Is that what the Bible teaches? Psalm 102:25-27 reads: “Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth itself, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They themselves will perish, but you yourself will keep standing; and just like a garment they will all of them wear out. Just like clothing you will replace them, and they will finish their turn. But you are the same, and your own years will not be completed.”
Note that this psalmist, writing perhaps two centuries before Aristotle’s time, does not contrast the earth with the starry heavens, as if the earth is subject to decay while the stars are eternal. Rather, he sets both heaven and earth in contrast with God, the mighty Spirit who directed their creation.* 2 This psalm suggests that the stars are as subject to decay as anything on the earth. And what has modern science found?
The science of geology supports both the Bible and Aristotle in saying that the earth is subject to decay. In fact, the rocks of our earth are ever wearing down through erosion and being replenished through volcanic and other geologic activity.
What, though, about the stars? Are they naturally subject to decay, as the Bible suggests, or are they inherently eternal, as Aristotle taught? European astronomers began to doubt Aristotle’s notion of eternal stars in the 16th century C.E. when, for the first time, they observed a supernova, the spectacular explosion of a star. Scientists have since observed that stars may die violently in such explosions or burn out slowly or even collapse on themselves. However, astronomers have also observed new stars forming in ‘stellar nurseries,’ clouds of gas enriched by the explosions of old stars. Hence, the Bible writer’s image of clothing wearing out and being replaced is entirely appropriate.* 3 How remarkable that this psalmist of ancient times managed to write words that harmonize so well with modern-day discoveries!
Still, you might wonder: ‘Does the Bible teach that the earth or the starry heavens as a whole will one day come to an end or need replacing?’ No, the Bible promises that they will last forever. (Psalm 104:5; 119:90) But that is not because such creations are eternal in themselves; rather, the God who created them promises to sustain them. (Psalm 148:4-6) He does not say how, but does it not stand to reason that the One who created the universe would have the power to sustain it? In a similar way, a master builder might lovingly maintain a house he built for himself and his family.
* 1 “Kimah constellation” may have referred to the Pleiades star group. “Kesil constellation” was probably a reference to the Orion constellation. It takes tens of thousands of years for such star formations to change significantly.
* 2 Because Jehovah used his only-begotten spirit Son as the “master worker” to bring all things into existence, the words of this passage may also be applied to the Son.—Proverbs 8:30, 31; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:10.
* 3 In the 19th century, scientist William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin, discovered the second law of thermodynamics, which explains why, over time, natural systems tend to decay and break down. One factor that inspired him to reach this conclusion was a careful study of Psalm 102:25-27."