It was thought that the earth was flat and that if one sailed too far they would fall off the earth.
Answer: There is also the myth, made popular by fiction writer Washington Irving, that many people believed the myth of a flat earth. This myth is perpetuated today by anti-christian apologists who wish to associate Christian bible-believers with 'flat-earthers', equating the two.
Additional Comments:
If they knew their Scripture, surely they would have questioned and found out differently, sooner:
Isaiah 40:22New King James Version (NKJV)
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
They actually didn't. Flat Earth is a myth. The spherical Earth has been a scientifically established fact since long before Ptolemy.
There is a common misconception that historical figures like Christopher Columbus believed the Earth was flat. In reality, most educated people in Columbus's time knew that the Earth was round. The idea that Columbus was trying to prove the Earth's roundness is more of a myth.
No one believed that the earth was flat in the 1600 it was a well know fact that the world was round. This myth that people used to believe that the world was flat didn't exsist before 1870-1920. The myth probably came to existance because it was way more intriguing that Colombus in a world where everyone thought was flat was the only one who believed it was round.
It is a myth that all African-Americans have flat feet.
No, the men who sailed with Columbus did not believe the Earth was flat. By the late 15th century, educated Europeans widely accepted that the Earth was round, a fact known since ancient Greek times. Columbus himself argued for a shorter route to Asia based on a spherical Earth, although he underestimated the size of the planet. The misconception that people in Columbus's time thought the Earth was flat is largely a myth popularized in later centuries.
In the bible, it says the Earth is Flat, so it is Flat. If God created the Earth and Jesus wrote the bible, the Earth is Flat
The Earth was never flat. The Flat Earth society believe they have proof that the Earth is flat but other no individuals or organisations have ever seriously considered that the Earth was not round since the ancient Greeks.
Why does anyone believe in myths. Because at the time they explained the world in which the people that created the myth lived. The earth was thought to be flat. The earth was thought to be carried on the back of a turtle. The sun was thought to be a God . . . etc. All of these are now known as myth. The Chinese were not the only people who had a mythology. Every group has it own version.
Nothing in the Universe is as large as the Earth AND flat. If the Earth were flat, it would be the only flat object, other than some small asteroids.
Nothing in the Universe is as large as the Earth AND flat. If the Earth were flat, it would be the only flat object, other than some small asteroids.
It is a drawing of the earth on a flat surface
Gaea and the Forming of The Earth.