Globe or Plain?
Are the “flat earthers” lost to us? Have they become “zombiefied”?
A mystifying phenomenon of recent years has been the advocacy of a “flat earth” cosmology. It is a belief that the Earth is shaped, not as a globe, but as a disk, and that the Sun, Moon and Stars circle overhead. They are celestial bodies much smaller in size and much closer to us, measured in thousands of miles rather than millions.
Evidently there has always been a “Flat Earth Society” but the current resurgence seems to have arisen independently of any organized group, principally because of the effectiveness of propagation through the internet. Such is the case of the flat earthers:
The Flat Earth theory is another aberration that will not go away. That is because the doctors of Christian theology do not recognize that modern science descends from a “wisdom tradition” which has come down to us through non-biblical [i.e. pre-biblical] sources. As a scientific interpretation, Flat-Earth ideology could be tolerable as a demand for verification and confirmation of scientific data from research. However, like the iconoclasts of old, its advocates betray the dogmatic zeal of the destroyers of idols: a religious fervor which is becoming increasingly dogmatic, unreasonable, and aggressive.
They think that if they just yell a little louder, they can convince you.
I gave the Flat Earth proponents about six months of serious consideration. But I revisited the intellectual journeys of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton and rediscovered how they came to their views. Things like the moons of Jupiter, the azimuth of the orbit of Venus, and the calculations of Eratosthenes – all are factors for which Flat Earthists cannot explain. To completely prove his position, the partisan must revisit the intellectual journey of his opponent, identify the origin of his error, and disprove it. Flat Earthists have not done this, but have simply restated the talking points that have been said for centuries.
And more importantly to the purpose of this website, there is no Flat Earth model which can explain Major Maynard White’s arctic discoveries: that the arctic has alternately experienced epochs of tropical and arctic conditions. Such epochs can only be explained by a tilt of the Earth in relation to the Sun. The orbital path of the Sun in the Flat Earth model can never be fashioned in such a manner as to create these epochs of hot and cold.
Science cannot simply rely upon empirical observation. It must rely upon the exact measurements of empirical observation. That demand for exactness led the great men of the Enlightenment to the “discovery” of our great universe and “globe-ism.”
Rob Skiba was a Bible teacher who came to be – reluctantly – a prominent advocate of the Flat Earth position. Although deceased, I have retained his profile and links to his websites, not because I believe in his Flat Earth views, but because his work forms a bridge to a constituency which I still want to curry: the Messianics. Otherwise known as Torah Christians, they want to follow a Jewish culture, believing that it is a more authentic form of Christianity.
The Flat Earth dogma is a source of comfort for such people.
It is possible to be a scientific person and still believe in a flat earth. Your view of cosmology has nothing to do necessarily with whether you can be a good physician, engineer, or biologist, for example. However, religious dogma often seems to be the real motivation.
A generation ago, Geocentrism was embraced by Old School Calvinists and propagated in their home schooling curriculum. I knew these people first-hand. They lumped Heliocentrism with the theory of evolution and condemned them both as unscientific and anti-Christian. The Flat Earth persuasion is another step in this war against scientism.
Geocentrism has always had its defenders who were first rate scholars, but the doubts are usually motivated by religious devotion. John Calvin questioned the Copernican system based upon his understanding of the Holy Scriptures. The Calvinists lacked an awareness of the ancient wisdom tradition embraced by the the Patriarchs of old, and the Hebrew prophets, such as Daniel.
As William Whiston, Isaac Newton’s assistant and avatar on religious subjects, pointed out long ago:
The Wisdom of the Egyptians, in all which Moses was afterward learned, seems to have been no other than what Abraham taught them, when he went down into that Country.
This Wisdom I take to have been, (1) The sacred Rite of Circumcision . . . (2) Astronomy, this not Josephus only, as we shall see presently, but Eupolemus also an Heathen, informs us of, when he assures us, that “Abraham taught the Egyptians many Things, particularly Astrology [Astronomy] and other Sciences thereto belonging though as deriving all from Enoch.” Abraham also, another Heathen, informs us, that “Abraham taught Pharaoh the King of Egypt Astrology, [Astronomy] and lived there no fewer than 20 Years.” Berosus also in Josephus informs us, that Abraham was a Righteous and a great Man, and skilful in the celestial Sciences” As Melo, the bitter Enemy of the Jews, in Eusebius, also confesses he was a wise Man, or a Philosopher” (3) Arithmetick, and (4) So much of Geometry as was used in Surveying. Of this Josephus informs us, from his old Records now lost, “That Abraham was held in great esteem by the Egyptian Wise Men, and instructed them in Arithmetick and Astrology [Astronomy] of both which Sciences, the Egyptians were till then unacquainted.” Nor does it seem to me at all improbably, that That Arithmetick which the Egyptians made use of in Measuring the Arourae, or Egyptian Acres after the Annual overflow of the Nile; from which Herodotus, with likelihood enough, derives the Original of Geometery or Surveying; and that Astronomy, which determined the Solar, or rather Luni-solar Calendar to the Seasons . . .
The Six Dissertations, William Whiston, 1734 p. 211-213 (facsimile collection not to be confused with the Six Dissertations found as Appendices to his Works of Josephus).
It is worth noting that Whiston did not believe that the edition of the Book of Enoch which has come down to us was authentic, but rather represents a pious fraud from the Intertestamental Period. Although it may contain valid ancient traditions, much of it betrays anachronistic controversies from that historical time period and certainly does not represent the kind of science ascribed to Abram of Ur of the Chaldees.
For those who question Josephus as a reliable historical source, Whiston vetted his writings thoroughly before translating them. “The War of the Jews” represents Josephus’ first work and his personal recollections of his experiences during the first Jewish-Roman War circa. 70 AD. His “Antiquities of the Jews” came later and were ostensibly based upon the recovered Old Testament scrolls retrieved by the Roman General Titus at the burning of the Temple: a Fourth Textual Source for the Old Testament in addition to the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and the Masoretic Tanakh. Whiston also believed that Josephus became an Ebionite Christian at the end of his life.
As for the use of geometry to discover the curvature of the Earth, we have discussed this elsewhere:
For links to start your research, go to:
“Bob” is a first-rate thinker who has not received sufficient attention. He actually takes you “back to school” to learn first-hand how to do science and to use scientific instruments. He is condescending but still respectful of flat earth researchers. He did not take any satisfaction at the news of the death of Rob Skiba, but unfortunately, did embrace the Covid-19 vaccination program, and regretted that Skiba did not get vaccinated.
(to be continued)
Part 4: Bloodlust and Cannibalism
JWS, 12/3/23
