The Flat Earth Bible

The Flat Earth Bible

© 1987, 1995 by Robert J. Schadewald

https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/febible.htm

Reprinted from The Bulletin of the Tychonian Society #44 (July 1987)

When I first became interested in the flat-earthers in the early 1970s, I was surprised to learn that flat-earthism in the English-speaking world is and always has been entirely based upon the Bible. I have since assembled and read an extensive collection of flat-earth literature. The Biblical arguments for flat-earthism that follow come mainly from my reading of flat-earth literature, augmented by my own reading of the Bible.

Except among Biblical inerrantists, it is generally agreed that the Bible describes an immovable earth. At the 1984 National Bible-Science Conference in Cleveland, geocentrist James N. Hanson told me there are hundreds of scriptures that suggest the earth is immovable. I suspect some must be a bit vague, but here are a few obvious texts:

1 Chronicles 16:30: “He has fixed the earth firm, immovable.”

Psalm 93:1: “Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm ...”

Psalm 96:10: “He has fixed the earth firm, immovable ...”

Psalm 104:5: “Thou didst fix the earth on its foundation so that it never can be shaken.”

Isaiah 45:18: “...who made the earth and fashioned it, and himself fixed it fast...”

Suffice to say that the earth envisioned by flat-earthers is as immovable as any geocentrist could desire. Most (perhaps all) scriptures commonly cited by geocentrists have also been cited by flat-earthers. The flat-earth view is geocentricity with further restrictions.

Like geocentrists, flat-earth advocates often give long lists of texts. Samuel Birley Rowbotham, founder of the modern flat-earth movement, cited 76 scriptures in the last chapter of his monumental second edition of Earth not a Globe. Apostle Anton Darms, assistant to the Reverend Wilbur Glenn Voliva, America's best known flat-earther, compiled 50 questions about the creation and the shape of the earth, bolstering his answers with up to 20 scriptures each. Rather than presenting an exhaustive compendium of flat-earth scriptures, I focus on those which seem to me the strongest. I also comment on some attempts to find the earth's sphericity in the Bible.

Scriptural quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the New English Bible. Hebrew and Greek translations are from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. The Biblical cosmology is never explicitly stated, so it must be pieced together from scattered passages. The Bible is a composite work, so there is no a priori reason why the cosmology assumed by its various writers should be relatively consistent, but it is. The Bible is, from Genesis to Revelation, a flat-earth book.

This is hardly surprising. As neighbors, the ancient Hebrews had the Egyptians to the southwest and the Babylonians to the northeast. Both civilizations had flat-earth cosmologies. The Biblical cosmology closely parallels the Sumero-Babylonian cosmology, and it may also draw upon Egyptian cosmology.

The Babylonian universe was shaped like a modern domed stadium. The Babylonians considered the earth essentially flat, with a continental mass surrounded by ocean. The vault of the sky was a physical object resting upon the ocean's waters (and perhaps also upon pillars). Sweet (salt-free) waters below the Earth sometimes manifest themselves as springs. The Egyptian universe was also enclosed, but it was rectangular instead of round. Indeed, it was shaped much like an old-fashioned steamer trunk. (The Egyptians pictured the goddess Nut stretched across the sky as the enclosing dome.) What was the Hebrew view of the universe?

The Order of Creation

The Genesis creation story provides the first key to the Hebrew cosmology. The order of creation makes no sense from a conventional perspective but is perfectly logical from a flat-earth viewpoint. The earth was created on the first day, and it was “without form and void (Genesis 1:2).” On the second day, a vault the “firmament” of the King James version was created to divide the waters, some being above and some below the vault. Only on the fourth day were the sun, moon, and stars created, and they were placed “in” (not “above”) the vault.

The Vault of Heaven

The vault of heaven is a crucial concept. The word “firmament” appears in the King James version of the Old Testament 17 times, and in each case it is translated from the Hebrew word raqiya, which meant the visible vault of the sky. The word raqiya comes from riqqua, meaning “beaten out.” In ancient times, brass objects were either cast in the form required or beaten into shape on an anvil. A good craftsman could beat a lump of cast brass into a thin bowl. Thus, Elihu asks Job, “Can you beat out [raqa] the vault of the skies, as he does, hard as a mirror of cast metal (Job 37:18)?”

Elihu's question shows that the Hebrews considered the vault of heaven a solid, physical object. Such a large dome would be a tremendous feat of engineering. The Hebrews (and supposedly Yahweh Himself) considered it exactly that, and this point is hammered home by five scriptures:

Job 9:8, “...who by himself spread out the heavens [shamayim]...”

Psalm 19:1, “The heavens [shamayim] tell out the glory of God, the vault of heaven [raqiya] reveals his handiwork.”

Psalm 102:25, “...the heavens [shamayim] were thy handiwork.”

Isaiah 45:12, “I, with my own hands, stretched out the heavens [shamayim] and caused all their host to shine...”

Isaiah 48:13, “...with my right hand I formed the expanse of the sky [shamayim]...”

If these verses are about a mere illusion of a vault, they are surely much ado about nothing. Shamayim comes from shameh, a root meaning to be lofty. It literally means the sky. Other passages complete the picture of the sky as a lofty, physical dome. God “sits throned on the vaulted roof of earth [chuwg], whose inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the skies [shamayim] like a curtain, he spreads them out like a tent to live in...[Isaiah 40:22].” Chuwg literally means “circle” or “encompassed.” By extension, it can mean roundness, as in a rounded dome or vault. Job 22:14 says God “walks to and fro on the vault of heaven [chuwg].” In both verses, the use of chuwg implies a physical object, on which one can sit and walk. Likewise, the context in both cases requires elevation. In Isaiah, the elevation causes the people below to look small as grasshoppers. In Job, God's eyes must penetrate the clouds to view the doings of humans below. Elevation is also implied by Job 22:12: “Surely God is at the zenith of the heavens [shamayim] and looks down on all the stars, high as they are.”

This picture of the cosmos is reinforced by Ezekiel's vision. The Hebrew word raqiya appears five times in Ezekiel, four times in Ezekiel 1:22-26 and once in Ezekiel 10:1. In each case the context requires a literal vault or dome. The vault appears above the “living creatures” and glitters “like a sheet of ice.” Above the vault is a throne of sapphire (or lapis lazuli). Seated on the throne is “a form in human likeness,” which is radiant and “like the appearance of the glory of the Lord.” In short, Ezekiel saw a vision of God sitting throned on the vault of heaven, as described in Isaiah 40:22.

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Flat Earth and God

Some Flat Earthers Believe in God But Not the Bible

There are many people who know about the flat earth truth but are not Christians. In fact, some of them are hostel to Christians; they don’t want to hear others bring Christianity into the flat earth debate, yet, they have the gall to criticize Christians. I won’t mention any names but you’ll probably come across them in your research on the flat earth.

Well, I thought it was about time to bring Christianity into the picture and how it RELATES to the flat earth. I can’t do it on their forums, as I would be kicked off; I can’t do it on their websites as they don’t have a way for you to respond to their readers. Thus, the only way I can fight this ignorance and hostility is by having my own blog and forum. That is why I created www.flatearthandthebible.blogspot.com

Flat earthers have no right to criticize Christians in their discussion with the flat earth. They know they are hiding the truth – it’s not done out of ignorance on their part. The reason why I can say that is, anyone who researches the flat earth and have read the early books and pamphlets know that the early flat earthers (late 19th and early 20th Century) know that these people were Christians; they often had Bible quotes telling you about the true nature of the earth, sun and moon.

The Bible has everything to do with the flat earth, as it was the Creator who created the earth so, don’t you think He would have something to say about His creation? Of course He would but some flat earthers would like you to ignore it.

Then, you have some flat earthers who do quote about the verses that says, for example, that the earth is on foundations and it is fixed. This, of course, would plainly tell you that the earth does NOT rotate nor does it move through space. Yet, they don’t want to have a talk on this subject any further – just quoting some verses is the most they will do.

Now, if these non-Christian flat eathers are sincere, they would want to find out what else the Bible says about how to live our lives. But they don’t want to go there as they will have to make more changes in their beliefs and the world around them.

(You can find some of the verses of what the Bible says about the earth within this blog, so I won’t go into it here.)

As you study the flat earth, you’ll find that this subject is not the only one that the government/education/media has covered up – there are many other things that has been concealed from you, too. That is why you’ll see on flat earth sites another category of, what is called, Conspiracies, as that is what is happening.

Learning about the flat earth and the true nature of the Sun, Moon and stars, you’ll see why it’s so important that the world leaders don’t want you to know the truth. After all, what reason would the so-called elite have in the public knowing that the earth is flat and we are the only “planet” out there? You are probably asking yourself – and rightly so – what difference would it make to them that we are told that truth? “After all,” you may say, “they are already making all the money off of us that they want; they are already controlling what little freedom we have, and telling us that the earth is flat instead of round would not change anything else.”

This is a good question and one that needs to be answered. The reason that the anti-Christs, or whatever you want to call them, is that they don’t want you to know that there is one God and that God is of the Bible; they don’t want people to start reading the rest of the Bible and find answers to their problems.

For centuries now, those in power have been successful in keeping us from knowing the truth about all of our earthly problems such as: health, relationship to one another, judiciary, economy, military, etc. After all if the people don’t know the truth, the Jews and others who work with them will be able to control us by keeping us poor, sick and ignorant. This is where they make their money. The answers to these problems are in the Bible, so, centuries ago, they have kept us from really reading and studying the Bible and CONTROLING what we read. The descendants of the ancient Edomites and Khazars have used various methods with success to do this. One example is that for centuries the Catholics did not allow their people to own and read the Bible. Now, that succeeded until Martin Luther came around and the invention of the printing press.

After people became Protestants, where they were allowed and encouraged to read the Bible, other methods of control had to be implemented. Then, in the 19th Century came Darwin and his push for evolution. About the same time was the Jew Karl Marx and his book on Communism called Das Kapital (The Capital).

The Jews, who had infiltrated both the Catholic and Protestant churches changed the meaning of the Bible by changing what the priests and pastors said from the pulpits.

Midway through the 20th Century changes came in the form of new versions of the Bible, where words were changed and whole verses taken out. Such corrupted versions are: New International Bible, The Living Bible, New American Version, The New King James Version, etc. Then, you had the big move of, what is known as “Christian Zionists” (an oxymoron if I ever heard of one) – those who favour every little thing that Israel is doing in the Middle East. These “Christians” support the bandit state of Israel with their money, time, votes and moral support. Many young men gladly go off to war in the Middle East to fight for the Jews in Israel.

After one method of control wears off another method has to be invented and implemented. So, NASA had been given the task to do this, along with the twisted science of what is called modern day astronomy and astrophysics.

Those who really control the destiny of America have figured out many years ago that if they can get the people to believe that there are billions of galaxies with trillions of planets out there; and that we are just one of billions of planets that harbours intelligent life; that there are many Extra-Terrestrials out there visiting earth, it would make any Christian feel insignificant. And for those who are not Christian, they have no reason to become one – after all, they think, “What importance are we to God when He has billions of others planets to visit.”

Then, if that wasn’t enough, people like Jordan Maxwell and David Icke say Aliens have created us, they have changed our DNA. This, of course, takes God completely out of the equation or at least delegates Him to a position of no direct involvement in the affairs of men.

In short, all of this keeps us from finding the answers in the Bible.

You see, philosophy can keep people ignorant for only so long before someone wakes up and learns the truth and starts telling others. Such control of the people through words include reading other Bible versions instead of the 1611 King James version. The philosophy of Communism is easy to see through for anyone that has half a brain. But with the technology age, more and more people look towards physical things they can point to, see and feel; this is the space agency.

With the advent of the American and Russian space programs, people can see and say, “Look at that rocket going to the moon!” or “We are sending satellites to other planets – look at the pictures that are brought back to us!” or “Look at those beautiful galaxies that the Hubble Telescope took!”

These things are more “real” to the average person; certainly more real than some old book about “Evolution of the Species.”

So, you will still look towards the astronomers and scientists who work in NASA, Boeing and Martin-Marietta for your reality instead of the Holy Bible.

But when people wake up and find out such things that earth is flat and stationary (as the Bible says); that the Sun moves and not the earth (as the Bible says); that there is a firmament (dome) above (as the Bible says), and that Heaven is above us (as the Bible says), then knowing that we truly are the centre of God’s creation, perhaps people will treat each other better. And by treating each other better, we will follow the Laws, Statues and Judgements of God Almighty. When that day comes it will be the end of this old Babylonian System – Amen.

We Are Without Excuse

Flat Earth: We Are Without Excuse

 

Earth Not a Globe Review Nos. 1-3

Click Here for another Issue of Earth Not a Globe Review

The inspired Psalmist says that “ The heavens declare of glory of ( and the firmament sheweth his handywork ”; therefore, whatever some professed Christians affirm to the contrary, the subject of Creation is connected with right views of God, his worship, and his glory. But if we would have a right conception of God, and his glory, we must see to it that we have a right conception of his works in Creation. How, for instance, do we obtain an insight into the character of any great man, whether he be a poet, politician, sculptor, general, or king ? It is not by his acts, or his works? But suppose these acts, or works, are misrepresented to us, or defaced by someone, should we not have , false and distorted views respecting the author, artist, or the maker of those things? Assuredly. And so it comes to pass in respect to the construction of the world, false views of the universe have led men into a misconception respecting the Character of God, and even alas ! in many cases, to a denial of the very existence of such a personal Being.

Let us, then, endeavour to come back to first principles. The world exists, and must have come from somewhere. It is “ unthinkable ” to say it came by chance, or any “ fortuitous concourse of atoms.” Its wonderful variety, the general co-relation and adaptability of its various parts, and the exact and never failing motions of all the heavenly bodies, prove, to any well-balanced and unprejudiced mind, that some grand and controlling Intelligence directs and rules over all. As the apostle Paul declares, “ The invisible things of Him from the creation to the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead : so that they are without excuse.” Rom. 1:20.

A grand truth lies in this statement of the apostle. Paul was no fool. It is allowed on all sides, alike by friend and foe, Sceptic and Christian, M. Renan and the Archbishop of Canterbury, that no one man has had more influence in forming Christianity, the history of which has for eighteen centuries been making the history of the civilized world, than the apostle Paul. His name will be had in honour when the names of the adversaries of the truth will have sunk into merited and everlasting oblivion. And this great man agrees with the Psalmist in teaching that the Creation, as set forth in the Bible, and as found in what some call “ Nature,” sets forth unmistakably the grand truth that God is. Now, this is a fundamental verity, and the foundation of all true faith, G o d i s . And “ he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Now, this faith is, on the one hand, neither an unreasoning credulity, nor, on the other hand, is it a bigoted (/belief. It is based on an intelligent and reasonable understanding of the things that are seen above and around us.

The Book of Nature is open to all men; but it must be read and studied without prejudice and without philosophical bias. We must come to it like little children, with the honest desire to know the truth, and not attempt to read into it our own, nor any one else’s, plausible or implausible hypotheses. If we do this patiently and persistently, we shall be “ rewarded ” : the grand and ineffaceable truth will dawn upon us that God is.

We shall see His glory in the bright and blazing sun as he goes forth majestically, like a giant, to run his daily course. We shall own His Power and Godhead when the moon, queen of the night, rises in quiet and stately splendour, to reflect her silver radiance in every rippling stream. And we shall confess His wisdom and unfailing skill when, at night, we gaze up into the firmament and behold ten thousand glittering gems, shining in matchless beauty, and shedding upon the earth their silent influences, as they nightly perform their appointed revolutions.

“ The firmament sheweth His handiwork.’’ That vast and incomparable structure which spans the heavens, and covers the earth with its capacious dome, divides the waters which are “ above” the firmament from the waters which are “ under ” the firmament. And when we realize something of the tremendous size of this tent-like covering, spanning with one mighty arch across the whole of the outstretched earth ; when we considered its weight, its strength, its stability, and the avowed purpose for which it was made by the Creator, we can unhesitatingly and devoutly again exclaim with the Psalmist, “The firmament sheweth His handiwork.”

No wonder such a “ work ” occupied the whole of one day, the third, in the “ great and marvellous ” work of the six days Creation. Job, one of the finest, and certainly one of the most ancient, of true philosophers, when comparing the works of God with the puny works of man, asks : “ Hast thou with Him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten lo o k in g glass ? ” Job 37 ; 18. It is, perhaps, this mirror-like quality which the firmament possesses that makes unbelieving “ scientists ” think that they can, with their glasses, peer into what they call “ space,” which they affirm to be “ boundless.” As well might a child, gazing upon the bosom of a glassy lake, affirm that it had no bottom, and that the sky and clouds, reflected from its placid surface, were slumbering in the unfathomed depths below, and not above, its waters.

The idea of unlimited “space,” filled with an infinity of revolving worlds or globes, is not only a bewildering idea, unfounded on fact, but it directly tends to remove the Creator, or rather the idea of a Creator, far, and farther, away from this earthly plane of ours. It necessarily and logically leads to Atheism; and too often, alas! it practically leads men there. The idea of Heaven as a place, the abode of The Eternal, becomes to the logical and thinking Newtonian a 7nyth and God, if he acknowledge such a personal Being at all, becomes farther and farther removed from the scene of all earthly operations. Whereas the Saviour of the World, who “ came down from Heaven,” to do his Father’s will, taught His disciples to believe that Heaven was not very far off; that it was directly and always “ above ” u s ; that God was concerned in the work of His hands; and that as “our Father,” He was near enough to hear the prayers of all those who call upon him in sincerity and truth. This is assuring : this is comforting. God cares for the world ; and He will punish those who afflict mankind with their selfishness, their greed, their falsehoods, and their oppressions. Yea, God has “ so loved the world”—not the “ globe,” as some misguided Christians have lately printed and perverted this sublime text with a ridiculous “ globe” stamped on the paper—God “ so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This, we say, is comforting. It is assuring. But, on the astronomical hypothesis, the world is like an uncared-for orphan, or a desolate wanderer: God is removed too far from us to be any practical use; and the idea of Heaven is so vague, that such a place, if it exist at all, may be anywhere or nowhere; “all round the globe;” or spirited away from us altogether, “beyond the bounds of time and space.” Thus the Christian’s hope is undermined, and his faith is eaten away at the very core by this insidious and so-called “ scientific” worm. This is most calamitous ; yet even some of our “ spiritual guides ” are either so false to their professions, or are so deceived themselves, that they cry out, “ It does not matter what shape the earth is ; we don’t care whether it be round or flat, square or oblong, so long as ’—yes, so long as they get a good “ living,” and hold a respectable position in society ? Is this it ? Such a confession really means, when put into plain language, We do not care whether the Bible be true or false, in its record of Creation, so long as our interests or our hope of “ Salvation ” is assured. But “ woe ” is pronounced against such easy going shepherds of Israel. “ Woe” to them who are leaving their flocks to become a prey to the devouring wolves of “ Science, ” “ falsely so called,” as the great apostle intimates. Let us be on our guard. There are honourable exceptions to such false shepherds and teachers, and others are being raised up to warn us. We have quoted some of their noble testimonies. Let us give heed to these needful warnings. God has never left Himself without witnesses to His Truth whether in Nature or in Revelation. We may shew this, if the Lord permit, more fully another time as regards Creation truth. In conclusion, we would call the attention of all our readers to the seasonable warning given us by the Apostle Paul, where he says;— ‘‘ Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ,” Col. 2 : 8. And again, Let us “ prove all things ; and hold fast that which is good.”