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| Ancient Hebrew Conception |
The Bible mentions the
“four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12, Revelation 7:1, 20:8) But the
references are idiomatic and most likely about the directions from which winds
were said to come (N,S,E,W). Also, a web search for earther maps shows they are
all round without corners.
There are more than a
couple dozen instances and versions of the phrase “ends of the earth.” But
these idiomatic terms simply mean the extremities of the known world. The
Hebrew for earth is also translated "nation" or “land” in myriad
Bible passages.
Another scripture says
that God “is he that sitteth upon the "circle of the earth," and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a
curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent.” (Isaiah 40:22) A circle can only be
drawn on a flat surface.
Some flat earthers use
this passage, “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain,
and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.” (Mat
4:8) The thinking is that if Satan and Jesus could see the whole earth from a
tall mountain, the topography must be flat all the way to the farthest points.
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| Flat Earth Map |
Flat earthers must ignore
thousands of years of science, satellite images, NASA photos, Hubble photos,
GPS, and common airline flight times/distances to avoid cognitive dissonance. They cherry-pick verses from whichever version of the Bible has the wording that is most supportive of their view.
The Bible also says, "the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them." If the earth rests on pillars, what keeps them from sinking?
Flat earth ideology seems
so ridiculous that there is speculation that the whole movement is some kind of
trolling game, just to rile everyone else. However, videos taken at the annual
Flat Earth International Conference and posted on YouTube show interviewees
sincerely defending their worldview right up to how the physics works at the
oceans’ edges where they have to say, “I don’t know.” There's also the question of whether Antarctica is the ring of ice at the perimeter that keeps the ocean from draining off the edge.