Introducing the new flat earth society

For those of us unfamiliar with history, once upon a time Western civilization believed the earth was flat as far as the eye could see.

How far this flatness stretched nobody really knew, but as sure as they knew that the sun disappeared over the edge each night, they were sure that if you got too close you might fall off the edge, never to be heard of again. These were the days of darkness, and education was reserved exclusively for the wealthy and those of the ruling class while the general masses of humanity were kept in ignorance and dependent upon rumors and superstition.

And rumors did abound. In fact, word had gotten around that this flat earth rested on the backs of a few very large creatures. What these were nobody knew for sure. Perhaps they were very large elephants, or perhaps gigantic tortoises. At any rate, all the people really knew was that you had better not get too close to the edge or tragedy would strike. While those on land had little to fear, those who ventured out to sea must be extremely cautious.

While I suppose it is impossible to know for sure exactly when this rumor began, we can be very sure those of us here in the Americas of European descent would still be on that continent were it not for the efforts of an astute young man named Christopher Columbus, for it was he who noticed that ships sailing out of the harbor would slowly sink out of sight just as the sun each night, and so began his quest to prove the world is round.

While we no longer believe the world to be flat or resting on the backs of great monsters, man now wrestles with how our world and universe first began. While some folks believe this earth we live on and this universe in which it floats was created by a God of infinite power and wisdom, others believe these all just happened by chance and accident. While it is only natural that differences produce quarrels and strife between opposing views, those who believe we are here by accident have at times accused those who believe we are created as believing that the earth is flat. But is this really true? Are creationists really the prodigy of a flat earth legacy?

While it is acknowledged that religion played a role in the perpetuation of the flat earth myth, it is a mistake to believe the Christianity of today was indeed that same religion. What is true is that there is a religion behind what we can call “flat earth theology.”

Consider first of all that the religion in power in Columbus’ day had banned private ownership of the Bible. Though it is true that the Bible had been forbidden for over 1,000 years by the time Columbus had come on the scene, it would not begin to get into the hands of the common folk until reformers like Martin Luther and William Tyndale would come on the scene. Hmm. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Hasn’t the Bible been banned from American public education since 1964? Wasn’t it banned as a result of the efforts of secular humanism, the religion of atheism?

And consider also that the banning of the Bible in Columbus’ day reduced the people to relying on what others told them for their worldviews, not being able to read it for themselves. They weren’t allowed to read the Bible, but believed the earth was flat because that is what they were told. Hmm.

You know, if only the people had been allowed to read the Bible they never would have believed the earth was flat in Columbus’ day. In Isaiah 40:22 we find, “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.” Isaiah was written more than 500 years before the birth of Christ, and he testifies the earth is round. And in Job, believed to be the oldest book of the Bible, we find these words: “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”

What? Not on the backs of monsters?

May I suggest to you that had they only read the Bible they never would have believed in a flat earth that rested upon the backs of monsters to begin with. May I also suggest that the new flat earth society is religion that would keep you from reading the Bible, because it is in the Bible that we are told, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla; contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.

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