Flat Earth Cult? Examined by Dale Brown

I once had a Muslim mock my Christian faith by claiming we believe in a flat earth.  I reminded him of Columbus, a Catholic who believed in the Bible, believing he could sail west to reach India.  Columbus understood the movement of the earth and the moon which cause the rise and fall of ocean tides.  Understanding the logic I was soon praying with this Muslim man.

Anyone who has sailed offshore in a boat discovers that mountain peaks can be seen for a very long distance while the base of the mountains are hidden by the curve of the ocean surface.  It is for this reason navigators would send a man up to the crows nest to look for land.  Those on deck would not be in a position to see very far even on a clear day.

I took this picture of Mt. Fairweather

at daybreak after crossing the Gulf of Alaska

One will notice the further one gets from the direct rays of the sun at the equator the colder things get.  The obvious curve of the earth makes solar panels less effective as one gets closer to the poles.
Another navigation tool that has been used since the beginning of time is the North Star.  This bright star remains stationary as all other stars revolve around it because of the rotation of the earth.  If one goes south of the equator this star is no longer visible because of the curve of the earth therefore a group of stars called the Southern Cross is used as the reference.  If the earth was flat this northern and southern hemisphere issue would not be a problem.

Lighthouses found on navigation charts are shown with information regarding its height so that the sailor will know at what distance the light will dip below the horizon.   Normally on deck the sailor will not be able to see the direct light unless he is closer than about 18 nautical miles (depending on how high it is from tide water).  Further than this one might see only a faint glow upon each flash thus giving the navigator some idea of his distances from the shoreline.  This was understood thousands of years ago when the famous four-hundred-foot lighthouse stood near Alexandria, Egypt.  It could be seen for thirty-eight miles.  One might notice that the farther one gets from the equator the more pronounce are the ocean tides which of course are caused by the gravitation force of the moon pulling on the oceans as the earth rotates.  The KJV of Genesis uses the word "seas" in place of oceans which presents a problem.  Seas differ from oceans in that they do not have tides because they are surrounded by land masses that hinder this pull toward the equator.  Oceans of the northern and southern hemisphere also exhibit circular currents that are influenced by the fact the earth is turning on its axis.  The Japanese current constantly flows north and eastward toward Alaska then south to the equator, then westward again.  South of the equator the direction is reversed.  A flat earth would not display this kind of movement.  On a smaller scale the direction water spins in a drain in a sink in the northern hemisphere is clockwise whereas in the southern hemisphere it is the opposite direction.  This suggests that Genesis should be more correctly read like the Psalms which are more poetic in nature and not meant to be taken so literal.  In Genesis 1:6 the firmament (land) divides the waters, whereas in Genesis 1:8 the "firmament" is called Heaven by God.  In Genesis we read of the "generations" of the heavens and the earth, as though it is talking about the generation of a person.  This is referred to as a toledoth, which in the bible is usually referring to the genealogy of a certain person.  Modern versions use "account" in place of generation in Genesis 2:4 to avoid such confusion.  Flat-earthers like confusion however because it creates a word salad that is hard to debate. 

Today we have tide books that tell us when the tide is at its peaks and lows

We would often take advantage of the tides to do maintenance inspections on the bottom of our boat.

I remember once flying from Fairbanks, Alaska to London over the northern icecap.  One can actually see the curve of the earth from such a high altitude.  Obviously there is no flat earth from up there.  When a Christian begins to promote this flat earth business to an educated adult he has lost all credibility in the eyes of an unbeliever.  Why would they listen to the gospel from such an unreliable  source?  How can a Christian feel comfortable promoting what is obviously a lie?  I remember when I was a kid hearing my grandfather claim that God would never allow man to land on the moon.  A few months later when the first moon landing happened my grandfather had to come up with some other strange ideas.  He was no longer one that I would turn to for advice.  Yes, we have actually been to the moon and the GPS in your smart phone is tracking you from a couple dozen satellites that orbit the earth.  A flat earth would require only three satellites, but let's not get technical.  All that is necessary is to look up into the dark sky and one can see some of these satellites moving along in their orbit.

People often argue that the picture above is fake because we can see no stars.  Can anyone see stars in the light of day?

Astronauts who trusted God

Many of the astronauts who went to the moon were believers in God.  John Glenn (NASA's first crewed orbital flight), Frank Borman - Apollo 8, (first flight around the moon) read bible verses from space, Jim Irwin - Apollo 15 (eighth person to walk on the moon, spoke of the presence of God there), Charlie Duke - Apollo 16 (tenth person to walk on the moon) gave his life to Jesus in the front seat of his car in New Braunfels, Texas.

Now and again the earth passes between the moon and the sun causing a shadow across the moon and for a short time the moon appears a dull red which we call a blood moon.

There are places in Washington and Oregon state where one can see the tips of volcanoes such as Mt. Rainier, Adams and Mt. Hood when they are hundreds of miles away, but only the tips, because of the curvature of the earth. 

 

People who reject basic scientific logic are often the same people who cannot understand what gender they are.  The LGBTQwxyz folks keep adding letters to their alphabet.  We are having a hard time keeping the holy water from running off the edge of a flat earth.  Though some of the bible one must accept on faith, there are other things that are pure logic and have archaeological proof in their favor.  We do not serve a New Age gospel of fiction.

Auroras or lights that are seen around the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres further debunk the flat earth conspiracy nuts.  Notice that this interaction with radiation from the sun does not appear in the same way near the equator.  I painted the painting below which is a typical scene while cross country skiing during my many years in Alaska.  The magnetic field of the earth is created by the rotation of the earth thus we have a magnetic north and south.