I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that it’s impossible to read the news on any given day without running across an article about some conspiracy. Personally, I’m becoming skeptical of just about everything.
I really thought we’d put to bed the debate as to whether or not the Earth was round or flat. Some people think it’s round and some people think it’s flat. I’ve even seen some recommendations that we teach both theories in schools and let the kids make their own decision on the shape of the Earth.
Well, I was just about to throw in the towel, and say, “why not?” Give kids the option — if they’d rather live on a flat Earth than a round Earth, what’s it to me? If they don’t want to venture too far away from home for fear of falling off the edge, I’m ok with them staying put.
But as a public service, I think I should tell you that there is an organization that makes compelling arguments that the Earth is not round or merely flat. The organization that I’m talking about is The International Square Earth Society. As you may have guessed, this society is convinced it can prove the Earth is square.
Even within the “flat Earth” community, most or many believe believe that the flat Earth has curved edges. Even the founder of the International Flat Earth Society, Charles K. Johnson, made the error of assuming that the Earth was shaped like a circular disk. Of course nothing could be further from the truth according to the Square Earth people.
Much of the Square Earth Society’s reasoning is based on the Biblical facts and they claim that every good Biblical literalist knows all the Scriptural passages which demonstrate that the Earth does not move and that its surface is not curved. The Book of Revelation, chapter 7, verse 1, makes the following unmistakable statement about the shape of the Earth: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.”
That sure seems to make a good case for the Earth not being round. But the Square Earth Society offers many, many passages in the Bible supporting the argument that the Earth is really square, like: Daniel 4:10-11, Matthew 4:8, Joshua 10:12, Chronicles 16:30. Psalms 93: & 96:10& 104:5, Isaiah 45:18 and (as the society says) the list goes on and on.
Now — if all those Bible verses aren’t enough to convince you, the Square Earth Society asks you to consider this: (I am not making this up.)
“Of all the nations on Earth today, God most loves the United States of America. (This is evident from songs like “God Bless America,” and from the fact that Pat Robertson, God’s chosen spokesman, lives in the U.S.) America’s national pastime is the game of baseball. Baseball is played on a “diamond,” which is perfectly square in shape — and which, I might add, has its corners oriented to point toward the four compass points. God would not have made baseball into the national pastime of His favorite nation if He didn’t have a higher purpose in mind for it. Clearly, His higher purpose is to show us the True shape of the Earth. The Earth must be perfectly square, just like the diamond shaped field in God’s Chosen Sport is square.”
More evidence for the God/Baseball/Square-Earth connection can be found in the shape of the base bags, which are also perfectly square and oriented with their corners facing the same compass points that the diamond as a whole does, and in the fact that baseball’s most sacred ritual is called the World Series. And lest you doubt that Baseball is a divinely inspired game, I remind you that Charley McDowell has noted that the 90-foot distance between home plate and first base, which is just the right distance to make the game exciting, “was a pick from heaven.”
But wait! There’s more….
Take a gander at this passage from First Samuel:
“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifted up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them”
~ 1 Samuel 2:8
This clearly shows that the Earth rests on an unspecified number of pillars. (A couple of translations of the Old Testament floating around say “foundations” or “fixtures” in place of pillars, but the original Hebrew word that appears here is “Matsuwq,” which literally means a cast metal support, a pillar, or a column.) What the pillars are resting on is unknown. They might not be resting on anything. Perhaps they are being held up by devine grace. Perhaps they are infinitely tall. All we know for sure is that a set of pillars beneath the Earth must exist.
This means that Hell, which is under the Earth, is interrupted by pillars in some places. This may explain how Satan is going to break out of Hell after the thousand years of peace in Revelation…..
Wow! Talk about a compelling argument!
There have been many many attempts to disprove the facts laid out by the Square Earth Society, but they have answers for them all. I don’t have time, or room, here to list them all, but I think it’s worthwhile to show an example of the many futile attempts to discredit this theory. Many people have challenged the theory by asking, “What about Isaiah 40:22?” (Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 22 reads: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, an its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.”)
The Square Earth Society responded: “Does this mean the Earth is circular? Not at all. If it were circular, Job’s mention of the ends of the Earth would be meaningless. The word translated as “circle” in this verse is the Hebrew “Chuwg,” which can mean circle, but can also mean circuit or compass. When occurring by itself, this word can also mean the vault of the heavens. This verse probably refers to the fact that God sits enthroned above the vault of the heavens, which encompasses the whole Earth. Beside, everyone knows that tents are supposed to be square.”
I just don’t know what to say — the Square Earth Society seems to have the answer to any counter argument presented….
I think I’ve done my duty by bringing this most import subject to your attention….
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