Flat Earth

[JNB2]

I do not wish to start a debate, but I am just curious if there are any on this forum who believe that the earth is shaped like a flat disc ?

 

[Cimorene]

If you do a keyword search you'll see that there are people here who think the earth is flat. Idk if they're serious or trolling to make Christians look bad.

 

[AlexDTX]

I do not wish to start a debate, but I am just curious if there are any on this forum who believe that the earth is shaped like a flat disc ?

I think a better question is, "Are there believers in this forum who believe in geocentricity instead of heliocentricity? I, for one, believe how the Bible describes creation, which is geocentric.

 

[JNB2]

Thank you for your replies. I know there are actually at least two Flat Earth Society websites on the Internet, but I just wanted to get some replies from
a different source.

 

[inquiring mind]

All the science stuff aside... I'm curious as to how they explain the pictures taken from space?

 

[JNB2]

I would have to agree with Cimorene.

I don't know if those on The Flat Earth Society websites are serious or just trolling.

On second thought, maybe this forum is not the proper place for this subject for fear of offending one side or the other on the question of whether or not the earth is a flat disc.

On another website, the opinion was expressed that if you did not believe that the earth was flat you were not "A born again True Believer." Some would be offended.

 

[Tetra]

I would have to agree with Cimorene.

I don't know if those on The Flat Earth Society websites are serious or just trolling.

On second thought, maybe this forum is not the proper place for this subject for fear of offending one side or the other on the question of whether or not the earth is a flat disc.

Nothing wrong with offending people, I do it all the time.

 

[JNB2]

l really didn't intend to debate, but just wondered if there were really any persons who either believed the earth was flat or pretended for the sake of debate. Other than the two websites I had never met nor had ever heard of them, so I wondered if there were really any of them. I just chanced on those websites by accident.

But there is really no debate. The earth is a globe and has been known and proven for several milennia. As for their denial of science, the FES websites would not be here if it was not for science. There is no evidence that the earth is anything but a globe.

I have also had ample opportunity to observe that the earth is a globe from studies of geography, service in the U.S. Navy, and work in electronic related fields of work such as radio, radar and related devices.

Like most of people such as those with whom I know or with whom I have worked,
we know the earth is a globe and it orbits around the sun, or is heliocentric. That is what
I meant that some might be offended by this, because I assume the ğeocenttics would say the earth is a flat disc, does not move, and every thinğ , includinğ the sun and the stars revolve around it. But if they had not been involved in those subjects or studied about them, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to know otherwise.

 

[JNB2]

Comment to inquiring mind.:
The Flat Earth Society regard photos as fakes and not admissible evidence of space travel. They also appear to be in denial of all types of science.

 

[Qyöt27]

Considering this is the Methodist section of this forum, it would make sense to quote directly from the United Methodist Church's statement on Science and Technology:

Science and Technology

We recognize science as a legitimate interpretation of God’s natural world. We affirm the validity of the claims of science in describing the natural world and in determining what is scientific. We preclude science from making authoritative claims about theological issues and theology from making authoritative claims about scientific issues. We find that science’s descriptions of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution are not in conflict with theology. [...]

The UMC is the largest Methodist denomination, and like other Mainline churches, it isn't hostile to established science. It may not specifically call out Flat Eartherism as false, but it really doesn't have to - what with the fact that that same statement affirms that we accept evolution (it even hits all three types that come up in similar discussions) and a different resolution states our opposition to the teaching of Creationism/Intelligent Design in science classrooms.

 

[JNB2]

The main intent was just the subject of the flat earth in particular and to see if there were really any persons who believe the earth is flat other than those on The Flat Earth Society.

I just picked this section at random.

Once again, this is probably the wrong place for this ; it's best to drop the subject, and beat a hasty retreat, and vacate the premises, with apologies to all concerned.
These forums are for much more serious subjects and topics.

 

[Qyöt27]

For people other than the FES believing it, a couple fringe figures or conspiracistic personalities pop up from time to time.

It is a thought-provoking discussion to broach the reasons why people would believe that in this day and age, and how we as a society have failed to properly educate. It's a symptom of a much larger problem, a Flat Earth being a tiny obscure element of the fringe, but the real danger is the anti-intellectual and anti-science attitude behind that. An attitude that lies beneath a lot of other problems we're currently having that many would see as far less loony as a Flat Earth. Of concerted efforts to make things we thought we'd banished to the fringes normal again, and that's frightening and worth discussing.

 

[Dave-W]

I have engaged a couple of people on the more general sections of Christian Forums (never here in the Methodist folder) who sound very sincere in their belief of a flat earth. They also were rather young (teens)

 

[Dave-W]

I think a better question is, "Are there believers in this forum who believe in geocentricity instead of heliocentricity? I, for one, believe how the Bible describes creation, which is geocentric.

Geocentric and flat earth are not the same thing.

The problem with both geocentric and heliocentric models is it has even the nearest stars moving at many times the speed of light in their orbit of either the Earth or Sun.

 

[Joshua_5]

Geocentric and flat earth are not the same thing.

The problem with both geocentric and heliocentric models is it has even the nearest stars moving at many times the speed of light in their orbit of either the Earth or Sun.

The flat Earth model doesn't have that problem.

 

[Dave-W]

The flat Earth model doesn't have that problem.

Only if you take the upside down bowl with holes poked in it model for the stars in addition to the flat earth. Otherwise you still have stars that are dozens of light years away circling around every 24 hours.

 

[AlexDTX]

Geocentric and flat earth are not the same thing.

The problem with both geocentric and heliocentric models is it has even the nearest stars moving at many times the speed of light in their orbit of either the Earth or Sun.

I realize this. Dr. Russels has mathematical models that explain this in his book Starlight and Time.

 

[Dave-W]

Dr. Russels has mathematical models that explain this in his book Starlight and Time.

Well - like they always say: Figures do not lie, but liars can figure.

 

[AlexDTX]

Well - like they always say: Figures do not lie, but liars can figure.

That is a funny statement, but I would not be too quick to dismiss this man's work without having read it. The truth is, we do not know which model is true since we are inside the system. The only one who knows the truth of creation is God since He alone is outside the system.

 

[Dave-W]

The only one who knows the truth of creation is God since He alone is outside the system.

That is ultimately true. But much can be seen by observation, and Paul tells us that observing creation can tell us much about both creation and the Creator.