The Prism and the Rainbow: A Christian Explains Why Evolution Is Not a Threat

3. The Flat Earth Society

21 You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken. psalm 104:5 The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. ivy baker priest i t might seem strange that I now switch to a discussion of whether the earth is flat after stating that this book deals primarily with science , faith, evolution, and creationism. But I want to make a slight diversion here in order to introduce a problem arising from “biblical inerrancy,” the belief that the Bible is without error with regard to history or science, and “biblical literalism,” the belief that every word of the Bible is meant to be literally true. The themes of biblical literalism and inerrancy will also be treated in chapter 4, using a different type of example, because they play a large role in discussions about the interaction of science and Christianity. The Flat Earth Society 3 the prism and the rainbow 22 Let me begin by saying that the myth that there was widespread belief in a “flat earth” throughout the Middle Ages is exactly that: a myth. People of many different religious beliefs have speculated about the shape of the planet for more than 4,000 years.1 It is nearly impossible not to notice the slight curvature of the earth when you are out at sea, and people have been going to sea since earliest recorded history . It’s clear that most people who thought about the earth’s shape, Christians included, have realized that we live on a globe for a long time. What I’m talking about here is not the Dark Ages but a far more recent phenomenon that included outspoken leaders, beliefs, writings , lawsuits, and a society that was alive and well throughout the twentieth century. The details of this fascinating period in history are given in Christine Garwood’s book Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea (2007). When I first heard about the Flat Earth Society I thought it was probably just a bunch of people having fun and kidding around. It’s not. Or at least it wasn’t at the time. The Flat Earth Society was headquartered just east of Lancaster, California, not far from where I am writing this. And their members claimed to be quite serious about their belief that the world was flat. They pointed to different types of evidence—easy to do in an area as flat as Lancaster and the surrounding desert—that supported their view, and they believed that teaching about a round earth was some kind of conspiracy, as was, in their minds, the space shuttle and NASA in general. What’s more, at least some of them were convinced that their belief in a flat earth was completely supported by an inerrant reading of the Bible.2 Others were far more humble, believing the earth was flat because of their sincere but unsophisticated religious faith and their lack of opportunity for a proper education. There are many Bible verses that flat-earth believers have pointed to in order to defend their position. Perhaps the best known of these is Revelation 20:7-8, where the earth is depicted as having four corners. 23 The Flat Earth Society Some early Christian literalists even compiled lists of such verses that numbered into the hundreds.3 There are even more verses that would seem to support the idea that the earth is fixed (immovable).4 Perhaps not surprisingly, arguments for a “fixed” earth are also put forth from time to time by flat-earth believers. You might think that I am describing the Flat Earth Society in order to ridicule its beliefs and its members, but I am not. They have the right to believe what they wish, and they have the right to try as hard as they can to convince me (and others) that they are correct; it’s part of what makes an open society work well. And again, I most definitely am not saying that all Christians, as a group, ever believed that the world was flat. But some Christians believed in a flat earth (as apparently some still do) based on their interpretation of parts of the Bible, because they thought the Bible instructed them to believe it, as noted above—just as some have argued against the earth circling the sun...