Here is a brief and interesting article which explains why Christian flat earth, or Biblical Cosmology as they call it, is dangerous.
The article also explains why Biblical Cosmologists deny the scientific explanation of gravity, as indeed @KellyJay also denies it.
https://calvaryoxnard.org/blog/2023/03/05/the-flat-earth-movement
Denver Christian “Biblical earth” a report from the Guardian:
Quote from the Christian organiser
“I’d first heard it in the Bible and thought ‘this can’t be true,’” he recalled, speaking with rapid excitement. “I mean, I believed everything else, that the Earth was created in six literal days, but what about all this other stuff [about a flat Earth]? To be consistent as a biblical literalist, I can’t pick and choose.”
The article is a fascinating read.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/18/flat-earthers-keep-the-faith-at-denver-conference
It’s interesting that there are thus far no Christians here prepared to state openly whether they do or do not subscribe to this nonsense.
Why is this topic important? Why am I going on about it?
Humans discovered that the earth was a globe 3 - 5 centuries before Jesus Christ walked the earth. Eratosthenes (276–194 BC) calculated the circumference of the earth incredibly accurately, to within a few hundred kilometres, using the scientific methods of geometry and trigonometry and so displaced the flat earth model. Jesus birth was still 200 years away. The spherical earth discovery was accepted in all academic and societal thinking, even through the dark ages.
Flat earth mumbo jumbo crept back into western society in the 1800s. The contemporary flat Earth belief originated with the English writer Samuel Rowbotham (1816–1884) and was propagated by Orlando Ferguson. Ferguson created a flat earth map which contained several biblical references and attacked the globe model. Both held to a paradigm of Biblical Literalism.
So what’s the problem?
The problem is that in a recent survey of Americans, 94% of older adults said that they had always believed the earth was a globe. Young adults it was 66%. So 44% of young Americans ahead at some point believed the earth was not a globe. This is astonishing, especially given the age of the knowledge that the earth is a globe.
Biblical literalism, conspiracy theories, poor education, freedom of speech (a good thing) and the power of internet have give rise to a new generation of people who are willing to accept a lie over the truth. Misinformation is rife, and Biblical Literalism is helping to drive it.
So why are you on at KellyJay dive?
Well KellyJay, is more or less, a biblical literalist who has publicly denied the scientific explanation of gravity. Flat Earth proponents deny gravity exits as described by science. It goes: If the earth is flat then gravity cannot exit based on Einstein’s explanation of mass coalescing, warping space and creating spherical bodies.
This new wave of flat earth biblical cosmology has risen exponentially in numbers in the last 5 to 10 years and many people believe it. They are convinced that we are being duped by science. There is also now an insight into some of the non-Christian flat earth groups which indicates that in fact many of them don’t actually believe it, they are simply people having fun with the gullibility of others who are looking for simplistic explanations for complex cosmological and biological truths.
We are heading into a period where large swathes of easily influenced, poorly educated people will believe almost anything. Even some the well educated deny gravity, moon landings and see conspiracies everywhere.
Biblical literalism is a plague on Christianity.
@divegeester saidNow you see why America is having such a problem vis-à-vis Trump.
We are heading into a period where large swathes of easily influenced, poorly educated people will believe almost anything. Even some the well educated deny gravity, moon landings and see conspiracies everywhere.
Fully half of America is ignorant enough to be directly indoctrinated by his brand of self-worship.
Decades of higher education being out of reach of poorer Americans is driving the divide. And it's only going to get worse before it gets better. (SC rescinding AA, for example.)