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QUOTE
It is a well-established Biblical fact that the Earth is flat and immobile. Every good Biblical literalist knows the Scriptural passages which demonstrate that the Earth does not move and that its surface is not curved: Daniel 4:10-11, Matthew 4:8, Joshua 10:12, 1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalms 93:1 & 96:10 & 104:5, Isaiah 45:18; the list goes on and on.
But far too many lazy Biblical literalists today ignore the plain fact that the Bible also tells us that the flat Earth does not have curved edges. Even the late, great Charles K. Johnson, the valiant fighter for the Truth who carried the message of the earlier Zetetic Astronomers forward into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by founding the International Flat Earth Society, made the grievous error of assuming that the Earth was shaped like a circular disk. Nothing could be further from the Truth.
The Biblically possible shapes of the Earth
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."
This clearly shows that the Earth has exactly four corners. One might argue that the edges of the Earth between these four corners could be curved. But look at the following passages in the Book of Job:
"for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens."
— Job 28:24 (NIV translation)
"He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth."
— Job 37:3 (NIV translation)
Both of these passages clearly state that the earth has ends — that is, straight edges. This, combined with the four corners provided in Revelation 7:1, means that the Earth must be some kind of quadrilateral shape. The possibilities are:
A square
A non-square rectangle
A non-square rhombus (i.e. a "diamond" shape)
A non-rectangular, non-rhombic parallelogram
A trapezoid
A concave quadrilateral
An isosceles quadrilateral
A scalene quadrilateral
Narrowing down the possibilities
We can find more information about the shape of the Earth in the Book of Isaiah:
"He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth."
— Isaiah 11:12 (NIV translation)
A quarter, of course, means exactly one-fourth. In order for the Earth to have four quarters, it must be of a shape that is divisible into four pieces that are all exactly the same shape and size as one another, i.e. four congruent pieces. Not all quadrilateral shapes can be divided into four congruent pieces.
So, in light of Isaiah 11:12, the two Job passages, and Revelation 7:1, the possible shapes of the Earth are limited to:
A square
A non-square rectangle
A non-square rhombus
A non-rectangular, non-rhombic parallelogram
An isosceles trapezoid with three sides of identical length
An isosceles trapezoid with the shorter parallel side 1/3 the length of the longer parallel side
An isosceles concave quadrilateral
Narrowing down the possibilities even further
Finally, we can look to the mention of the four winds in Revelation 7:1 to give us the last clue. Everybody knows that "the four winds" are the North Wind, the South Wind, the East Wind, and the West Wind. Right? Well, Revelation 7:1 clearly shows four angels holding back these four winds. In order for each angel to "hold back" one of the Four Winds, he would have to be standing at the point on the Earth from whence the Wind originated. Thus, to hold back the North Wind, an angel would have to be standing at the northernmost point on the Earth. To hold back the South Wind, an angel would have to be standing at the southernmost point on the Earth. Et cetera. The four angels would have to have been standing at the northernmost, southernmost, easternmost, and westernmost points on the Earth — in other words, at the extreme ends of the four main compass points.
But we already know that they were also standing at the four corners of the Earth. This means that the four corners of the Earth are located at the compass points! A non-square rectangle, a non-rhombic parallelogram, or an isosceles trapezoid cannot be aligned in such a way that their corners are pointing directly at the compass points. Only a rhombic shape can be aligned in such a way. Therefore, when we have carefully examined all the clues in Revelation 7:1, combined with the two Job passages and Isaiah 11:12, the only two possible shapes for the Earth are:
A square, or
A non-square rhombus
. . . with its corners oriented to point directly north, south, east, and west.
Why the Earth must be square
We know that God is perfect. God would, therefore, have created the Earth in the most perfect shape possible. As I've already proven, we know from Rev 7:1, Isaiah 11:12, and Job that the Earth must be a rhombus of some sort. It makes good Biblical sense that God would have created Earth to be the most perfect kind of rhombus possible. The most perfect kind of rhombus is the square. Its rectilinear corners perfectly match the rectitude of God. Therefore, the Earth must be square.
And if that's not enough to convince you, consider this: 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 perfecly 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.")
The supporting pillars
Take a gander at this passage from First Samuel:
"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth 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 (KJV translation)
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 themselves are resting on is unknown. They might not be resting upon anything. Perhaps they are being held up by divine 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: perhaps he's going to climb up one of these pillars. This is a speculation for another webpage, however.
But far too many lazy Biblical literalists today ignore the plain fact that the Bible also tells us that the flat Earth does not have curved edges. Even the late, great Charles K. Johnson, the valiant fighter for the Truth who carried the message of the earlier Zetetic Astronomers forward into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by founding the International Flat Earth Society, made the grievous error of assuming that the Earth was shaped like a circular disk. Nothing could be further from the Truth.
The Biblically possible shapes of the Earth
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."
This clearly shows that the Earth has exactly four corners. One might argue that the edges of the Earth between these four corners could be curved. But look at the following passages in the Book of Job:
"for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens."
— Job 28:24 (NIV translation)
"He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth."
— Job 37:3 (NIV translation)
Both of these passages clearly state that the earth has ends — that is, straight edges. This, combined with the four corners provided in Revelation 7:1, means that the Earth must be some kind of quadrilateral shape. The possibilities are:
A square
A non-square rectangle
A non-square rhombus (i.e. a "diamond" shape)
A non-rectangular, non-rhombic parallelogram
A trapezoid
A concave quadrilateral
An isosceles quadrilateral
A scalene quadrilateral
Narrowing down the possibilities
We can find more information about the shape of the Earth in the Book of Isaiah:
"He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth."
— Isaiah 11:12 (NIV translation)
A quarter, of course, means exactly one-fourth. In order for the Earth to have four quarters, it must be of a shape that is divisible into four pieces that are all exactly the same shape and size as one another, i.e. four congruent pieces. Not all quadrilateral shapes can be divided into four congruent pieces.
So, in light of Isaiah 11:12, the two Job passages, and Revelation 7:1, the possible shapes of the Earth are limited to:
A square
A non-square rectangle
A non-square rhombus
A non-rectangular, non-rhombic parallelogram
An isosceles trapezoid with three sides of identical length
An isosceles trapezoid with the shorter parallel side 1/3 the length of the longer parallel side
An isosceles concave quadrilateral
Narrowing down the possibilities even further
Finally, we can look to the mention of the four winds in Revelation 7:1 to give us the last clue. Everybody knows that "the four winds" are the North Wind, the South Wind, the East Wind, and the West Wind. Right? Well, Revelation 7:1 clearly shows four angels holding back these four winds. In order for each angel to "hold back" one of the Four Winds, he would have to be standing at the point on the Earth from whence the Wind originated. Thus, to hold back the North Wind, an angel would have to be standing at the northernmost point on the Earth. To hold back the South Wind, an angel would have to be standing at the southernmost point on the Earth. Et cetera. The four angels would have to have been standing at the northernmost, southernmost, easternmost, and westernmost points on the Earth — in other words, at the extreme ends of the four main compass points.
But we already know that they were also standing at the four corners of the Earth. This means that the four corners of the Earth are located at the compass points! A non-square rectangle, a non-rhombic parallelogram, or an isosceles trapezoid cannot be aligned in such a way that their corners are pointing directly at the compass points. Only a rhombic shape can be aligned in such a way. Therefore, when we have carefully examined all the clues in Revelation 7:1, combined with the two Job passages and Isaiah 11:12, the only two possible shapes for the Earth are:
A square, or
A non-square rhombus
. . . with its corners oriented to point directly north, south, east, and west.
Why the Earth must be square
We know that God is perfect. God would, therefore, have created the Earth in the most perfect shape possible. As I've already proven, we know from Rev 7:1, Isaiah 11:12, and Job that the Earth must be a rhombus of some sort. It makes good Biblical sense that God would have created Earth to be the most perfect kind of rhombus possible. The most perfect kind of rhombus is the square. Its rectilinear corners perfectly match the rectitude of God. Therefore, the Earth must be square.
And if that's not enough to convince you, consider this: 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 perfecly 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.")
The supporting pillars
Take a gander at this passage from First Samuel:
"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth 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 (KJV translation)
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 themselves are resting on is unknown. They might not be resting upon anything. Perhaps they are being held up by divine 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: perhaps he's going to climb up one of these pillars. This is a speculation for another webpage, however.
Click http://members.dslextreme.com/users/rogerm...uare_earth.html to read the lulzy FAQs.
tl;dr = Kid preaching about how the bible says the earth is square. And believes it.
Discuss
.
