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The flat Earth model is an archaic conceptualisation of Earth's shape being one of a plane or disk. The myth of a giant turtle or tortoise supporting or containing the world occurs in Hindu, Chinese and in Native American mythology. Ancient Egyptian paintings and religious artefacts demonstrate the close relationship between spiritual beliefs and the Moon and Sun. The Moon was believed to be the nightly replacement of the Sun, the Sun being paramount and the lesser Moon being the ruler of the stars. These two objects were depicted as flat disks, often shown as elaborate headgear worn by the gods. For many Christians, the idea of a flat earth begins and ends with Scripture.

Old Testament writings of Isaiah are cited among the evidence. One passage reads, "It is He [God] who sits above the circle of the Earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in." There is a big distinction between the words 'circle' and 'ball' but the Bible deliberately chooses the Hebrew word for 'circle' in favour of the one for 'ball' thus implying that Earth is disk-like. Further Biblical 'evidence' comes from the time of Christ's temptation, remember, "The devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory." This would have been impossible on a spherical Earth.

Let me describe the configuration of a flat-earth model. If you were far enough away from Earth you would see a gigantic ball of seawater, suspended in space. This watery ball would be more than 50,000 km in diameter. Inside the upper half of this liquid ball, you would find a solid domed shell. Imagine, as an example, a hemispherical bowl, turned upside down and submerged in a basin of water. It would trap a pocket of air underwater. The surface of the water inside bowl would be flat. This is the conceptual model of a flat-earth.

Let me introduce the Biblical terminology that describes this. It speaks of the Firmament and the waters that lie beyond the Firmament. Elsewhere, the Bible also speaks of doorways to Heaven and it also refers to the Watery Deep. How do we map our idea of a flat earth with these Biblical terms? Come back to our demonstration model of an upturned hemispherical basin submerged in water. The Genesis account of creation describes it this way, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This account easily fits our flat-earth model. The trapped air inside the upturned bowl describes the space the Bible calls 'heaven and earth' This huge bubble of air, trapped beneath the upturned hemispherical canopy of the Firmament, was in pitch darkness. The Bible says that 'darkness was upon the face of the deep.' The Deep here referring to the watery depths of this enormous flat ocean that lay beneath the gigantic, overarching canopy which held the air in place. At this point in time, 'the earth was without form,' nothing existed other than a vast flat ocean of unfathomable depth.

Just like our upside-down bowl, submerged under water, there was water beneath the ocean surface as well as water above the canopy. This is how the Genesis account describes it, "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven." What do we understand by the word, 'firmament?' Middle English, around 1250—1300, incorporated the Late Latin word firmāmentum into the language. The word is made up of two parts, (1) firmā(re), meaning to support or prop up; and (2) mentum, meaning a concrete result of a certain action. Literally, to strengthen or support sky. The material comprising the upturned bowl in our analogy, the thing that separates the water below from the water above, is what the Bible calls the Firmament. God also calls the Firmament, 'Heaven.'

God set about creating luminaries, the Sun, Moon, planets and stars. Here's the Genesis account, "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good." It can easily be deduced from these passages that the stars were 'painted' on the inside surface of the dome. These are fixed in position and form the constellations we know today. The Sun and Moon are slightly different. They move around and create day and night. How is this possible in our flat-earth model? Think of this vast disk-like ocean, reaching to the edges of the firmament in all directions, as if it were a large analogue clock resting on a table. The clock would have hour and minute hands that sweep across the surface in a clockwise direction. The hands move at predictable rates but each in its own time. The Sun and Moon, in our flat-earth model, operate in precisely the same way the hour and minute hands do on our clock. The Sun sweeps across this vast ocean at a relatively low altitude, travelling in a clockwise direction, giving us the illusion that it rises in the east and sets in the west but it is like a little bead glued to the minute-hand of your watch travelling over its face. Both Sun and Moon are actually much smaller than the ones we were taught about in our spherical model. When the Sun is at the 10 o'clock position, it'll be midday in that part of the world but midnight diametrically opposite at the 5 o'clock position. Unlike the conventional spherical model, the flat-earth one doesn't have Earth tilted at 23°, accounting for seasonal fluctuations. Instead, for six months, the Sun slowly spirals in towards the Centre of the World and then for the next six months, it spirals back outward, approaching the world's outer rim, the place where the ocean meets the Firmament. This rhythmical spiralling inward and outward, gives rise to seasonal changes. The Sun's closest approach to the Centre of the World is the Tropic of Cancer, and the furthest point the Sun reaches on its outward spiral is the Tropic of Capricorn. The Moon spirals in and out too but not nearly to the same extent as the Sun does. The flat-earth model is supported by other texts in the Bible. Take the example of Joshua's writings in the Old Testament when he describes how God magically and literally stopped the clock. The Bible account reads, "The Sun stood still, and the Moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. […] The Sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day." The only way God could have done this with a spherical Earth would have been to stop the Earth rotating on its own axis but instead, He would have found it very easy to stop the clockwork movements of the Sun and Moon for a day in our flat-earth model.

There is an experiment used to prove that Earth is not globular, it is called the Bishop Experiment. Here's the experiment's description, "California Monterey Bay is a relatively long bay that sits on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The distance between the extremes of the Monterey Bay, Lovers Point in Pacific Grove and Lighthouse State Beach in Santa Cruz, is just over 23 statute miles [about 37 km]. On a very clear and chilly day it is possible to see Lighthouse Beach from Lovers Point and vice versa. With a good telescope, laying down on the stomach at the edge of the shore on the Lovers Point beach 20 inches above the sea level it is possible to see people at the waters edge on the adjacent beach 23 miles away near the lighthouse. The entire beach is visible down to the water splashing upon the shore. Upon looking into the telescope [one] can see children running in and out of the water, splashing and playing. [One] can see people sun bathing at the shore and teenagers merrily throwing Frisbees to one another. [One] can see runners jogging along the water's edge with their dogs. From [this] vantage point the entire beach is visible. [However,] if the earth is a globe, and is 24,900 English statute miles in circumference, the surface of all standing water must have a certain degree of convexity — every part must be an arc of a circle. From the summit of any such arc there will exist a curvature or declination of 8 inches in the first statute mile. In the second mile the fall will be 32 inches; in the third mile, 72 inches, or 6 feet[…] Ergo; looking at the opposite beach over 23 miles away there should be a bulge of water over 350 feet tall blocking [our] view. [But,] there isn't."

The Flat Earth Society's website tells us that, "Surveyors' operations in the construction of railroads, tunnels, or canals are conducted without the slightest 'allowance' being made for 'curvature,' although it is taught that this so-called allowance is absolutely necessary!" One example is the Suez Canal which is just under 200 km in length. It links the Mediterranean and Indian oceans, giving shipping a shortcut between east and west, thus avoiding the long and arduous journey around the African continent. Despite its length, the canal is as flat as a pancake without a hint of curvature. Let me add another proof from the many that you'll find on this Society's website: Standing on a beach, carefully examine the horizon where sea and sky meet and you will notice that it remains at eye level to the left and right. If Earth was a ball, the horizon should drop away to the left and right but it doesn't. Moreover, if Earth's surface was curved, we should begin to look down at the horizon the higher up we go but this is not the case, the horizon, when viewed from your seat in an aircraft flying at 10 km above sea level, always stays at eye level. The Sun, dipping below the horizon when it sets and ships go over the horizon when they travel away from you, is just a myth. What you are actually seeing are the converging lines of perspective, creating an optical illusion of a ship getting smaller and smaller as it travels further away. Eventually, it becomes a tiny speck on the horizon and you won't see it any more. If you stood on top of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth, you should be able to get a glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. So why can't you? For two very logical reasons: (1) because of the converging lines of perspective, making an object appear smaller the further away it is; and (2) there is so much atmosphere between these mountains that obscures and absorbs the light reflected off one, thus preventing it from reaching the other.

The Law of Parsimony is attributed to William of Ockham around 1287 — 1347, which states, "Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected." To sustain the belief in a round Earth, many complex formulae and theories were postulated. One of these theories is the Theory of Gravity. In the flat-earth model, gravity does not exist and is unnecessary. Object fall to the ground because that's what they do. One does not need complex gravitational theories to explain why people can't fall off the bottom of a spherical Earth. How do we however, using the flat-earth model, explain GPS navigation and satellite communications? The Flat Earth Society categorically denies the existence of all satellites, claiming that they are part of an elaborate hoax conspired by the Illuminate (the Enlightened Ones) to fool us into believing that Earth is a ball in space. But this need not necessarily be the case. I have already explained how the Sun and Moon could function on a flat Earth and there would be no difference with satellites either. Some could be placed in geostationary orbits (ones where the satellite remains positioned directly over a particular spot on the ground), while others could move over Earth's flat surface as do the Sun and Moon.

Next, with still lots of momentum to His creative energy, God makes the landmass. This is how the Genesis account describes it, "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good." Within this vast spherical ocean, God created the landmass, like a gigantic iceberg floating in the sea. The continents poked out above the waterline and are surrounded by sea at their shores but they are all anchored to a common foundation, preventing them from floating about independently. Life on the ground did not come from the oceans but was specifically created in situ by God.

We are led to believe that Earth is a ball and that the continents are mapped as we see them on a globe but what would a map of a flat earth look like? Understand, that this vast disk-like ocean, reaching all the way out to the dome of the Firmament has a centre, just like an analogue clock has a centre. The Sun and Moon pivot around this point, just like the hour and minute hands do on our clock. If we mapped the north pole at the centre of the ocean, we could then plot all the continents on different radials, mapping them along these imaginary spokes of a wheel. These spokes extend from the Centre of the Earth in all directions and are what we call Lines of Longitude. Starting at the Centre of the Earth, and no matter in which direction we travel, if we travelled southward in a straight line, we would eventually reach the Antarctic shores. Unlike the spherical Earth model which believes that Antarctic is a continent positioned over the South Pole, the flat-earth model has the Antarctic shoreline wrapping around the entire circumference of this disk-like ocean. Obviously, if one travels southward from the Centre of the Earth, one would always reach the outer rim of the disk at some point on the Antarctic shoreline. The main terrestrial difference between the spherical-earth model and the flat-earth one is that there is no South Pole in the flat model. Instead, the Antarctic shoreline runs along the outer rim of this flat disk, where the sea meets the firmament. Because Antarctic runs all the way around the outer margin of this flat disk, no ship could ever reach Earth's edge and fall off. When explorers like Scott, who said they travelled to the South Pole, they were actually walking along the perimeter of the disk, believing that they were walking across the imaginary pole. If you wish to see a map of the flat earth, then you need look no further than the map which forms the central motif of the United Nation's logo. Google it for yourself.

The spot on the Firmament directly above the Centre of the Earth (what we commonly call the North Pole) is where we find the Gateway to Heaven. It is close to the North Star, Polaris. It is a portal through the Firmament and through the Waters above the Firmament that leads out of this entire gigantic ball of water. The space outside this spherical ball is Heaven, where God and the angels live. This portal is guarded by the Pearly Gates. Jacob's dream gives us a clue of how the Gateway to Heaven operates, "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father." The Ascension of Jesus describes the departure of Christ from Earth into the presence of God in Heaven. The well-known narrative in the Book of Acts takes place 40 days after Jesus' Resurrection. He, in the company of his disciples and in their full sight, ascends upward until a cloud hides him from their view. Two men in white appear and tell them that he will one day return to Earth on a cloud through this same Gateway to Heaven.

In these Biblical accounts that describe the flat-earth model, we end up with three different heavens: (1) First Heaven comprises the round dome of the Firmament and the space that fills it. This is where we find Sun, Moon, clouds, planets and stars; (2) Second Heaven is the primordial sea, a layer of ocean situated above the firmament, also known as the Waters of the Firmament; and (3) Third Heaven is the Great realm of God, beyond the portal that connects First and Third Heaven. Third Heaven is completely outside this gigantic ball of water.

Hell, on the other hand, is situated in the common landmass foundation of molten rock, upon which the continents rest.

Only to the Illuminate have the all the facts about the flat-earth model but they keep this knowledge of Earth's true configuration hidden because it holds the masses in slavery and makes them more manageable. It's part of the Great Conspiracy which keeps secret many other paranormal, extra-terrestrial and supernatural facts. The Flat Earth Society explains why we have been lied to about Earth's true shape, they say, "[The first reason for the lie is to maintain] Legitimacy:" and they justify it this way, "During the Cold War we faked the moon landing. Shortly after they realised the reason they could not reach the moon was due to the flatness of the Earth. They were stuck in a lie, and had to continue it or lose legitimacy of our governments. Even today we would still hold onto this lie due to [the] role Science plays in our ruling government. [The second reason for the lie is to] hide the truth of the Bible. [And the third and final reason is to] Gain Power and Money: By syphoning off […] space budgets and denying the world the resources of the Antarctic [from which] they gain a considerable amount of power and wealth."

I have been lecturing at the Witwatersrand University's Planetarium in Johannesburg for over 20 years and have accumulated lots of Astronomical knowledge. So, what is truth and what is fiction and, does it really matter if Earth is flat or spherical? You will have to listen to the second part of this show to know what science offers as evidence to justify its belief in a round-earth model. But, however, what is the point of these shows? In our next episode, I shall delve into Biblical interpretation and shall investigate what lessons we can learn from all of this and how it helps maintain a clear head in many other important aspects of life.