This article shows the causes of one of the greatest deceptions, accompanied by its unbelievably illogical explanations. Surprisingly, it is still being propagated amidst the great scientific achievements in our modern world. Sadly, this belief has even devolved into a cultic religion of blind faith. To understand more about this modern deceptive phenomenon, please read this article to the end and share its facts with your contacts, too.
This year [2019] marks two significant anniversaries that directly demolishes the claims of “flat-earth” believers. Starting with the latest, these are:
1. The 50th Anniversary of NASA’s Moon Landing on July 20, 1969
The Apollo 11 moon mission blasted off from earth with the thunderous power of a Saturn-V rocket on July 16. After four days, the Lunar Module (called Eagle piloted by Neil Armstrong) landed on the moon on July 20. After exploring the moon, taking photos, leaving memorabilia from earth, collecting about 48 lbs. of moon rocks, and catching up on some needed sleep, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin flew back to the orbiting Command Module (called Columbia, piloted by Michael Collins). They all arrived safely back to earth on July 24.
A few interesting details on their return trip back to earth involved leaving everything else on the moon which was no longer necessary for the return trip (like their expensive Hasselblad cameras — minus their films; their portable life support system (PLSS) which looks like a big back pack) so as to lighten their ascent to the orbiting Command Module.
Once Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin were safely back in the Command Module again, even their Lunar Module was jettisoned back on the moon to make their escape from the moon’s gravity easier (which is just 1/6th of our earth’s). Their return trip back to earth was mostly done through earth’s gravitational pull.
That historic event of 50 years ago was witnessed on television by about 600 million people on earth (about a fifth of our earth’s population then). This included the Russians (US’s stiff competitor for the race to be the first on the moon) in that year 1969. Conclusively, all the photos and TV footage viewed by millions showed a round earth and of course, a round moon.
For a condensed historical account of this NASA program — which clearly shows that our earth is a sphere as viewed from space — please read Appendix 1 at the end of this article.
While the world celebrated mankind’s first and greatest achievement of 50 years ago, sadly there are detractors and skeptics (from the Flat-Earth Society) who publish contrary claims. These negative claims are addressed in Appendix 2 at the end of this article.
2. The 500th Anniversary of the Start of This World’s First Circumnavigation Event
Five hundred years ago, this event started when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (sailing under the Spanish flag) left Seville, Spain, on August 10, 1519 on an epic westward voyage which eventually lasted over three years — finally proving that our earth is indeed round or spherical.
That expedition was ultimately completed by Magellan’s chief navigator, Juan Sebastian Elcano, when he and his remaining crew of only 18 (out of the original 270 sailors) arrived back in Seville, Spain on board the ship Victoria (the last of the original five ships which sailed three years earlier) on September 6, 1522.
Magellan’s unrelenting belief that our earth is round has probably been bolstered by his intelligent observation and keen analysis of the shadow of our earth as cast upon the moon during lunar eclipses. Sadly, he was killed in battle with the natives of Mactan Island in the Philippines (already more than halfway around the world in his journey). His loyal navigator Elcano (who shared his same conviction) continued the westward voyage home to Spain.
Thus, history reckoned them to be the first men to have circumnavigated this Earth almost five hundred years ago, and finally proved once and for all that our Earth is a round sphere.
The Turbulent Voyage
(Not just by the big ocean waves, but more by the men on board)
While very costly and ambitious, it was never a smooth expedition. With widespread fanatical fear among most of Magellan’s sailors distributed among the five giant ships (who did not share the same knowledge and strong conviction as him and Elcano), the men on board were constantly hounded by anxious phobia that as they slept, their ships will eventually fall off the edge of this “flat earth” (which was the commonly accepted knowledge at that time).
Thus, continuously lacking in adequate sleep, compounded by severe malnutrition for many months due to complete lack of fresh fruits and vegetables resulting to scurvy and beriberi — plus their over-powering paranoia — those sailors became irrational, frenzied, suicidal, which led them to mount several mutinies on board those ships. They killed or imprisoned their own ship captains who faithfully obeyed Magellan’s orders and even killed their ship captain replacements.
Two of the ships were overpowered by its own crew to eventually return back to Spain after only months at sea. One was shipwrecked by storm, and the other was abandoned and burned due to severe worm infestation on board.
Thus, only the ship Victoria (out of the original five ships, with the four others namely: Concepcion, Trinidad, San Antonio, Santiago) under the command of Elcano successfully completed that epic journey and returned back to Spain after three years.
To learn more about the intriguing details and drama of that historic expedition, please read as much historical documents on this subject, to include the Wikipedia article, “Timeline of the Magellan-Elcano Circumnavigation.”
The False “Flat-Earth” Belief Still Exists Today, Surprisingly
Sadly, in this 21st century — characterized by so much accumulated knowledge instantly available through the Internet, massive data on great scientific discoveries, and bewildering advancements in technology — there are those who are still very sincerely convinced of that very same flat-earth fallacy that most people held about 500 years ago. In their misguided zeal, flat-earth believers preach, publish, create videos, maintain organizations, and even establish churches to oppose modern scientific facts and discoveries. Why? Please read on.
“Flat-Earth” Historical Background
Inadvertently continuing the abject and gross ignorance prevalent during the Dark Ages, this false ancient idea of a Flat-Earth was more recently pioneered in modern times by an English writer named Samuel Rowbotham (1816–1884). To promote his ideas of a flat earth, he published a pamphlet called Zetetic Astronomy, which he later expanded into a book called, Earth Not a Globe. He also published a leaflet titled, “The Inconsistency of Modern Astronomy and Its Opposition to the Scriptures,” which asserts that the earth is flat and immovable (not spinning around its axis and not in orbit).
After his death, Lady Elizabeth Blount succeeded him and established the Universal Zetetic Society, and published a flat Earth journal called, Earth: A Monthly Magazine of Sense and Science between 1901-1904, for which she was the editor.
In 1956, Samuel Shenton created the International Flat Earth Research Society, based from his home in Dover, England. When confronted later with satellite images showing that the Earth is a sphere, he remarked: “It’s easy to see how a photograph like that could fool the untrained eye.” Asked much later about photographs taken by astronauts, he attributed the curvature of the Earth to the use of a wide-angle lens, adding, “It’s a deception of the public…”
After Shenton’s death in 1971, Charles K. Johnson carried on as President of the Society and also established the “Covenant People’s Church in California.” Johnson died on March 19, 2001. This Flat-Earth Society evolved to include a strong religious dimension. More recently, another such church was established in San Antonio, Texas, called the “Firmament Church of God.”
Flat Earth Society recruits members by speaking against the US government and its agencies, particularly NASA. Much of the society’s literature is focused on interpreting certain verses in the Bible to mean that the Earth is flat. More about its history and its teachings can be read in these Wikipedia articles about the Flat Earth and Modern Flat Earth Societies.
Summary of Flat Earth Beliefs
Proponents of this Flat-Earth belief teach that our Earth is a flat disc (like a pancake) centered at the North Pole and bounded along its outer rim by a 45-meter-high wall of ice called Antarctica (somewhat adopting the map of the United Nations).
Without any scientific basis, they assert that the Sun and the Moon — both of which are 32 miles in diameter (52 kms) — are only 3,000 miles (4,800 kms) above the Earth [if so, just about one-third of earth’s actual diameter].
They further assert that an impenetrable solid “dome” (like an inverted bowl) is fixed just 100 miles higher than both the Sun and Moon, or at 3,100 miles (5,000 kms) over the Earth’s surface. Both sun and moon do not travel across the sky, but rather just around the rim of this flat earth [which is visibly not true]. They believe that all the stars and galaxies (they call “cosmos”) are all within the confines of this solid dome.
Since this dome is impenetrable, obviously they believe that no rocket ever went through it. They also don’t believe that there is such a thing as gravity, simply because the Bible does not mention it.
To support the phenomenon of an eclipse, they say that there is an “invisible dark anti-moon” roaming somewhere in the cosmos which blocks the moon or the sun randomly or occasionally.
They claim that videos of rocket flights, space travel, and human landings on the moon are just movie productions created in a studio by NASA to deceive people, for which the US government continues to give big funding to NASA. Such Flat-Earth claims are obviously full of fancy fables, unfounded claims, and unbelievable superstitions.
Are “Flat-Earth” Adherents Really Serious About Their Claims?
They are obviously serious because these false beliefs have resulted in illogical interpretations of certain Bible verses to support their claims. They have even caused the establishment of Flat Earth organizations with their own websites, plus their establishment of churches with their brand of religious beliefs. Obviously, when it comes to religion, adherents will lay their salvation based on their beliefs, and that is really serious (or dangerous when such is based on a falsehood)!
It is therefore time that we analyze all these deceptive claims and find the reason for their existence. It is very important that we arrive at the truth of the matter.
16 Reasons Why Flat Earth Adherents Believe What They Do:
1. They blatantly ignore the historical fact of the first circumnavigation of our Earth.
This was done almost 500 years ago by the Magellan-Elcano expedition (already described above).
2. They blatantly ignore the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969.
While this happened 50 years ago, that was not the only moon landing. There were actually six manned landings by NASA between 1969 and 1972, bringing a total of 12 astronauts who actually landed on the moon. The last three missions included a drivable Lunar Rover for increased mobility. For details on these moon landings, plus a colored map of the moon where each mission landed, please see Appendix 3 at the end of this article.
3. They ignorantly perpetuate the antiquated knowledge extant during the Dark Ages.
Our world’s civilization sadly passed through a terrible period of ignorance commonly referred to as the “Dark Ages.” This lasted for at least 1,000 years (if we count from the Fall of Rome in 476 C.E. [when ignorance, chaos, violence, and abuse by those in power ruled] until the time of the Renaissance and the Reformation in the early 1500s].
That period of time was also characterized by suppression of new knowledge and rampant belief in superstitions. Anyone who believed or advocated anything outside commonly accepted teachings of the established church was excommunicated, tortured, and even killed.
The official church dogma then was that our earth is flat, was the center of the universe, and that the sun, moon, and stars go around it. The technical term for such belief is “Geocentricism” [Geo = “earth,” centric = “center,” and –ism = “a system of belief.”]
4. They ignore the witness of telescopes and the research of thinkers and scientists.
During those “Dark Ages” certain great thinkers developed the telescope. When they peered into the heavens, they observed that the shape of heavenly bodies were spherical and that the orbits of those heavenly bodies were circular. Thus, they began to question the validity of the geocentric dogma. Based on their studies and observation, they proposed instead the “Heliocentric” idea. [Helio = “sun,” centric = “center”]. In other words, our planet Earth, our moon, and all the known planets orbited around the sun.
Among those early believers in “Heliocentrism” were:
- Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) — He was the earliest proponent whose idea was called Copernican.
- Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) — He improved on the telescope and came to the same conclusion.
- Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) — He was a German mathematician and astronomer, who wrote on the laws of planetary orbits.
Living in Florence, Italy, and due to his new discoveries and writings, Galileo was barred (in February 1616) by the Inquisition of the Catholic Church from propagating his heliocentric ideas. His writings were banned from publication and circulation. He also was ordered under house arrest.
Due to widespread scientific ignorance existent then, even the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther in 1539 criticized the new Heliocentric idea. He simply based his conviction on the archaic biblical language to support the outdated Geocentric idea.
It was only 184 years ago (since 1835) when the Roman Catholic Church through Pope Pius VII lifted the ban on Galileo’s and Copernicus’ writings (Dialogue and De Revolutionibus, respectively), after having approved the decree of the Catholic Inquisition much earlier in 1822.
Of course, more recently the “Heliocentric” concept was placed into a bigger perspective when later discoveries by even more powerful telescopes showed that our sun is only one among billions of other stars (suns) in the known universe.
5. They believe the observations from very narrow and limited experiments.
Flat-earth believers think that our earth is just really small. Here they fail to realize that it took the Magellan expedition three years to sail around our huge earth. Below are some feeble attempts by some men to prove that our earth is flat. Among them were:
- One traveled on an airplane carrying a liquid leveling tool to see when the liquid in it will dip? Apart from the take-off and landing, the liquid in the leveling tool of course remained level during the flight, and thus he concluded that our earth is indeed flat. In his sad ignorance, he did not know that the liquid in the leveling tool is controlled by the pull of gravity, which comes from the core of our planet earth. Since the aircraft continuously traveled parallel to the earth’s surface during its flight, naturally, the liquid in the tool remained level.
- Someone else was reported to have attempted to ride in an improvised rocket to view any curvature of our earth. Of course, he rose to only a few hundred meters before parachuting down. His conclusion was, he saw that our earth is indeed flat. Of course, from such very limited view (considering the great size of our earth) what he would see would naturally seem flat.
But here’s an experiment they would like to ignore:
There was this experiment using a mounted telescope on the shore, and a ship with a tall sail which had horizontal rainbow color stripes from the top to the bottom of its sail.
This ship sailed on for many hours towards the horizon. Observers looking through the telescope on the shore noticed the hull of the ship disappear below the horizon first, then gradually each colored stripe of the sail, until the whole sail was gone. This experiment showed that our earth has a downward curvature toward the horizon.
Now here is an experiment they should have done to prove that our earth is supposedly flat:
We have powerful telescopes on earth which can see not only the craters of our moon, but even the moons of Jupiter. Why not aim this telescope which is already built at a high elevation on earth and aim it horizontally? For example, from the Mt. Wilson Observatory in the US. If our earth is indeed flat, one should be able to see (across the American continent) the Big Ben Tower in London, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or the CN Tower in Toronto. But since it is impossible to see any of these tall structures on earth, even with a very powerful telescope from a high vantage point in the US, this simply shows that they can’t be seen, due to the downward curvature of our earth’s horizon which completes itself into a round sphere.
6. They have a narrow interpretation of Bible verses based on ancient primitive knowledge.
Let us remember that the Bible was written by ancient men to a primitive people in the primitive agricultural society of their day — and in the simplest language they can understand, based on the common human perception. For example, it simply mentions the rising and setting of the sun [obviously including the moon and the stars] (Ecclesiastes 1:5).
Let’s also remember that the Bible is not meant to be a complete scientific book or manual, but a collection of inspired ancient writings (of laws, poetry, chronology, and history) of the Hebrew people.
God knows that with man’s God-given intelligence, he can eventually discover for himself such things as the laws and principles of physics, which includes magnetism, gravity, inertia, centrifugal and centripetal forces, the laws of aerodynamics, thermodynamics, etc.
Thus, God did not see the need (it would be irrelevant to the primitive peoples then, and they would not be able to understand) to talk about the laws and principles of Chemistry or Nuclear Physics. God only revealed what man can’t naturally know or discover for himself, while also leaving most of the obvious unsaid.
Thus, for flat-earth believers to claim that gravity does not exist because the Bible did not mention it is the height of ignorance, stupidity, and simple-mindedness. How do we then explain the tides, the swing of pendulums, and of falling objects?
Are we then also prepared to say that electricity, cars, airplanes, and rockets do not exist because the Bible nowhere mentions them?
7. They add false details and ancient interpretations to some Bible verses.
Please read Appendix 4 at the end of this article for a full explanation on this multi-faceted topic which includes:
- What is the true biblical rendition of “firmament”?
- What does it mean “[God] bowed the heavens”?
- Is there a solid impenetrable “dome” above our earth?
- What does “[the Earth] shall not be moved” mean?
- Is the rainbow a sign of the dome over our Earth?
8. They are somewhat ignorant of the anthropomorphic language of the Bible.
“Anthropomorphic” [adjective] or “anthropomorphism” [noun] is a technical term which comes from two Greek words: “anthropo-” = “human form or human being” + morph = “to change in form.”
Most Bible students have observed that the God of the Bible often spoke as if He were a man. Here are some examples:
Though He is all-knowing, God still called to Adam, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). He also had to come down to earth to actually “know” the extent of the sins being committed in Sodom (Genesis 18:21).
It even goes beyond that. God pictures Himself in a manner that humans understands best. For example, in talking about His great protective care for His people, the Bible says: “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge…” (Psalm 91:4). Here, God is pictured as a hen, complete with wings and feathers, and with her chicks under her wings! But in truth and in reality, we know that God is not a hen.
The vital lesson here is that we should not always take every word or statement in the Bible literally. We need to study the context and compare what we read with other passages in the Bible. But this is one major — perhaps unintended — pitfall of flat-earth believers.
9. They deny obvious scientific facts just because the Bible does not mention it.
Here is another big problem with flat-earth believers. Because of the attitude of gross denial of very obvious scientific facts (simply because the Bible does not mention it), they become very narrow-minded, grossly ignorant, and regarded as less than truly educated:
- One example is their blatant denial of the existence and the true reality of “Gravity.”
- Another is their denial that our “Globe” is the best representation of our round earth.
- Ignoring the existence of the Hubble Telescope and the stunning photos it has taken.
- Denying the existence of dozens of satellites used for weather prediction and for GPS navigation.
- Denying the reality of the existence of various Time Zones around this earth.
As an example, I have an acquaintance, an ardent flat-earth believer, and who lives in the US, while I live in the Philippines. Very obviously, we live on opposite sides of this round earth. Thru regular cellphone text communications, I asked him several times at various clock times of the day to confirm with me whether it is day or night where he is? For instance, I said, here it is almost midnight, the sun has set several hours ago and am about to sleep, while at your location, I know that the sun has been up many hours ago and you are about to take your noon meal, it that correct?
Surprisingly, he always refuses to answer such questions, because it will really confirm that we live on opposite sides of a round earth—not flat, otherwise, we will be looking up at the same sun. That is plain dishonesty and blatant denial of simple and real facts!
10. They brand scientific discoveries as tools of satanic deception.
One of the big problems of flat-earth believers is the lack (if not absence) of simple open-mindedness and honesty. In their suspicious mind, they believe that all scientific discoveries and accomplishment are clever works of Satan to deceive humanity — of course, including them. Thus, they have coined a clever phrase to discredit those who believe in a round earth that spins on its axis daily with the phrase: “Satan’s Spinning Sphere System,” and those who believe in such are accused by them as idol worshippers thereof. It is actually a blackmail. They even quote Revelation 12:9 where it says that: “Satan has deceived the whole world.” While that is true, sadly, Satan has also cleverly caused them to believe bigger lies, and ignore plain facts.
11. They demonize and shun “science” as evil since it is supposedly condemned by the Bible.
All modern versions translate the KJV word “science” as simply “knowledge” but due to their lack of biblical understanding of certain words, flat-earth believers teach their adherents to hate and even avoid all types of “science” based on their false understanding of a verse found in KJV 1 Timothy 6:20 which says:
“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.”
However, notice an opposite biblical account. Daniel and his friends in Babylon were highly commended for knowing and understanding “science” as we can read in the Daniel 1:4 which says:
“Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.”
COMMENT: Sadly, flat-earth leaders and adherents failed to study the word “science” first before declaring a total condemnation. Actually, “science” is simply a systematic study in a certain field of knowledge based on facts, experiments, and observations. Therefore, there is nothing inherently evil in it. In fact, the first chapter of the book of Proverbs alone advices us to acquire wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (Proverbs 1:2-9; 20-33).
12. They ignore the fact that a “sphere” is the basic and universal shape in God’s creation.
It is a truism that the shape of a sphere or a ball-shape is God’s basic universal shape of objects in His creation—unless acted upon by an outside force. [Some of the Laws of Physics explains why this is so.]. Observe such visible things as: raindrops, bubbles, balloons, most eggs, our eyeballs, and even mercury (the only metal which is liquid at ordinary temperature).
Going outside our spherical earth, our moon is also spherical — so with all the planets in our solar system, most of their respective moons, even our own sun, etc. Going down to normally invisible things on earth, scientists using electron microscopes say that atomic particles are also spherical in their singular or aggregate forms, thus illustrating them as such in diagrams.
Likewise, the basic functioning or moving aspects in our universe is circular or round. Such as the rings of planet Saturn, the orbits of all heavenly bodies, including the orbits of our Earth and our Moon.
Now on this earth, the shape of moving things should be designed as round or circular. Observe that the moving parts of machines and motors are all-round or circular: ball-bearings, pulleys, pistons, cylinders, armatures, propellers, turbines, shafts, wheels, etc.
13. They demonize US government organizations and agencies, especially NASA.
This is one of flat-earth believers’ strategy to convert new members and maintain their ranks. They bring out all the evils about the US government, coupled with lots of “conspiracy theories” to the point where one begins to disbelieve the integrity of the government. Then, they focus their attack on NASA as getting hundreds of billions of dollar funding to deceive the people.
However, talking negatively about the works of NASA (the most advanced Space Agency in this world), they somehow studiously or ignorantly avoid talking negatively about the similar activities of other Space Agencies belonging to other nations such as:
- CNSA (Chinese National Space Agency)
- ESA (European Space Agency);
- ISA (Israel Space Agency)
- ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization)
- JAXA (Japan Space Agency);
- Roscosmos (Russian Space Agency)
14. They falsely demonize the name NASA as meaning “deception” in the Hebrew language.
NASA is an abbreviation, meaning: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Flat-earth believers say that the Hebrew word for NASA is “deception.” However, the actual word “deception” is found only in the NIV (New International Version) Bible. Therefore, we have to exclusively consult the GK [Goodrick’s & Kohlenberger’s] Exhaustive Concordance of the NIV.
- The Hebrew word for “deception” is mirmahl catalogued as [GK #H5327]. This word is only found in the following verses: Psalm 38:12; Proverbs 14:8; and in Jeremiah 9:6.
- Another Hebrew word for deception is massa-on [GK #H5396] and found only in: Proverbs 26:26.
- A third Hebrew word for deception is seqer [GK H#9214] and found only in Jeremiah 3:23.
- A fourth word is kahas [GK #H3951] found in Hosea 10:13.
This is an exhaustive search into all the four possible meanings for “deception” in the Hebrew language, but the word NASA or “nasa” never appeared even once. Therefore, let us be careful about certain false claims.
15. They have created a cultic religion from Flat-Earth Fallacy thru the exercise of blind faith.
I know of at least two churches which have been established based on “flat-earth” beliefs: One is the Covenant People’s Church and the other is the Firmament Church of God (both mentioned earlier in this article). There could be others. The big concern here is that members of said churches have sadly based their salvation on clearly false concepts, teachings, and doctrines. Let’s help pray that through this article, their minds will be somehow enlightened and that the light of truth will also shine upon them.
16. They are simply victims of massive deception, delusion, and false propaganda.
Deceptions are admittedly very confusing and insidious to some. At times and in this particular case, some may view it as the proverbial pot calling the kettle black.
While they (flat-earthers) consider those of us believing in a spherical earth and who accept valid and rational scientific facts and evidences as deceived and worshippers of the “Satanic Spinning Sphere System,” sadly they do not see themselves as even more plainly deceived by rampant lies. The effects of massive propaganda, deception, and eventual delusion is difficult for them to overcome — unless the Spirit of God moves to clear out all such confusion from their minds.
Summary
The factual roundness of our earth has been established in the early 1500s (about 500 years ago)!
Thus, it is very surprising that there are still some people who are in denial of these facts. Such is one of the characteristics of cultic indoctrination, characterized by grasping at any possible verse or idea to support their false beliefs, while ignoring true scientific facts.
Conclusion
Let us be careful not to be carried away by the confusion and deceptions existing in this world, which are part of the evil works of Satan.
Appendix 1 — Condensed Account of the NASA Moon Project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11
https://www.space.com/relive-apollo-moon-landing-real-time.html?utm_source=notification
Key dates:
Liftoff: July 16, 1969; 9:32 a.m. EDT (1332 GMT)
Lunar Orbit Arrival: July 19, 1969, 1:21 p.m. EDT (17:21 GMT)
Moon Landing: July 20, 4:17 p.m. EDT (2017 GMT)
Liftoff from the moon: July 21, 1969, 1:54 p.m. EDT (17:54 GMT)
Lunar Orbit Departure: July 22, 1969, 12:55 a.m. EDT (04:55 GMT)
Splashdown: July 24, 1969; 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 GMT)
Appendix 2 — Answering Conspiracy Theorists’ Objections
SKEPTICS WILL PICK ON ANYTHING TO DISPROVE A PROVEN FACT, BUT CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:
COMPETITION: Since the US and the Russians were in a fierce competition on the space program, especially on the goal of being the first to land men on the moon; would it not be logical that if the US flight to the moon and back failed, that the Russians would be the first to have made a very big headline on such a failure? But they NEVER did, proving that the Moon Landing really happened.
FUNERAL SPEECH: IF the Moon Mission was a failure, there was already a prepared speech to be delivered on television by then President Richard Nixon, but thankfully, the Moon Mission was successful, and thus, that fateful speech was never delivered. That prepared speech can be read at: (https://www.space.com/if-apollo-11-astronauts-died-nixon-contingency-speech.html?utm_source=notification)
LOGIC: Why would the then critical public and the US government thru NASA spend hundreds of billions of dollars for something that can just as easily be faked thru a clever Hollywood movie production?
FALSE PROPAGANDA:
In a vain effort to prove their point, skeptics posted photos of rocket failures and tragedies. But let us put those footages in their proper perspective. While those were sad events, they belong to the early experimental attempts at space flight. From those failures, NASA learned a lot to finally make the Apollo 11 mission successful. But when they became somewhat complacent, tragedy struck again on the Apollo 13 mission.
The waving American flag was an early footage when Edwin Aldrin was still struggling to plant the flag on the hard moon surface. But once the flag was planted, footage shows that all waving stopped.
Why were there no visible stars in the sky in the lunar photo then? Obviously, no stars would be visible because those photos were taken when the sun was up in the sky; in the same manner that when the sun is up on earth, no stars will be visible.
Why is the photo of the astronaut under the Moon Lander still clear, rather than dark under the shade? Let us remember that the surface of the moon is covered with silicon crystal material almost like the sand on our seashores which has a great capacity to reflect light. Did you notice how surprisingly bright the moon’s surface is when viewed even from earth?
The bad effect of the Van Allen Belt’s Radiation has been exaggerated by detractors. But NASA Physicists already took that into consideration when designing the Capsule/Module and their Space Suits. The very fact that all the astronauts who have passed thru the Van Allen Belt survived is proof that the false claims were exaggerated. Below is a direct testimony from James Van Allen himself (plus a special feature on the topic from a Time Magazine issue):
“The recent Fox (moon hoax conspiracy) TV show, which I saw, is an ingenious and entertaining assemblage of nonsense. The claim that radiation exposure during the Apollo missions would have been fatal to the astronauts is only one example of such nonsense.”
— Dr. James Van Allen
Appendix 3 — Details of Various Moon Landings and Missions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing
The United States’ Apollo 11 was the first crewed mission to land on the Moon, on 20 July 1969. There have been six manned US landings (between 1969 and 1972) and numerous unmanned landings, but with no soft landings happening from 22 August 1976 to 14 December 2013.
To date, the US is the only country to have successfully conducted manned missions to the Moon, with the last departing the lunar surface in December 1972. All manned and unmanned soft landings had taken place on the near side of the Moon, until 3 January 2019 when the Chinese Chang’e 4 spacecraft made the first landing on the far side of the Moon.
A total of twelve men have landed on the Moon. This was accomplished with two US pilot-astronauts flying a Lunar Module on each of six NASA missions across a 41-month period starting 20 July 1969 UTC, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11, and ending on 14 December 1972 UTC with Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt on Apollo 17. Cernan was the last to step off the lunar surface.
All Apollo lunar missions had a third crew member who remained on board the Command Module.
Appendix 4 — Multi-Faceted Bible Topics
Is There An Impenetrable Dome Over Our Earth?
The word “FIRMAMENT” is an old English word which has been badly misinterpreted by some.
Only the KJV and NKJ Bibles used the word “firmament” (Genesis 1:6), but Moses was quick to add that God Himself called that “firmament” as “Heaven” (Genesis 1:8). Sadly, flat-earth believers (without reading just a little further) interpreted the word “firmament” as a solid impenetrable dome in the shape of an inverted bowl over our flat earth. But they simply did not check with other Bible translations.
In Genesis 1:6; among modern Bible versions, the word “firmament” is simply translated as “expanse” (HRV, ISR, NASB, NIV); or “sky” (LBV). And in Genesis 1:8, this “expanse” is called by God as “Heaven” in the NASB or “Heavens” in the HRV and ISR, or “sky” in the NIV. The best definition of “sky” is that limitless expanse above the surface of this earth. One of the synonyms is also “heaven.”
But some Bible versions translated this word based on some ancient (mis)understanding of the term; such that the James Moffatt translation and the [Catholic] Jerusalem Bible (JB) where it renders the KJV “firmament” as “vault.” On the other hand, the NRSV renders it as “dome.” But in Genesis 1:8, both the Moffatt translation and the JB called the “vault” as “heaven” while the NRSV called it “sky.” A footnote on the JB says: “For the ancient Semites, the “arch” or “vault” of the sky was a solid dome holding the upper waters in check.”
Thus, this word and its interpretation is therefore based on an ancient [ignorant] belief, which is far from scientific.
THE THREE HEAVENS
Among Bible translations, the KJV and the NKJ renders “firmament” as “heaven”—noting that there are actually three heavens indicated in the Bible. The first heaven as stated in Genesis 1:20 is that expanse above the earth where the birds fly and where the clouds are; the second heaven obviously refers to where the stars and other heavenly bodies are situated (Ezekiel 32:7, 8); while the third heaven is definitely stated as the abode and location of God’s throne (2 Corinthians 12:2).
THE THREE STATES OF WATER
Sadly, the interpretation that the “firmament” is a solid dome or vault which separates the waters above and those on this earth is based on an ancient unscientific interpretation of Genesis 1:7. Simple elementary grades science lesson teaches the 3 states of matter, which also applies to water. They are the: gaseous, liquid, and solid states, based on temperature. Applied to water, the gaseous state represents the evaporated water that forms the clouds; the liquid state constitutes the water in the rivers, seas, and oceans; while the solid state represents the ice at the poles of our earth and those on high mountain tops. Since ancient man has not yet explored nor are knowledgeable about the poles of our earth and the very high mountain tops, there was obviously no mention of water’s third state, which is ice.
PROOF THAT THERE IS NO SOLID DOME ABOVE OUR EARTH
It is not true that our earth is covered with an impenetrable solid dome. Multiple dozens of rockets fired by various space agencies in this world have already gone to outer space, and there was nothing solid which obstructed any of those rockets.
Likewise, perhaps millions of years ago, all plant and animal life on earth has been destroyed due to several giant meteors which struck our earth, according to astronomers, geologists, and paleontologists. Therefore, there has been no impenetrable solid dome covering our earth.
What Does It Mean “… Bowed the Heavens”?
Flat-earth believers falsely interpret the term “… bowed the heavens” (used 3x in the KJV and other versions) to mean that God made a dome over the earth [which it did not say] (2 Samuel 22:10; Psalm 18:9; 144:5), the original Hebrew word [Strong’s #H5186; GK #H5742] is “nata” which is translated dozens of times as “stretch/ed out” while “bowed” is only rendered five times.
What Does “It Shall Not Be Moved” Mean?
Flat-earth believers also claim that since our “earth is not moving” therefore it is not spinning around its axis nor traveling in an orbit around the sun. This claim is simply a false, unscientific, and ignorant interpretation of some isolated words in Bible; destitute of its context. As proof to their claim, they cite verses such as:
“Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved.” (1Chronicles 16:30)
The background and context of this verse in question, can be found starting in verse 1 of chapter 16. It talks about the Ark of God having been recovered and King David initiating a celebration. Part of script he handed to Asaph (the musician) to played on instruments contained these words of praise. As part of the lyrics of praise, the words should not be taken literally. For example, can “all the earth tremble before Him”?
Another verse is cited (Psalm 93:1) which says:
Verse 1:
The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The Lord is clothed,
He has girded Himself with strength.
Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved (margin “shaken”).
Verse 2:
Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice;
The floods lift up their waves.
This is another Psalm (song) of praise, the words of which cannot be taken literally.
The word “moved” is from the Hebrew word “mot” [Strong’s #H4131; GK# H4572]. It means to: slip, fall, totter, slide, stagger, be toppled, to bring down, caused to fall, or [be] removed. Which simply means our earth is a stable abode for us humans. As stated earlier, we can’t take all words here literally, otherwise, we have to believe that the flood [waters] can lift up their voice [talk or sing]?
A third passage referred to is Psalm 96:10, which says:
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
A fourth passage referred to is Psalm 104:5, which says:
You who laid the foundations of the earth,
So that it should not be moved forever,
Again, both Psalm 96:10 and 104:5 are Psalms (song) of praise; the words of which cannot be taken literally. Again, the word for “moved” is from the Hebrew word “mot” [Strong’s #H4131; GK# H4572], which means to: slip, fall, totter, slide, stagger, be toppled, to bring down, caused to fall, or [be] removed. This simply means our earth is a stable dwelling for us humans.
The ISR Bible translation states that the earth’s foundations are solid, dependable, and firm; “would not totter forever.” Scientifically speaking, if the earth is not moving along its orbit around the sun, then what causes the yearly seasonal changes? Therefore, the false flat-earth interpretations are very obviously in error.
CONCLUSION: The verses used by flat-earth believers as proofs that our earth does not move (meaning does not rotate on its axis, nor does it follow an orbit when it revolves around the sun) is simply not true. The context of the biblical word does not say that, and it cannot be supported by both logic and science.
Rainbow As Sign of the Dome Over the Earth?
Flat-earth believers have used the rainbow as a sign of the supposedly solid dome over our earth which they call “firmament.” But the rainbow is just refracted light from the sun during a light rain which occurs at a certain angle from the sun—but there is nothing solid in it. And the rainbow’s size is just too small to include all the big continents of this earth!
In my science classes, I used to simply demonstrate the phenomenon of the multi-colored rainbow light with a half glass of clear water in a clear glass perched at the windowsill facing the sunlight. And presto! A half-round multi-colored rainbow-like light is instantly displayed on the floor.
Preserved Footprints of Man on the Moon
