Flat Earth or Globe Earth
Flat and
globe earth theory today are getting more and more popular. Almost everybody
believes in one or the other. What is even more interesting, is that many professed
christians are claiming they believe in one of the theories, without thinking
of the consequences. They integrate it in their beliefs, and soon enough, for
majority of those christians, it becomes the focus of their religion. Every
time they meet, this subject swallows up every other topic. They believe it is
their duty to preach about flat or globe earth theory.
Many believe
this is something completely new. However, these theories exist for a long time.
I will share some things God impressed me with, as well as instructions
regarding both theories from the pen of Ellen White.
Message,
Not Irrelevant Theories
"I
learn by letters from New York that Brother Brown has accepted and is now
preaching the flat world theory. Is it
possible that this theory has been brought by Brother Wilcox from England and
that you have accepted it and are teaching it? My brother, our work is to
teach the third angel’s message. Stick to the message. It is a weakness of
Elder Wilcox to get hold of hobbies and to stick to some things that he had
better let alone." {21MR 412.6}
"Any
kind of theory or hobby that Satan can lead the minds of men to dwell upon, he
will draw their attention to, so that they shall not be engaged in giving
the solemn message for this time. Do not, my brother, become entangled
with ideas that have no connection with the work for this time. It is better to be teaching the truth as it is in
Jesus. Better to be seeking for true godliness, heart holiness, freedom from
all selfishness, freedom from all envies and jealousies." {21MR 413.1}
"It
is better to pray and humble the soul before God and let the world, round or
flat, be just as God has made it. Try most
earnestly by faithful continuance in welldoing to seek for a clear title in the
inheritance in the earth made new. Better lead the flock of God to drink at the
higher streams; better by precept and example seek God while He may be found.
Call upon Him while He is near. There is a revival needed in the church. When
the teachers are drinking fresh draughts from the well of Bethlehem, then they
can lead the people to the living stream. My soul is weighed down with the
burden of the condition of things in New York. May the Lord raise up helpers,
men whom He can teach, humble men whom He can lead to bear a clear, sharp
testimony in faith. God help you to seek His face, to walk carefully, to put
self out of sight, and exalt Jesus." {21MR 413.2}
"I
hope Brother Wilcox will be a truly converted man. This is his great need at
the present time. He wants meekness, he wants humility, he wants genuine piety,
and without it he is as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. His soul and your
soul need the indwelling of Jesus. Whether the world is round or flat
will not save a soul, but whether men believe and obey means everything.—Letter
43, 1887." {21MR 413.3}
Ellen G.
White Estate
Silver
Spring, Maryland,
May 9,
1991.
Entire
Letter.
MR No.
1587—True Christianity; Being a Good Samaritan
(Written August
29, 1904, from Melrose, Massachusetts, to her son, W. C. White.)
"This
morning Mother is rather weary. I spoke one hour under the tent. The weather
has been cool and very nice for the meetings. I tried to forget we might have
been much better situated, and made a much better impression than we have made.
Our tent has been full and the children were in a meeting in another tent."
{21MR 414.1}
"I am
pleased to tell you the Lord strengthened me on Sabbath to bear a decided
message. To His name be all the glory. I know the impression was made by His
Holy Spirit. On Sunday afternoon I urged the truth with more decided firmness
and power. A man was present who had expressed a desire to see me and talk
with me in regard to the round and flat world. I sent him a message that
when Christ gave my commission to do the work He had placed upon me, the
flat or round world was not included in the message; the Lord had taken
care of His house, His world here below, better than any human agency could
care for it, and until the message came from the Lord, silence was eloquence
upon that question." {21MR 414.2}
"I
then said to the congregation that I had to present to them the science of
higher education. Luke 10:17-24. Now all listen, “And, behold, a certain lawyer
stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
(verse 25). Here is a question of highest science." {21MR 414.3}
"The Lord
Jesus turned over the question to the lawyer himself. “He said unto him, What
is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Christ said unto
him, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing
to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?” (verses 26-29).
Then Christ gave a parable of the Good Samaritan. This is the true science of
Christianity." {21MR 414.4}
"The
great question is, What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? This is the
science of what constitutes the higher education, and when this question is
properly adjusted, the capabilities of the whole man are called into full
exercise. There will be no agitation of the question whether the world is
round or flat, but the whole burden of the soul is: What shall I do to inherit
eternal life? We need now to make every talent that God has given us to
be employed to His name’s glory." {21MR 414.5}
"I had
a very solemn message and it made a decided impression on the many assembled.
Several followed me out to the carriage to speak a word with me. Professor
Ramsey came to the carriage and spoke with me. Seemed very glad he heard me
again. He has fullness of flesh but his countenance is greatly changed in expression.
There was not that intelligence and refinement that had once been there, and I
felt sorry."—Letter 390, 1904. {21MR 415.1}
Ellen G.
White Estate
Silver
Spring, Maryland,
May 9,
1991.
Entire
Letter.
"Let
those who are presenting theories as to whether the earth is round or flat, leave
this question, for God has not given it to them to solve, and earnestly
inquire, “What shall I do that I may have everlasting life?” Let them heed
the answer, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as
thyself.” {21MR 419.6}
"Nonessential
questions will be brought in by those who do not purify their souls by obeying
the truth. They fall far short of the standard
of loving God supremely and their neighbor as themselves. I am
bidden to say that sophistries will be brought in to take the place of the pure
gospel of Jesus Christ. The message is given, “Some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” This word
has been fulfilling among our people." {21MR 420.1}
Melrose,
Mass., Sunday, August 28, 1904—"I speak to the people that shall assemble
in the tent meeting in Melrose. My mind is deeply exercised this morning. I
have had matters presented to me to give to our people. An urgent request
came to me from a man who desired to discuss with me in regard to the round
world—to him a very important matter. {21MR 421.3}
"Every
issue will be brought in in various places by some persons who are not worked
by the Spirit of God. Last night the Lord gave me words to speak to the
people. Satan has a multitude of questions to bring in through various minds
and ingenuity as all-important. Take the Word, plainly stating the truth
for 1904; and the messenger that was sent of God had a message the same as the
people need now. He was John the Baptist." {21MR 421.5}
"I
had one come up to me and want me to give information about a round or flat
world. Said I, I have no such burden on my soul at all. I have
nothing to say to you or to anybody else about a round or a flat world.
What we want is a round character. We have altogether too much of a flat
character, and we want now to think of building a character that shall be round
and perfect, as our Father which is in heaven is perfect, and we want that
every talent that you have should be in exercise. Grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the truth, that you may go forth, and—what says Christ? Teach them all
things about a round world? No. That I have commanded you. That
is what we are to teach. Teach the lessons that Christ gave in His life
practice." {Ms155-1904.79}
"And
I want to tell you that somebody will rush up every little while with something
new and strange, as though that was to take your minds captive. Tell
them that you have the old, old story of the cross of Christ, of the life of
Christ, and when it comes to these little items that they shall
bring out, we have the solid foundation for our feet. It is the solid
platform that we want. If you work with Christ, Christ will work with
you, and we are getting ready, fitting up for the future, immortal life. Jesus says,
I will be with you to the end of the world. Then we will believe Him, and we
will work diligently for Him." {Ms155-1904.80}
Here are
things to remember:
§ We see that there were some among adventists who accepted
and preached flat or globe world theory. We should not do that. We are warned
that we are to stick to the three angel messages. Which means that preaching
this theories leads away from three angel messages and the closing work of our
church.
§ She also considered it a weakness, and a thing to better
be left alone.
§ This theories were Satan's distraction to prevent
preaching of important things.
§ These are ideas that have no connection with the work for
this time.
§ Clearly, from the statements above, we can conclude it is
not a pillar doctrine, nor is it essential for salvation.
§ Our commision, brothers and sisters, is not flat OR round
world, for this is not included in the message.
§ We are advised not to even agitate that question. I was
impressed that those who believe in the flat earth theory are more inclined to
agitate that question unnecessarily, while those who believe in the globe earth
theory are more inclined to defend their theory unnecessarily.
§ We are to leave this question for it is not ours to
solve.
§ It is nonessential question that will be brought up by
those who do not purify their souls by obeying the truth. These kind of
sophistries will be brought in to take the place of the gospel.
§ We have not to do with this question of flat OR round world.
§ Those who are not worked by the Spirit of God will be
deceived as to what are all-important questions.
§ We should have no burden upon our souls at all concerning
this question. We should have nothing to say about this matter.
§ I was impressed that agitating these questions, especially
flat earth theory, will cause others to, needlesly, look at us as
if we are weird, abnormal, unstable, fanatical or uneducated. If we suffer this
when we are living like Jesus did, shunning all evil and keeping the
commandments of God, we are blessed. For it is written: "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are
ye; for the spirit of glory and of God
resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is
glorified." But
if we are reproached and spoken bad of due to our unwise words and actions, we
can not expect the spirit of glory
and of God to rest upon us.
§ I was shown that preaching these theories might prove as
an obstacle, a roadblock, for gospel proclamation to unconverted (or converted)
people. If the first thing they hear from us is a sermon on these theories, would
it really be surprising if they did not want to hear anything else from our
mouths? Don't you doubt for a second that Satan will whisper in their ears that
they should not take you seriously. In doing this, we might to great degree lessen
the strength or completely make of non effect our testimony and gospel
proclamation. Those poor, unconverted souls, could by such unwise actions, be
forever placed outside of our area of influence and their blood could be on our
hands. You have been warned.
§ It is important to remember that Christ DID NOT say
we should teach people about the round, globe, world either.
§ Where, in the bible, can you find a commandment to teach
these theories? Where is it in the 3am? The message that we should bear,
concerning the creation, is stated in the first angel's message – it is to
remind people of God's great memorial of creation – the Sabbath. Vast majority
of flat earthers, and vast majority of globe earthers, DO NOT honor Creator's
holy day of rest. This is the vital question. Both of those companies will
receive the Mark of the beast, regardless of their belief on the shape of the
earth, unless they repent and give God glory when they hear message for this
time – the third angel's message.
§ I was shown that advocates of both theories tend
to downgrade or reject the Spirit of Prophecy, believing they can decide what is
inspired and what is not. This is due to unwillingness to give up a cherished idol.
We are too hasty and impatient so we form a conclusion and make idol out of it,
when we are told this is not given for us to solve. I was reminded of a
particuraly interesting verses: Job 38:4,21 "Where wast thou when I laid
the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Knowest thou
it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?"
These questions weren't ment to be answered, but to show our limited
understanding of the wondrous work of creation.
§ So,
what should we do when we face such questions or meet preachers of these theories?
We can either ignore it, or politely change the course of our conversation as
in these examples: "Said I, I have no such
burden on my soul at all. I have nothing to say to you or to anybody else about
a round or a flat world. What we want is a
round character. We have altogether too much of a flat character, and we want
now to think of building a character that shall be round and perfect, as our
Father which is in heaven is perfect, and we want that every talent that you
have should be in exercise. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth,
that you may go forth, and—what says Christ? Teach them all things about
a round world? No. That I have commanded you. That is what we are to
teach. Teach the lessons that Christ gave in His life practice." Or: "My
answer was, “I have a message to this people in regard to the life they must
live in this world to prepare them for future life which measures with the life
of God. We have nought to do with the question whether this world is round or
flat. [The important thing] is to serve God with full purpose of a renewed
heart, sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.” Or:
"There will be no agitation of the question whether the world is
round or flat, but the whole burden of the soul is: What shall I do to inherit
eternal life?"
§ We
should share with people the old, old story of the cross of Christ, of the life
of Christ. If they chose to bring these little items up, talk to them about the
pillars of faith, the solid foundation. Story of Christ, story of His live and pillars of faith
are ALL-IMPORTANT.
§ Satan
is capable of using BOTH theories to his advantage. If people believe in globe earth,
Satan and his angels claim they come from one of the distant worlds. They masquerade
as aliens. If you say you are a flat earther, they come as aliens claiming they
created this terrarium and we are their experiment.
§ I
was shown that only visitors we will ever have will be God and His angels, or
Satan and his angels. If they contradict the law and the testimony – they are
evil angels. If they speak according to the law and testimony – they are holy
angels. That’s what is important to understand.
~dm