Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ingenious 'Flat Earth' Theory Revealed In Old Map
Live Science ^ | June 23, 2011 | Natalie Wolchover

Posted on 06/23/2011 1:54:10 PM PDT by decimon

In 1893, Orlando Ferguson, a real estate developer based in South Dakota, drew a map of the Earth that combined biblical and scientific knowledge in a unique way. The map accompanied a 92-page lecture that Ferguson — referring to himself as a "professor" — delivered in town after town, traveling far and wide to share his theory of geography, highlighted by his belief that the Earth was flat.

Only one fully intact version of Ferguson's map, which represents the Earth as a giant, rectangular slab with a dimpled upper surface, remains. Don Homuth of Salem, Ore., just donated the map to the Library of Congress. [See the map]

"It's very fragile. It's printed on tissue paper and hand-colored with watercolors," Homuth said. He got the map from his eighth grade history teacher in Fargo, N.D., who got it from his grandfather, who lived in Hot Springs, S.D. — Ferguson's hometown.

"Now, I'm 67. I don't want it to fall into the hands of relatives, for God's sake! And I don't particularly want to sell it. So we thought we'd send it to the Library of Congress," Homuth told Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience.

>

The map also has a picture of a man holding onto the Earth for dear life, with an inscription that reads: "These men are flying on the globe at a rate of 65,000 miles per hour around the sun, and 1,042 miles per hour around the center of the earth (in their minds). Think of the speed!" Yeah right, Ferguson seems to have been implying. [Read: What's at the Center of the Milky Way?]

>

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; godsgravesglyphs; stringtheory; xplanets
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 next last
To: decimon

Why would anyone think that the Bible teaches a flat earth???

Isaiah 40:22 “It is He 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 out like a tent to dwell in.”

.


21 posted on 06/23/2011 2:25:35 PM PDT by fishtank (The denial of original sin is the root of liberalism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fishtank

Bookmark


22 posted on 06/23/2011 2:31:45 PM PDT by Publius6961 (you don't need a president-for-life if you've got a bureaucracy-for-life.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: fishtank
what about:
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. - Psa 103:12
If the passage made reference to north and south instread, would it convey the same meaning? If the intimation is 'never the twain shall meet', the passage in Scripture can only be true on a sphere, no?
23 posted on 06/23/2011 2:49:06 PM PDT by raygun (http://bastiat.org/en/the_law DOT html)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: decimon

Anyone that has ever read the bible knows the earth isn’t flat.


24 posted on 06/23/2011 2:53:25 PM PDT by ThisLittleLightofMine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fishtank

Exactly.

Nowhere does the Bible ever say or even imply the Earth is flat.

BTW, Hebrew had no specific word for sphere. The word translated as circle in the KJV also was the word used for a ball or sphere. So Isa 40:22 could also be accuratly translated as: “It is He who sits above the sphere of the earth,...”

1893? The Earth had been proven to be round long before this, as men had sailed around it many, man times.

This guy was an idiot. He read into the Bible what he wanted to find, instead of letting the Bible stand on it’s own.


25 posted on 06/23/2011 2:55:00 PM PDT by Brookhaven (Herman Cain knows computers, math, missiles, banking, burgers, pizza, gospel music, & Coca-Cola)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: raygun

The Bible is using figurative language here. The point is to suggest a great distance to give us an idea of just how far our sins are removed from us.


26 posted on 06/23/2011 3:00:05 PM PDT by Brookhaven (Herman Cain knows computers, math, missiles, banking, burgers, pizza, gospel music, & Coca-Cola)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: fishtank
Why would anyone think that the Bible teaches a flat earth???

See Job 38:

4 “ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?.

6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,.


27 posted on 06/23/2011 3:04:57 PM PDT by fso301
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: ThisLittleLightofMine; raygun; Brookhaven
Why would anyone think that the Bible teaches a flat earth???

See Job 38:

4 “ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?.

6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,.


28 posted on 06/23/2011 3:08:37 PM PDT by fso301
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: fso301

I don’t see what you’re seeing there, I guess. Nothing in those passages supports a flat earth. Quite the opposite. In fact the question format of the phrase suggests a nullification of the premise. By asking “to what were it’s foundations fastened” the speaker is saying that there is no such fastening. The earth is supported by nothing— it is it’s own foundation. Which... is true.


29 posted on 06/23/2011 3:58:58 PM PDT by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: decimon

I think the drawing is really cool, though. It would make a great poster on the wall of my office. Perfectly useful.


30 posted on 06/23/2011 4:00:55 PM PDT by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Brookhaven
Copy that, concerning the immense distance, but how far in context of:
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. - Isa 43:25
Does the passage in Psa intimate the same thing as suggested in Isa IF north and south were used instead of east and west?

For there to be a distinct and notworthy difference, the directions could only apply on a sphere, no? How far does one have to travel north in a straight line before they turning south (still in a straight line), albeit pretty far but how much farther does one have to go WEST in a straight line before beginning to travel EAST?

31 posted on 06/23/2011 4:12:32 PM PDT by raygun (http://bastiat.org/en/the_law DOT html)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Ramius
I don’t see what you’re seeing there, I guess. Nothing in those passages supports a flat earth.

Perhaps not a flat earth but certainly an earth unlike anything we know.

Quite the opposite. In fact the question format of the phrase suggests a nullification of the premise. By asking “to what were it’s foundations fastened” the speaker is saying that there is no such fastening. The earth is supported by nothing— it is it’s own foundation. Which... is true.

That's only because you automatically interpret it metaphorically. A few hundred years ago, people could read this and come to the conclusion that the earth was some sort of structure containing right angles which sat atop something. I think one of the other posters mentioned turtles and elephants which historically is not a joke. People actually believed that.

32 posted on 06/23/2011 5:52:05 PM PDT by fso301
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]


from "A Study In Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle -- Dr Watson, regarding Sherlock Holmes:
His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he might be and what he had done. My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.

"You appear to be astonished," he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. "Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it."

"To forget it!"

"You see," he explained, "I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones."

"But the Solar System!" I protested.

"What the deuce is it to me?" he interrupted impatiently; "you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work."

33 posted on 06/23/2011 6:09:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...

Thanks decimon. This one should be fun, fun, fun!


34 posted on 06/23/2011 6:10:42 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: decimon; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach ·
· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
 Antiquity Journal
 & archive
 Archaeologica
 Archaeology
 Archaeology Channel
 BAR
 Bronze Age Forum
 Discovery
 Dogpile
 Eurekalert
 Google
 LiveScience
 Mirabilis.ca
 Nat Geographic
 PhysOrg
 Science Daily
 Science News
 Texas AM
 Yahoo
 Excerpt, or Link only?
 


Thanks decimon. This one should be fun, fun, fun!

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
 

· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword ·
· Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·


35 posted on 06/23/2011 6:11:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: AdmSmith; bvw; callisto; ckilmer; dandelion; ganeshpuri89; gobucks; KevinDavis; Las Vegas Dave; ...

Thanks decimon. This one should be fun, fun, fun!

· String Theory Ping List ·
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
· Join · Bookmark · Topics · Google ·
· View or Post in 'blog · post a topic · subscribe ·


36 posted on 06/23/2011 6:11:16 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis; annie laurie; Knitting A Conundrum; Viking2002; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Mmogamer; ...

Thanks decimon. This one should be fun, fun, fun!
 
X-Planets
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·
Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·

37 posted on 06/23/2011 6:11:22 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: BigEdLB

LOL!


38 posted on 06/23/2011 6:11:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: WKUHilltopper

The Library of Congress has a wonderful map collection and the best preservationists in the world.


39 posted on 06/23/2011 6:15:14 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: mnehring

Huh. I thought we just had fake moon landers.


40 posted on 06/23/2011 6:18:28 PM PDT by rintense (The GOP elite & friends can pound sand.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson