There is a general thread among most Flat Earther’s belief systems and that is a literal interpretation of the Bible. And there is nothing wrong with that at all. For the record, I am a born-again Christian who believes the Bible is inerrant, the Word of God and literally true. But from this point, scepti et al and I veer considerably off course in what we think that statement actually means.
Firstly, the Bible is not a book on science, but rather history and the story of God’s relationship with His people. That is not to say that it contradicts science. In fact, with the exception of evolution (a different subject) the Bible does not generally contradict existing scientific beliefs and proofs. And to repeat, the Bible is not a science book and going there for your science will be at best, disappointing.
Now back to the Bible… Scepti et al believe in this flat earth model with a fixed dome and even literal ‘windows’ to heaven and with the flat earth standing on literal pillars. One of the first things you learn when trying to understand the Bible is to recognise what you are reading at the time. When you are reading Jesus’ parables, you are not reading literal events, but rather metaphorical stories. Jesus even stats as much. When the Bible refers to the corners of the world, it says so in the same vein that we even today refer to the ‘four corners of the globe’. There is metaphor, history, poetry and teaching all in the Bible and if you don’t know which one you are reading, then you will end up with silly ideas like a domed earth.
When God asks Job ‘who set the earth on its pillars’, does He mean literal pillars or rather how we describe some people as ‘pillars of society’ without believing that they are literally stone pillars. When the Bible refers to the ‘windows of heaven’ it is not talking about opening and closing literal windows somewhere on a dome, but more like how we say that ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’.
It is easy (and correct) to believe that the entire Bible is inerrant and literally true when you know what you are reading because poetry is LITERALLY poetry and metaphors are LITERALLY metaphors.
I say all this to explain Scepti et al and their absolute refusal (and inability) to accept the real model of the universe and a spherical earth. It is faith. Pure, absolute faith. But faith that is misguided because it is faith not in what the Bible actually says, but rather on a very poor and biased understanding of the Bible. Biblical interpretation can be subjective for some, but only cults and a few peripheral nutters don’t accept that parts of the Bible are actually poetry and metaphor or sometimes historical summaries rather than all literal fact.
The fact that he cannot be shifted is both admirable and pitiful. Steadfastness for the things of God are good, but that implies we must actually know what those things are. When science absolutely and without doubt disproves what you believe you need to check again to see if your faith is actually lining up with God’s Word or simply your own (mis)interpretation. Being steadfast and faithful to error is not admirable at all.