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Recently, I was reading a particular comment in my Facebook news feed where this certain church-going individual was making his personal case regarding why he is convinced that the Flat Earth Theory should be firmly rejected, as well as why all Flat Earth adherents should be avoided. In his own words, this person stated that they are "vile and viciously defensive."

Upon reading this person's full commentary, while I agreed with him concerning some points, at the same time, I felt that his commentary as a whole was somewhat off with regard to a few points. Whether or not this was intentional on this person's part, I honestly cannot say with one hundred per cent certainty. However, as I will more fully explain in a moment, I do lean towards the belief that his discrepancies were in fact intentional, and that they were meant to steer his readers in a certain direction.

However, before proceeding with my own comments, allow me to first establish the fact that, personally, I am by no means a Flat Earth Theory adherent. If you would like to better understand why I embrace this position, as well as what Flat Earth Theory supporters actually believe, allow me to invite you to read my companion article entitled "Other Planets and the Flat Earth Theory", which you will find listed at the end of this same article. Simply click or tap on the link to be taken to it.

Along the same lines, as I also explain in my series called "Admiral Richard E. Byrd and the Hollow Earth Theory", I do not embrace the so-called Hollow Earth Theory either. Again, you can refer to that series if you are interested in a much deeper explanation regarding why I personally reject the Hollow Earth theory.

Now, if you are wondering why I felt the need to make those two points clear to you, quite simply, it is because I have noticed over the years how some readers have a propensity for being a little too quick on the draw. In other words, they tend to offer a response before they have fully heard or really understood a certain matter. As such, in their haste, they might possibly falsely accuse me of something before reading the whole contents of this article. I am reminded of the following verses which advise us all to be slow to speak:

"He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."


"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."


"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"


Now, regarding the aforementioned commentary by my friend, as I said, I found a few things wrong with it. First of all, the impression I got is that the author of the commentary has a personal beef with people who don't regularly attend church service. After all, he brought up this point several times. Then, after casting such people in a negative light, he also lumped in the Flat Earth folks right along with them as well. In other words, my friend was purposely trying to convey the idea that Flat Earth proponents are bad, just like other people who fail to attend church service.

In short, my friend was intentionally creating an "us versus them" situation and basically saying "If you aren't with us -- meaning with church-going folks -- then there is really something seriously wrong with you." Quite frankly, this is a very wrong attitude, in my view. The fact of the matter is that there are a variety of valid reasons regarding why some people do not or cannot attend church service.

For example, one rather obvious reason is that some of them are handicapped or disabled in some way; in certain cases very severely so. Are we just going to criticize, judge and condemn such people? I should think not! There is also the sad fact that some people are simply unable to find a good, doctrinally-sound, Bible-preaching church in their area. Is it right to condemn them as well?

My friends, let me ask you a simple question. What is more important; making sure that a church's doctrines are really based on the Scriptures, or attending just any old church in order to fulfill a harsh, unspoken law which claims that you must attend a church, or else you are not a real Christian?

I am sure that many of you reading this know exactly what I am talking about. This attitude and tactic of applying peer pressure amounts to nothing more than pure legalism, and it is wrong. This unspoken rule -- which is common amongst some self-righteous churchgoers -- basically says that no matter how doctrinally unsound a church may be, nevertheless, you have to go anyway. And then these same people will justify their bad, condemnatory attitude with verses such as this:

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."


Let's be honest here, my friends. Many of us are more than aware of the fact that a significant number of the modern churches are filled with all kinds of sickening compromise, worldliness and materialism, lukewarmness, false doctrines, strange and ungodly manifestations, Zionism and the LGBTQ+ agenda, to name a few of their many sins.

Now, tell me, my friends. Would you really want to join one of those types of churches? I most certainly wouldn't! As I explain in my series entitled "Where Are the First Century Churches?", I would much rather participate in a small home fellowship where not only the true Word of God is shared, but which in fact follows the pattern of the First Century Church. As some of my readers will know, according to that pattern, people met and fellowshipped in the privacy of their own homes, as we can easily confirm by the following group of verses:

"Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ."


"The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house."


"Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house."


"And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:"


Furthermore, if the previous group of Bible verses is not enough to convince you concerning this important point, then allow me to share some additional verses with you where God plainly declares that He is NOT interested in buildings made with hands:

"Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?"


"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;"


"Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these."


"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?"


"For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof."


"And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?"


"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?"


"But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?"


"But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!"


"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."


So exactly when did Israel forget her Maker, the Lord God? When she was sidetracked by building temples to the false, pagan gods! That's when! Please notice also how the Lord addresses King David via the Prophet Samuel. The Lord is basically saying to David, "Why do you want to build me a house, David, when I have never asked for it? I have been content to dwell in a tent and in the tabernacle."

So you see, building a temple was David's idea. God NEVER asked for it or required it of David. Furthermore, being the Lord who knows the future, He knew how the Israelites would eventually get tripped off in building worship, and in false religion; not just once, my friends, but TWICE! And that is why God destroyed their temple two times. Furthermore, as I mention in a few other articles, even Jesus' own Apostles did the very same thing! They were fascinated by the temple which had been built by King Herod. But look at how Jesus responded to them. It must have made their jaws drop:

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."


So as you can plainly see, those ancient Jews just never got the point that God had NO interest in their buildings. Sadly, and apparently, they STILL don't seem to get the point even 2,000 years later today, because now the Orthodox Jewish are working very hard, and are very intent, on getting a third temple built in the near future in East Jerusalem on the summit of Mount Moriah where the Dome of the Rock currently stands. But will God allow it?

While we have taken a major detour due to some things which were written by my Facebook friend, let's now return to our primary discussion regarding what he had to say concerning the Flat Earth Theory. To continue, he erroneously claimed that some Flat Earth adherents question the validity of the sixty-six books which are contained in the commonly-accepted Western English canon of our modern Bible. According to my friend, it is supposedly because they doubt the validity of these sixty-six books, that they seek the truth in other extra-biblical sources and other non-Christian religions.

On a side note, I wonder if my friend is aware of the fact that some of the Bibles which are used around the world by some of the oldest Christian churches in the world actually have MORE than sixty-six books. For example, the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible contains a total of eighty-one books, and is the largest biblical canon within our Christian faith.

Next comes the Syriac Orthodox Bible -- referred to as the Peshitta -- which contains a total of seventy-six books. In third place comes the Coptic Orthodox Bible, which is read by Egyptian Christians. It contains a total of seventy-five books. Anyway, I just wonder how my friend feels about that. Does he also view these African and Middle Eastern believers as somehow being cultic because their Bibles contain more books than our Western 66-book canon?

But getting to my main point. What my Facebook friend stated regarding Flat Earth proponents questioning the validity of the Western sixty-six book canon is in reality a bald-faced lie. I would dare say that he may possibly even know that it is so. However, you see, he needs that specific lie in order to build the rest of his case. What do I mean by that? Allow me to explain more fully.

Quite simply, my friend attempted to demonstrate how certain Flat Earth adherents go down the proverbial rabbit hole as they sink deeper and deeper into deception by -- according to my friend -- becoming involved in reading all of these other extra-biblical resources. For example, the Apocrypha, the Book of Enoch, the Gospel of Thomas, the Apocalypse of Abraham and a number of other apocryphal and pseudepigraphic works. He also wanted to supposedly prove how the Flat Earth proponents become involved in other non-Christian groups and religions, such as the Hebrew Roots movement, the Sacred Name movement and the Black Hebrew Israelites, for example.

Of course, my friend claimed that one of the major reasons why Flat Earth followers get tripped off in all of the other stuff, is simply because they don't attend a regular church. So as I mentioned earlier, this fellow is really hung up on this whole church attendance thing, just like so many other conditioned churchgoers. In their minds, a Christian simply cannot survive for very long outside of organized religion, and going to a church building on weekends. Sorry, but I would beg to differ.

In fact, I will tell you straight out that I haven't been a member of a regular established church since I abandoned the Roman Catholic Church at the age of sixteen fifty-five years ago. Personally, I don't view myself as a weak or uneducated Christian. To the contrary, I have learned so much more over the years through personal, diligent Bible study, than would have been possible if I was still sitting in some church pew week after week, month after month, and year after year. I thank God for my deliverance from a dead religious system! How about you?

Now, regarding the point this fellow was attempting to make concerning church attendance, I really have to wonder what actual statistics he has in his possession to validate his point. In other words, what actual proof does he possess to show that Flat Earth adherents get sidetracked into all of that other stuff because they don't regularly attend some church service somewhere? Is it possible that he was just talking off the top of his head simply because it helps him to build his case against the Flat Earth adherents? Well, I for one wouldn't doubt it. People often resort to mindless chatter without offering proof for what they are saying. It is human nature to do so.

Now, I will be honest. I really don't know how much Flat Earth Theory supporters rely upon extra-biblical sources to validate their beliefs. Furthermore, neither do I know what percentage of them may have become involved in non-Christian religions like the aforementioned ones. Perhaps some of them do, and maybe some of them don't. Who knows. In fact, again, I seriously doubt that my friend knows either. But you see, to him, it does not matter, because as I mentioned earlier, regardless of how accurate or inaccurate his statements are, they are good talking points which help him to build his case. At least in his own eyes.

But what I hope you can really see here is that this fellow was doing his very best to associate Flat Earth proponents with as many questionable things -- meaning non-Christian religions and groups, extra-biblical texts, etc. -- as he possibly could. He wanted to paint as dark a picture of Flat Earth theorists as he could, so that his readers would just believe him, and obviously agree with him. In other words, his tactic was basically guilt by association.

Now, what I know from my personal experiences in engaging in online conversations with Flat Earth supporters, is that contrary to what my friend had claimed, they do NOT reject the sixty-six books of the standard Western English canon. To my personal recollection, I have never met one single one of them that does. In fact, some of them are actually KJV Bible only advocates. Furthermore, it is precisely certain verses which are found in the KJV Bible which they attempt to use to validate the Flat Earth Theory.

As I explain in my aforementioned article regarding the Flat Earth Theory -- "Other Planets and the Flat Earth Theory" -- as far as I can tell from my personal discussions with them, the REAL problem, in my opinion, is in how Flat Earth Theory supporters choose to interpret those particular verses. That is where I strongly disagree with them, and some of them are well aware of our different and opposing points of view.

Another lie which the author of the aforementioned comment told is that he stated that Flat Earth adherents "believe all modern theology is a disguised paganism", to quote him word-for-word. My friends, that is really a half truth. In actuality, what many modern Christians believe -- I include myself here -- is that certain modern church practices, and particularly certain holidays -- such as Easter, Halloween and Christmas -- are in fact based on ancient pagan customs, false gods and heathen holidays which infiltrated and then polluted and distorted Church doctrine and beliefs.

As I amply explain in some of my other Bill's Bible Basics articles -- which you will find listed at the end of this same article -- these pagan customs and holidays were later so-called "Christianized" by the progenitors of the early Roman Catholic Church, in order to extend their sphere of power and influence over the pagan masses. Following the Reformation, some of these very same misguided beliefs and practices were carried over into the Protestant churches as well.

My friends, this author -- meaning my Facebook friend -- can deny these historical facts all he wants. However, by doing so, he is simply displaying his own level of ignorance. As some of my readers will obviously already know, anyone with an honest, open mind, a computer, Internet access and simply the willingness to invest some time in diligent research can discover these same historical truths for himself. You don't need to take my word for it if you don't want to.

So those are the key points where I disagree with the author of the aforementioned commentary. In my view, I think he is very biased -- obviously in favor of organized religion -- and I believe that he really set out with the explicit goal to condemn Flat Earth supporters, and to prove them wrong. Furthermore, my friend used every tool and trick -- as well as a few outright lies -- in order to achieve his objective.

So for those of you who may be wondering if I am saying that my friend is completely wrong with everything that he stated in his commentary, the answer is a definite "No!" Trust me when I say that I have personally dealt with enough Flat Earth theorists to know that many of them are indeed full of paranoia and mistrust exactly as my friend claimed. Not only that, but as my friend mentioned, it is also true that Flat Earth supporters clearly do NOT trust NASA, and they do in fact seem to believe that there is a global conspiracy to hide the "truth" from the world regarding the actual shape of the Earth, which in their view means flat like a pizza.

As I point out in the aforementioned article, personally, I find some of the things which Flat Earth proponents say and believe quite outlandish, ridiculous and just way over the top. I mean they really make my jaw drop, and I have to wonder what they are smoking. The things that some of them say are just that crazy, and it leaves me shaking my head in utter dismay.

Furthermore, I will be candid and tell you that if I am constantly seeing Flat Earth Theory doctrine being posted in my news feed by one of my friends, to the point where it begins to really annoy me, I will eventually reach a point where I will simply unfriend them. It is NOT that I do not like them or that I hate them. It is simply that I am tired of constantly seeing their nonsense in my news feed, and unfriending them is the only way that I know of to stop it, other than outright blocking them, which I will only do in extreme cases.

On a final note, based on my personal experiences with some of the online Flat Earth adherents I have encountered, I'll also have to agree with the author of the aforementioned commentary -- my Facebook friend -- when he stated that some Flat Earth Theory supporters can indeed be quite vicious and act in a very unloving and condescending manner. Basically, it is either you agree with them, or else they will view you as being very deceived. Some of them will even mock you to your face, which is certainly not a Christian attitude.

So in conclusion, that pretty much sums up how I personally view my friend's commentary. I believe I have been fair and balanced in expressing my opinion. You, my readers, may or may not agree with me. In writing all of my BBB articles, it is important that you understand that my primary concern and goal is to simply arrive at the truth of any matter I choose to discuss. This means two things. First, that something is Scripturally accurate and according to God's Word. Second, and where possible, that it is historically verifiable. If something meets both of these criteria, then even more so I will accept it as being true. Of course, as I point out in my website's disclaimer, as well as in articles such as "Are You Flexible?" and "Humility in Our Understanding of God's Word", I claim no monopoly on the truth, and I remain open in case I am in error in some way.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you've found it informative and enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd and the Hollow Earth Theory
Alien Intervention, Raelians, Pyramids and Nazca Geoglyphs
Alien Life, Extrasolar Planets And Universal Atonement
Apophis: Will It Hit the Earth?
Billy Meier and the Pleiadian UFO Encounter
Comet Hale-Bopp, Chernobyl and Deathstar Wormwood
Comet Hale-Bopp, Chernobyl and Deathstar Wormwood
Heaven's Gate, Suicide and Other Death Cults
Heaven's Gate: A Subliminal Message Concealed in Their Logo?
Keeping Things in Proper Perspective: ET, Where Are You?
Nature of the Alien: ETs, Demons or a Government Plot?
Other Planets and the Flat Earth Theory
The Nibiru, Planet X, Wormwood Controversy
Under the Cloud: UFOs and the Holy Bible

Gargoyles: Satan Loves Church Buildings!
God's Golden Teeth, or Satan's Delusion?
Have You Been Slain in the Spirit?
Where Are the First Century Churches?

Halloween and Samhain: No Room for Compromise!
Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas?
Our Pagan World: The Easter Myth Exposed!
Sol Invictus and the Birth of Christ

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Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.