Happy Birthday to “The Earth is Not Flat!”

“The Earth is Not Flat!” had its humble beginning on March 16, 2006. This is the 209th post, and I have had 6170 page views (whatever that means — is that visits by people, or are many of those visits by automated systems?)

I named this blog “The Earth is Not Flat!” because one of my primary purposes is to dispel the myth that Biblical Christianity stands opposed to a valid scientific understanding of the universe. For example, the Church–including the medieval Catholic Church–never taught that the Earth is flat. Despite this, there are many–both inside and outside of Christianity–who have the suspicion that either the church once taught this, or that it is hidden away in some obscure Old Testament passage.

Much of the apparent conflict between Christians and science is due to misunderstandings by one side or the other. A common theme in my writing and teaching is that all truth is God’s truth. God has revealed himself in Scripture and in his son, Jesus Christ. God has revealed himself in nature as well. There are many things that we could never know about God if we only studied nature. We might infer the existence of a deity, and speculate about his attributes, but there is much that we could never discern. Similarly, there are things about the universe that we will not learn from the study of the Bible. Here is my firm conviction: When there appears to be a contradiction or conflict between what we learn from science, and what we learn from the Bible, then either we don’t correctly understand nature, or we don’t correctly understand the Bible. If God is the source of both, then in the end, there will be no contradiction between the two.

I also hold that the conflict between science and Christianity is actually quite small; small enough that I really don’t worry too much about it.

I appreciate every one of you who reads this blog, and appreciate your prayers as we minister in Romania, and as I write this blog. I’ve had fun, and I hope I have stimulated both thought and faith in Jesus Christ. Suggestions for improvement are welcome. You can post a suggestion here, or email me at kevin(at)nelstead(dot)org. Not everything I write is profound–and some of it is not meant to be profound–but I hope there is enough depth and insight here to strengthen and encourage you.

As can be seen on the “Page Views Report,” I have a considerably larger number of viewers than I did in March 2006. This means that I can start recycling old blog entries without boring everyone!

Grace and Peace

Note: The myth that Christianity once taught that the Earth is flat didn’t originate until the 19th century. The true story is best explained in, of all places, Stephen Jay Gould’s essay “The Late Birth of a Flat Earth,” which is included in his book Dinosaur in a Haystack.