Abstract
A resurgent flat-earth movement claims we need to get back to what the Bible says-but what does God's Word really say about the earth's shape? Everyone thought the earth was flat until Christopher Columbus set people straight. "We know better now." You've probably heard this before, perhaps even from a teacher. It may come as a shock then to hear that, at least in the West, most people knew the earth is spherical over 2,000 years ago. More shockingly, the view that everyone once believed in a flat earth is itself a myth, invented in the 1880s to discredit the Middle Ages, Christianity, and the Bible. That's why it's especially distressing to see a new movement gaining traction in Christian circles, asserting that the image of earth as a globe is a modern falsehood and we need to get back to what the Bible teaches. Looking closer at the issue can teach us some valuable lessons.