David Wardlaw Scott - Terra Firma: The Earth Not a Planet - The Flat Earth Zetetic Theory - Proved from Scripture, Reason and Fact

TERRA FIRMA:

THE EARTH NOT A PLANET.

PROVED FROM

SCRIPTURE, REASON, AND FACT.

BY

DAVID WARDLAW SCOTT,

AUTHOR OF

Dora Marcelli; The Contrast, and other Poems; Water and the Spirit;

God Misunderstood; The Purpose of the Ages;

Hades and Beyond; &c.

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For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Psalm xxiv. 2.

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Published by Left of Brain Books

Copyright 2021 Left of Brain Books

ISBN 978-1-334-99916-1

eBook Edition

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Table of Contents

I am now an old man, and, had I consulted my own comfort, would never have penned a line of this book, as for some years I have had cataract in both eyes, so that it was not without difficulty that I could read or write. So great, however, appeared to be the need, and being still anxious to serve my generation, I determined to undertake this work, in order to expose the fallacies of Modern Astronomy, which are so contrary to the Word of God, and so conducive to the promotion of Infidelity. I do not enter the lists arrayed in the panoply of Neo Science, to fight this great Goliath, but only with a few pebbles of the brook, yet I trust that, with Gods blessing, the attempt may not be altogether fruitless.

I am well aware that as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man Luke xvii. 26. But, while we should be ever ready for His Coming, it is not for us to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power Acts i. 7; and we are exhorted in the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not which shall prosper Ecc. xi. 6. It may be that these pages may meet the need of some, who have not altogether been misled by unprovable fancies, and who will rejoice to find that the Biblical account of Creation is, after all, the only one which can be depended upon, and that Modern Astronomy, like its kindred theory of Evolution, that dangerous and degraded form of Buddhist metempsychosis, is nothing but a mockery, a delusion, and a snare. Thus may the eyes of the understanding be cleared of that obstructive cataract, which obscures the sight of many otherwise sound minds, owing to the evil effects produced thereon by science falsely so called 1 Tim. vi. 20.

Not being a professional Astronomer, I required to read and think much while writing this book, and had to weigh every matter in an even balance, so as to make no statement which is not in strict conformity with Scripture, Reason, or Fact. I am especially indebted to The Earth (not a Globe) Review, which was the means of first inducing me to begin this work to Dr. Rowbothams (Parallax) Zetetic Astronomy to Mr. Carpenters One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is not a Globe and to Mr. Winships Zetetic Cosmogony. I would also express my best thanks to ZETETES, the late Editor of The Earth (not a Globe) Review, who, at my request, carefully read my manuscript before its being sent to the Printers, and who, on returning it wrote I am pleased to be in perfect accordance with so much that is in your book. I could not expect him to say more, as it rarely happens that men of independent thought can see everything in exactly the same light. The favourable testimony of such an expert in Astronomic subjects as ZETETES, gives me confidence in placing the result of my labour before the Public, and I sincerely trust that it may not be in vain in the Lord, but that it will be helpful to those of my Readers who are desirous of searching out the truth of God, as revealed in His works of Creation.

D. WARDLAW SCOTT.

25 Trinity Road,

Wood Green, London,

March, 1901.

TERRA FIRMA:

THE EARTH NOT A PLANET.

PROVED FROM

SCRIPTURE, REASON, AND FACT.

I remember being taught when a boy, that the Earth was a great ball, revolving at a very rapid rate around the Sun, and, when I expressed to my teacher my fears that the waters of the oceans would tumble off, I was told that they were prevented from doing so by Newtons great law of Gravitation, which kept everything in its proper place. I presume that my countenance must have shown some signs of incredulity, for my teacher immediately added I can show you a direct proof of this; a man can whirl around his head a pail filled with water without its being spilt, and so, in like manner, can the oceans be carried round the Sun without losing a drop. As this illustration was evidently intended to settle the matter, I then said no more upon the subject.

Had such been proposed to me afterwards as a man, I would have answered somewhat as follows Sir, I beg to say that the illustration you have given of a man whirling a pail of water round his head, and the oceans revolving round the Sun, does not in any degree confirm your argument, because the water in the two cases is placed under entirely different circumstances, but, to be of any value, the conditions in each case must be the same, which here they are not. The pail is a hollow vessel which holds the water inside it, whereas, according to your teaching, the Earth is a ball, with a continuous curvature outside, which, in agreement with the laws of nature, could not retain any water; besides, as the Scriptures plainly tell us 2 Pet. iii. 5, the water is not contained in the Earth, but the Earth in the water. Again, the man who whirls the pail around his head, takes very good care to hold it straight in an even circuit, for, if he did not, the water would immediately be spilt. But you teach us that the Earth goes upside down and downside up, so that the people in Australia, being on the other side of the so-called Globe, have their feet exactly opposite to ours, for which reason they are named Antipodes. We are not like flies which, by the peculiar conformation of their feet, can crawl on a ball, but we are human beings, who require a plane surface on which to walk; and how could we be fastened to the Earth whirling, according to your theory, around the Sun, at the rate of eighteen miles per second? The famed law of Gravitation will not avail, though we are told that we have fifteen pounds of atmosphere pressing on every square inch of our bodies, but this does not appear to be particularly logical, for there are many athletes who can leap nearly their own height, and run a mile race in less than five minutes, which they could not possibly do were they thus handicapped. Sir, your assertion respecting the revolution of the world round the sun, as illustrated by the pail of water, is utterly worthless, and will never convince any thinking man; it is, as the late Mr. Carpenter said of another astronomical theory, an outrage upon human understanding and credulity.