As you may know, I’ve produced a few videos showing the Biblical worldview of the Earth as flat, circular, set on pillars and under a dome, within which the sun, moon and stars were placed on Day 4 of Creation. This indisputable fact is best illustrated by the following graphic from Logos Bible Software:
Around this time last year (2015), while searching to confirm that the above graphic was indeed from Logos, I stumbled upon some writings and a video by Dr. Michael Heiser. This was at a time when I was receiving a ton of flack for even suggesting that the Bible was a “Flat Earth book.” Much to my surprise, I saw that someone of Heiser’s academic stature fully agreed with everything I had been saying. So, I included some clips of a lecture he gave on the subject in one of my presentations to prove the point. Shortly after that, I was publicly threatened by the good doctor. He accused me of being unprincipled, dishonest and worse. Funny, how academics can cite the work of other academics all day long, but when a so-called “village idiot” does the same, they blow a fuse.
Well, after I posted my latest video last night (6/8/16), which included the same clips in question, many began sending me the link to Dr. Michael Heiser’s rant/blog against me (Note: although he didn’t mention my name, he did threaten me directly in a comment on a post by Doug Hamp that he was going to write what he did before he did so. Therefore it is quite obvious that some of his statements were aimed at me). Here’s the link if you have not read it:
If you’ve actually seen my video, you will immediately recognize that he obviously did not, because it really does appear like he was giving a knee-jerk response – likely based on gossip and half-truths sent to him by others. Perhaps for good reason. For instance, a YouTube user named TigerDan925 posted a video totally taking my video out of context and absolutely misrepresenting both myself as well as my use of Dr. Heiser’s work in that video.
Notice the title of TigerDan925’s video reads, “Calling out Rob Skiba. Doctor Confirms flat earth? Er. No.” and in the description he says…
Dr Michael Heiser has never said the earth is flat. See for yourself. The flat earth community will cease on anything to give credence to the flat earth theory. There’s a big difference between showing what ancient hebrews believed and flat earth.
Thankfully, as you can see, he got over 600 thumbs-down ratings and reading through the comments for that video, I was pleased to see that many very quickly caught on to the fact that he was falsely accusing me and totally misrepresenting everything about my video – the title of which is in the screenshot above from the beginning of his video, clearly stating that the video in question was labeled “The Bible is a Flat Earth book (confirmed by a doctor and the village idiot).” The whole point of that video was to show what the Bible says about the subject. Some of the users who commented on his page called TigerDan out on his error, leaving comments like:
Tiger, I dont think Rob ever said Heiser was a flat earther. He said Heiser admits the Bible supports a flat earth and that’s why the ancient Hebrews believed accordingly. My goodness
I just watched all 37 minutes and 45 seconds of Rob Skiba’s video. It seems to me TigerDan… that you are “misunderstanding all you see”. Rob Skiba’s video containing an excerpt of a lecture by Michael Heiser is about posing the challenge of… IF YOU TAKE THE BIBLE LITERALLY… YOU HAVE TO COME TO THE CONCLUSION, THAT THE EARTH IS ON PILLARS, IT’S DOMED, GOD IS ABOVE THE DOME, THE SUN AND MOON ARE INSIDE THE DOME AND THE STARS CLOSE (not sure if they’re inside or not, but I think they are). That’s what Rob’s video is about. Why are you going on about this??? You are misunderstanding what was presented in that video. Come on man!….
But this is how slander, gossip and bearing false witness often leads to other problems. So, is that what happened with Dr. Heiser? Judging from his opening statements, it certainly sounds like it:
So “those who follow” his work were sending him “items.” Did he actually view those items? I can only guess, but I’m inclined to think not. Furthermore, some of his claims and questions against the Flat Earth model have long been addressed by many in that research community, indicating the man has not spent any real amount of time looking into any of it. At any rate, please note that Dr. Heiser only affirms the whole reason I cited his work in the first place by the following statements from his blog:
“I and other OT scholars (e.g., John Walton; see below) have written articles about the pre-modern cosmology of the biblical writers — about how the biblical text describes a round, flat earth, complete with a covering dome, to which were affixed the stars (which in turn were thought to be divine beings, or under the power of divine beings).”
Yep. And that’s exactly what I was saying! When people thought I was crazy, I showed that other generally well respected Biblical scholars who were being brutally honest with the text (something MANY Christians – and Creationists in particular – are not being) were saying exactly the same thing I was. He goes on…
“My position is straightforward. The biblical writers do indeed describe a flat round earth (with other features the flat earthers skip; see below). They wrote about the world this way because they lived at a time before knowledge of the natural world was sufficient to demonstrate otherwise. But I don’t believe the earth is really flat “because the Bible tells me so.” The knowledge the biblical writers had of their physical surroundings isn’t a truth proposition for biblical theology. Anyone who uses my work to prop up this idea without providing a disclaimer that I reject modern flat earth thinking is unprincipled and deliberately dishonest.”
No one was being “unprincipled and deliberately dishonest.” His whole view (including his personal denial of the cosmology put forth by the Biblical writers – which he so eloquently demonstrated in his presentation) was totally, completely, fairly and accurately included in the clips of his speech that I used. My only point was to show that the authors of Scripture believed the world was flat – not that Heiser, myself or anyone else living today does. In each case where his work was cited, it was in the context of proving that the Biblical authors did believe it was.
Toward the end of his rant, Heiser then posts a link to the exact source video I showed. SMH. Uh gee, I wish Ida thunka dat.
Of course, even highly credentialed academics apparently fall prey to “condemnation before investigation is the height of ignorance” every now and then too (perhaps more often than any of them would be willing to admit). But if he had actually taken the time to see how he was accurately represented in my work, he never would have lashed out as he did. By the way… you don’t need to include a disclaimer, when the source used states all that needed to be said in the first place.
All that aside, and skimming past all the derogatory slurs and hate displayed in the comments section of that blog, this user’s comment really caught my attention and it sums up my problem with Dr. Heisers take and the whole issue in general:
Indeed. If we go the route Dr. Heiser takes, we effectively nullify Divine inspiration and might as well toss out any notion of Biblical inerrancy too. What we end up with is a hodge-podge of writings left to us (apparently) by ignorant sheep herders and fishermen, that we can pick and choose passages from as we wish, forcing whatever beliefs we want onto or out of them. As the Francis Schaeffer quote states, the Bible becomes totally useless as a valid source of revelation. If it’s all just metaphor, symbolism and poetry as many a ball Earth advocate would have us believe, then why even read the thing? What possible value is there in a document that is so obviously prone to error and “idioms” that could lead to any number of outlandish theories concerning our existence in time and space and our purpose here now and in the future? If our origins are incorrect, how can we trust anything concerning our final destination? If the Beginning is all jacked up, how can we trust any prophecy concerning the End – especially since Isaiah said the End was declared from the Beginning (Isaiah 46:10)? When Isaiah, Yeshua, Peter and John told us that all of the stars are going to fall to the Earth in the Last Days, were they full of it? Were they speaking in cryptic language, spewing idioms and “poetry” we have no frame of reference to understand? Who determines what is literal and what is poetic? Science? Dr. Heiser and others would seem to indicate that to be the case. I think Sylvain Durand leaves a very valid set of observations concerning this issue in the above comment (which, at least as of this date, was never answered by Heiser).
In conclusion, it should be painfully obvious to anyone who actually saw my video(s) that I never even so much as insinuated that Dr. Michael Heiser believes the Earth is flat. Rather, only that he confirms the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired authors of Scripture clearly did. But thanks to gossip, slander and busy-bodies who love to bear false witness, misunderstandings abound on social media. This does not help anyone in their quest to understand what it is that the Bible is trying to tell us, and how we are to believe it, and such activity only serves to cause more division and strife among the brethren.
- Rob Skiba
Rob,
I had the pleasure of running sound for you at the “Exposising Darkness In Prophesy” conference in Evansville, IN.
The conference was an awsome experience! I think I had tennis neck by the time I we left Denny’s that evening!
Just wanted to ask when you might be able to compile all of your Flat Earth stuff onto DVD(s)?
I think it would be awsome to be able to watch and share such an important topic via DVD.
It was a pleasure to meet you.
Thanks
Dusty A. Rhodes
Hey Dusty. Nice to hear from you. I hear ya on the tennis neck, LOL!
Funny you should ask. I was actually considering making data DVDs (instead of standard DVDs) because I could fit more on a disc. People could then copy or play them off the disc on their computers if they want to. I may do this in the near future. Currently working on two 3 hour synopsis videos giving and overview of the hundreds of hours that are on the nearly 70 videos I’ve made so far.
I like to think of myself as a ‘biblical literalist’ but like pretty much everyone who hears about the flat earth thing, I said thats just too ridiculous to believe… until I realized that believing in the ancient cosmology of the writers of the Bible is a minimum requirement for actually believing (or understanding) the more difficult parts of the bible that they wrote. It’s tempting to try to make the Bible fit what everyone knows to be so (the NASA narrative) because it’s embarrassing that the book we claim to believe in doesn’t line up with Google Earth, or Star Trek, or Universal Studios, or whatever. We want to believe in both our pop culture Sci-fi and our Bible. It’s not easy to give up the pop culture, since that is what keeps us ‘normal’. But normal is not a fair exchange for the truth. Rather than assuming the Bible is a globe earth book, we should allow it to be a flat earth book just as it was written. Jesus is a flat earther. Nuff said.
I hear ya.
i will admit that i am having a hard time wrapping my head around a flat earth cosmology and where i am at right now and have been for some time is more along those lines except on a much larger scale exactly how you and others pictured it according to the Bible only Gods terarium(hope that is how you spell it) as you name it contains the universe itself, having its own limits and boundries. i guess you could say i am dealing with more of a scaling issue than anything!
Hello Rob – Looove your work – thank you. Since following your research I understand why the keeping up of “Deceptions” are so necessary for the Powers that Be. If all humanity were convinced that the Bible is true and our Creator is who He says He is, there would be no need of Governments, locks, jails,lawyers etc & etc. I hope this is not a really dumb question, but do you think that the second series “V” was stopped suddenly by the US government as the plot was just too close to the truth
Thanks Gail. Well, I can’t say for certain, but it did strike me the same way – that perhaps it was hitting a little too close to truth. But of course, that is pure speculation.
well said.
Amen brother…right there with ya.
I’ve got no use for folk like Dr. Michael Heiser, who present proof one thing yet deny it under “peer-pressure”.
I no longer stand as a sphere-earther. Either scripture is true or we’re all in huge trouble. Time to get over ourselves. Time to stand.
Leaning more and more in that direction myself. My only issue with the FE model right now, that I cannot reconcile is the 24 hour sun in Antarctica. If someone could just solve that one, I’d be a lot more fully in the FE camp than I am now. That said, the more I look into the testable, repeatable evidence that WE can do ourselves (without relying on NASA, the military or government), the more intrigued I’ve become.
I thought the 24 hour sun in Antarctica was debunked as a doctored video?
Referring to this..https://youtu.be/JFIcn1wnoP0
No. Whatever the deal may be with that particular video, the phenomena has been documented as far back as the late 1700s.
Why is that so unbelievable?
Rob did you ever figure out the 24 hour sun in Antarctica? Since its been over a year (June 10, 2016) since you commented that If someone could just solve that one, you’d be a lot more fully in the FE camp than you are now.
Can the 24hr sun in Antarctica be caused by the Dome Mirror effect? So the Sun would be upside down on the other side… But since the sun is circular it doesn’t seem to be upside down? Please see http://paulbourke.net/dome/faq.html
Hi Rod, I would be interested in a body of work with actual proofable recreatable studies/Tests/Experiments.
Have you any idea where I could find such a body of work?
Kind regards
Steff Botha
I have a few ideas on such experiments if anyone might be interested.
Yes, Steff, I’d be delighted.
Not sure what you may be looking for, but I have put a TON of content on my site: http://www.testingtheglobe.com
Proverbs 24:9 The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.
Isaiah 29
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
Matthew 25
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
The separation has begun. Keep fighting the good fight Rob.
Hi Rob Thank you for your research. I stumbled on your videos a few months back and you have put me on a different state of mind to say the least. I am starting to agree with the flat earth concept more and more after evaluating the scriptures and old history. With a flat earth it would make sense that towards the middle of the earth is hotter and towards the edges its colder…Almost like a grill, when you cook the center is usually hotter than the edges. Would this also be a reason they call Japan the land of the rising sun? Just something I was thinking as of late. My hang up though would be with the different time zones. If the earth is stationary how do the different time zones come into play. You may have posted items on this already and if you have i do apologize for asking, but its something I was thinking about as well
Japan is one of the farthest Eastern regions of the ancient world, so it was only natural to believe that’s where the sun “comes out” to start his journey. As for timezones, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiOhsKAR6OY
Joshua 10:13
hey rob, here is a good video on thr 24 hr antarctica theory.
https://youtu.be/18RKoYIu0GA
it is short and suports our FE model.
Unfortunately, this video doesn’t answer or solve anything. While I can agree with that person’s frustration about not being able to test or verify anything for ourselves, it doesn’t answer the question. It wasn’t just NASA sources that gave us the information concerning the 24 hour sun. That deal has been reported since the late 1700s by people who’ve gone down there and logged their journey. So, we’re still left with the problem of verification, but if we disagree with the eye-witness accounts, then it is up to us to PROVE why what they said is wrong. So far, the FE community has failed to do so.
Doug Hamp would have helped you get the opportunity to do it, but you got COLD feet! LOL
I think a 24hr sun isn’t enough to prove a globe. It’s just a strange occurrence on a fe. I mean lifting the veil on the grand deception isn’t going to be easy.
Rob I’m posting this here because I would like you to see it. Also because I can’t stand Facebook! Especially since I’m almost Convinced that Mark Zuckerberg is a Rothschild. Yea…..go down that rabbit hole. Anyway iv just started week 25 of the Torah studies and I have to ask. Are these guys just grilling out? 🙂 I understand that it is 1000 Xs more important than that but as my first read through, the first conclusion is this is grilling out YHWH style. So not only could people atone but get to eat great food?? That’s pretty dope imo. Like I said I know there is more to it. Just would like to know what your first thoughts were on it. Assuming your memory can access those files:) thanks brother
I think you are experiencing severe cognitive dissonance.
You claim that the Bible is Flat Earth.
You claim you believe the Bible.
You claim you believe the extra-biblical texts that have points of disagreement with the Bible.
You claim you are a flat earth agnostic and do not totally believe it.
You can’t hold positions that are in conflict with each other.
Ironically, I have noticed in several of your youtube comment exchanges that when a commenter has gotten the better of you, you are the first to claim the opponent is experiencing Cognitive Dissonance. Perhaps you are projecting?
Something you may want to consider and “iron out”. Just my honest observations.
Have a good day.
http://www.testingtheglobe.com/conclusions.html
I’ve already seen that, and it does not answer the issues I brought up.
It only confirms the first issue in my original post is indeed *one* of your position(s).
Here is a cut and paste from your conclusion:
“Simply put: The truth is out there if you are willing to look for it. And unfortunately for believers in NASA and the so-called “space program,” the evidence is very damning to the official stories. After doing my own research into this stuff, again, I can say with firm conviction that anyone who still believes in NASA as a source for truth, it is quite obvious they haven’t spent any significant amount of time looking into the plethora of evidence that proves otherwise.”
So all you said there is there is truth, but do not say precisely what it is, and of course, you don’t believe NASA, which is not the same as saying you believe FET.
Just my observations,
Have a nice day.
Saw your video of Chicago Skyline being seen from boat 40 miles out – the other day. Many of your videos make some interesting points (that does make one wonder).
Anyway, hoping you would make a comment or two about the $1.1 billion mission Juno spacecraft which NASA is currently releasing pictures. Also, all the vehicles sent to Mars and have pictures transmitted back.
NASA has spent much money producing these adventures (and have pictures supporting them); is it your contention these are all being “faked” ?
http://www.testingtheglobe.com/conclusions.html
Hi Rob and All – For me, it comes down to this basic tenet: If Genesis Chapter 1 and all the supporting Scriptures pertaining to the Creation and formation of the Earth and skies is not 100% true, then I am done with the Word of God because it has little or no use. After that, it’s “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Having said, after having studied the Koran, the Bhagavad Vita,numerous ancient religions, mythology, humanism, politics, economics, and social arts for 35 years, I can say that I have found only one source of completely logical Truth, and that source is the Scriptures of Hebraic origin. Without that, no faith, no hope, and no selfless (agape) love. Continue the fight, Rob. More than we know relies on the outcome.
Amen!
Rob, like you, I have studied Dr. Baugh’s work closely, from many years back. I was recently considering pulling out the model I have on VHS to see if he was on point with a couple of areas (outside of FE). Your comment as to his firmament position was insightful, as I am new to Flat Earth. I would appreciate any other distinguishing points, if possible.
The other areas of which I mentioned: 1. To determine if his model is consistent with an Electric (Plasma) Universe and 2. Climate warming considerations. More specifically, obviously the many models used are riddled with issues. However, it would be interesting to reconcile the antediluvian (barometric, etc…) considerations. No doubt, we have major geoengineering issues that need to be considered (decades of solar radiation management, etc…). All that said, it would be a great exercise to compare / contrast these three areas with Dr. Baugh’s research models. Thank you. Bill.
Thanks Bill. Yes, I think the pressure issue still works well in the enclosed model. Think bathysphere or submarine. There is increased pressure under depth. Before the Flood, the enclosed model was under more water than it is now.