Hi Fletcher,
I hope that I don't come across at all as condescending or haughty. We all have gifts. Some gifts are physical while others are much more important -- spiritual gifts. Yet, all of those things are akin to the talents mentioned by Jesus in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25). At times, I feel pressed regarding whether or not I've made the most of the talents that God has given me. I want to show a spiritual return for all of the things that he has blessed me with. I often feel as though I fall short of a viable return on that investment.
In earthly terms, I would remind anyone that intelligence isn't the same thing as education. There are incredibly intelligent individuals who never finished high school. Many of the most intelligent individuals that I know work in fields that don't require education. Many reasoned (intelligently and rationally) to forego formal education to pursue a career via training, apprenticeship or other vocations that don't require letters at the ends of their names. They are earning a good living without a degree. Yet, I've also known people who squandered their years in college -- amassing enormous amounts of student debt -- only to work unrelated jobs for which their years in school and choice of college major were unrelated or unnecessary.
I hope that I don't come across like that. Although I enjoyed my formal education, it's a total loss when compared to knowing Christ Jesus. I am moved by the words of that old song "I'd Rather Have Jesus" (as sang by Dallas Holm) which reflects my own heart's cry.
I’d rather have Jesus
than silver or gold
I’d rather have Him
than riches untold
I’d rather have Jesus
than houses or land
I’d rather be led
by His nail scarred handThan to be the king of a vast domain
And be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lxjb4UMsfo
I also appreciate your testimony! It's one thing that I really enjoy in this life -- hearing how people met the Lord. No matter our backgrounds or experiences, we (as believers) all come to that point where we come to faith in Christ. It's always moving...and always beautiful.
As for this topic in general, I appreciate you explaining your journey. It does help to know. I would also say that my journey is one in which I read the Scriptures and do not find a conflict with the descriptions of the world and what we actually observe from science -- including a spherical earth.
Now, I am not given to "easy believing." This is often accused by the well-educated to describe those who aren't educated and believe something counter to what they think that they know. Quite a few atheists are often prone to this -- and they will readily dismiss the intellectual prowess of anyone who isn't an atheist. They think that they "easily believe" what they've been taught in regards to faith or "religion."
On the other hand, I believe that it is much more emblematic of the modern education system. Education is supposed to be based upon teaching individuals to engage in their own research using a thesis progression, a scientific method or something similar.
Yet, many children are trained from an early age to simply believe what the teacher says. So, to appease those teachers, they simply regurgitate the lessons given by the teachers or the information contained with textbooks. In many cases, this isn't a problem. However, it is a terrible problem with many of the more divisive issues that are injected into public school education -- and even college education.
Students are taught things like evolution, climate change and even the manner in which the universe was formed. Yet, these are things that cannot be observed -- a basis for science. Even the research can only (more or less) be derived from the tangible "scientific" equivalent of circumstantial evidence.
Yet, in most cases, the very fundamental parts of science, economics and even history are more or less "information regurgitations" (or even coercion) rather than discoveries by students. Teachers tell the students what is "truth." The students repeat this to the teachers on tests and in essays. Any questioning of those things is frowned upon by a teacher who often either went through the exact same process for their own "education" OR who doesn't believe that scientific scrutiny is a valid part of middle school, high school or college education.
If you go to most high schools today, you can ask questions such as:
- What is the speed of light?
- Is climate change real?
- Did evolution happen?
- Are people born gay?
In most cases, students might repeat their teacher's or textbook's "fact" defining the speed of light (in a vacuum) as roughly 186,000 miles/second. They will say that climate change is real -- and manmade. They'll agree with evolution. They will say that people are born gay, transgender and all sorts of "identities."
Yet, in all of this, they are usually just repeating what they perceive as "facts." Most have never spent time in a lab where the speed of light was actually measured. Most have never actually conducted firsthand study into the climate over long periods of time (through different tangible records). The same is true with things like evolution or social/sexual/gender identity claims. Instead, they simply BELIEVE what they are told. After all, they reason, why would a teacher or textbook lie?
So, in a sense, this type of lazy education system is producing individuals who merely affirm what they've been told to affirm. This has been the case for a long time in western public schools and even colleges. When I debate individuals who assert such things, I usually ask them what they are basing their claims upon. They usually cannot cite anything or, at best, the claims found within a book, text or individual.
This is coercion. It is exactly the tactics used by propaganda regimes or strange cults. While many of the "facts" taught in schools might be true or valid, it isn't the foundation for education. Education isn't about the regurgitation of facts and information. It's supposed to be based upon the expansion of the methods by which students can find out and verify these claims for themselves.
As I said, this is a terrible part of the modern education system. Even history is revised or, worse, ignored. I knew a professor who once pointed out that the most egregious fault of modern history are those things that are left out.
For instance, most history classes completely ignore the impact of the Christian faith in western history from the time of Christ onward. If it is discussed, it is often in a very negative (and misleading) manner. And, as all "good" western students are trained, they readily believe what they are taught.
Most students don't research firsthand writing or other pieces of evidence. They don't engage searching and sifting through historical documents. As such, the revision in the western classroom is almost as bad as Hollywood's "based on a true story" revision (sometimes containing very little truth). This is especially problematic in science.
I want to be clear that I don't believe various scientific principles because I was taught them in classrooms or in textbooks. In fact, I was always deeply distrustful of professors and textbooks (and the claims from them). So, I tested everything. I mentally tossed aside what I might have been taught that wasn't verifiably true and held on only to what was proven true. Anything else was merely compartmentalized.
So, when it comes to things like concluding the shape of the Earth, this isn't based upon simply believing what I was told. Rather, I've "proven" this through my own firsthand research efforts and, whenever possible, observation. For instance, I once measured a circumferential distance around the world. I did this by observing webcams of individuals around the U.S. and elsewhere around the world that I actually know (along with a few others found online) and precisely timing the sunsets. Using the circumference, I was able to determine the radius and diameter. In reverse, the figures perfectly aligned with the formula for a sphere (i.e., 2*Ï€*r).
I also used to photograph various objects in the universe. It helped that my college dorm roommate was in charge of a college observatory. So, I photographed the Moon while in college -- especially during a full or partial lunar eclipse. As the Earth cast its round shadow on a noticeably spherical Moon, it produced some amazing photos. It helps to reinforce this understanding.
The same is true of total solar eclipses -- with predicted trajectories over certain areas as it travels our planet's spherical shape and rotation. Moreover, at NASA, we utilized satellites and even took photos that were done in real time using a specific satellite that would have its orbit in that particular position at the right time.
Once, I told my wife (before we were married) that I don't understand how more individuals in the distant past didn't understand the spherical shape of the Earth even sooner. Of course, they might have been able to understand this using lunar and solar eclipse, but distance perception over altitudes might have been less helpful without taller trees. And, obviously, there weren't many taller structures and there was no flying in airplanes. During the pandemic, my wife and I flew to Hawaii. The curvature of the Earth was apparent whether I was looking out windows on either side of the planes.
I've been trying to think of some observable experimentation that would be feasible and readily available for anyone to do. I know that flying in planes, looking at webcams or launching rockets with cameras are helpful (but expensive). I know that we have outdoor webcams at our house (in Northern California) and a few of them are pointed in the direction of the sunset. IF you know 23 other people who have webcams or can share video/snap photos along a specific distance interval, it can be used to understand spherical distance as the Earth rotates on its axis at a specific rotational speed.
Brother, I apologize for yet another lengthy post. I could probably share better in person. The Lord bless you and keep you!
