Wilbur Glenn Voliva vs William Eugene Blackstone — “Is the Bible a Flat Earth Book?” (moderated by B.B. Warfield)
WARFIELD:
Gentlemen. The question is direct: Does the Bible teach a flat Earth?
VOLIVA:
Yes. It describes a fixed Earth, a firmament above it, and a Sun and Moon set within that firmament.
If Scripture speaks plainly, I will not dilute it to accommodate modern theories.
BLACKSTONE:
Scripture is not a scientific manual. It speaks in the language of appearance.
We must not confuse theological truth with scientific description.
WARFIELD:
We must distinguish genre. Ancient cosmological language is phenomenological, not mechanical.
The Bible is not a scientific treatise.
VOLIVA:
That is the first retreat.
If Scripture is not authoritative in its description of reality, then authority shifts from God to man.
Who decides what is “genre”?
WARFIELD:
Language, context, historical criticism—
VOLIVA:
Then authority belongs to shifting academic systems.
Scripture becomes correct only when scholars approve its meaning.
That is not authority. That is surrender dressed as interpretation.
BLACKSTONE:
We are not surrendering Scripture. We are preserving its intent.
VOLIVA:
Intent cannot override words without destroying certainty.
If “firmament” does not mean firmament, then nothing means anything unless redefined after the fact.
WARFIELD:
You are binding truth to literalism in a way Scripture itself does not require.
VOLIVA:
Who told you that?
Not Scripture.
You did.
WARFIELD:
Then you reject interpretive tradition entirely?
VOLIVA:
I reject interpretive authority above Scripture.
There is no court above the text.
BLACKSTONE:
Then disagreement becomes impossible to resolve.
VOLIVA:
No. It becomes simple.
Scripture speaks. We obey.
WARFIELD:
Then the Bible becomes a scientific authority, which it was never intended to be.
VOLIVA:
No.
It becomes what it has always claimed to be:
Truth.
Not divided into categories men invented later.
If it speaks of the Earth, it speaks truly.
If it speaks of heaven, it speaks truly.
If men cannot reconcile it with their models, the models are wrong—not the text.
WARFIELD (final attempt):
Then there is no distinction between interpretation and description in your system.
VOLIVA:
There is one distinction:
Whether man judges Scripture—
or Scripture judges man.
BLACKSTONE:
And if believers disagree?
VOLIVA:
Then one of them is wrong.
Truth does not require consensus.
WARFIELD (closing):
Then I am not the judge here.
VOLIVA:
No.
You are a witness.