SABBATH BROADCAST: RECTANGLE'S WITNESS
Blessed Sabbath Brothers and Sisters
October 16, 2026
RECTANGLE'S WITNESS
Continuing the series on the men and women who believed and promoted biblical cosmology. Sapphire Stone, in publishing these articles, does not necessarily agree with or endorse the personal views, theories, or conclusions of the individual authors.
"...let God be true, but every man a liar..." — Romans 3:4 (KJV)
INTRODUCING THOMAS WINSHIP
THE most faithful defenders of God's Word have been ordinary men who simply refused to let go of what Scripture plainly says. Thomas Winship was one of them.
Born in September 1860 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, Winship left home at the age of twenty-one for South Africa. He lived first in Cape Town, and in 1897 settled with his family in Durban, in the Colony of Natal. There he built a respected life as a well-known accountant, a man whose daily work was to check every figure and accept nothing that could not be verified. He was also a devoted sailor and a familiar face in Durban yachting circles. He knew the sea well enough to have tasted its dangers, too: once he was wrecked in his own yacht off Port Shepstone, and a Durban tug had to go out to bring him home.
Winship did not take his convictions secondhand. He went and looked. In March 1893, aboard the steamer Trojan near St. Helena, and again on his voyage from Cape Town to England in March 1897, he watched and recorded distant ships across the open water. In May 1895, while a passenger on the Goth, he stood up and gave a lecture at Algoa Bay on the subject that had captured his heart. And in December 1897, when Captain Joshua Slocum sailed into Durban aboard the little Spray during his famous voyage alone around the world, Winship went aboard to meet him. Slocum told him that he had sailed his little craft 30,000 miles by "plane sailing," a remark Winship treasured and later shared with his readers.
Writing under the humble pen name “Rectangle, Winship first published Zetetic Cosmogony in Durban in 1897, a modest work of 46 pages. Winship never explained his pen name, but it suits his book well. "Rectangle" comes from the Latin for "right angle," and again and again he returned to the right angle of the level line and the plane triangle of the navigator as witnesses that the waters of the earth are level.
Readers wanted more than 46 pages, and so he labored to produce an enlarged second edition of 192 pages, printed by T. L. Cullingworth of Field Street, Durban, and completed in November 1899. Its full title leaves no doubt where he stood: "Conclusive Evidence that the World is Not a Rotating-Revolving-Globe, but a Stationary Plane Circle."
Like Samuel Rowbotham ("Parallax") before him, Winship believed in the zetetic way: search things out for yourself, and test every claim by honest observation. But for Winship, observation was never the final authority. The Word of God was. That is why his book closes where it does, with the chapter you are about to read, "The Ultimate Conclusions of Science in Relation to Bible Teaching."
In these pages Winship speaks with the courage of a man who had counted the cost. In his own day, ministers were telling their congregations that the Bible was inspired only when it spoke of the soul, and was "merely the opinion of the writers" when it spoke of the physical world. Winship would not accept it. If Scripture be not true in matters scientific, he wrote, "it cannot possibly be true on any other matter." He stood firmly for the six literal days of Creation, for the universal Flood that Christ Himself affirmed, and for the plain record of Joshua's long day, when the sun stood still at the word of a man who trusted God. His answer to the doubters of his age still rings true in ours: "The miracle needs no defending. IT ONLY NEEDS BELIEVING."
Thomas Winship finished his course in Durban, passing away at his home after a short illness on July 30, 1942. His beloved wife, Amelia Hester, had gone before him three years earlier. He left behind three daughters, Louisa, Anna Edith, and Dorothy Amelia, and two sons, Harry and Albert, and a testimony in print that has outlived him by more than eighty years.
We are glad to share his words with you. The excerpt that follows is taken from that closing chapter, pages 131–152 of the 1899 edition.
THE BIBLE AND MODERN ASTRONOMY:
Between Them There Is Not an Inch of Standing Ground
From "The Ultimate Conclusions of Science in Relation to Bible Teaching," in Zetetic Cosmogony, 2nd ed. (Durban, Natal: T. L. Cullingworth, 1899), by "Rectangle" (Thomas Winship), pp. 131–152.
I shall now proceed to demonstrate that when the fictions of the system are received as facts, the logical necessity arises for disposing of the Bible as a collection of old wives' fables. I shall also quote from the Scriptures themselves, to prove conclusively that NATURE and the BIBLE are in perfect agreement.
In Paine's "Age of Reason," it is stated that:
"The two beliefs — modern astronomy and the Bible — cannot be held together in the same mind; he who thinks he believes both has thought very little of either."
However much many well-meaning Christians may affect to ignore this statement, it is nevertheless true. The system of astronomy at present in vogue is the very opposite of the facts of nature, as we have abundantly demonstrated. The facts of nature are in perfect harmony with the Bible, as we shall presently see.
The most casual and superficial reader of the Bible must see that it claims to be of Divine Origin. He must further see that the Author of the Bible claims to be the Builder of the Universe. And he must still further see that the world is described in this Book which claims to be from God as being built upon the waters of the mighty deep, which foundations are not to be discovered by man; that the Sun, Moon, and Stars are inferior to the world we live on, and that they move above the earth, which is at rest.
How, then, can a thinking person affect to believe the Bible and a system which teaches the very opposite of the teaching of that Volume? The logical conclusion is that if the statements of modern astronomy be true, the Bible cannot be what it claims to be — THE WORD OF GOD.
Merely the Opinion of the Writers
A "reverend" gentleman told me that: "The Bible is only inspired when it speaks on matters of the soul; when it speaks on physical matters, such as astronomical facts, IT IS MERELY THE OPINION OF THE WRITERS."
It is much more inconsistent than anything that the avowed enemies of the Gospel could devise. They believe science and therefore disbelieve the Bible, which is contrary to science. But to believe both to be correct as some do, or to say that when the Bible speaks of physical facts it is only the opinions of the writers and not inspired, is to refute any statement made as to inspiration in any other direction.
Obviously, if the Bible be not true in matters scientific, it cannot possibly be true on any other matter. It is either true in part and true altogether, or false in part and false altogether. Between modern astronomy and the Bible, there is not so much as an inch of standing ground; if the one be true the other and opposite statement is false.
Literal, Not "Poetic"
But there are a great many Christians who do not seem able to arrive at any logical conclusion in the matter. They take for granted that what science teaches is true, because many "learned" men believe it. They at once begin to say that the statements in the Bible concerning the world are merely "poetic" or "symbolic" and by no means literal. But before arriving at such a conclusion it must, in all fairness, be shown that those passages which teach that the world is at rest, and the sun, moon, and stars are moving over and around it, are consistent with other passages which are, admittedly, not symbolical, but literal beyond all controversy. I may instance Joshua commanding the sun to stand still, which, if the reference to its movement in Psalm 19 be symbolical and not literal, brings to light a serious discrepancy, for the Scriptures say that the sun did stand still.
Then again, Christ is said to have been shown all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. This is admittedly literal. But if the passages which refer to the world standing still be symbolical, and the world be moving, turning upside down in fact, it would have been quite impossible for Christ to have seen all the kingdoms of the world in a moment, as some of them would be far below the horizon, on the other side of the revolving ball.
Many such statements could be produced, showing the absurdity of the symbolical idea, and clearly indicating that the question in its literalness must be faced, whatever the issues be.
If the Christian thinks that the Scriptures are symbolical in this matter, the infidel, who searches the volume in order to find discrepancies, knows that it is very literal; and comparing one passage with another very soon discovers that, from Genesis to Revelation, there is a marvellous consistency of teaching that the world is at rest and that sun, moon, and stars move around and above it. He therefore concludes that, inasmuch as Bible teaching is opposed to what he is pleased to denominate the "ascertained facts of science," the Bible must be untrue in matters scientific, AND THEREFORE, UNTRUE IN EVERY PARTICULAR.
And if the reader will just apply the ordinary rules of common-sense, he will see that if the Bible be not true in some things, it cannot be true in any, and, therefore, must be rejected in toto. If, for example, the world be the globe of popular belief, it is impossible that there ever could have been a universal flood. But the Bible does teach that there was a universal deluge, and that is admittedly literal. Not only so, but Christ refers to the deluge. If, therefore, no deluge ever happened, it would be very inconsistent to ask any one to believe in Christ, who testified that that great catastrophe actually took place.
The Main Cause of Modern Infidelity
If I were asked to state the main cause of Modern Infidelity, I should say SCIENTIFIC FALSEHOODS INCULCATED AS TRUTH.
Let me supplement this remark by stating that the Bible, and the Bible only, is THE scientific book of the Universe. It is the only volume which can be proved true from start to finish.
The Six Days of Creation
"Modern philosophy begins to attack the very first verse in the book of Genesis; and asserts that a pre-Adamite earth existed before the one subsequently referred to; that the seven 'evenings' and seven 'mornings' so accurately and particularly and distinctly specified in that first chapter, were not periods of twice twelve hours, but incalculable ages of time. If this is so, then the 'seventh' day was an age also; and the Jews ought to have observed it, for a thousand years at a stretch! But if they were right in accepting it as a period of only 24 hours, then the remaining six must each have had exactly the same length. If the 'seven days' of Creation's week do not mean just what we understand by seven days, then all the Bible is symbolic, and is to be read upside down, and we must believe the very contrary to what is expressed." ("The Earth and its Evidences," 1st October, 1888)
What the Scriptures Declare
In the Book of Genesis it is declared that God created the heaven and the earth, the lights in the heavens, the firmament to keep the waters above it from the waters below it, and in the books that follow, the foundations of the earth and other truths of like import are dealt with. The following passages show that the earth (dry land) is founded on the waters of the mighty deep, and is a motionless stretched-out structure, to which the heavens are parallel. Psalm 24:1, 2; 136:1–9; 102:25; 104:1–5; Isaiah 44:24; 48:13; 42:5; Deut. 5:8; Zech. 12:1; Jeremiah 31:35–37; 1 Sam. 2:8; Proverbs 3:19; 8:22–30; Job 9:1–10; 38:1–11.
The earth has borders which are impassable by man, as Job 26:10 declares. See also Psalm 74:16, 17.
The movement of the sun over a stationary world is clearly shown in such passages as Psalm 24; Ecc. 1:5; Judges 5:31; Psalm 19.
That the stars are small is seen by the prophetic utterances of Revelation 6:13. If they be worlds many times larger than the earth, how could they fall on it? See Rev. 8:10.
Then 1 Corinthians 15:40, 41, reminds us that there are terrestrial bodies as well as celestial, which truth the astronomer denies, by making the earth a celestial body.
Joshua's Long Day
In Joshua 10:12–14 the following language is utterly inconsistent with scientific teaching that the earth moves to cause day and night. If the sun stands still and Joshua commanded it to do what it always does, what an ignorant man he must have been, to be sure! To ask for a miracle to be performed in order that the "course of Nature" might remain as usual? Surely any person can see that it is totally unnecessary to ask the aid of miraculous power to prevent the sun from moving, if it never does move. But I shall let the passage speak for itself:
"Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of all Israel, 'Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the Valley of Ajalon,' AND THE SUN STOOD STILL, AND THE MOON STAYED, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies."
Now, if the story of modern astronomy that the earth revolves and not the sun, be true, the only conclusion that can be arrived at is that the Bible is no better than a child's school book to record such an impossibility, and that, therefore, Joshua and the whole story is a myth. But we know that the sun moves, and we further know that the earth has neither axial nor orbital motion; and we conclude, therefore, that Joshua's command was perfectly consistent with fact and with his faith in the power of God to rule and overrule in His own world.
The lights that God made for the use of this the only world, move above it, and in Joshua's long day the God of Creation hearkens to the voice of a man and causes the sun to stand still. The miracle needs no defending. IT ONLY NEEDS BELIEVING.
THE BIBLE IS LITERALLY TRUE (except in portions where it is very evident from the context that a symbolical meaning is to be attached to it) and MODERN ASTRONOMY IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE.
Source: Thomas Winship ("Rectangle"), Zetetic Cosmogony, 2nd ed., enlarged (Durban: T. L. Cullingworth, 1899), pp. 131–152.
To illustrate the spiritual consequences of blending Genesis with secular theories, Winship featured in Zetetic Cosmogony a widely circulated Victorian parody titled "The New Scriptures," demonstrating what the Bible sounds like when rewritten by evolutionary materialists. In the Appendix of his book, Winship introduces the parody and presents it in full:
THE NEW SCRIPTURES,
ACCORDING TO TYNDALL, HUXLEY, SPENCER AND DARWIN.
1. Primarily the Unknowable moved upon comos and evolved protoplasm.
2. And protoplasm was inorganic and undifferentiated, containing all things in potential energy; and a spirit of evolution moved upon the fluid mass.
3. And the Unknowable said, “Let atoms attract”; and their contact begat light, heat, and electricity.
4. And the Unconditioned differentiated the atoms, each after its kind; and their combinations begat rock, air, and water.
5. And there went out a spirit of evolution from the Unconditioned, and working in protoplasm by accretion and absorption, produced the organic cell.
6. And cell, by nutrition, evolved primordial germ, and germ developed protogene; and protogene began eozoon, and eozoon begat monad, and monad begat animalcule.
7. And animalcule begat ephemera; then began creeping things to multiply on the face of the earth.
8. And earthly atoms in vegetable protoplasm begat the molecule, and thence came all grass and every herb in the earth.
9. And animalcule in the water evolved fins, tails, claws, and scales; and in the air, wings and beaks; and on the land they sprouted such organs as were necessary, as played upon by the environment.
10. And by accretion and absorption came the radiata and mollusca, and mollusca begat articulata, and articulata begat vertebrata.
11. Now these are the generations of the higher vertebrata, in the cosmic period when the Unknowable evoluted the bipedal mammalia.
12. And every man of the earth, while he was yet a monkey, and the horse while he was a hipparion, and the hipparion before he was an oredon.
13. Out of the ascidian came the amphibian and begat the pentadactyle; and the pentadactyle, by inheritance and selection, produced the hylobate, from which the simiadæ in all their tribes.
14. And out of the simiadæ the lemur prevailed above his fellows, and produced the platyrhine monkey.
15. And the platyrhine begat the caterrhine, and the catterhine monkey begat the anthropoid ape, and the ape begat the longimanous orang, and the orang begat the chimpanzee, and the chimpanzee evoluted the what-is-it?
16. And the what-is-it went to the land of Nod, and took him a wife of the longimanous gibbons.
17. And in process of the cosmic period were born unto them and their children, the anthropomorphic primordial types.
18. The homunsulus, the prognathus, the troglodyte, the autochthon, the tarragen, these are the generations of primeval man.
19. And primeval man was naked and not ashamed, but lived in quadrumanus innocence, and struggled mightily to harmonise with the environment.
20. And by inheritance and natural selections did he progress from the stable and homogeneous to the complex and heterogeneous; for the weakest died and the strongest grew and multiplied.
21. And man grew a thumb, for that he had need of it, and developed capacities for prey.
22. For, behold the swiftest men caught the most animals, and the swiftest animals got away from the most men; wherefore the slow animals were eaten and the slow men starved to death.
23. And as types were differentiated the weaker types continually disappeared.
24. And the earth was filled with violence; for man strove with man, and tribe with tribe, whereby they killed off the weak and foolish, and secured the survival of the fittest.
From the “Rainbow,” and copied from an American Journal.
Pilgrims Progress: Christian and Hopeful reaching the Celestial City
TRUTH WILL CONQUER
DEDICATED TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH CONGRESS, HELD AT NORWICH, 1895.
Posted in the Appendix of Thomas Winships 1899 editon:
“AH, man!
You are so great—too great for this small world,
For you have ‘proved’ that Christ is all a lie!
The Gospel that He taught us but a ‘MYTH,’
The Bible but a pack of legends, old
And false traditions—you can prove it. Ay,
You are so wise. O vain, presumptuous man,
You love to think the ‘Word of God’ is false,
And hope to mar its beauty with your sneers.
Rail on; God’s citadel shall never fall to you,
Smite as you may.
Ah, ‘Science,’ SOURCE OF INFIDELITY,
You blazon great discoveries to the world,
Fresh wonders brought to light by such as you,
Revealing Nature’s ‘laws’ (we call them God’s),
Proving all things exist by hidden sacred laws,
And, adding pride to folly, call them ‘chance.’
Fool! God has made those laws, and set the sun
And all the planets daily to perform
Their wondrous course, through endless æons on,
From cycle unto cycle, ne’er to cease,
Do ye not know that what has been shall be,
That nought is new, nought underneath the sun,
As said the King of Wisdom—Solomon?
But, ye, the more ye search, new wonders find.
And newer wonders, till the less ye love
The Wonder-Maker, All Creating God.
Why is it thus? and why does Wisdom (?) turn
Your heart from God, when He all Wisdom is?
But ye will rave in your demented pride,
Wise in the worldly wisdom of the world,
Wise in your darling theories—so false
To sense, or truth, or manly, honest doubt
Ye know so much, and yet one little child,
In her sweet faith, is wiser than ye all,
And nearer unto God. And ye would force
Your base opinions on the ears of men,
And bid them hearken to your hollow words!
Leading the blind with your phantasmal talk,
Yourselves more blind than they, more dull your sense;
False prophets, fools, to kick against the pricks
As did the bigot Pharisees of old!
But ye may rave; think ye that truth will fail?
Think ye with puny breath to blast the Rock
That has stood firm for nineteen hundred years
Against the sceptic’s scorn, the mocker’s laugh,
And borne the brunt of Infidelic sneer
Immutable, in majesty supreme?
Watching you beat yourselves to death upon it!
We fear not: do your worst. Right conquers might.
And God’s great truth must conquer in the end!"
JOHN MERRIN
Weekly Sabbath Broadcast
SETTLED BELIEF IN GOD'S WORD
"God has permitted a flood of light to be poured upon the world in both science and art; but when professedly scientific men treat upon these subjects from a merely human point of view, they will assuredly come to wrong conclusions. It may be innocent to speculate beyond what God’s word has revealed, if our theories do not contradict facts found in the Scriptures; but those who leave the word of God, and seek to account for His created works upon scientific principles, are drifting without chart or compass upon an unknown ocean. The greatest minds, if not guided by the word of God in their research, become bewildered in their attempts to trace the relations of science and revelation. Because the Creator and His works are so far beyond their comprehension that they are unable to explain them by natural laws, they regard Bible history as unreliable. Those who doubt the reliability of the records of the Old and New Testaments, will be led to go a step further, and doubt the existence of God; and then, having lost their anchor, they are left to beat about upon the rocks of infidelity.
These persons have lost the simplicity of faith. There should be a settled belief in the divine authority of God’s Holy Word. The Bible is not to be tested by men’s ideas of science. Human knowledge is an unreliable guide. Skeptics who read the Bible for the sake of caviling, may, through an imperfect comprehension of either science or revelation, claim to find contradictions between them; but rightly understood, they are in perfect harmony. Moses wrote under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and a correct theory of geology will never claim discoveries that cannot be reconciled with his statements. All truth, whether in nature or in revelation, is consistent with itself in all its manifestations."
— Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Profits 114.1,2
YouTube
Taos, NM, USA 971-300-5635 Chris Harder
Comments