'Orthodoxy' has held, for over 2000 years, that there was a spherical earth.

But we need to be careful what we mean by orthodoxy and what we can expect from it.

The science and observations were there to make it obvious that the earth wasn't flat. The Church (with a few unimporant exceptions) was part of that orthodoxy and agreed with it. That's what the historical record shows and we will *not* discuss modern religion here in the way you seem to wish to do.

It wasn't that easy to find out that the earth goes around the sun. So it isn't surprising that it took a while to make sure what the situation was (and there are myths about how that came about also).

The Washington Irving thing was a joke, although he was a key player in spreading the myth of a belief in a flat earth. This is one case where without him there might not have been such a myth.

Doug Weller

Director The Hall of Ma'at
Doug's Skeptical Archaeology site::
[www.ramtops.co.uk]