John G. Abizaid’s The Enlightenment of the World (1912): A Historic Flat Earth Book
John G. Abizaid’s The Enlightenment of the World is a historic flat earth book first published in English in 1910 and later expanded into a revised second edition carrying a 1912 copyright. The surviving second-edition copy held by the Boston Public Library and digitized today is cataloged as a 1914 publication. Originally written in Arabic and translated into English by Abizaid himself, the book presents his argument for a flat and stationary Earth through observations involving water, land, motion, the Sun, Moon and stars. Scripture stands at the foundation of the work, while correspondence preserved with the expanded edition develops its biblical cosmology through direct references to Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah and other passages.
1912: The World in Which Abizaid Was Revising His Book
By 1912, the United States was well into the Progressive Era, a period marked by rapid industrial growth, expanding cities, technological change and extraordinary immigration. More than 15 million immigrants entered the United States between 1900 and 1915, many settling in urban centers where languages, cultures, religions and competing ideas encountered one another on a daily basis. Boston, where John G. Abizaid lived and circulated his work, was one of those cities, and the environment in which he revised The Enlightenment of the World was considerably different from the America Alexander Gleason had addressed with his much larger flat earth book in 1893.
Scientific institutions were also exercising increasing cultural influence. Questions involving evolution, astronomy, biblical interpretation and modern scientific thought were being debated not only in universities but also in churches, newspapers, books and public lectures. Within Christianity, disputes over the authority of Scripture and the rise of modern biblical criticism had become increasingly visible. The Fundamentals, published in a series of volumes between 1910 and 1915, formed part of the broader defense of foundational Christian doctrine taking place during the same period in which Abizaid was revising and circulating his work.
Against that background, Abizaid presented a book whose purpose was remarkably direct. The revised edition described the Earth as flat and stationary while placing the Sun, Moon and stars in motion, and its title material specifically announced the inclusion of letters presenting the testimony of Scripture on the subject. There was little ambiguity about the position he intended to defend or the biblical authority from which his argument began.
Who Was John G. Abizaid?
The surviving biographical record for John George Abizaid is considerably thinner than that left by better-known figures such as Alexander Gleason. The Library of Congress identifies him as John George Abizaid, born in 1868, while his surviving publications and correspondence place him in Boston during the period in which The Enlightenment of the World was written, revised and distributed. The record that does remain reveals an author who worked across languages, circulated his ideas among both English- and Arabic-language readers, contacted religious leaders and academics, and preserved responses from supporters and critics within later versions of his work.
Abizaid was also writing deliberately for ordinary people. In the preface to the expanded edition, he explains that he chose common words and phrases so readers could understand his arguments without specialized training in astronomy or mathematics. That decision shaped the entire book. Whether discussing water, wind, bodily motion, sunlight or shadows, he continually returned to examples drawn from everyday experience and observations he believed could be examined without depending entirely upon technical instruction.
From Arabic Into English
One of the most distinctive details in The Enlightenment of the World is Abizaid’s own explanation of how the work originated. He states that he first wrote the book in Arabic and then translated it into English. He wanted Americans to be able to read the work in their own language while also making it accessible to English-speaking readers elsewhere, and bibliographic records for the surviving edition likewise identify Abizaid as the translator from Arabic.
That history gives the book a character different from many other historic flat earth books produced in the United States during the same broad period. Abizaid was not writing only within an established English-language debate; he was carrying the same argument between languages and audiences. The bilingual dimension would remain visible in his later cartographic work, where English and Arabic explanatory text again appeared together.
From the 1910 First Edition to the Revised and Enlarged Second Edition
The publication history of The Enlightenment of the World requires a little more care than a single date suggests. Abizaid’s first English edition appeared in 1910, and Google Books catalogs that early work as a short publication of approximately 18 pages. The expand
d version identifies itself as the Second Edition — Revised and Enlarged and carries a 1912 copyright, while correspondence from 1912 already refers to Abizaid’s second edition.
The particular second-edition copy preserved by the Boston Public Library and digitized through Internet Archive is cataloged as a 1914 publication. Open Library preserves the same distinction: a 1914 publication date with a 1912 copyright date. For historical accuracy, it is therefore better to think of the enlarged work as a second-edition text developed and circulating during the early 1910s rather than compressing its entire publication history into the single year 1912.
The expanded edition grew beyond the original three-chapter argument by preserving correspondence, testimonials and responses from people who had encountered Abizaid’s work. That gives the surviving book a documentary quality that the shorter first edition could not have possessed.
The contrast with Alexander Gleason’s 1893 Is the Bible From Heaven? Is the Earth a Globe? is striking. Gleason constructed an enormous work spanning hundreds of pages of Scripture, chronology, astronomy, navigation, diagrams, geography and historical discussion. Abizaid moved in almost the opposite direction, concentrating his physical case into three subjects that required very little technical introduction: water, land, and the Sun, Moon and stars.
That compactness is central to the character of The Enlightenment of the World. Abizaid was not attempting to create an encyclopedic treatment of cosmology. He wanted readers to consider a comparatively small group of observations that he believed were sufficiently clear to challenge the accepted model of the Earth.
What Is The Enlightenment of the World About?
The main body of Abizaid’s book is organized around three chapters: Chapter I — About the Water; Chapter II — About the Land; and Chapter III — About the Sun, Moon and Stars. The progression is deliberate. He begins with something immediately observable, moves to the solid Earth and the question of motion, and only then turns upward to the heavenly bodies.
Chapter I: About the Water
Abizaid begins with water because, in his view, it provides the simplest and most direct evidence concerning the physical form of the Earth. He argues that water seeks its level and uses familiar examples involving water in containers, the surface of the ocean, ships moving into the distance and the relationship between land and sea level. Rather than opening with distant astronomical calculations, he places the reader beside something that can be seen and examined close at hand.
His method becomes particularly clear when he compares the examination of physical evidence with the work of a judge who wants witnesses close enough to question and inspect. Abizaid applies the same reasoning to the Earth itself. He prefers evidence that ordinary people can observe directly and repeatedly returns to the idea that familiar physical experience should be weighed carefully against what has been taught by authorities.
Water therefore serves as more than the opening subject of the book. For Abizaid, it establishes the physical foundation upon which much of the remainder of his argument rests.
Chapter II: About the Land
The second chapter moves from water to the solid Earth and the question of motion. Abizaid discusses land, atmosphere, wind, weight and bodily sensation, comparing the claimed rotation of the Earth with familiar experiences of movement. He reasons that motion on such an enormous scale should produce effects that could be felt or detected and uses trains and other moving objects as points of comparison familiar to his readers.
Once again, he does not begin with mathematical abstractions. His examples involve wind, physical movement, falling objects, solid ground and the relationship between the land and atmosphere. He continually asks readers to compare accepted explanations with what can be observed through ordinary experience.
This emphasis on direct observation is not incidental to the chapter. It is the same method that carries through the entire book: examine the larger claim alongside what can be seen, felt and experienced in the world immediately around you.
Chapter III: About the Sun, Moon and Stars
The final chapter turns from the Earth to the heavens. Abizaid argues that the Earth remains stationary while the Sun, Moon and stars move above it, and he discusses the apparent path of the Sun, sunlight and shadow, changes in the length of the day, circumnavigation, the compass and his understanding of the Sun’s movement over the Earth.
Even when the subject becomes astronomical, Abizaid continues to explain his reasoning through ordinary examples. Lamps, rooms, windows, umbrellas and shadows become illustrations for the behavior of light and the relationship between an observer and a source of illumination. The scale of the subject changes dramatically, but the method remains consistent.
His cosmology is therefore presented largely through familiar physical comparisons rather than technical astronomical language, allowing the argument to retain the accessibility established in the first chapter.
“Eyes to See, a Body to Feel and Brains to Think”
Abizaid repeatedly tells readers how he believes questions about the world should be approached. In the preface to the revised edition, he urges them to use their “eyes to see and a body to feel and brains to think with.” Elsewhere, he makes clear that he does not expect people to accept his conclusions merely because he has written them down. He wants readers to examine the evidence and test what they can for themselves.
That philosophy runs throughout John G. Abizaid The Enlightenment of the World. Water can be observed, wind can be felt, motion can be experienced, shadows can be watched and the apparent movement of the Sun can be followed across the sky. Abizaid continually brings large cosmological questions back to experiences he believes are available to ordinary observers.
Here again, his approach differs substantially from Gleason’s. Gleason assembled an expansive collection of theology, chronology, astronomy, mathematics, geography, navigation and historical material. Abizaid compressed his argument into a much smaller framework rooted in Scripture, direct observation and common experience. His challenge was not that readers master hundreds of pages of technical discussion, but that they look carefully at the world immediately at hand.
Biblical Cosmology and Scripture in The Enlightenment of the World
Scripture is part of the foundation of Abizaid’s work from the beginning. In the revised-edition preface, he states that Christians believe the Bible and that the prophets provide evidence concerning the world and the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars. The title page itself announces that the expanded edition contains letters presenting the testimony of Scripture on the subject.
Abizaid also recognizes that some readers will not begin from biblical authority, and for that reason he proceeds into physical observations involving water, land, motion and the heavenly bodies. Those observations do not replace Scripture within the structure of the book. They are presented alongside it, with Abizaid treating the Bible and the created world as witnesses to the same order of creation.
The correspondence preserved in the expanded edition makes the biblical cosmology of the book even more explicit. A letter from Dr. J. B. Thompson cites Genesis 1:9, concerning the gathering of the waters and the appearance of dry land, and then directs readers to Genesis 1:14–18, where the lights are placed in the firmament for signs, seasons, days and years. The same correspondence points readers to Psalm 24:1–2, Psalm 104:1–22, Psalm 136:6, Psalm 102:25–26 and Isaiah 42:5, while Thompson states that more than a hundred passages bear upon the subject.
The distinction between the main text and the correspondence is worth preserving because it shows how the enlarged edition developed. Abizaid’s own three central chapters concentrate heavily on physical observation and everyday experience, while the letters printed with the expanded work develop the biblical case through direct chapter-and-verse references. Read together, they present Scripture and observation as mutually reinforcing parts of the same argument.
That relationship places The Enlightenment of the World firmly within the history of biblical cosmology as well as the history of flat earth books.
The Letters and Testimonials Preserved With the Book
The correspondence included with the revised and enlarged work gives The Enlightenment of the World unusual historical depth. Abizaid actively invited responses and asked readers who agreed with him to send names, addresses, testimonials, poetry or additional proofs that could potentially be considered for a future third edition. He appears to have regarded the publication as an expanding project rather than a closed argument completed with the original edition.
The letters show that copies of the book reached a varied group of readers. A 1912 response from James Lewis, secretary to Cardinal John Farley, acknowledged receipt of the second edition and commented favorably on the thought and research Abizaid had devoted to his work. Another correspondent, identified in the book as Prof. H. B. Newton, allowed favorable remarks to be used as a testimonial, while Aurin F. Hill, identified in the book as an architect and officer of the American Press Writers’ Association, wrote strongly in support of Abizaid’s position.
Abizaid’s connection to Arabic-language publishing also appears in this material. N. A. Mokarzel, publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hoda, corresponded with him, and the book states that Al-Hoda published an article concerning The Enlightenment of the World in 1910. The exchange offers another glimpse of the bilingual publishing world through which Abizaid was circulating his ideas.
Importantly, Abizaid did not preserve only favorable responses. Rev. John P. Bland expressed admiration for the independence of his thought while rejecting his conclusions. Harvard geologist J. B. Woodworth wrote that he did not believe Abizaid had proved that the Earth was not sphere-like, and Abizaid printed Woodworth’s criticism together with his own answer.
Because of this, the correspondence section is more valuable historically than a simple collection of endorsements. It records support, disagreement, criticism and rebuttal, allowing modern readers to see something of the conversation that developed around the book after its first publication.
Abizaid and the Wider History of Flat Earth Books
The Enlightenment of the World belongs to a much broader tradition of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century flat earth books, pamphlets and maps. Samuel Birley Rowbotham had already developed the influential British Zetetic tradition, William Carpenter published One Hundred Proofs That the Earth Is Not a Globe, and Alexander Gleason produced his extensive 1893 Is the Bible From Heaven? Is the Earth a Globe?, combining biblical authority with astronomy, chronology, navigation and physical argument.
Abizaid occupies a different place within that history. He did not attempt to overwhelm readers with hundreds of pages of documentation. Instead, he concentrated on a limited group of observations that he believed anyone could understand: water, land, wind, movement, sunlight, shadow and the apparent motion of the heavenly bodies.
The comparison with Gleason is particularly useful because the two authors addressed many of the same broad questions while producing books that scarcely resemble one another in style. Gleason built an elaborate system involving many branches of inquiry. Abizaid made a shorter and more concentrated appeal to Scripture, ordinary observation and direct physical experience.
Readers who want to compare the two approaches can also explore our study of Alexander Gleason’s 1893 flat earth book, where Scripture, astronomy, chronology, geography and Gleason’s famous map are developed across a much larger historical work.
Taken together, these books demonstrate that historic flat earth literature was never produced from a single standardized argument. Individual writers drew upon different combinations of Scripture, observation, geometry, astronomy, navigation and personal investigation in developing their views of the world.
Abizaid’s Book and His Early Flat Earth Maps
Abizaid’s relationship to cartography began earlier than the best-known surviving map might suggest. The Library of Congress preserves his New Correct Map of the Flat Surface, Stationary Earth, generally dated to around 1920 and containing explanatory material in both English and Arabic. For many modern readers, that map has become the most recognizable visual expression of Abizaid’s cosmology.
The correspondence preserved with The Enlightenment of the World, however, shows that Abizaid was already supplying maps years earlier. In a letter dated March 23, 1911, a correspondent asked him to send one of his world maps along with what was described as a map of the Sun’s routine. Elsewhere in the book, Abizaid offered readers the opportunity to obtain books and maps relating to the flat Earth. His mapmaking activity was therefore already underway during the period surrounding the first and second editions of the book.
This changes the way the surviving c.1920 map should be understood. It was not necessarily the beginning of Abizaid’s cartographic work; rather, it appears to be a later surviving expression of a mapping project already active by 1911. The written and cartographic sides of his work were developing alongside one another much earlier than a simple book-first, map-later chronology would suggest.
Viewed in that light, the connection between The Enlightenment of the World and Abizaid’s maps becomes even stronger. The book develops the physical and biblical arguments, while the maps gave visual form to the stationary-earth cosmology he was already circulating among readers.
What Abizaid’s Book Tells Us About the Early 1910s
Historical books frequently preserve more than the argument stated on their title pages, and The Enlightenment of the World is a good example. The work offers a window into an America in which immigration, multilingual publishing, Christian conviction, independent printing and expanding scientific institutions occupied the same cultural landscape. An author working in Arabic and English in Boston could write a book in one language, translate it into another, distribute it among readers and public figures, correspond with critics and supporters, produce related maps and then incorporate portions of those exchanges into an enlarged edition.
The book also shows that debates involving Scripture, science and the structure of the world were not confined to universities. Abizaid deliberately addressed ordinary people and expected them to examine the questions for themselves. He wanted readers to look at water, watch the sky, feel movement, consider wind and shadows, compare their own experience with what they had been taught, and read Scripture directly.
At a time when modern biblical criticism and changing scientific theories were exercising increasing influence, Abizaid proceeded from a different foundation. Scripture remained authoritative, while the physical world was to be examined in a way he believed agreed with that authority. That combination of Bible and observation is one of the clearest reasons the book belongs not only within the history of flat earth literature but within the broader history of biblical cosmology.
Reading John G. Abizaid Today
More than a century after its publication, one of the most valuable things about The Enlightenment of the World is the opportunity to encounter Abizaid’s arguments directly rather than through modern summaries. Readers can follow his discussion of water from beginning to end, examine his reasoning about land and motion, study the ordinary illustrations he uses, read the biblical references preserved in the correspondence and compare favorable letters with the responses of critics.
His maps can then be placed alongside the cosmological ideas developed in the book, allowing the written and cartographic parts of his work to be considered together. That direct access is particularly useful because Abizaid left behind a relatively limited biographical record. We do not have an enormous archive explaining every period of his life or every development in his thinking.
What survives instead is his own work: the book, the correspondence and the maps. Together they make clear the questions that occupied him and the method he wanted readers to follow. He urged people to read Scripture, observe the world, examine what they had been taught and think carefully about the conclusions they reached.
Explore John G. Abizaid’s Restored The Enlightenment of the World
Readers who want to examine Abizaid’s complete argument can explore the restored historical digital edition of The Enlightenment of the World available through ADVENTURE iDIAZ. The surviving expanded work preserves his three-part discussion of water, land, and the Sun, Moon and stars, together with correspondence and biblical testimony associated with the revised edition.
Its relatively short length makes it very different from larger historic flat earth books such as Alexander Gleason’s 1893 work, but that compactness is part of Abizaid’s distinctive style. His reasoning was deliberately written so ordinary readers could follow the argument without specialized scientific training.
The book can also be explored alongside Abizaid’s New Correct Map of the Flat Surface, Stationary Earth, the ADVENTURE iDIAZ collection of Historic Flat Earth Books & Digital PDF Editions, and the broader collection of Historic Flat Earth Maps. Together, these surviving books and maps preserve a distinctive chapter in the history of biblical cosmology, cartography and the efforts of independent writers to understand the structure of the world through Scripture and observation.
Frequently Asked Questions About John G. Abizaid’s The Enlightenment of the World
What is John G. Abizaid’s The Enlightenment of the World?
John G. Abizaid’s The Enlightenment of the World is a historic flat earth book in which Abizaid argues that the Earth is flat and stationary while the Sun, Moon and stars remain in motion. The revised and enlarged work also preserves correspondence dealing with Scripture, biblical cosmology and the physical arguments presented throughout the book.
When was The Enlightenment of the World published?
The first English edition of John G. Abizaid’s The Enlightenment of the World appeared in 1910. The revised and enlarged second edition carries a 1912 copyright, while the surviving Boston Public Library copy digitized through Internet Archive is cataloged as a 1914 publication. Correspondence dated 1912 already refers to Abizaid’s second edition, making the distinction between copyright date and surviving publication record important.
Who was John G. Abizaid?
John G. Abizaid, also cataloged as John George Abizaid, was a Boston-based author associated with historic flat earth writing and cartography. The Library of Congress identifies him as born in 1868. His surviving work includes The Enlightenment of the World and the later New Correct Map of the Flat Surface, Stationary Earth, while correspondence in his book shows that he was already supplying maps by 1911.
Did John G. Abizaid originally write The Enlightenment of the World in Arabic?
Yes. Abizaid states in the revised edition that he first wrote The Enlightenment of the World in Arabic and later translated it into English. Bibliographic records for the surviving edition likewise identify the English text as translated from Arabic by Abizaid himself.
What subjects does The Enlightenment of the World discuss?
The Enlightenment of the World is organized around three principal subjects: water, land, and the Sun, Moon and stars. Abizaid uses observations involving water level, ships, wind, bodily motion, sunlight, shadows, the compass and the apparent movement of the heavens to argue for a flat and stationary Earth.
Does The Enlightenment of the World discuss the Bible and biblical cosmology?
Yes. Scripture is foundational to The Enlightenment of the World. Abizaid states that the Bible contains testimony concerning the Earth and the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars. Correspondence included with the expanded work also cites passages including Genesis 1:9, Genesis 1:14–18, Psalm 24:1–2, Psalm 104:1–22, Psalm 136:6, Psalm 102:25–26 and Isaiah 42:5.
How is Abizaid’s book connected to his flat earth maps?
Abizaid’s book and maps formed related parts of his cosmological work. Correspondence preserved with the book shows that he was already distributing maps by 1911, while the Library of Congress preserves his New Correct Map of the Flat Surface, Stationary Earth, generally dated to around 1920. The later surviving map gives visual expression to ideas Abizaid had been developing in print and cartography for years.
Where can I read John G. Abizaid’s complete book?
ADVENTURE iDIAZ offers a restored historical digital edition of John G. Abizaid’s The Enlightenment of the World for readers interested in historic flat earth books, biblical cosmology, historical cartography and Abizaid’s surviving written work.
References
PBS. God in America: A New Light. Historical examination of higher criticism, Holy Scripture, modernism, fundamentalism, and the religious disputes that intensified during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. God in America: A New Light
Smithsonian Institution Archives. Samuel Pierpont Langley and the New Astrophysics. Background on the rise of astrophysics, astronomical research, scientific instrumentation, and the growing institutional authority of astronomy in the period immediately preceding Abizaid’s work. Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1834–1906
Smithsonian Institution Archives. Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory — Agency History. Historical background on the establishment of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 1890 and its early twentieth-century research into the Sun and solar radiation. Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory history
Library of Congress. Geography and Map Reading Room. Historical context for American cartography and the rapid growth of published maps, atlases, wall maps, city plans, and other cartographic materials during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Library of Congress Geography and Map Collections
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Faris and Yamna Naff Arab American Collection. Archival context for Syrian-Lebanese and Arab-American communities in the United States during the period in which Abizaid lived and published. Faris and Yamna Naff Arab American Collection
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Al-Hoda. Archival documentation of the historic Arabic-language newspaper connected to the publishing world referenced in Abizaid’s correspondence. Al-Hoda archival record
New York Public Library. Remembering Manhattan’s Little Syria. Additional historical context for the Arabic-language publishing culture of the period, including the large number of Arabic-language newspapers and periodicals being produced in the United States and the presence of Al-Hoda. Remembering Manhattan’s Little Syria
Library of Congress. Immigrants in the Progressive Era. Supporting demographic context for the extraordinary population movement occurring in the United States between 1900 and 1915—the period in which Abizaid was writing and circulating his work. Immigrants in the Progressive Era
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