Jesus and the Flat Earth : John Bradshaw presents on conspiracy theories

In early August of this year, speaker/director John Bradshaw shed new light on conspiracy theories and the Christian church at a seminar in Orlando, Florida. With the age of rapid information sharing, conspiracy theories have become a common occurrence in our society and pose a special danger to Seventh-day Adventists in particular. Believing and spreading conspiracies may not only shake our personal beliefs, but also deter others from the truth as they witness our faith in the Bible mingled with undeniably perfect nonsense. “Please be careful how you share your beliefs, or you may make your church look silly,” Bradshaw begs.

What is a conspiracy? Bradshaw explains that conspiracists claim to have hidden knowledge that nobody else has. “Only the conspiracists have the Holy Grail of incontrovertible truth, the undeniable evidence that had not yet been produced  .  .  .  But it’s usually only innuendo as they just present things that the rest of us cannot disprove.” He goes on to state that not every theory is unbased. “Sometimes, governments make mistakes, hiding some information from people, giving people reason to believe conspiracies.” However, according to Bradshaw, that is no reason to fill in the gaps yourself.

So what prompted this talk on conspiracies? Bradshaw reported that a wayward viewer of It Is Written (IIW) contacted him earlier this year stating how glad he was that IIW had said the earth was flat. “I never said that!” Bradshaw insisted, but to no avail. In the end, Bradshaw reached a shocking conclusion. “I believe you are going to leave the church,” he said to the viewer, “...the church you are a part of does not agree with you. Before long, you will conclude that the church is lying and that I, as a pastor, am lying too. That every pastor is lying.” In short, Bradshaw purports that the danger of believing in theories is losing sight of the truth, which may have everlasting consequences.

There is, however, a real conspiracy. Bradshaw states that, “It is what we call ‘the great controversy,’ the great plot by Satan, full of subterfuge and lies.” The real issue is not deciding whether or not someone is trying to control us. “The devil is trying to control us,” he says. “The devil is at work, so you and I must redouble our efforts to reflect the character of Jesus. We’ve been called to lift Him up!”

Sophia Jaquez is a sophomore

Theology major from

Lincoln, NE