| Seminar on Geocentrism |
| In this on-line tutorial we will attempt to answer four major questions: 1. Does the Bible teach that the Earth is the center of the universe? 2. Did the Christian Church historically believe this cosmology, called geocentrism? 3. Is geocentrism at all "scientific"? 4. How does the question of cosmology affect our worldview? |
The Poet John Donne wrote his Anatomy of the
World in 1611. It contains these well-constructed
lines lamenting the loss of the Christian view of the
universe as new cosmologies appeared during the
17th century:
World in 1611. It contains these well-constructed
lines lamenting the loss of the Christian view of the
universe as new cosmologies appeared during the
17th century:
| John Donne 1572-1631 |
| And new philosophy calls all in doubt, The element of fire is quite put out, The sun is lost, and th'earth, and no man's wit Can well direct him where to look for it. And freely men confess that this world's spent, When in the planets and the firmament They seek so many new; they see that this Is crumbled out again to his atomies. 'Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone, All just supply, and all relation; Prince, subject, father, son, are things forgot, For every man alone thinks he hath got To be a phoenix, and that then can be None of that kind, of which he is, but he. |
| Is this where modern thought has finally brought us? Must we seek out new life and new civilizations because this old planet is worn out, about to be destroyed by men who have lost all certainty about fundamental principles? Or is there hope yet for earth and earthlings? Should we reconsider the answers given to us by the Bible? |
| QUESTION ONE: DOES THE BIBLE TEACH GEOCENTRISM ? |
| The very first verse in the Bible tells us that God created "the heavens and the earth". Not the heavens including the earth, but the heavens and the earth - two different places as separate but related as peas and carrots or guns and bullets. The Bible presents Earth as an utterly unique biosphere designed to support plant, animal and human life. The heavenly bodies, in contrast, are said to have been made to give light to us and to mark out the months and years. There is no indication in Genesis chapter one that the Earth is one small, moving part of the heavens. |
| Are we lost somewhere in the vastness of outer space? |
| Here's a no-brainer: The Firmament is FIRM! |
| What we call outer space, the Bible calls the "firmament of heaven", where God put the Sun, moon and stars. The atmosphere where birds fly is called the open firmament. Now, what if the Bible is right after all, and the fabric of space-time is actually that - a fabric. Modern physicists call this a plenum-aether made of Planck density particles. Scientists like Einstein and Mach have shown that such a cosmos can operate as a geosystem. |
In 1 Corinthians 15:39-41, the Apostle
Paul makes it clear that the earth is
not a heavenly body any more than
humans are animals or fishes are birds!
All flesh is not the same flesh: but
there is one kind of flesh of men,
another flesh of beasts, another of
fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and
bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the
celestial is one, and the glory of the
terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and
another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars: for one star
differeth from another star in glory.
Paul makes it clear that the earth is
not a heavenly body any more than
humans are animals or fishes are birds!
All flesh is not the same flesh: but
there is one kind of flesh of men,
another flesh of beasts, another of
fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and
bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the
celestial is one, and the glory of the
terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and
another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars: for one star
differeth from another star in glory.