Changes

Copernicus worked for years on his book describing his theory, and did not publish it until near the very end of his life.  He entitled it, “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium” (“On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”), and published it in 1543.  The work was far from perfect:  Copernicus assumed that the planets moved in circular revolutions (they actually revolve in ellipses, though the orbit of the earth is nearly circular), and Copernicus also thought that the sun stood motionless as some kind of stationery temple in the universe.

Copernicus worked for years on his book describing his theory, and did not publish it until near the very end of his life.  He entitled it, “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium” (“On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”), and published it in 1543.  The work was far from perfect:  Copernicus assumed that the planets moved in circular revolutions (they actually revolve in ellipses, though the orbit of the earth is nearly circular), and Copernicus also thought that the sun stood motionless as some kind of stationery temple in the universe.

The reception to his work was initially positive within the Catholic Church, which Copernicus served, but Protestants who felt it conflicted with some literal interpretations of the Bible, such as the account of how Joshua benefited from the sun standing still as it passed over the earth.  “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher?  So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.”  Joshua 10:13.  There were few Protestants in Poland then (or now), and thus Copernicus died without much controversy.

The reception to his work was initially positive within the Catholic Church, which Copernicus served, but Protestants who it conflicted with some literal interpretations of the Bible, such as the account of how Joshua benefited from the sun standing still as it passed over the earth.  “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher?  So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.”  Joshua 10:13.  There were few Protestants in Poland then (or now), and thus Copernicus died without much controversy.

[[Johannes Kepler]] (1571-1630), a Protestant in Germany, built on Copernicus’s work and discovered that planets orbited the sun in ellipses rather than circular orbits.  Kepler was a brilliant mathematician, astronomer and devout Christian who cited God many times in all of his writings.  He felt it was his Christian duty to understand the creation of God, the universe.  He also felt that man, being in the image of God, was fully capable of understanding the universe.  Like Plato and Pythagoras, Kepler felt that God must have created the universe according to a mathematical plan.

[[Johannes Kepler]] (1571-1630), a Protestant in Germany, built on Copernicus’s work and discovered that planets orbited the sun in ellipses rather than circular orbits.  Kepler was a brilliant mathematician, astronomer and devout Christian who cited God many times in all of his writings.  He felt it was his Christian duty to understand the creation of God, the universe.  He also felt that man, being in the image of God, was fully capable of understanding the universe.  Like Plato and Pythagoras, Kepler felt that God must have created the universe according to a mathematical plan.