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| | *"The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." (Ecclesiastes 1:5) | | *"The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." (Ecclesiastes 1:5) |
| | *"Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 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, 12-13) | | *"Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 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, 12-13) |
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| − | Modern geocentrists point to some passages in the Bible, which, when taken literally, indicate that the daily apparent motions of the Sun and the Moon are due to their actual motions around the Earth rather than due to the rotation of the Earth about its axis. One is Ecclesiastes 1:5:
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| − | The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
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| − | However, in the full context of Ecclesiastes 1, this is obviously poetic, observer-centric language which is still in use today in terms like "sunrise" and "sunset," and is not any sort of indication that the Bible teaches that the Sun orbits the Earth.
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| − | Another is in Joshua 10: 12–13, where the Sun and Moon are said to stop in the sky:[10]
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| − | Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 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.
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| − | At this point The Wycliffe Bible Commentary says:
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| − | The usual interpretation of the miracle described herein is that God prolonged the daylight about a whole day (v. 13) to enable the Israelites to complete their pursuit of the enemy. However, if the sunlight was extended for ten, twelve, or more hours, so that the entire ancient Near East could have observed the phenomenon - a more spectacular miracle than the crossings of the Red Sea and the Jordan River - then it seems strange that only one other reference to the event (Hab. 3:11) is to be found in the OT ... What Joshua deemed necessary for his pursuing troops, already tired from their all-night climb, was relief from the merciless sun in the cloudless summer sky ... The true explanation of this miracle, told in ancient, Oriental poetic style, tends to confirm the idea that Joshua was looking for relief from the sun. The word dom, translated stand thou still (v. 12b), means basically 'be dumb, silent, or still'; and then 'reset' or 'cease' from usual activity ... Robert Dick Wilson demonstrated that the root dm in Babylonian cuneiform astronomical texts meant 'to be darkened.' Thus the sun is spoken of as 'dumb' when not shining ... Joshua 10:12-14 may then be translated: 'Now Joshua spoke to Jehovah, in the day that Jehovah gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel; and he said before the eyes of Israel, "O sun, be dumb at Gibeon, and thous moon, in the Valley of Ajalon." And the sun was dumb and the moon ceased (shining), until the nation took vengeance on its enemies - Is it not written in the Book of Jashar - For the sun cease (shining) in the midst of the sky, and (i.e., although) it did not hasten to set about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah hearkened to the voice of a man; for Jehovah was fighting for Israel.'
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| − | One may also note that miraculous contexts, such as this one and Hezekiah's miracle (II Kings 20:10-11, Isaiah 38:8), overrode one or more of the laws of physics and so would have nothing to say about geocentrism, whose description supposedly relies on no overriding of the laws of physics.
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| − | In Psalm 104: 5 (according to King James Version numbering) this verse is found:
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| − | [God] (w)ho laid the foundations of the Earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
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| − | A suggestion that the Earth is stationary (relative to Heaven) is Isaiah 66:1:
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| − | Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool.
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| − | And another in I Chronicles 16:30
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| − | Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
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| − | However, most modern biblical scholars, even those who tend to a literal interpretation on other issues, believe that the above passages do not support a universe centered on an immobile Earth, but are instead simply natural descriptions made from the perspective of the author (also referred to as the phenomenological hermeneutic, or phenomenological descriptions).[11] The Scripture uses these phenomenological descriptions of heavenly bodies & events in the cosmos. Some claim that the description of the Earth as a footstool in Isaiah should only be considered to be a metaphorical description of God's power, rather than an indication that God literally rests his feet on the Earth. It is argued that the context of the passages provides no reason to believe that the author intended them to be dogmatic statements regarding the location of the Earth in the universe, that any such implications are therefore indirect rather than reflecting the intended purpose of the author, and that drawing indirect implications from the text is improper, because it is often due more to the bias of the interpreter than the meaning of the text. They would refer to passages such as Matthew 24:29
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| − | ...the sun (shall) be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven...
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| − | Clearly the moon does not produce a light source like the sun or stars do, yet it appears to do so. Also, the sun is not truly darkened, but may appear to be darkened due to clouds. Also, it is more likely that these are meteorites rather than actual stars, but they appear to be stars. Gerardus Bouw concedes that the moon only appears to shine light[12] and that the stars falling from heaven to earth are most likely meteorites[13].
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| − | Recently, geocentrists have developed a new theory that God created the earth first, and then the heavens. He made the earth on Day One, but in an incomplete form. He created the heaven, or firmament, on Day Two, and finished the earth on Day Three. This relates to geocentrism because it is claimed that God did not place the earth in the heavens, but rather created the firmament around earth, putting it in the center of the universe. They would also ask what the earth was revolving around since it is created before the sun, moon and stars. However, not all geocentrists are in agreement on this position. The leading proponent of modern geocentrism, Gerardus Bouw holds that planets & stars were created before the earth[14]. Hence, the heavens they are in must have been created prior to the creation of the earth.
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| − | Another recent concept of modern geocentrism is the work of the Holy Spirit during Creation. Geocentrists argue that the "Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" in an earth orbit, giving light to the earth prior to the creation of the sun, moon and stars. This view is supported by Psalm 148:2, which discusses some elements of the Creation, and mentions that God is "clothed in light." So, an illuminated Holy Spirit moved diurnally around the earth, created day and night until the creation of the heavenly light bearers. Hence, the only thing moving on the first few days of Creation was the Holy Spirit, and not the earth.
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| − | Many scholars such as those at the Institute for Creation Research would argue that interpreting the descriptions of heavenly/spacial events as phenomenological rather than strictly scientific or literal is important. For one, it shows that science and the Bible are not contradictory. The Bible describes things as man describes them (sunrises, sunsets, etc.). Also, it shows that the Bible is very careful to avoid specifics that would make no sense to the majority of readers throughout the majority of history. While the descriptions may not be strictly scientific, they are not erroneous or inaccurate. The Bible describes the heavens from man's perspective, and not in intricate detail. This is in great contradistinction to Apocryphal and Koranic descriptions of cosmology, which are very specific and demonstrably inaccurate (e.g. 2 Esdras 6:42, 1 Enoch 72, Koran 41:9-12). Finally, they would argue that it is necessary to interpret the seemingly geocentric passages as phenomenological because it is easily demonstrable that the Bible describes other heavenly events in similar language (the moon's light, stars falling from heaven, etc.).
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| − | Geocentrists argue that reasoning that "explains away" such verses with arguments such as "the Bible is not a science book" or the Bible is "contextual" leads to the appearance of the scriptures containing lies or inaccuracies. They see this sort of reasoning as very dangerous, and associate it with the perceived recent rapid disintegration of all Bible-based religion and, by extension, society.
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| − | They would also argue that the Bible does not mix the phenomenological hermeneutic (or, interpreting the passage as being merely a description of the observer's point of reference) with the literal hermeneutic (or, interpreting the passage as what the observer saw, but also what literally happened. However, their critics would respond that Isaiah 13:10 does mix these two hermeneutics.
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| − | For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
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| − | Geocentrist's critics argue that this passage includes (according to their interpretation) literal descriptions (the sun going forth) as well as phenomenological descriptions (sun & stars darkened, moon having a light to shine).
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| − | Geocentrists tend to be careless or sloppy with their interpretations of passages, attempting to prove their own view of Biblical cosmology without keeping passages in their intended context. For example, geocentrists cite Psalm 119:90.
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| − | ...thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. (see also Ecclesiastes 1:4)
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| − | The word "abideth" means "to stand," and geocentrists claim this further proof of their position. However, critics point out that the context of this passage is about the Bible and its endurance. To claim this discusses a stationary earth seems out of place in this passage. Also, they would argue that the Hebrew word used here for established and abideth is also used in other passages to refer to the sun, moon, stars, and the heavens. For example:
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| − | Psalm 96:10 and Proverbs 3:19 say that the earth is "established"
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| − | God prepared the heavens in Proverbs 8:27
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| − | The moon and stars are ordained in Psalm 8:3
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| − | The day, the light and the sun are all established in Psalm 74:16
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| − | In Psalm 148:6, the sun, moon, stars, and the heaven of heavens are all established (this is the same word abideth, used in Psalm 119:90 to refer to the earth).
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| − | Geocentrists take passages such as I Chronicles 16:30 to be geocentric:
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| − | Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
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| − | The problem with this interpretation, is that the "world" referred to here is a reference not to the earth, but to the people of the earth. Also, the word "be not moved" describes strength & stability, not orbital/spacial motion. For instance, it is used to describe the scales of Leviathan, in Job 41:23.
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| − | ...which “are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
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| − | The word "moved" is also translated as "shaketh" in Psalm 60:2
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| − | Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh
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| − | Geocentrists also argue that the "circuit of heaven" described in Job 22:14 describes the orbital movement of the universe around the earth, yet they argue that the earth is spherical based on Isaiah 40:22.
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| − | ...it is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth...
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| − | Critics of this argument point out that the word for circuit and circle are the same word (also translated as compass in Proverbs 8:27). In two of the three passages in which this word appears, it obviously describes shape, yet geocentrists claim that in the one remaining passage, it describes orbital motion.
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| − | Also, some geocentrists (such as Gerardus Bouw) identify Mercury & Venus as the "morning stars" of Job 38:7 and the "wandering stars" of Jude 14 as references to planets[15]. If these are planets, then they only appear to be stars.
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| − | Finally, the movement of the Holy Spirit during Day One of Creation is not orbital movement. It is translated as "hovered over" in most modern Bible versions and the words "moved upon is translated as "fluttereth over" (Deuteronomy 32:11) and "shake" (Jeremiah 23:9) in the King James Version. This would seem to support heliocentricity rather than geocentricity, since it gives the image of a stationary Holy Spirit hovering above the earth. If the Spirit was shining light on earth, then the earth must be moving in order to create day and night. One may however argue that while the Spirit is not directly orbiting earth, it is the heavens that move, and hence, move the Spirit around the stationary earth. This argument would be difficult, since the same geocentrists who teach this also believe the heavens were not yet created.
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| | [[Category:Astronomy]] | | [[Category:Astronomy]] |
Since the advent of relativity theory in the early 1900s, the laws of physics have been written in covariant equations, meaning that they are equally valid in any frame. Heliocentric and geocentric theories are both used today, depending on which allows more convenient calculations.
