Christians: when science proved that the earth revolves around the sun?

Question

instead of the literal bible text where everything revolves around the earth, what happened?

I can tell you what happened:
- Galileo went to jail/house arrest
- the church accepted the heliocentric view (albeit 100 years later)
- Believers KEPT RIGHT ON BELIEVING
- Nothing really changed for christianity

See? Your faith and church didn't crumble because science proved the bible wrong. The very fact that you are a christian today attests to that.

So why fight evolution tooth and nail? It makes you look like fools and it is a losing battle.

Nothing will change when you accept evolution, except there won't be so much snickering from our (heathen, atheistic) side.

note: I realise not every christian is ignorant enough to deny evolution. But you should really educate your brethren.

I'm sorry, are Chistians now denying they held a geocentric view and condemned scientists who said differently? Galileo weeps in his (relocated) grave.

I'm amazed you guys don't know both history AND your holy book.

"The world is firmly established, it will not be moved." (Ps. 93:1 & 1 Chron. 16:30)

"For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he set the world on them." (I Sam. 2:8)

You can mince words all you want, the church held a firmly geocentric view and condemned everyone who even thought of a heliocentric system. Fools.

Answer 1

Christians who claim that a literal reading of the Bible cannot be used to argue that the sun, moon, and stars revolve around a stationary earth (geocentrism), should read any of the following:

"Read all about the Copernican and Darwinian Myths:"
http://fixedearth.com/
The Society for Biblical Astronomy:
http://www.geocentricity.com/
The Bible's Geocentrism:
http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/latest_2003/geocentrism.html
Modern geocentrism, Biblical references:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_geocentrism#Biblical_references

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Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth.
- Hebrews 1:10

The sun, moon, and stars were created after the "foundation of the earth" was laid.
(Gen. 1:9-18)

Who hath established all the ends of the earth?
- Proverbs 30:4

He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter, forever and ever.
- Psalm 104:5

The world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
- Psalm 93:1 & 1 Chronicles 16:30

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth??Who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof?
- Job 38:4-6

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he set the world on them.
- 1 Samuel 2:8

It is I who have firmly set its pillars.
- Psalm 75:3

Who stretched out the heavens...and established the world.
- Jeremiah 10:12

The only time the Bible depicts the earth as moving is during an earthquake:

The earth quaked, the foundations of heaven were trembling.
- 2 Samuel 22:8

The earth quakes, the heavens tremble.
- Joel 2:10

I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place.
- Isaiah 13:13

There was a great earthquake...and the stars of the sky fell...as if shaken from a tree.
- Rev. 6:12,13

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Or just go to Google and type "geocentrism Bible".

My point: It is the literal interpretation of these passages that led the Church to oppose Copernican theory *vehemently*. Their persecution of Galileo cost the church dearly, as intellectuals left the church in droves. In fact, many Protestant religions were formed directly as a result of the Catholic Church's steadfast resistance to progress. It is ironic that many of these same Protestant denominations are once again drawing a line in the sand against evolution, while the Catholic Church is not ... it seems that the Catholic Church learned a sore lesson from Galileo ... a lesson that was one of the things these Protestant denominations chose not to take with them.

rbarc ... again, my point is NOT to claim that the Bible is false. My point is that LITERALISM can lead to scientifically absurd ideas. Modern science considers a 6,000-year-old earth, and a 6-day period of creation to be just as absurd as a stationary earth. Yes, scientists debate many things (that's fully expected part of the process of doing science) ... and they may debate whether the earth is 4.5 or 4.6 billion years old ... but that does not mean we can just as easily conclude it is only 6 *thousand* years old.

Answer 2

Christians throughout the history of Christians as well as many others have had a warped sense of interpreting the Bible. You accused me the other day of not understanding evolution. But here you go not truly understanding the Bible. There is no science that has ever come around that has ever disproved the Bible.

Just because a few misinformed Christians seek to silence those who challenge their rigid ways does not mean that the Bible is false.

The Bible is generally true with the caveat that is has been translated and retranslated and retranslated again. And errors have crept in over time. And what's worse is that the truly original manuscripts are no longer available. The Bible contains much of the basic principles God has set forth for us. And as it profits a man for good to read and to believe.

Science also has a flaw. It is studied by man. Man makes mistakes. Sometimes scientists hold on to mistakes, just like Christians because they are afraid of what the implications might be if they are proved wrong.

Even among evolutionists, there are great debates about how much of that theory is true and how much is conjecture. We are taught that if we have two points, the easiest thing to do is draw a straight line from point A to point B. Unfortunately, that does not guarantee that accuracy every time. Even if you have a point C that seems to make your assumption even more assured, it is no guarantee.

We all have to be open minded enough that any study a man makes in any field may have and probably will have mistakes. Somehow, if we can bring in just the right mixture of faith to keep us on the right path, God will eventually lead us to the truth.

Nothing will change when you accept the fact that evolution is one of those theories which is not yet complete. And the conclusions you have accepted to be true, may not really be entirely correct. Except that you will be open to additional truth even if it does contradict your current point of view.

Answer 3

There is no theological or scriptural contradition with the heliocentric theory because there is nothing about the sun revolving around the earth found in scripture. The geocentric theory was part of the Catholic (not all Christians are Catholic) Church's teachings which add stuff in addition to the Bible. At that time, scholars sort of had an obsession (scholasticism) with classical tradition with the ancient Greeks and Romans. One of these classical Greek concepts was the geocentric theory proposed by Ptolemy, a Greek non-Christian. This is partly why there was the Protestant Reformation becuase it was an attempt to return the church back to before it had all these added rules/doctrines, hierarchy, etc.

Answer 4

WOW. I am actually amazed by the responses to this question. I have no idea just how ignorant so many Christians are of the history of their own religion. It's actually really quite scary.

I didn't expect anybody to deny that Christianity used to insist that the Sun revolved around the Earth. It was 1992 before the Catholic Church acknowledged its mistake and reversed its position. I assume this is within the lifetimes of pretty much all of the people answering here and saying this wasn't the case! What is going wrong with the education system???

Answer 5

Cutsie: Darwin was Christian for quite some time in his life as well. Many modern Evolution researchers are Christians -- they're just not fundamentalist evangelicals.

In fact, about the only churches that vocally oppose Evolution are the fundamentalist evangelical churches -- pretty much everyone else learned the lessons from Galileo and didn't repeat the mistakes of the past.

Answer 6

Friend, I don't need science to tell me that the earth evolves around the sun, I already knew that, In fact it is in the bible in Genesis, Why do you think God created the Sun to rule over the day & the moon to rule over the night, there had to be a revovlving in order for the sun to come up & go down. Oh I forgot, You don't believe God created the Sun & moon, It just came by UPS, United Postal Service for those who don't know what UPS means.you act as if you are telling us Christians something that we already knew, & you ask why fight evolution, Well first of all, None of us Christians is fighting it, we just deny it as a fact, It is you evolunsionist that is doing the fighting, Now SHOW ME where you have proven the bible wrong, you can NOT do it, You only showed your own stupitidy

Answer 7

It's funny what people believe....I believe in God and the Bible and the Biblical account of creation.

Where does the Bible say that the sun revolves around the earth? Even knowing the earth is round we still say the sun rises or sets.

Job knew that God had stretched out the North to cover the empty space....Scientists have proved there is a black whole (empty place) in the Northern Sky.

Answer 8

To begin with, it offends me that you put a stereotype on mostl christains being ignorant. In fact, most christians are well educated. Admit it, deep down inside you want there to be a loveing God that cares for you. Even if you dont want to admit it, it is the truth. Not everything in the Bible is to be taken literally. For instance, everything revolves around the earth because it is the center of creation. It is where God chose to create life. Also, our whole purpose is to serve and glorify God. Also, I do not recall ever reading where it says that the sun revolves around the Earth. Nonetheless, what I said above about the Earth is true. It disturbes me that people who claim to be open minded are not .

Answer 9

Well, the thing is, our brethern who do not adhere to the belief in evolution might have figured it out, but the constant slamming on here by rabid atheists constantly insulting them has gotten them to the point of not wanting to listen to anything these hatemongers are saying. Unfortunately, they won't listen to anyone anymore because of them, and quite honestly I can't really blame them. Why would anyone want to listen to a bunch of hatemongers insulting us, which is done here on a regular basis? So I'm guessing that's why they won't listen, not even to us fellow christians who do believe in evoluation. Hatemongers ruin it for everyone, always have, always will.

By the way, where exactly does the bible tell us that everything revolves around the earth, I must have missed that part?

Answer 10

What's your point, cutsie?

jin - evolution should be a lot easier to teach to reasonably intelligent people - they dont need faith or to accept arguments from authority - they just need to look at the evidence.