The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

I. Battle of the Centuries Over Globular Earth Theory

Among the ancient Greeks, PYTHAGORAS (fl. 532 B.C.) first declared the great physical truth concerning the earth—that it is spherical in form. Later HERACLIDES (born c. 388 B.C.) taught the daily rotation of the earth on its own axis and the revolution of Venus and Mercury around the sun. ARISTARCHUS OF SAMOS (fl. 280 B.C.) projected the next great truth—that the earth revolves around the sun. HIPPARCHUS OF NICEA (fl. 146-126 B.C.), father of geometrical astronomy, rejected this theory for the old idea of the earth as the center of the universe. So did PTOLEMY (Claudius Ptolemaeus, c. A.D. 150), of Alexandria, who systematized the theories of Hipparchus, in his famous Mathematike Syntaxis (Mathematical Composition), better known under the Arabic title Almagest ¹ (The Greatest), formed by prefixing the Arabic article al to the Greek superlative megiste, “greatest.” Although a few believed that some of the planets circle the sun, the prejudices of the time doomed the teaching of the heliocentric theory, which lay largely dormant until the time of Copernicus. PFF2 159.3

1. DARK AGE ECLIPSE OF EARLIER GLOBAL THEORY.

Some of the church fathers were hostile to the heathen Greek concepts of the universe, which included the globular form of the earth and the “sphere” system of planetary motion. The list includes LACTANTIUS (c. 260-c. 325), EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA (c. 260-c. 340), JEROME (c. 340-420), CHRYSOSTOM (347-407), and AUGUSTINE (^354-430). In patristic geography the earth was considered a flat surface, bordered by the waters of the sea, on the yielding support of which rests the crystalline dome of the sky. This concept was for the most part supported by Scripture expressions wrested from their proper meaning. ² Then COSMAS of Alexandria, surnamed Indicopleustes, after returning from a voyage to India (A.D. 535), put the finishing touch to the rejection of the round-earth theory in his Christian Topography—which became the standard authority for hundreds of years—by demanding of its advocates how in the day of judgment, men on the other side of a globe could see the Lord descending through the air! ³ PFF2 160.1

For hundreds of years following the dismemberment of the Western Roman Empire, Greek science was rejected, and darkness prevailed concerning the true form of the earth, penetrated only by an occasional gleam. The VENERABLE BEDE (c. 673-735) accepted the theory of the spherical form of the earth. ⁴ But the twelfth century reintroduced many translations of the ancient Greek writings, and an interest was awakened in mathematics and astronomy, and in the thirteenth century many universities were founded. Under this awakened thought Ptolemy’s Almagest was restudied, and superior thinkers gradually came to the conclusion that Ptolemy’s system was complex and inaccurate. It was becoming evident to thinking minds that the geocentric systems of Hipparchus and Ptolemy were not a correct explanation of our planetary system. PFF2 161.1

ROGER BACON (c. 1214-1294), English Franciscan, philosopher and scientist, sent writings to the pope in 1268 explaining the importance of a complete and accurate survey of the world. He also indicated the possibility of a westward passage to the Indies. ⁵ But he assumed that the Indies were nearer Spain than they are. Bacon’s position was later made known to Columbus through Pierre d’Ailly’s Imago Mundi (Picture of the World), as will be seen. PFF2 161.2

2. SETTLED BY 15TH—AND 16TH—CENTURY ASTRONOMERS AND DISCOVERERS.

In 1444 Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa—as noted in Chapter Five—contended that the earth is not fixed, but moves, rotating upon its axis. And then NICOLA us COPERNICUS (1473-1543), Polish astronomer and doctor of canon law, after studying Hipparchus and Ptolemy’s Almagest, about the year 1505 constructed the heliocentric, or sun-centered system, which he explained in his book The Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs. With his instruments lie proved what others had guessed, but he was reluctant to publish his doctrine because of the attacks it would invite. ⁶ This work created a revolution in human thought, restoring the ancient Greek glimpse of truth. Then Columbus helped to overcome the prevalent prejudices, and finally Magellan’s voyage settled forever the globular form of the earth. PFF2 161.3