Our World, Other Worlds, and the Geocentric Theory

Today I will, once again, deviate from my usual genre of posts in the writing and geek categories. But perhaps this is a post for writers, because the only reason why I began to think about such things as our world, other worlds, and the Geocentric Theory is because I am, after all, a writer of speculative fiction. I also enjoy discussing controversy, as you may have noticed in my earlier history posts.

But here’s something interesting. If you write fantasy or sci-fi, you most likely write about different worlds besides Earth. These sorts of stories go into the “fiction” category because these things never happened and never can happen. Wait, who says they can’t happen?

I think the inspiration for this post originally came from a song we sang in church last Sunday. The words all the worlds Thy hands have made came from a hymn I had grown up singing so many times, but it wasn’t until just a couple days ago that I actually thought about them, this verse in particular. And then the idea hit me.

Several ideas, in fact, and they are only theories of mine (so don’t read them thinking that they are claims): 1) Earth is not the only world, and therefore 2) aliens could very possibly exist, and 3) Christians were actually stupid to think that the EARTH is the center of the universe, for different reasons I will get to. Before I continue, I would like to make some things clear: You may not believe any of what you have read so far, and I accept that; all these thoughts come from my Christian faith. I also am a young writer with very little experience, but with big thoughts; I haven’t majored in anything, nor am I a learned scholar. So read ahead, and judge for yourselves, and please leave a comment if you have something to say. I’d like to hear other opinions on the subject.

 

The Christian Bible is all about God and his gospel. But how does it start? With the creation of the Universe. Earth is one of the things God creates, and we were created in His image, to bring Him glory. But do realize that the Bible was written by God, to us. No other worlds or creatures were mentioned.

But the Bible didn’t explicitly say that Earth was only world, did it? *polite cough*

Sure, humans were made in God’s image, we were given stewardship over the world He made for us. We are probably the only inhabitants on any planet ever created by God with this responsibility. But what about those other worlds that God made that didn’t get any attention? What if there were other creatures on those worlds? Because I think it’s very possible that the Earth isn’t the only planet in the whole mind-bogglingly vast universe with conscious beings on it … and they don’t have to be made in God’s image like we were. Think about it.

In my WIP novel, Netherworld, the main character in the beginning believes in other worlds besides Earth. His core desire changes with his character arc, but at first he selfishly wants to go to the Netherworld, to take notes about the planet and its people, and return to Earth, publish a book on the Netherworld, and, and in turn, receive social justice as people are exposed to the “truth” that other worlds, such as ones imagined in the fantasy genres, are actually real; people will finally listen to him. This never actually happens in the book, but one of the main themes throughout the story, besides faith, is that you should not stop believing in something you know to be true, even though you are the only one who believes it. Such as, in this case, other worlds and other intellgient species existing out there in the universe besides our Earth.

We may write about other worlds, we may make movies about and imagine other planets and places that are completely surreal, strange, and so unlike our Earth. And yet, there is no credible evidence that proves worlds such as these don’t exist.

That’s right! Er, shoot for the stars, yeah.

 

Another thing I wanted to bring up is the geocentric theory. You may have heard of the Heliocentric theory, which Copernicus discovered, and it basically means that the sun is the center of our solar system, with the planets, including our Earth, revolving round it. The geocentric theory is sort of the opposite: Before Copernicus took on the guts to come out out with his heliocentric theory, pretty much everyone believed that the Earth was actually the center of the solar system, and had since the time of the early Greeks. As you may know, the geocentric theory fit pretty well with what the Christians believed; we were created in God’s image, and it was our Earth that he created and cared for and sent his son to, blah blah blah, so therefore, it makes perfect sense that us and the Earth we live on is in the center of the universe, and, literally, the center of the solar system (which could be the center of the galaxy, which could be the center of the universe, who knows if they believed that too). As you can imagine, Copernicus’s theory shocked the whole world, but espeically Christians. They claimed that the Bible said that Earth was the actual center of the universe, thus (and this is bad logic), Copernicus and Galileo (who also believed in the heliocentric theory) must be blamed as blasphemic sinners and heretics. And they banned their books and totally disapproved of their beliefs.

Also, I don’t remember in all my years of reading the Bible that I ever found a passage that specifically pointed out that the Earth was the center of the solar system. Probably because it never did?

Today, Christians have, eventually, come to terms with the heliocentric theory … what could they say to Galileo’s acutal pictures of the sun and the planets, evidence from telescopes that blared in their face that they were, in fact, wrong? It’s unfortunate that many people walked from God when the heliocentic theory found its foothold.

This is an example of science vs. religion in that it boldly challenges the existence of God, but read on, because I believe that the Heliocentric Theory ABSOLUTELY PROVES religion; I realized something recently that, to myself, makes the Heliocentric theory make more sense in terms of religion and the Bible: We are sinners, and lead sinful, selfish lives. Therefore, it wasn’t just our Bible that the Christians back in Copernicus’s day used to claim such revolational theories as false and heretical; it was our hearts. It’s in our nature to want to be in the center of the universe, if not literally. Each of us lead individual lives that blurts out “ME, ME ME!” And that’s pretty much what those early Christians were saying (maybe a little less blatantly). At least, their attitude was.

The sun being in the center of the Universe makes WAY more sense than the Earth. Certain passages from the Bible metaphorically paint God as the Sun … His very being has always been compared to the likeness of the sun, and guess what? Our lives should not be centered on ourselves, it should be centered on God. Perhaps our very solar system out in space is a perfect picture of how God (the sun) should be in the center of our lives (the planets, including Earth). When this idea first came to me, I wanted to clap my hands and hit my head on something because it startled me; it was too clear after all. But perhaps I had read about it somewhere a long time ago and then suddenly only remembered it.

 

 

 

 

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!

 

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