Geocentricity
Geocentricity has descended from the ancient
notion of geocentrism, or the belief that the earth is at the
center of the universe. Theorists use the Biblical theme of an
earth-centered creation for substantiation, and Biblical
references that some believe imply
the earth does not move. Some hardened geocentrists do not believe
the earth is orbiting the sun, but instead propose the solar
system model pictured at right, where the sun is orbiting the
earth.
Biblical References - Earth
Does Not Move:
1 Chronicles 16:30: " Fear before
him, all the earth: the
world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
Psalm 93:1 "The LORD reigneth,
he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength,
wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is established,
that it cannot be moved.
Psalm 96:10: Say among the heathen
that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that
it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously...."
However, a closer look at the related
Biblical versus above illustrates a different meaning. In each
of the following references, the word "moved" is translated
from the Hebrew word "mote". [ Strong's Ref.
# 4131 ] According to Strong it means: "to waver; by implication,
to slip, shake, fall". Therefore, the passages are not saying
the earth does not physically move, but rather that the earth's
position has been fixed by God, and it does not move from where
it was placed.
Geocentrism is from the belief that
the earth is stationed inflexible at the center of the universe.
The idea was thought abandoned when modern science established
that the earth was not stationary, but instead part of a solar
system which was itself part of a larger galaxy. However, geocentricity
is not necessarily contradicted by the fact that the earth is
spiraling and orbiting around the sun (heliocentricity). The
solar system creates necessary movement such as that which is
required to make day/night and seasonal patterns, but such motion
does not imply we are not at the relative center of the universe.
The stars and galaxies appears to move
outward away from us in all directions, and modern physicists
even refers to the geocentric view as Machian, after the
famous physicist Ernst Mach. Our knowledge of the universe is
insufficient to rule-our a geocentric positioning within, and
from the creationary perspective it would seem highly illogical
for the earth to have been placed at the relative center. It
is clear the earth moves in a heliocentric manner, however geocentrism
or a universe-centered world may need to be considered from a
modern creationary perspective.