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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geocentric creationism | 2/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:20:13.815441+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Modern geocentric creationist movement === Modern Christians generally reject the geocentric model, and the strict understanding of the verses used to defend it in the medieval age. However, despite scientific advances, even today few still try to cling unto the Geocentric model of the past. This has been influenced by the Dutch-Canadian named Walter van der Kamp founded the Tychonic Society around the 1970s, which promoted the geocentric view that Copernicus was mistaken and that the Earth remains stationary at the center of the universe. One of the most prominent geocentric creationists of the 20th century is the Protestant Gerardus Bouw, director of the Association for Biblical Astronomy and author of several books defending geocentrism. And although unlike other Geocentrist advocates, Bouw had a PhD in astronomy, his views are not taken seriously by the scientific community. The popular Islamic British Salafi-scholar Abu Iyaad is a staunch modern supporter of Geocentrism. He has published many articles speaking about and defending Geocentrism from a salafi-islamic perspective. He speaks about how the Quran and the hadiths explicitly imply a stationary, unmoving spherical earth. And that mainstream Astronomy is either wrong or completely lying about the existence of the solar system. He claims that institutes like NASA are using space as a way to deceive the public into believing ideas like evolution. He goes as far to say that calling earth a "planet" is a misguidance, and modern Astronomy should not be considered "real" science. He has worked with people like Abu Khadijah and the creator of aboutatheism.net to write articles critiquing NASA, heliocentrism, and Darwinian evolution. Articles arguing that geocentrism was the biblical perspective appeared in some early creation science newsletters associated with the Creation Research Society pointing to some passages in the Bible which they interpreted as indicating a stationary earth, and the view was also defended in 1991 by Marshall Hall, although his book was received extremely badly by Young Earth Creationist organizations. Such religious beliefs have also been held by the traditionalist Catholic Robert Sungenis, co-author of the self-published Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right (2006). Robert Sungenis attributed his acceptance of the geocentric model to the influence of creationist Gerardus Bouw around 2002. His work is frequently marked by criticism of mainstream scientific theories. One of his most know projects was the 2014 film The Principle, in which he featured interviews with scientists such as Lawrence Krauss. However, these scientists later stated they were unaware that the film was intended to promote geocentrism and publicly disavowed its message. Another known traditionalist Catholic known to have taken Geocentrist stances includes Solange Hertz. Alongside small segments of Christian Fundamentalism, there has also been a movement towards Geocentrism within some anti-evolutionary Orthodox Jewish groups, which is often motivated by the statements of the influential Rabbi Maimonides (1138–1204), who argued that the Earth is stationary. The two largest modern geocentric creationist organizations include The Biblical Astronomer and Catholic Apologetics International. And there have been some signs of growth for geocentrism within creationism.
=== Creationist reaction === Both mainstream creationists and geocentrists agree that while the Bible is the only completely reliable source of information about knowledge on the natural world, they strongly differ on their understanding of scripture. Although some creationists such as Kent Hovind initially had a neutral opinion of geocentrism, the majority of the creationist movement have strongly rejected geocentrism, including the major organizations such as Answers in Genesis, Institute for Creation Research and Creation Ministries International, these organizations avoid association with Geocentric movements, as they believe these movements to be harmful to Christianity.
=== Impact === According to a report released in 2014 by the National Science Foundation, 26% of Americans surveyed believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Morris Berman quotes a 2006 survey that show currently some 20% of the U.S. population believe that the Sun goes around the Earth (geocentricism) rather than the Earth goes around the Sun (heliocentricism), while a further 9% claimed not to know. According to 2011 VTSIOM poll, 32% of Russians believe that the Sun orbits the Earth. However, these numbers may be influenced by scientific ignorance.
== Characteristics and beliefs ==
The Modern Geocentrist movement form a radical movement within Creationism, arguing that their perceived "scientific assault" on the religion did not begin with Evolution, but with Heliocentrism. This view was explicitly held by Gerardus Bouw, who argued that the Copernican Revolution set the stage for the development of Biblical Criticism, and attacked the doctrine of Biblical literalism. He argued that the anthropocentric view of creation logically leads to a geocentric view of the Cosmos. These proponents advocate for adopting the Tychonic system, which gets its name from the 16th-century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, which places the Earth at the center of the universe while allowing the planets to orbit the Sun. This model serves as a deliberate compromise between the strict geocentrism of the Ptolemaic system and the heliocentrism of Copernicus. At the heart of the modern Geocentric view is that the Earth and his creatures are special to God, and the status of the Earth at the center of the universe symbolizes this belief. They also believe that passages such as Joshua 10:12-13 in which God stops the sun over the valley of Ajalon are evidences of the earth being at the center of the solar system. Geocentrism has relied upon multiple verses in the Bible which seem to talk about the Earth not being moved, such as Psalm 93:1. However, due the shift from the strict interpretation of such passages, even the majority of creationists reject the strict geocentric interpretations of such passages, and instead view them phenomelogically.