Is the Solar System Described in a Psalm?
Upvote:2
Below are some verses from the Psalms that mention the sun, the moon and the stars:
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?...O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:3-4, 9).
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork... Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat (Psalm 19:1; 4-6).
He counts the number of the stars, He calls them all by name (Psalm 147:4).
The Bible mentions three constellations: Orion, the Bear (Ursa Major), and “the crooked serpent” (most likely Draco) in Job 9:9; 26:13; 38:31-32; and Amos 5:8. The same passages also reference the star group Pleiades (the Seven Stars). God is the One Who “fastens the bands” of these constellations; He is the One who brings them forth, “each in its season.”
The Psalms simply give credit to God for the creation of the heavens and the earth, and of the stars that are visible to the naked eye. Psalm 104:5 says that God “set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved” but it would be quite wrong to imply that means our solar system revolves around the sun.
Taken in order, Genesis 1:14-18, Psalm 104:5, Job 26:7 and Isaiah 40:22 were often cited to support the geocentric theory of Ptolemaeus. Yet none of these Scriptures, taken in any order whatsoever, state that God designed the universe with Earth at its center. In fact, Earth isn’t even the center of its own small solar system; the sun is. We can understand why Copernicus and, later, Galileo, who posited the sun-centered (heliocentric) theory, caused such a controversy in the church. It was thought that heliocentricism contradicted the biblical teaching of geocentrism. But, again, the problem was that God’s Word doesn’t say that the Earth is at the center of anything. - Does the Bible teach geocentrism?
Upvote:3
No, but there is a Psalm that was apparently used to posit a geocentric vision of the universe instead of a heliocentric one.
He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
Psalm 104:5 - NIV
or also, in the Catholic Bible (and others):
You fixed the earth on its foundation, so it can never be shaken.
Psalm 104:5 - NABRE
Which is a little less explicit. But still contradicted by earthquakes, which aren't unknown in the Holy Land
But the Bible, especially Genesis, is full of imagery that isn't scientific and wasn't meant to be so.
If you truly were looking for a verse that could be used to support the Earth revolving around the sun for a scientific reason, I think most Christians you meet would tell you that's not a fruitful experience. But if you weren't just simply mistaken and this wasn't the answer you're looking for, let me know and I'll delete this post - maybe someone else knows what you're talking about!
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