«I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye» (Psalm 32:8).
NICOLAUS COPERNICUS (1473-1543), regarded as the forerunner of modern astronomy, challenged the tenets of Aristotelian and Ptolemaic science by suggesting that the Earth was not the center of the universe, and that it orbited around the Sun. Therefore, during the Renaissance, he was considered an enemy by both Catholics and Protestants. The Catholic Church labeled him a heretic and forbade his teachings as well as the circulation of his books.
In his book Table Talk, Martin Luther described Copernicus as «a certain astrologer who wanted to prove that the earth moves and not the sky, the sun, and the moon» (June 4, 1539). According to Luther and other members of the Protestant hierarchy, the Copernican view was an open and daring challenge to the Holy Scriptures, which stated that Joshua commanded the Sun, not the Earth, to be still, implying that the Sun rotates around our planet rather than the other way around. Anticipating the backlash he would receive, Copernicus wrote in his book, On the Revolutions that those who denied his scientific revolution based on the Scriptures had «badly distorted» the meaning of biblical passages.
Both Catholic and Protestant believers insisted that the Bible proved them right and Copernicus was another heretic; however, the inexorable passage of time would prove that they had misinterpreted the Scriptures and Copernicus was right. Could it be that we have all made the same mistake of believing that we are the only ones who know what is right and that everyone else is wrong? We often disdain the opinions of others and try to impose our own, and we almost always do it in the name of God’s Word! Just like the Christians in Copernicus’s days. That attitude leads us to act foolishly and fall into the snares of error.
As the wise man rightfully said, «every way of a man is right in his own eyes» (Proverbs 21:2). Instead of feeling we have the right to impose our point of view, it would be ideal if we could learn to «trust in the Lord with all [our] heart and lean not on [our] own understanding» (Proverbs 3:5). If we do so, we will see this promise fulfilled: «I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go» (Psalm 32:8). And sometimes that way will lead us to admit a «Copernicus» is right.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Angelica Cuate
