The Transcending Reality

In 1543, while on his deathbed, Copernicus revealed his discovery that the earth was not the center of the universe. Though he made this discovery earlier, he waited to make it known for fear of the reaction it would bring. He had reason to fear.

In 1616 Galileo was summoned to the Inquisition in Rome for agreeing with Copernicus. The church condemned Galileo to death for this heresy. In its judgment it said ‘The first proposition, that the sun is the center and does not revolve around the earth, is foolish, absurd, false in theology and heretical because contrary to Holy Scripture…The second proposition, that the earth is not the center, but revolves around the sun, is absurd, false in philosophy, and from a theological point of view at least, opposed to the true faith.’

Galileo gave in, lived, but did not recover his life.

The world could not receive the truth. It strikes me that the same thing is happening today. Christianity is experiencing the same sort of opposition faced by Galileo from those with a world view. The wording of the judgment above could be updated with today’s condemnation of God and His Son Jesus:

The first proposition, that God exists and that the universe does not revolve around man, is foolish, absurd, false in logic and contrary to reason… The second proposition, that man is not all there is, but was made by and for God, is absurd, false in philosophy, and from a natural point of view at least, a childish dream opposed to enlightened thinking.

Does it sound familiar? It should. This message rings out in our world, just as it has for thousands of years. Some things never change.

Truth is not a result of man’s thinking, but the transcending reality of God.