The Center of the Universe

Spiritually speaking the Earth is the center of the Universe. At the center of God's attention I mean.

Some even argue, that the Earth is at the center of the physical Universe too.

There are two models to desribe the motion of our world.

  • The geocentric model, Ptolemy (Earth in the center)
  • The heliocentric model, Copernicus (sun in the center)

- By Niko Lang / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5

But, which one is it?

So which is real, the Ptolemaic or Copernican system? Although it is not uncommon for people to say that Copernicus proved Ptolemy wrong, that is not true... one can use either picture as a model of the universe, for our observations of the heavens can be explained by assuming either the earth or the sun to be at rest.
- Stephen Hawking (Physicist)

In other words, both models correctly explain the motions of the sun/moon/stars/planets, etc.

The struggle, so violent in the early days of science, between the views of Ptolemy and Copernicus would then be quite meaningless. Either coordinate system could be used with equal justification. The two sentences, 'the sun is at rest and the earth moves,' or 'the sun moves and the earth is at rest,' would simply mean two different conventions concerning two different coordinate systems.
- Albert Einstein (Physicist)

Both coordinate systems work, and the question which one we should use becomes more of a philosophical one.

I can construct for you a spherically symmetrical universe with Earth at its center, and you cannot disprove it based on observations. You can only exclude it on philosophical grounds. In my view there is absolutely nothing wrong in that. What I want to bring into the open is the fact that we are using philosophical criteria in choosing our models. A lot of cosmology tries to hide that.
- George F. R. Ellis (Physicist)

This is also known as the Copernican Principle, e.g. we're either at the center of the Universe, or we're in some remote meaningless location.

Bible

God clearly created the Earth first.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
- Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

This is a strong indication of the geocentric model.

After this, on Day 4, God then creates the sun, the moon, and the stars.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
- Genesis 1:16 (KJV)

In the heliocentric model this would mean that God then also started the rotation of the Earth (1,000 mph at the equator), and placed the Earth in an orbit around the sun (67,000 mph).

In addition, we are being told that the solar system moves through our galaxy (600,000 mph), and that the galaxy moves through the Universe (1.3 million mph). Note: these numbers vary.

So much for an immovable Earth.

Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
- 1 Chronicles 16:30 (KJV)

Strong evidence for the geocentric model can be found in the book of Joshua, when Joshua orders the sun and the moon to stand still.

Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.
- Joshua 10:12-14 (KJV)

This event has been recorded worldwide.

For the sun to stand still, it must have been moving (not heliocentric in other words).

The Bible says that it is the sun that moves in a circuit (track).

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
- Psalms 19:4-6 (KJV)

And of course, there are plenty of Bible verses about the sun doing the rising and the setting.

The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
- Ecclesiastes 1:5 (KJV)

There are other examples of a stationary Earth with the sun doing the moving, but the above verses are probably the clearest.

I can understand why people say the Bible promotes the geocentric model, but it's not 100% conclusive.

Ellen White clearly thinks that the Earth goes around the sun.

Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties, and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit of the heavens.
- Ellen White, Reflecting Christ, chap. 122

Science

Science doesn't like the geocentric model, and have opted for the heliocentric model where the Earth is tucked away in a small corner of the Universe instead. In this model we are (more or less) insignificant.

The two things modern cosmology have taught us are: one, that we are all more insignificant than we thought we were; and two, that the future is miserable. That should make you feel good!
- Lawrence Krauss (Theoretical Physicist and Cosmologist)

It is no surprise that many tests have been conducted to prove that the Earth moves, but all of those tests have failed. That's right, the smartest minds on this planet have been unable to prove that the Earth moves.

Thus, even now, three and a half centuries after Galileo... it is still remarkably difficult to say categorically whether the earth moves..."
- Julian B. Barbour (Physicist)

A famous example of this is the Michelson/Morley experiment.

In a nutshell. The Michelson/Morley experiment projects a light beam on a mirror which splits the light beam into two light beams - one continues to move in the same direction, and the other moves perpendicular. Both these light beams then bounce against two mirrors, after which the light beams are united again.


- By Stigmatella aurantiaca at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

The expected result was for the light beams to be "out of phase", but unfortunately (or fortunately) the result was that the light beams were still "in sync" with each other - indicating that there was no movement of the Earth.

The experiment caused a great stir, and has been repeated many times, but always with the same result.

The data [of Michelson-Morley] were almost unbelievable... There was only one other possible conclusion to draw - that the Earth was at rest.
- Bernard Jaffe (Physicist)

To this day, the debate rages on.

I have come to believe that the motion of the Earth cannot be detected by any optical experiment.
- Albert Einstein (Physicist)

Science also teaches us that we are rotating at 1,000 mph around the equator, which is way faster than the speed of sound.

Shouldn't we feel that?


- By Michael Rivera / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sure if the direction, and speed are constant, we won't, but this is not the case. If the Earth is rotating, our direction would be changing constantly.

A bit like this:


- By Debmalya Mukherjee / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0

The same is true when traveling around the sun in an eclipse.

We can't feel our motion through space, nor has any physical experiment ever proved that the Earth actually is in motion.
- Lincoln Barnett (Historian)

Axis of Evil

Several satellites (COBE, WMAP, and Planck) have measured the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation in the Universe.



Scientists thought that the hot/cold distribution of the radiation would prove the "afterglow" of the Big Bang, but this didn't happen.

One of the most surprising findings is that the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave radiation temperatures at large angular scales do not match those predicted by the standard [Big Bang] model.
- The European Space Agency, Planck Probe, 2013

After removing all the noise from the data, and further analysis (by Max Tegmark), a different pattern emerged.


- Max Tegmark

The image clearly shows that there is a pattern to the hot/cold spots, and that they were in fact aligned with our own solar system (like a flywheel), suggesting that the Earth is at a very special place.

But when you look at CMB map, you also see that the structure that is observed, is in fact, in a weird way, correlated with the plane of the earth around the sun. Is this Copernicus coming back to haunt us? That's crazy. We're looking out at the whole universe. There's no way there should be a correlation of structure with our motion of the earth around the sun - the plane of the earth around the sun - the ecliptic. That would say we are truly the center of the universe. The new results are either telling us that all of science is wrong and we're the center of the universe, or maybe the data is (s)imply incorrect, or maybe it's telling us there's something weird about the microwave background results and that maybe, maybe there's something wrong with our theories on the larger scales.
- Theoretical Physicist and Cosmologist, Lawrence Krauss

The axis you see in the image is called "the axis of evil". Mainly because it destroys all the existing ideas about cosmology. According to the data, there was no Big Bang. This is huge, and is also the reason you've never heard of it.

Scientists have also observed that there are concentric shells in the Universe. Every 250 million light years, there is another gathering of galaxies, etc. This also puts us in (or very near to) the center of the Universe.


- SDSS, and Bible Science Forum

Maybe we're not dead-center in the Universe, but we certainly seem to be in a very special place.

Conclusion

Again, whether we're in the physical center of the Universe or not, is spiritually speaking not that important. What matters is that we're God's Creation, and that we're the center of His attention. We are special, and much loved in God's eyes.

During my study, I thought it was interesting that some scientists aren't always willing to look at the data objectively when it comes to this. Some data is just swept under the carpet.

Such a condition would imply that we occupy a unique position in the universe, analogous, in a sense, to the ancient conception of a central Earth. This hypothesis cannot be disproved, but it is unwelcome and would only be accepted as a last resort in order to save the phenomena. Therefore we disregard this possibility... the unwelcome position of a favored location must be avoided at all costs... such a favored position is intolerable. Therefore, in order to restore homogeneity, and to escape the horror of a unique position... must be compensated by spatial curvature. There seems to be no other escape.
- Edwin Hubble - (The Observational Approach to Cosmology, 1937, pp. 50, 51,58-59)

Is it really that hard to understand that God has put us in the "center"?


- By Yuri Smityuk / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Further Study

For more information on geocentrism I can recommend a movie called "The Principle" by Dr. Robert Sungenis.

You may not agree with geocentrism, but it's certainly an interesting topic.