Martin Luther on Copernicus

November 5th, 2006  |  Published in Astronomy, History, Science, Quotes, Religion  |  1 Comment

[Nicolaus Copernicus is] an upstart astrologer…. This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth.

–Martin Luther (attributed), as quoted in Daniel Boorstin, The Discoverers (1983), p. 302

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  1. Robert Morphis says:

    January 10th, 2007 at 5:14 pm (#)

    FWIW a minor point to start with, your version is from somebody who was not present at the table when Luther made his comment.

    But to the meat of the matter:

    I’m not a big fan of leaderu however I think they put things in better perspective
    quoting:

    The famous (or infamous) remark of Luther was made in 1539. In the spring of that year, Georg Joachim Rheticus, a professor of mathematics at the University of Wittenberg, was granted a leave to visit Nicolaus Copernicus in Frauenberg, Poland to learn more about his new theory that the earth and planets revolve about the sun. At that time not very much was known about the new theory, except from hearsay. The purpose of Rheticus’s trip must have prompted discussion among the faculty and students of Wittenberg, especially in Luther’s home [17].

    Anthony Lauterbach, who dined with the Luthers, quotes the conversation pertaining to Copernicus as follows [l8]:

    There was mention of a certain astrologer who wanted to prove that the earth moves and not the sky, the sun, and the moon. This would be as if somebody were riding on a cart or in a ship and imagined that he was standing still while the earth and the trees were moving. [Luther remarked] “So it goes now. Whoever wants to be clever must agree with nothing that others esteem. He must do something of his own. This is what that fellow does who wishes to turn the whole of astronomy upside down. Even in these things that are thrown into disorder I believe the Holy Scriptures, for Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and not the earth [Jos. 10:12].”

    To put this remark in perspective, it was made four years before the publication of Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres [18].

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