Islam Creator of the Modern Age
1. Islam: Creator of the Modern Age
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Christians, this theory dominated people’s minds
until it was finally displaced in the 16th century by
Copernicus.
As far as the Christians are concerned, the basic
belief of Christianity is that of atonement, through
which God ordained the salvation of the whole of
humanity. The event of atonement, so central to this
creed, relates not only to humanity but to the whole
of the universe. Since the greatest single act of
atonement, that of Christ’s crucifixion (as
atonement for the sins of humanity), took place on
earth, the earth according to Christian theology,
was assumed to be of the greatest importance in the
universe and, therefore, its central point. This being
so, Christians wholeheartedly supported Ptolemy’s
theory of geocentrism, giving it the status of a
religious creed.
The Christians naturally opposed all attempts to
prove the truth of the heliocentric theory. It was
only the research carried out by Copernicus, Galileo
and Kepler which ultimately proved the falsity of
this theory.
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