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Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543 A.D.) was a Renaissance man educated in the classics, law, theology, mathematics, metaphysics, languages, and astronomy. Copernicus developed a cosmology with the sun at the center, the earth rotating about a polar axis, and the earth and planets circling the sun, essentially as we know it today.
This was the first battle between theology and science. Its concern was astronomical dispute as to whether the earth or sun was at the center of the solar system. The church followed Ptolemy’s teaching that, the earth is at rest in the center of the universe, while the sun, moon, planets and system of fixed stars revolve round it, each in its own sphere. He discovered that in 130 A.D.
The Church argued that, planets move around the earth and the earth is motionless because no one has ever heard the earth moving. According to the church basing on biblical interpretations Christians believe that:
1. The earth doesn’t move.
2. The sun moves.
The foregoing two statements were verified through the following verses
• Psalms 93:1 Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved.
• Ecc 1:4. One generation passes away and another generation comes but the earth lives forever.
• Psalms 104:19. He appointed the moon four reasons and the sun knows he’s going down
• Joshua 10:12-13. Joshua stopped the sun.
The Copernican theory was started by Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543). Nicholas insisted on the heliocentric theory which states that “the earth moves around the sun and so does the other planets. The distance between the planets from the sun is determined by the size of the loops. He held that:
a) The earth rotates on its axis once a day
b) The earth revolves round the sun once a year
Copernicus’s ideas were against preaching of the church. His idea was against the geocentric theory which states that the earth is at the center of the universe.
Although the Copernican theory appeared in the 6th century, it had been invented by the Greeks whose competency in astronomy was great. It was advocated by the Pythagorean School founded by Pythagoras. In the school Aristarchus of Samos was the 1st astronomer to have taught that the earth moves in the 3rd century and he determined the distance from the sun to moon. Another supporter of Pythagorean’s school was Eratosthenes.
In brief, his idea was that the earth is a planet revolving around a motionless central sun.
Copernicus proposed his theory to simplify the cosmology of Ptolemy. He sold his theory to the Pope. To the scribe, the motions of the planets were part of a program to improve the calendar. His mode required 48 epicycles compared to Ptolemy which required 40 days accuracy.
Historically, Corpenicus was born in1473 and died in 1543. He studied in the university of Cracow. In 1500, he became a mathematical professor in Rome Later, he returned to Poland. In his spare time for 23 years, he spent time composing his great work On the revolutions of the Heavenly bodies (1543). During his childhood, he was a church administrator in the bishopric of Lucas Watzenrode in northern Poland. Lucas was his uncle and guardian. He worked as a supervisor on financial transactions though a member of the bishop’s palace; he was not a priest but a clerical administrator. He was always worried about accurate prediction of the occurrence of the Holy Days such as Christmas and Easter. This led to the discovery of the Heliocentrism.
Wilfykil answered the question on March 1, 2019 at 12:12