The Reformer’s Ptolemaic Cosmology: An Example from John Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis 1 (March 15, 2019)

John Calvin, Martin Luther and the other sixteenth century reformers held to a Ptolemaic cosmology, which placed the earth at the center of the universe, surrounded by about a dozen celestial spheres. The innermost spheres closest to earth correspond to the four elements (earth, water, air, and fire). The heaviest […]

Related: Accommodation, Accommodation to the Ordinary Custom of Men, astronomy, Commentary on Genesis, Copernicus, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Moses, Nicolaus Copernicus

John Calvin on Nicolaus Copernicus and Heliocentrism (May 21, 2014)

Geocentric Model of the 16th Century John Calvin's reputation has suffered tremulously due to the following quotation that was wrongly attributed to him by famous men such as Bertrand Russell, Thomas Kuhn and many others, which Calvin had never uttered: "Who,' asks Calvin, 'will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that […]

Related: Bertrand Russell, Calvin, Evolution, geocentricism, heliocentricism, John Calvin, Keith C. Sewell, Keith Mathison, Martin Luther, Nicolaus Copernicus, R.C. Sproul, Robert White, scientific consensus, Theodore Beza, Thomas Kuhn