Scientific cosmology meets western theology: a historical perspective.
Traditional sacred geography of Christendom met a challenge not so much from Copernicus' heliocentrism per se as from the greatly expanded vision of the cosmos that it ushered in. The twentieth-century view of the vastness of both space and time has brought revolutionary conceptual changes to the sacred landscape. From a theistic perspective, God is not simply the source of the Big Bang, but the Creator in the larger sense of designer and intender of the universe.
Gingerich
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Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. ginger@cfa.harvard.edu
D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D010825:Physics / Q000266:history*; D028725:Theology / Q000266:history*; D019366:Western World / Q000266:history*