Sorry to wade in here...
Science works by people making observations, and testing them. A true scientist is neutral, and doesn't have any preconceived ideas - he just looks at the evidence and makes logical conclusions.
For example...
Pythagroas had a brilliant theory. He said that, if you draw a perfect square on the three sides of a right-angled triangle, the area of the smaller two squares would exactly equal the area of the largest square. This is called Pythagoras' theroem and is taught in schools everywhere...
And yet, it's technically only a theory. No-one has any proof whatosever that Pythagoras' idea is true of every single triangle. We can't possibly test every single right-angled triangle to see if they all comply with the theory - we just accept it on its word because no-one has yet been able to disprove it.
It's the same with other scientific theories, say for example evolution. I mean, people tell me that it's only a theory, as if there's something wrong with the word 'theory'. I mean, old Pythagoras's triangles are just a therory, but I don't see anyone disputing that one!
All it would take to disprove evolution would be to find a modern-day rabbit fossil in Silurian rock, Kangaroo fossils in Siberia, or elephants in the Pre-Cambrian. But to date, no-one has managed to disprove it. Primitive fossils are always found in older rocks, more modern fossils are found in newer rocks. There are many Christian geologists, geneticists and biologists looking into this stuff, and - just as with the triangles, no-one can find any problems with the theory - it's watertight - no-one has been able to disprove it... yet.
And so we move onto the Sun. Of course, many many scientists and astronomers have studied the movements of the planets and the stars. And you know what, I'd like to find any scientist of any reknown to come on here and post reasons why the Sun cannot be in the centre of the solar system, other than 'because the bible said so'.
Now, Strangelove has helpfully given us a list of references to the sun moving in the bible. But this proves nothing, for three reasons:
1) The Bible is there to spread the Word in a clear manner than can be read by everybody. In biblical times, people honestly thought that the Sun actually rose and set - the Bible was written to that effect so that the layperson could understand. I also believe that the creation of the Universe from the Big Bang, the formation of the Earth, the evolution of mankind, were 'simplified' by the authors of the Bible so that it could be better understood by the people of the day, who obviously knew nothing of genetics, quantum theory or astronomy. Of course God created the Heavens and the Earth, just that it probably happenned in a more complex way than the people of the time could comprehend.
2) Phrases such as 'the sun rises' and 'the sun sets' are still used today in everyday language, even by people who know that the Earth revolves around the Sun. It's a turn of phrase, not meant to be taken literally. Similarly, we know that stars don't twinkle, that moonlight is actually reflected sunlight, and that the Earth doesn't have corners!
3) The Bible describes the sun moving... of course it moves! It orbits the centre of the galaxy, just as the Earth orbits the sun. Even for heliocentrics, it's not technically wrong to describe the Sun as in motion.
There's a lot that the layperson cannot prove. having never seen the Earth from space, I cannot personally prove that the Earth isn't spherical. Having never personally been to the South Pole, I cannot confirm that it is covered in ice!
If a person cannot believe anything but that which he he himself has experienced, then that person is very skeptical indeed!
Instead we have scientists, whose work is reviewed, critiqued, debated and refined by thousands of their peers. Now, I'm willing to take all these people at their word - I myself studied phamacology, and I know first-hand from my university days how stringently scientific papers are reviewed!
We don't have to have intricate understandings of radiology to know that cancer treatments can work. We don't need to be chemists to appreciate alchohol. We just take this stuff on faith, because we have trust in the scientific community. And if we don't put our trust in science, then how can we ever allow ourselves to be treated in a hospital, or taught about atoms at school, or to get onto a jet airplane?
All science is only good until it can be proved wrong - until then, we just have to go with whichever theory fits the observations. And until there is unequivocable proof that 99.999999999999% of astronomers are wrong, then I'm inclined to go with the majority!
God be with you all,
K x
