Geocentric Astronomy in the Book of Abraham?
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:50 pm
I was just perusing "And I Saw the Stars -- The Book of Abraham and Ancient Geocentric Astronomy" by Daniel C. Peterson, John Gee, and William J. Hamblin, wherein they argue that the Book of Abraham demonstrates a "geocentric" view of the universe, meaning a universe that revolves around the earth rather than one that revolves around the sun. Their reasoning is as follows:
It seems like a reasonably solid case; however, there is a serious problem in their argument. The Book of Abraham refers to "orders" of planets, and planets of the same order have the same "reckoning" of time. Those of a higher order move "more slow" until you reach Kolob, which has the longest reckoning of time. On first glance, this does support a geocentric model, as the authors assert.
But the text twice refers to "all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest" (Abr. 3:5, 9). If the earth is at the center of the universe, it is unique, and there can be no other planets occupying that central place in the universe. There cannot be any planets of the same order, unless our earth is not the center that the rest revolves around. Of course, someone who understood that our solar system is not unique would have no problem suggesting that there are other planets in the same order as the earth.
A careful reading of the Book of Abraham, however, shows that the text is describing a geocentric system. The clearest indication of this geocentricity is found in the frequent references to a hierarchy of celestial bodies, each one higher than the preceding and all above the earth. The most explicit statement of this comes from Abraham 3:17: "Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it." Likewise, the moon is elsewhere stated to be above the earth: "[The moon] is above or greater than that [the earth] upon which thou standest" (Abraham 3:5). Furthermore, we find that "one planet [is] above another" (Abraham 3:9). The text does not describe any object as being below "the earth upon which thou standest" (Abraham 3:5, 7). To us it seems very difficult to interpret this language as anything other than geocentric, and this alone should suffice to prove the geocentric perspective of the text. However, there is a great deal of additional evidence pointing to the geocentric perspective.
The higher position of the various planets or stars correlates to a longer time span. Thus, we find that "the set time of the lesser light [the moon] is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest" (Abraham 3:7). The higher the planet or star, the greater the length of its reckoning. Thus, "there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still; And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob" (Abraham 3:8—9). The basis of the reckoning of time is given with the example of Kolob "according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof" (Abraham 3:4). Thus, the length of the reckoning of a planet is based on its revolution (and not rotation). Those planets or stars that are higher have a greater "point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow" (Abraham 3:5). It therefore moves in revolution above the earth. This is a geocentric description.
God is consistently said to "go down" to the earth or is described as being "above" the earth (Abraham 2:7; 3:21). "I [God] now, therefore, have come down unto thee [Abraham]" (Abraham 3:21). God likewise descends to create the earth and mankind (see Abraham 3:24; 4:26—27; 5:4); "The Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down . . . and organized and formed the heavens and the earth" (Abraham 4:1; see 5:4). God's revelations likewise must descend through the various heavens: the explanation for figure 7 of Facsimile 2 has "God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood." (Facsimile 2, explanation to fig. 7, cf. 3:21).28 From the perspective of ancient geocentric cosmology, all of this was conceived literally; God is indeed above the earth in or above the highest heaven and needs to physically descend, or send messages, down through the heavens to arrive at the earth.
It seems like a reasonably solid case; however, there is a serious problem in their argument. The Book of Abraham refers to "orders" of planets, and planets of the same order have the same "reckoning" of time. Those of a higher order move "more slow" until you reach Kolob, which has the longest reckoning of time. On first glance, this does support a geocentric model, as the authors assert.
But the text twice refers to "all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest" (Abr. 3:5, 9). If the earth is at the center of the universe, it is unique, and there can be no other planets occupying that central place in the universe. There cannot be any planets of the same order, unless our earth is not the center that the rest revolves around. Of course, someone who understood that our solar system is not unique would have no problem suggesting that there are other planets in the same order as the earth.