Reformation Day: 7 lesser-known facts about Martin Luther
2. Held a geocentric view of the universe
For centuries if not millennia, most people both Christian and non-Christian believed that the Earth was the center of the universe, with all heavenly bodies revolving around it.
Martin Luther was a contemporary of Nicholas Copernicus, a Polish Catholic priest and astronomer who claimed that the Earth revolved around the Sun. He was, like most, a critic.
According toTable Talk, a collection of Luther’s views on a host of issues, Luther talked about the idea of a heliocentric universe in a 1539 conversation, apparently alluding to Copernicus.
“There was mention of a certain new astrologer who wanted to prove that the earth moves and not the sky, the sun, and the moon,” said Luther. “This would be as if somebody were riding on a cart or in a ship and imagined that he was standing still while the earth and the trees were moving.”
“So it goes now. Whoever wants to be clever must agree with nothing that others esteem. He must do something of his own. This is what that fellow does who wishes to turn the whole of astronomy upside down.”
