Bible from a Parallel Universe

December 10, 2013 by 14 Comments

A comment on Facebook yesterday seemed to me it would be a great premise for a science fiction story. What if it turned out that the Bible originated in a parallel universe, on an Earth that was literally covered by a solid dome, and thus really was literally and scientifically accurate – just not when applied to our planet and universe? How might the story unfold?

 

 

Filed Under: Bible, science fiction Tagged With: , , , , 14 Comments
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  • http://tunabay.com/ Keika

    I have the title for you:

    “Beneath The Dome Of The Planet Of The Apes.”

  • arcseconds

    I heard of a novel set in a universe where Aristotle had everything correct. In this case, of course, the Earth is a sphere. They develop sky-ships (the cosmos being filled with air) and they explore the solar system, for want of a better term, which involves boring holes in the crystal spheres that the planets are attached to.

  • Gary

    Guess there must be a solid dome protecting “God Like Productions”. Knew I’d have a problem getting to an alternate universe.
    “WARNING: Obsessive Compulsive IP resetting with the intention of avoiding bans on this website
    and harass our users will result in your ISP being contacted and loss of your Internet service for abuse.

    We sometimes have to ban entire ISPs because of attacks on this website… ”

    Perhaps they are taking a page from inerrancy. Believe the literal interpretion, or else no entry into the alternate universe.

  • David Evans

    The “Ancient Cosmology” in the picture is not one I ever heard of. In the Ptolemaic cosmology, which was dominant before Copernicus, the sphere of the fixed stars is outside all the planetary spheres. Think about it – if the stars were nearer than the Moon, they would sometimes appear between the horns of the crescent Moon. It doesn’t take much star-watching to conclude that that never happens.

    • http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof/ James F. McGrath

      Glad to see someone is paying attention! :-) I happened across this image on a site that had a poll about what the military should do about the dome over the earth, and so I assumed it was intentionally satirical, and suited to my somewhat tongue-in-cheek post about the Bible being literally true in a parallel universe.

      • David Evans

        Also (I only just noticed) Jupiter is missing! If there were a universe like that I would be seriously worried that someone is playing games with us.

  • newenglandsun

    Do we know if this is what the ancient Hebrews even believed about cosmology? We might have Biblical references of these things being talked about but we have to take into account the way people talked back then and wrote about these things as well. If I were to highlight an author who talks about the sunrise, does this make them a geocentrist automatically?

    • http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof/ James F. McGrath

      No, but it does indicate the remnants of that earlier worldview even in speech after our cosmology has changed. And so when people used that language before the rise of Copernicanism, it of course means what it meant then.

      • newenglandsun

        But Copernicanism isn’t even adhered to by mainstream astronomers either.

        That’s heliocentricism, which, in light of the Big Bang Theory, cannot be true.

        In light of the theory of relativity, both geocentricism and heliocentrism can be true.

        When it comes to basic physical science taught at a high school level, the first thing learned about motion is that it’s relative.

        Fascinating, right?

        http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/einstein/special.html

  • TheWord

    To some degree this is true; the Bible talks of three heavens; earth to sky, earth to the universe and the Heaven above the universe is where God dwells.

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/God-and-the-World/168003953364734

    • http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof/ James F. McGrath

      The Bible doesn’t know the modern universe which can only be viewed with the assistance of a telescope. The reference to the third heaven would have been understood in Paul’s time to mean the third of seven spheres surrounding the Earth.

      • TheWord

        Knowing your position, as to teach others, is very disheartening. The modern universe is no different than that of thousands of yrs ago. We just look deeper at it today. The real problem comes with your view of the Bible; God is not the same to you as He is to me and so many others that believe.

        • http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof/ James F. McGrath

          Believers have always had disagreements about the Bible. But unfortunately far too many believers in our time depart from the historic Christian stance on what to do when a literal interpretation of the Bible disagrees with the results of observation and careful study of the natural world.