[lit-ideas] Re: Sherlock Holmes on knowledge of the solar system
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 17:34:52 -0700
Andreas writes, "How does a theologian resolve the issue that our galaxy is
a mere dust speck in a vast universe, most of which will never be observable
to us? It raises very deep questions."
It depends on the theologian. The question would fall in the realm of
eschatology.
The Premillenialists, at least the literalist school of Premillenialism (and
today there is hardly anything else in this school) might seem most at risk,
but the injunction in Genesis says 'be fruitful and fill the earth." It
doesn't address anything beyond the earth in a literal fashion. Also, bear
in mind that the literalists are also Dispensationalists who believe that
"the time is near." The Lord will return in a few years and gather all of
them up. They don't care about the rest of the Universe -- except insofar
as how long it took God to make it, but I won't go any further down their
rabbit hole, not being a literalist myself.
The Amillennialists may have the largest problem. They aren't literalists
or interested in an open-ended view of eschatology. They want a tidy, "it
is given unto man once to live and after that the judgment." They ought to
find all that unused and unnecessary space and the possibility of habitable
planets out there eschatologically messy. What was God up to when he made
the universe which our discoveries find bigger and bigger with each passing
year when "it is given unto man once to live and after that the judgment"?
The Postmillennialists (my own view) won't have a problem. In fact the idea
of an immense space containing the possibility of other habitable planets
ought to suit them. The injunction to "be fruitful and fill the earth" can
be seen as a principle to apply to the rest of the universe. After all, the
language of Genesis is about as close as Hebrew could come to the concept.
There was no language to talk about other habitable planets in the galaxy or
universe, or even the solar system; and so, not a problem.
Postmillennialism involves a bit of enthusiasm which Holmes obviously didn't
have. He would be impatient with Premillennialism; so assuming he wasn't an
atheist, I see him as an Amillennialist. Those people are known for their
pessimism. With their shoddy eschatology, I'm surprised they don't all
smoke opium and worry about Dr. Moriarty.
Lawrence Helm
San Jacinto
-----Original Message-----
From: Andreas Ramos
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:05 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Sherlock Holmes on knowledge of the solar system
> Holmes' point is related, not to whether a different kind of solar
> system would make a difference for our planet, but to the fact that
> this information is relevant only for a very limited range of
> activities. And apart from living up to some liberal ideal of the
> 'well-rounded' individual, an ideal articulated in Watson's response,
> why would this information be worth knowing?
To a bored housewife or a local detective in London, there isn't a need to
know what is outside their mental horizons.
But this information (a working model of the solar system) is useful to
anyone in physics, astronomy, any form of navigation, and so on. The
military needs to know this so they can fire their cannons and missiles to
hit far-away targets.
Even astrologers need to know this so they can draw up their charts for the
housewives. Every teenage girl uses the complexities of astrology to know
who to pick for a date. Phil has the wrong astrological sign? That's why
he's lonely on Friday nights. Now he knows.
It's also useful to theology. How does a theologian resolve the issue that
our galaxy is a mere dust speck in a vast universe, most of which will never
be observable to us? It raises very deep questions.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
