Point taken. We get the name planet from the ancient Greeks, meaning wanderers, because they looked like bright stars, but they did not travel in relation to the other stars. Obviously the Egyptians kept track of the heavens, as well. I more meant that Galileo was the first (?) to actually observe these planets as physical bodies and not just points of light.slimmouse » Sat Aug 27, 2016 3:14 am wrote:Given that a knowledgable mind might reasonably suggest that Ancient civilisations were mapping the precession of the equinoxes over 10,000 years ago, surely it would need to be a tad older than that?Novem5er wrote:First, it'd be a con that was a couple hundred years in the making. Galileo got this whole space thing going back in the 17th century and it's been going strong, with confirmation, ever since. It's not just history books and NASA, it'd be every scientific community across the globe for the last 300 years. That'd be some con. And for what? I think TPTB would have done equally as well selling us a Bible-based Flat Earth.
Unless of course you took their understanding that the universe is really, simplly a reflection of ourselves, at its literal word.
Who would ever believe that to be the case anyways, let alone a metaphorical interpretation of such?
To your last few points, the acceptance of modern astronomy in now way precludes someone from believing in the Christian God, ancient myths, or the occult. I try to tell Southern Christians all the time that they can still be a Christian and accept that the planet is older than 7,000 years. It's okay.
