MODERN MAN

~ 49 ~ According to the old cosmology the Earth was the centre of the universe, man was the highest creature of this Earth, and his salvation was the central event in heaven and on Earth. The discovery that the Earth is only one planet among others that rotate around the sun, and that the sun is only an insignificant star among the innumerable galaxies of the cosmos, has shaken the old understanding of man. If the Earth, compared to the huge expanses of the universe, was only a speck of dust in the structure of the macrocosm, Newton and others began to explore the question of how man, the dust of dust, could continue to claim the holy privilege that he and his fame were the goal and culmination of God’s actions. 13 The Christians held Christ to be a part of the holy Trinity and developed the concept that the most important event of history ever to take place on earth was the crucifixion of God’s son for the atonement of man’s sins. In this way, the earth came to hold a sacred position in their set of beliefs. They offered the most stiff opposition to any such