The movement of the heavenly bodies has long been a fascinating object of mankind’s attention. Ancient astronomers, such as the magi of the East, charted the courses of the sun, moon, stars, and even the comets. Some civilizations, such as the Mayans of South America or the Egyptians of North Africa, were able to accurately predict eclipses and the summer and winter solstice.

But the actual movement of the heavenly bodies was a great mystery. The Babylonians, in spite of their advanced skills in observation from the top of their ziggurats, thought that the earth was a circular island surrounded by a ring of sea. The sun and moon were believed to enter and exit through doors at the edges of this circle. The stars were set into a spherical sky much like studded jewels set on a velvety backdrop.

Other Eastern civilizations viewed the earth as resting upon the backs of elephants. The elephants were, in turn, standing upon a giant tortoise! The folklore never bothered to explain what the tortoise was standing upon. Those who held such views as this ancient story were considered the “wise men” of their day.

While the Egyptians were able to map the constellations, they pictured the sky as a cow with its feet resting upon the earth. They worshipped the sun as a deity that visited the upperworld by day and then visited the underworld and the abode of the dead by night.

In reality, much of ancient astronomy was not astronomy at all. Instead, it was astrology, the vain attempt to predict the future by observing the positions of heavenly bodies at certain times and their proximity to certain constellations. These signs of the zodiac were developed in the ancient demonic religion of Nimrod. In Deuteronomy 18:9–12, God calls these efforts to observe the times an “abomination.” Christians should have nothing to do with the ancient arts of star gazing, horoscopes, the signs of the zodiac, or any such demonic practice.

It is interesting that a truer understanding of the heavens came into clearer focus only when the Bible was reexamined in Europe at the height of the Renaissance and the dawn of the Reformation. Wherever the Bible is opened, studied, and believed, true knowledge flourishes.

God used a unique combination of men to unlock the mysteries of the great lights that He set in the heavens. Those men were Galileo, Brahe, and Kepler. Each of these worthy scientists made important contributions to astronomy. But the one whose revolutionary understanding of a heliocentric solar system unlocked the door for the contributions of the others was a Polish churchman named Nicolaus Copernicus.

Copernicus was born February 19, 1473. At that time, the world was on the verge of significant changes. Within Copernicus’s lifetime, Christopher Columbus would sail across the Atlantic, Johannes Gutenburg would invent the printing press, Erasmus would publish the Greek New Testament, and Martin Luther would nail his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born within the bounds of the kingdom of Poland. Ongoing debates have not settled the question whether his family was German or Polish. Very possibly his lineage contained both linguistic and cultural heritages. His father was a successful merchant. His mother was from the distinguished family of Watzenrode, and her relatives were leaders in the state and in the church.

The youngest child in his family, Copernicus was only ten years old when his father died. As a result, the young boy was educated by his mother’s brother, who became a Bishop.

Growing up in the household of a Bishop, Copernicus had access to a good education and to the wide range of knowledge that was dawning upon Europe. From his boyhood, Copernicus seemed to have had an interest in the movement of the heavenly bodies. In one related project, he helped his uncle construct a sundial on the wall of Wloclawek Cathedral while he was still a teenager.

Copernicus attended the University of Krakow, then counted among the best schools in Eastern Europe. He studied mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, medicine, and language (including Greek).

In his studies, Copernicus became dissatisfied with the Ptolemaic system of a geocentric universe with its complicated system of cycles and epicycles. An ancient Greek astronomer named Aristarchus of Samos had once postulated a heliocentric model of the universe, in which the earth and the other planets orbited the sun. However, as far as the record goes, there is no evidence that Copernicus ever studied the Greek astronomer’s model. In Copernicus’s time, the geocentric system of Aristotle and Ptolemy was accepted as fact. No astronomer dared question the wisdom of the ancients! But Copernicus wondered.

At that time, Nicolaus Copernicus was not regarded as an astronomer, but rather as a physician. It was in the study and practice of medicine that he gained his fame as he continued his studies. In addition to the University of Krakow, Nicolaus also studied in Bologna, in Rome, and in Padua.

In 1503, Copernicus became a doctor in canon law, and he received his salary all his life as a churchman. It must be acknowledged that he was part of the corrupt system common in that day, when men who lived on a church salary paid very little attention to the spiritual needs of those under their care. As a churchman, Copernicus never married, but it is suspected that he lived with a mistress for many years.

Throughout his life, Copernicus continued to dabble in astronomy. For his observations of celestial bodies, he selected a defensive turret built into the wall at the Cathedral. From this tower, he observed the heavens whenever he had the opportunity, compiling charts of astronomical observation of the sun, moon, stars, and the various unusual events he saw, such as an occasional eclipse or the passage of a comet.

Few were aware of these observations. Copernicus continued to live as a churchman. He also practiced as a physician, and for about a decade, he served as the personal physician for his maternal uncle the Bishop. During those years, Copernicus acquired an extensive medical library.

Not until 1514 did Copernicus write out a brief outline of his heliocentric theory of the universe. He distributed it only in manuscript form to a number of friends and fellow astronomers. By this time, the man was in his forties.

Nicolaus Copernicus continued to observe, write, think, and sketch out various theories throughout his days as a churchman and doctor. His contributions to practical science included advances in trigonometry, medicine, and monetary theory. Protestantism at that time was on the rise in Germany and Eastern Europe, and many of Copernicus’s friends became committed Protestants. Copernicus was very quiet on his own religious views, and historians are undecided on whether or not he embraced the truth of justification by faith.

Only when he was nearing death didCopernicus decide to print his magnum opus, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres). A young Lutheran mathematics professor named Rheticus encouraged the aging astronomer to publish his work. It is interesting that Nicolaus Copernicus lived just long enough to hold the very first printed copy of his book on the very day that he died of a stroke.

Nicolaus Copernicus viewed the solar system as an orderly and simple system where the earth and planets orbit around the “great light” of the sun. His observations revolutionized our understanding of the heavens and laid the foundation for the work of later astronomers, such as Galileo and Kepler.

Sources and Further Reference:

Armitage, Angus. Sun, Stand Thou Still. London, UK: Sigma Books, 1947.