Columbus Was Right
...and so were Christians a Thousand Years before him
Steven L. Ware, Ph. D.
Nyack College—New York City More than once in his public speeches US President Barack Obama has criticized anyone who differs from his views on climate change and development of alternative energy sources as “members of the Flat Earth Society.” Pointed especially toward Republican members of Congress, he stated in 2012, for instance, that, “If some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail, they probably must have been founding members of the Flat Earth Society. They would not believe that the world was round.”[1] Regardless of the right-ness or wrong-ness of anyone’s views regarding climate change, however, the president should really check his historical sources more carefully, since Columbus was never engaged in a debate over the shape of our planet. Nor were medieval Christians even a thousand years before him. For the past two centuries, a popular accusation levelled against Christianity by its detractors is that it has consistently stood as a bastion of ignorance and superstition in opposition to scientific and civilizational progress. Especially popular in this narrative is the story of the “persecution” of Galileo Galilei and the heliocentric theory by the papal Inquisition in 1633. Equally standard in this narrative, however, is the false assertion that Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was opposed by authorities both religious and political in Spain who quoted Scriptural statements about the “four corners” of the earth.[2] The truth is that the debate he faced regarded the size of our planet, not its shape: Columbus had obtained a copy of a letter written in 1474 by Italian astronomer and architect Paolo del Pozzo Toscanelli (1397-1482) to Fernão Martins, which was then delivered to King Alfonso V of Portugal, in which Toscanelli claimed that the Earth was less than 20,000 miles in circumference. Columbus’ propagation of Toscanelli’s mistaken figures was the subject of the objections from Spain’s literati, who insisted that the circumference was closer to 25,000 miles, and therefore that Columbus’ proposal for sailing West across the Atlantic Ocean to reach Asia was nothing less than suicidal.[3] So did Europeans in general, and Christians in particular, believe in a flat Earth up until the era of Columbus? The correct answer is an emphatic “No,” and for two major reasons. First of all, the spherical shape of the Earth was theorized initially by Hellenistic Greek scholar Eratosthenes (276-195 BC) in the third century BC. By noting 1) that the sun produced no observable shadow at its zenith on the June solstice at the Egyptian city of Swenet/Syene (modern Aswan, which lies almost directly on the Tropic of Cancer), 2) the length of the shadow at the sun’s zenith on the June solstice at Alexandria (which lies at 7°, 12’ North of the Tropic of Cancer), and 3) the distance between Syene and Alexandria, he was able to theorize that a) the Earth is a sphere, and b) that its circumference is approximately 25,000 miles.[4] Although his assertions were not finally confirmed until nearly 1,700 year later in the era of European exploration and circumnavigation of the Earth, they were found to be accurate and useful for navigation and measuring distances. His theories were therefore copied into many texts and commonly taught at the academies and universities around the Mediterranean during the classical ancient and medieval eras. Furthermore, Aristotle theorized the sphericity of the Earth from observation of the phases and eclipses of the moon. [5] His writings were likewise copied and utilized in medieval texts. Almost any inquisitive and literate person in the Mediterranean region for more than a thousand years before Columbus would therefore have had at least some access to this knowledge and its sources. Secondly, an awareness of the sphericity of the Earth by persons living around the Mediterranean in the late ancient and medieval eras is abundantly apparent through multiple artistic expressions of the period. Numerous Roman coins, for instance, feature an image of Solis (the sun god) holding an orb—a round object representing the Earth—in one hand, with the Emperor’s image on the reverse. Numerous sculptures, castings, and paintings of medieval European rulers likewise include an orb in one hand—some of them featuring a “globus cruciger,” or cross-bearing orb—symbolizing the ruler’s perceived role as regent over a portion of the Earth created and redeemed by Christ. One such item is an equestrian bronze figure of Charlemagne dated to the ninth century which shows the orb in his left hand (figure 1). And in the same gallery at Musee Louvre, one of the few surviving pieces of the medieval French crown jewels is a sceptre commissioned by King Charles V for his son and eventual successor Charles VI (crowned 1380). The top of this sceptre features a miniature figure of Charlemagne sitting on a throne and holding a globus cruciger in his left hand (figure 2). Both of these works, of course, pre-date Columbus and his voyage of discovery by centuries. But what about Christians in particular? Were they indeed the purveyors of the Dark Ages following the Roman period in the West? Did they not deliberately destroy the works of ancient scholars and scientists, burn the ancient library at Alexandria, and suppress any learning outside theology for a thousand years?[6] Once again, an honest look at the facts tells us that the answer is an emphatic “No,” and that it is primarily the anti-Christian critics of the past few centuries who have equated Christianity of the medieval era (ca. AD 500-1400) with cultural darkness. On the question of the sphericity of the Earth, early and medieval Christian writers were nearly unanimous. Inordinate amounts of attention have been given to the very few Christian writers who stated their belief in a flat Earth, such as Lactantius (ca. 265-335), but without recognizing that the cosmology of such individuals did not wield widespread influence even during their lifetimes, and that they were vastly outnumbered by those who understood the Earth as a sphere. The Venerable Bede (ca. 665-735), for instance—best-known for chronicling the history of Christianity in England and popularizing the Anno Domini dating system propagated by Dionysius Exiguus two centuries before him—followed Aristotle in explaining the phases of the moon by the Earth’s sphericity, and extended that reasoning to explain the varying length of days through the course of the year. Furthermore, he used the sphericity of the Earth to explain the tides and the varying position of the moon in the sky relative to the Earth and sun.[7] Similarly, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) discussed in his Summa Theologiae the variety of evidence which had been used by scholars in centuries preceding him to reason that the Earth is round.[8] Equally as decisive in this question, once again, are numerous artistic expressions—and in this case for specifically Christian purposes. And perhaps one of the clearest indications of this historic understanding among Christians comes from one of the most beautiful works of the early medieval period—the apse of the Basilica Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. Financed by the Byzantine administration and completed in AD 547, it features mosaics of Emperor Justinian I and his wife Theodora on auxiliary panels offering themselves in service to Christ as true King of kings. The central feature, however, is a stunning depiction of Christ as Lord of all creation (figure 3): With a blue orb as his throne and the four rivers of Eden flowing beneath his feet, he offers the crown of life to San Vitale with his right hand, while holding the scroll with seven seals—symbolic of his role as executor of the divine plan of redemption and judgment (Revelation 5:1ff)—in his left hand. Any casual visitor or worshiper at this site for nearly the last 1,500 years would therefore need to exercise willful ignorance in order to miss the clear implication of widespread Christian belief in the sphericity of the Earth. But what about medieval Christians living farther North and West in Europe, away from more enlightened regions such as Italy? The above references to Bede and Aquinas would suggest that knowledge of the Earth’s sphericity was at least common among more educated persons. But what about the uneducated peasants living away from the large cities and centers of learning—those who may not have travelled more than a day’s journey from home during their entire lifetime? While it is impossible to guarantee that every medieval European Christian had access to sources of this kind of knowledge, observation of a common artistic form of the period again affirms the widespread nature of this understanding. The dedication of numerous cathedrals to Notre Dame (“our lady”) led to the production of countless statues of the Virgin Mother of Jesus—very often cradling the young child Jesus in her arms. And very commonly included with these statues is an orb in the hand of Jesus (figure 4). Finally, an image from an even more remote location in Europe likely offers further support of the widespread understanding among medieval Christians of the sphericity of the Earth. At the rustic Romanesque church of Santa Coloma in the Pyrenees mountains of Andorra, built in the tenth century, the beautiful remains of a central painting leading toward the apse features Christ as the Lamb of God, with an angel on each side. In the hand of each angel is an orb lifted toward the sacrificial Lamb as recognition of his lordship (figure 5). While the degraded state of the art makes it somewhat difficult to assign a definite identification to the objects in the angelic hands, the orb signifying divine authority is most likely, and most consistent with other Christian art-forms of the era. That people living in so remote a location as Andorra would even have the possibility of understanding the sphericity of our planet more than 1,000 years ago is testimony once more that medieval Christians were not so ignorant and benighted as some would have us believe. On the other hand, that anyone of the twenty-first century would willfully continue to repeat such an obviously false assertion begs ethical questions which are better discussed in another forum. Notes [1] David Nakamura, “Obama compares Republicans to ‘flat earth society’ for stance on green energy,” The Washington Post, 15 March 2012 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-compares-republicans-to-flat-earth-society-for-stance-on-green-energy/2012/03/15/gIQAf9tJES_story.html). [2] Popular but rather sensational and inaccurate examples of anti-Christian historical revisionism are John William Draper’s History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1874) and Andrew Dickson White’s A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (2 vols. New York: D. Appleton, 1896). Jeffrey Burton Russell has traced the beginning of this revisionism and the false assertion of Christians as “flat-Earthers” to writers Washington Irving and Antoinne-Jean Letronne in the 1830s. See Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians (Santa Barbara: Praeger, 1997); (http://europeanhistory.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=europeanhistory&cdn=education&tm=185&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=7&bts=7&zu=http%3A//www.asa3.org/ASA/topics/history/1997Russell.html. [3] Columbus took a copy of Toscanelli’s letter on his voyage in 1492. Rather ironically, if not for Toscanelli’s miscalculation, Columbus may not have become the “discoverer” of the Western Hemisphere and Spain might not have become a colonial and commercial superpower. See Hugh Thomas, Rivers of Gold (New York: Random House, 2005), 56-59. Incidentally, it should be noted that although Toscanelli was widely criticized, the actual circumference of the Earth at 37° North Latitude (the level of Southern Spain and Sicily) is just over 20,000 miles. The circumference at the equator is nearly 25,000 miles, as asserted by Toscanelli’s opponents. See Sigurd Humerfelt, “Earth according to WGS 84,” http://home.online.no/~sigurdhu/Grid_Ideg.htm. [4] An engaging account of Eratosthenes, his work, and his legacy is given by Nicholas Nicastro in Circumference: Eratosthenes and the Ancient Quest to Measure the Globe (New York: Saint Martin’s Press, 2008). [5] Works of Aristotle (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), I, 389. Also found at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/heavens.1.i.html. [6] See Russell, Exposing Myths About Christianity: A Guide to Answering 145 Viral Lies and Legends (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 126, 183. [7] Bede, Bede: The Reckoning of Time (Wallis, Faith, trans. and ed. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1999), 74-85, 91-99. [8] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (Question 54, “Of the Distinction of Habits,” 2), 1856-1857. See http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.pdf. |
Figure 1. Musee Louvre; Paris. Photo by author.
Figure 2. Musee Louvre; Paris. Photo by author.
Figure 3. Basilica Church of San Vitale; Ravenna. Photo by author.
Figure 4. Cathedrale de Notre Dame; Amiens (ca. 1270). Photo by author.
Figure 5. Church of Santa Coloma, Andorra. Photo by author.
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