Some ideas are so powerful that they have burned heretics, overturned civilizations, and turned our view of reality upside down.
The Copernican Principle is one of them.
This simple idea- that we occupy no specially favored or central location in the universe- lies at the very heart of the modern scientific world.
In fact, this single idea brings that modern world into existence.
Christians and people of faith generally have essentially forgotten the worldview of Genesis (be honest- when was the last time you really considered the implications of the astonishing last three words of Genesis 1:1?).
That ancient world viewed Earth as the center of creation; Christendom overwhelmingly concurred. For the medievals, Earth had to be the center of the universe, since it was the place of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, of the Son of God, for the redemption of the lost descendants of Adam.
The story of how that view of reality was completely overturned is one of the most fascinating in all of history, and it is the story of our film.
You see, something amazing is happening……
The most recent and comprehensive scientific surveys of our universe are reporting inexplicable alignments of the very largest structures with supposedly insignificant Earth.
The simple question “what is our place in the cosmos?” has already overturned medieval Christendom with the Enlightenment; has already overturned the Enlightenment with Relativity, and has now returned to confront our most basic certainties yet again.
In the words of atheist physicist Lawrence Krauss:
“Could this be Copernicus coming back to haunt us”?
Some ideas are so powerful that they have burned heretics, overturned civilizations, and turned our view of reality upside down.
“The Principle” is one of them.
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