Heliocentric Pluralism: God's Countless Faces
"Wheresoever you turn, there is the face of Allah!" (Qu'ran) "By hundreds and by thousands, behold my countless celestial forms." (Bhagavad Gita) Many planets, one sun. Many suns, one galaxy. Many divine faces, one God. In the late 16th Century, Christians could not tolerate a heliocentric universe. The Inquisition condemned masters of wisdom and science like Giordano Bruno and Galileo. Believers couldn't stand the thought that their religion was one among multiple systems of salvation, each appropriate for its planet, each planet being equally special in the eyes of the creator. If, as Bruno taught, there are countless worlds circling countless suns, then the centrality of Christ is undermined by the possibility that God created other races in His, or Her, divine image; those races may be unfallen; and such worlds may have no need for the precious blood of Jesus, or the sacraments of the Christian Church. Indeed, Bruno taught that God is present in every pa...