Orthodox and geocentrism, flat-earthism, etc.

[Matthew]

Dear brother Cyprian, I had never seen the first of these two posts before. I did not know, but thank you very much for this meaningful support. You had posted it at a time when I had given up on Euphrosynos Cafe because I found the general atmosphere (due to certain persons no longer active here and who I understand no longer are decidedly following our Holy Orthodox Faith, but for whom I pray daily for their return) to be to antagonistic and discussions seemed fruitless. Thank you also for these beautiful quotes from the Holy Fathers who demonstrated their understanding of a globe of the Earth rather than a flat disc. Perhaps you could clarify why we are to view Robert Sungenis's work as disinformation. I have heard this claim by other geocentrists and I do not understand the reason for it. I thought we are agreed if we are geocentrists and I thought that that was Sungenis's only point.

Thank you.

[Cyprian]

You're welcome Matthew. That was just a small sampling from the early fathers. There are citations from Holy Fathers closer to our times as well.

St. Gregory Palamas
One Hundred and Fifty Chapters

1. Afterwards, embellishing even as he adorns the world, the one who brought forth all things from nothing allotted in six days the proper and appropriate order to each of those which are his and make up his world. He distinguished each by command alone and brought forth into form as from hidden treasuries the things stored therein, disposing and arranging them in harmony, excellence and aptness, one to the other, each to all and all to each. With the immovable earth as a centre-point he arranged the ever-moving heaven in a circle in the uttermost heights and bound the two together with great wisdom through the middle regions. And so, the same world continues to be both stationary and mobile at the same time. For since the bodies in very rapid and perpetual motion have been arranged all in a circle, the immovable body necessarily had to occupy the middle region as its portion, counterbalancing the motion with its stability, so that the pancosmic sphere would not change position as a cylinder does.

St. Gregory Palamas
Homily Six

To encourage Fasting
Including a brief word on the Origin of the World

He disposed and composed all things in complete natural harmony between themselves, each in relation to all, and all in relation to each. He surrounded the motionless earth, as a central point, with the higher circle of the perpetually moving heavens, holding them in place by means of what lies between, all according to His wisdom, that the universe might stay stable while in motion. When the heavenly bodies all around were moving unceasingly and at great speed, the motionless earth had of necessity to take its place at the centre, its stability counterbalancing the motion, lest the sphere of the universe roll off its course.

St. Kosmas of Aetolia
First Teaching

The Eggs of Easter

WHEN THE FIRST ORDER of angels fell and became demons, the most gracious God commanded and this world came into being. And it is 7,288 years from the time that the world was created. This world is like an egg. And just as the yolk is in the center of the egg, so is the earth made by God to stand without touching any other place. And just as the egg white surrounds the yolk, so does the air the earth. And just as the shell encloses everything, so does the sky the earth, The sun, the moon, and the stars are attached to the sky. The earth is round and wherever the sun goes it becomes day; night is the shadow of the earth.

Here it is night, somewhere else dawn - And just as there are people here on earth, there are some under the earth. This is why the holy Fathers have ruled that we should color our eggs red for Easter: because the egg symbolizes the world, while the red color symbolizes the blood of our Christ which he spilled on the Cross to sanctify the whole world. We too should rejoice and be glad a thousand times, because Christ has spilled his blood and purchased us from the hands of the devil. But we should also weep and mourn because our sins crucified the Son of God, our Christ.

[Cyprian]

St. Gregory Palamas

One Hundred and Fifty Chapters

1. Aether then is very much brighter than fire, which is also called combustible fuel, and fire is many times greater in volume than the sphere of air, and air in turn more than water, and water more than earth, which, as it is the most compressed, is the least in volume among the four elements under the heaven. Since the sphere of water is many times greater in magnitude than the earth, if it had been spread around the entire circumference of the earth so that both spheres (namely, earth and water) were drawn around one centre, the water would not allow the use of any part of the earth to land animals, for the water would cover all its ground area and extend in great measure beyond its entire surface.

2. You should know how far below (from our viewpoint) the centre of the earth lies the centre of the sphere of water, if you bear in mind that the surface of the water visible to us and beneath us, just as the ground of the earth we walk upon, coincides almost exactly with the surface of the terrestrial sphere which we inhabit.

3. Let the sphere of the earth be a circle on the inside of which is written A, B, C, D; and around this let there be described, in place of the sphere of water, another circle coinciding along the surface with the upper tenth of the circle within it on which is inscribed E, F, G, H. Now, below us the extremity of the inner circle will be found to be the centre of the circle described on the outside. And since the latter is twice the former in diameter, and since there are geometric proofs to show that the sphere with twice the diameter is eight times the size of the sphere with half the diameter, it follows then that the eighth part of this moist sphere is merged with the earth. And so, a great many springs burst up from it and abundant, ever-flowing river streams issue forth, and the gulfs of not a few seas pour into it, and a multitude of marsh waters seep upwards. And there is scarcely anywhere on earth where you can dig and not find water welling up.

[Luke]

I will never look at scrambled eggs the same. :shock: