Report on the Firmament

Conclusion

Daniel's prophecy reveals that in the second century BC, Antiochus IV caused corruptions supporting the supported the flawed geocentric cosmology of the Greeks to be inserted in the Greek and Hebrew versions of the scriptures. The creation account of Genesis 1, especially, was altered so that the earth's crust, the raqia made on the second day, was identified with the rigid rotating sky or firmament. Because the original Genesis account referred to the formation of the earth's crust, in the "midst of the waters", the changes to the creation account made it seem as though there were waters above the heavens. This was the ridiculous concept that some of the early Church Fathers wrestled over.

The history of the concept of the rigid sky and the waters above the heavens through the following centuries shows the learned men of the world were victims of this fraud initiated by Antiochus. The condemnation of Galileo's work by the theologians is a notable example; widespread skepticism which arose after the old geocentric cosmology was abolished in the eighteenth century was also due in part to the apparent support the corrupted cosmological statements in scripture gave to the geocentric theory.

However, all of this can now be understood as the unfolding of a great plan and purpose, that is being worked out in man's affairs. God's role is revealed in the rise of modern science, that was foretold by the prophet Daniel.

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