Sunday, April 13, 2014

Partly cloudy


According to the three-story model of the universe, the sun, moon, and stars were below the firmament. But if that's what Bible writers and ancient Near Easterners believed, why do clouds always pass in front of the sun and moon, never behind them? If clouds, sun or moon are both lower than the firmament, why are clouds always lower than the sun or moon? Why do clouds invariably pass over the face of the sun and moon? Why do they never lie in the background, with the sun and moon in the foreground? Why aren't clouds sometimes higher than the sun or moon? Likewise, if the sun literally rose and and set, would it not begin or end below the clouds? 

The triple-decker model can't account for that.  

Did ancient observers never wonder about that? We know that ancient astronomers did find celestial motion puzzling, so it's not as if no one ever paid attention. 

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