Or "vault," which conforms better to what we have found. The sky is blue. The appearance of the lights can also describe the dissipation of a cloud layer.
Which protestant leaders? I don't recall Martin Luther having anything to say on the subject. The leading astronomers of the day (Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus) were all churchgoing, and arrived at the understanding that the planets were far from the Earth (no "firmament").
The discussion is pointless. We have satellites in orbit about the Earth, have sent men to the Moon, and probes to the planets. There is no "firmament"...but there are heavens. You have to realize that God was condensing a complex account to fit into Moses' Egyptian understanding of cosmology. The main point was the emergence of sin into the world. Genesis was not an astronomy text. And it does not contradict or conflict with Creation, which was the prior Word of God.
Or "vault," which conforms better to what we have found. The sky is blue. The appearance of the lights can also describe the dissipation of a cloud layer.
Which protestant leaders? I don't recall Martin Luther having anything to say on the subject. The leading astronomers of the day (Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus) were all churchgoing, and arrived at the understanding that the planets were far from the Earth (no "firmament").
The discussion is pointless. We have satellites in orbit about the Earth, have sent men to the Moon, and probes to the planets. There is no "firmament"...but there are heavens. You have to realize that God was condensing a complex account to fit into Moses' Egyptian understanding of cosmology. The main point was the emergence of sin into the world. Genesis was not an astronomy text. And it does not contradict or conflict with Creation, which was the prior Word of God.