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====== Association for Biblical Astronomy ======

The Association for Biblical Astronomy (ABA) is a Christian organization that advocates for geocentrism - the view that Earth is stationary and occupies the center of the universe - on the basis of a literal reading of biblical scripture. Founded by physicist and historian of science Gerardus Bouw, the ABA publishes the journal //The Biblical Astronomer// and maintains that the heliocentric model accepted by mainstream science is incompatible with a correct interpretation of the Bible. The organization represents one of the most active institutionalized forms of religious dissent from the Copernican model in contemporary Christianity.

===== Background and Activities =====

The ABA was founded by Gerardus Bouw, who holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from Case Western Reserve University. Bouw coined the term "geocentricity" to distinguish the organization's position from older pre-scientific cosmologies, framing it instead as a scripturally grounded alternative to heliocentrism that he argues is consistent with a rigorous reading of physical evidence. The ABA's journal, //The Biblical Astronomer// (originally titled //The Geocentric Bible//), publishes articles arguing for geocentrism from both scriptural and scientific angles. The organization also produces books, maintains a website, and has historically hosted conferences bringing together adherents of geocentric and related cosmological dissent.

The ABA's scriptural case draws on passages from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament that describe the Sun moving, the Earth standing firm, or the heavens rotating - texts which, the organization argues, are meant to be understood as cosmological statements rather than phenomenological language. Critics within Christian theology, as well as secular scientists, dispute both the exegetical and scientific arguments; the scientific and theological mainstream regards the biblical case for geocentrism as based on a misreading of ancient text and the scientific case as empirically refuted. Those debates are addressed on separate pages.

===== Consensus Status =====

There is an overwhelming consensus across astronomy, physics, and related sciences that Earth orbits the Sun and is not the center of the universe. The scriptural and scientific arguments advanced by the ABA and related organizations are addressed in the linked viewpoint and debate pages below. See [[heliocentrism-astronomy-consensus|Heliocentrism - Astronomy Consensus]]. Mainstream Christian theology, including most denominations that hold to biblical inerrancy, does not regard geocentrism as a required or well-supported reading of scripture, though no single authoritative consensus page on biblical hermeneutics is referenced here.

===== Viewpoints =====

  * **Geocentricity (ABA position):** The ABA holds that scripture unambiguously teaches a stationary, central Earth, and that this position can be defended on physical and observational grounds. See [[heliocentrism-religious-dissent-viewpoint|Heliocentrism - Religious Dissent Viewpoint]].
  * **Mainstream scientific position:** Heliocentrism - more precisely, the modern heliocentric model in which neither Earth nor the Sun occupies a privileged cosmic center - is supported by centuries of accumulated astronomical observation and the theoretical frameworks of Newtonian mechanics and general relativity. See [[heliocentrism-scientific-consensus-viewpoint|Heliocentrism - Scientific Consensus Viewpoint]].
  * **Mainstream theological position:** Most Christian theologians, including many who hold to biblical inerrancy or infallibility, argue that the relevant scriptural passages employ phenomenological or poetic language and do not constitute cosmological claims. See [[biblical-inerrancy-and-science-viewpoint|Biblical Inerrancy and Science Viewpoint]].

===== Related Pages =====

  * [[heliocentrism-religious-dissent-viewpoint|Heliocentrism - Religious Dissent Viewpoint]]
  * [[heliocentrism-scientific-consensus-viewpoint|Heliocentrism - Scientific Consensus Viewpoint]]
  * [[heliocentrism-astronomy-consensus|Heliocentrism - Astronomy Consensus]]
  * [[geocentrism|Geocentrism]]
  * [[heliocentrism|Heliocentrism]]
  * [[geocentrism-history|Geocentrism - History]]
  * [[biblical-inerrancy-and-science-viewpoint|Biblical Inerrancy and Science Viewpoint]]
  * [[heliocentrism-debate|Heliocentrism - Debate]]

===== Footnotes =====

  - Gerardus Bouw, //Geocentricity: Christianity in the Woodshed// (Association for Biblical Astronomy, 1992). The primary monograph laying out the ABA's scientific and scriptural case.
  - The Biblical Astronomer, journal of the Association for Biblical Astronomy, published since 1976 (originally as //The Geocentric Bible//). Available via the ABA's website.
  - Case Western Reserve University graduate program records, cited in biographical descriptions of Bouw on ABA materials and third-party reference sources.