1 books for « geierbrand hareneus ... »Edit

‎Curiose und Wohlgegrundete Gedancken Von mehr als einer Bewohnten Welt Vernunfft- und deutlich vorgestellet. - [ENLIGHTENMENT-ERA DEFENSE OF EXTRATERRESTIAL LIFE]‎

‎Jena, Meyer, 1714. 12mo. In contemporary blank (original?) wrappers. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Wear and soiling to extremities. Missing lower parts of spine and lower outer corner of back wrapper. Internally with light brownspotting and a few dampstains throughout. (16), 270 pp. + 1 folded plate. ‎

‎Very rare third edition of Ehrenberg theological-cosmological treatise arguing for the existence of multiple inhabited worlds. Under his pseudonym Hareneus Geierbrand, Ehrenberg explores whether other planets could be populated and considered these ideas within a Christian framework. All edition are scarce and are almost never found in the trade. “Andreas Ehrenberg hastens to stress in his preface to Curiose und wohlgegründete Gedanken (Jena, c. 1710) that the case he makes for the existence of many inhabited worlds will give “all Christians” cause to extol God’s wisdom, power, and majesty still more highly but he reaches his conclusion that “we are not alone” purely by the scientific method of analogical reasoning and by arguing from the belief that the Creator’s activity must be purposeful. This demonstration is followed by a second section: “How Holy Scripture possibly can and must be taken, understood, and elucidated in order not to be contrary to our opinion” (pp. 7–8). […] But for Ehrenberg, the Bible is no longer an independent source of knowledge about the natural world: on the contrary, it must be read in the light of scientific knowledge. In other words, it is necessary to show that, correctly interpreted, the words of the biblical passages that speak of a circling sun and a stationary Earth (Josh. 10:12–13 Ps. 19:6–7) are in accord with the findings of science. Viewed in the proper light, as a description of the mere appearance of things, or as a version of the truth adapted to unsophisticated minds, the Bible only appears to express a geocentric conception of the universe. In reality its cosmology is that of Copernicus—which Ehrenberg, like so many others, sees as the basis for the plurality of worlds.” (Guthke, The Last Frontier, p. 204) OCLC list four copies, all in Germany. ‎