The Revelation of St. John's - An Astronomical-Historical Investigation

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The Revelation of Johannis - An Astronomical-Historical Investigation is the title of the German edition of a book by the Russian astronomer Nikolai Alexandrowitsch Morosow .

Morosow had written the work, published in March 1907, two years earlier during his imprisonment. At the instigation of the Orthodox clergy , it was indexed the year after its publication. A literal translation of the Russian title Откровение в грозе и буре. История возникновения Апокалипсиса reads “Revelations in thunderstorms and storms. History of the Origin of the Apocalypse ” .

In this writing Morosow puts forward the thesis that the Revelation of John describes the astronomical constellation that stood over the island of Patmos on Sunday, September 30, 395, Julian date . Morosow suspects that the interest of the highly educated John Chrysostomus of Antioch was directed to the sky observation because he expected a solar eclipse on that day with knowledge of the Saros cycle (this actually occurred - but over South America). However, this thesis is now considered refuted, since the Revelation of John can be proven by the Church Fathers Hieronymus even before the time of John Chrysostomand Irenaeus was mentioned.

Morosow notes:

1. The day of the week of the event is specified:

  • Rev. 1.10: On Sunday an enthusiasm took hold of me ...

2. The description refers to the starry sky and begins systematically at the pole near the constellation called the throne (modern: Little Bear ):

  • Rev. 4,2: And behold, a throne stood in heaven ...

3. Then the text mentions the Milky Way and the signs of the zodiac of the seasons: Leo , Taurus , Sagittarius and Eagle (the latter is reinterpreted as Aquarius ):

  • Rev. 4,6–7: And in front of the throne it was like a sea of ​​glass, like the crystal, and in the middle of the throne and around the throne were four heavenly figures, full of eyes in front and behind. And the first shape was like a lion, and the second shape was like a bull, and the third shape had a human face, and the fourth shape was like a flying eagle.

4. Morosow sees the four horses of the apocalyptic horsemen as metaphors for the planets Jupiter , Mars , Mercury and Saturn . The constellations Sagittarius , Perseus , Libra and Scorpio would "ride" on them:

  • Rev. 6,2: And I saw, and, behold, a white horse. And whoever sat on it had a bow.
  • Rev. 6,4: And a second horse came out, it was fire red. And whoever sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, that they might kill one another, and a great sword was given to him.
  • Rev. 6,5: And I saw, and behold, a dark steed. And whoever sat on it had a scale in his hand.
  • Rev. 6,8: And I saw, and, behold, a pale horse. And he who sat on it, whose name was: Death, and Hell followed him.

5. Let the sun and moon be named directly. The only female zodiac sign is Virgo :

  • Revelation 12: 1: And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

The planet Venus is called a whore , the symbol of female eroticism, which unites with the red Antares (literally: counter-Mars ) in the constellation Scorpio:

  • Rev. 17.3–5: And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, and had a golden goblet in her hand, full of the abomination and uncleanness of her fornication.

The description in the text of Revelation therefore exactly reflects the constellation for the Julian date of September 30, 395. Right ascension and declination for the Patmos location at 3 p.m. world time on this day were calculated using the Your Sky program . (The right ascension is shifted compared to today's values due to the precession of the earth):

Figure d. Rev. Assignment Constellation ~ Rectasz. Star Right ascension declination
1 Sun Woman (body) Virgin 12pm - 2pm Sun 12h 27m 56s -3 ° 02.9
2 moon Woman, at your feet Virgin 12pm - 2pm moon 12h 19m 00s -2 ° 50.5
3 White steed Archer Sagittarius 16h - 18h Jupiter 17h 56m 56s -24 ° 01.5
4th Pale steed death Scorpio 14h - 16h Saturn 14h 40m 40s -13 ° 45.5
5 Dark steed Libra Libra 12pm - 2pm Mercury 13h 52m 38s -14 ° 54.5
6th Red steed Swordtail Perseus / Aries 00h - 02h Mars 00h 59m 38s + 3 ° 31.2
7th Woman / whore Red animal Antares, Scorp. 14h 55m Venus 14h 54m 50s 18 ° 22.9

Since the sun, moon and three outer and two inner planets can form 3,732,480 constellations in the twelve constellations of the zodiac (12 5 × 5 × 3), a coincidental correspondence is practically impossible.

This is where the chronological criticism begins : Generally speaking, with reference to Irenäus (Haer. V, 30,3), the revelation was seen towards the end of the reign of Domitian (81–96). Accordingly, either the Revelation or the reign of Domitian was dated about three centuries too old.

literature

expenditure

  • Откровение в грозе и буре. История возникновения Апокалипсиса . Byloje, Saint Petersburg 1907
    • Nikolaus Morosow: The Revelation Johannis. An astronomical and historical study. With a foreword by Arthur Drews . Spemann, Stuttgart 1912

Footnotes

  1. NASA Eclipse Web Site : Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 0301 to 0400 (last updated: September 6, 2009)
  2. Irn. Adv.haer V 30.3 ( English , German ).
  3. Fourmilab ( John Walker's website ): Your Sky (inputs: 395-09-30 3:30 pm; 37N 27E; Opt. E, M, N, N)