Saturday, February 17, 2018

Aristotle Visited



Aristotle Visited Contest Bits and Bytes of Science (Haibun) first draft



In a recent philosophical excursion to Greece, Aristotle, influenced by Greek mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras (sixth century B.C.E.) I imagined having met. With his establishing a library in the Lyceum, I did intellectually and joyfully connect.

We conversed about what he taught Alexander the Great,
as a quick lunch we took around noon. He unknowingly with a woman ate. For, men and women took their meals separately.
My then crop of short curly hair, voice hoarse from travel, face without makeup or jewelry and with no mirror to untidiness detect, I appeared to him masculine, I presume.

When the house was too small, the men ate first, the women afterward while slaves waited at dinners.

This, Aristotle noted: "the poor, having no slaves, would ask their wives or children to serve food."... Respect shown for the father, the breadwinner.

With loaves of flatbread used as plates, my vegetables and fruit with wine and lentil soup in terracotta bowls I nimbly yet hungrily without greed did navigate as Aristotle in his theories did proceed.

Aristotle conceived our universe to be a series of spheres within spheres, as an onion appears. On this, I did reflect. With each layer crystal; our earth its center. Stars moving in circles. Their motion derived from a seat of divine power--the outermost sphere from a distant dimension.

His attitude proud was to me dispensed: A moving earth would violate common sense. Thus, not subject to change thought this child of philosophy. For a moving earth subject to friction would be. Grinding to a halt without the application of constant force its destiny.

Aristotle’s concept logical seemed within the framework of existing knowledge. Its basic form enduring for almost 2, 000 years. Even as late as the 16th century, deemed correct by French philosopher Jean Bodin.

However, in our present I note, once said Galileo, whose findings many felt extreme:

“Both the Holy Scriptures and nature proceed from the Divine Word... Two truths can never contradict one another.” As a preamble quoted.

For instead of numbers Galileo, Kepler, and Newton finally proved that matter is governed by rational laws as seen in 1600 B.C.E. mentioned in the Biblical reference of Job 38:33, about a thousand years ahead of its time, when God asked Job:

"Do you know the laws governing the heavens, or can you impose their authority on the earth?"... Correct answers posed for Job to divinely glean his creatorship.

Or, as recorded in the seventh century B.C.E., Jeremiah of the Creator Jehovah revealed:

“‘Just as surely as I have established my covenant regarding the day and the night, the laws of heaven and earth". Jer. 33:25. Causing Bible commentator G. Rawlinson to distill:

“The general prevalence of law in the material world is quite as strongly asserted by the sacred writers as by modern science.”

Other scientific findings Biblically found I do expound:

"He stretches out the northern sky over empty space,
Suspending the earth upon nothing. Job 26:7.

"There is One who dwells above the circle of the earth". Isa. 40:22.

This written way before our 20th century in which we knew this to be true. Confirming the truthfulness of this proven relationship, even as Albert Einstein did to masses did further resound: 

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

Moon orbits our earth
circling one-star blazing sun
Solar System spun