资源描述：
《christian_topography_-_wikipedia》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、ChristianTopography1ChristianTopographyTheChristianTopography(originalGreektitleΧριστιανικὴΤοπογραφία,LatintitleTopographiaChristiana)isa6th-centurywork,oneoftheearliestessaysinscientificgeographywrittenbyaChristianauthor.ItwasoriginallywrittenasfivebooksbyCosmasIndic
2、opleustesandexpandedtotentotwelvebooksaround550AD.Theworkadvancestheideathattheworldisflat,andthattheheavensformtheshapeofaboxwithacurvedlid,andespeciallyattackstheideathattheheavensweresphericalandinmotion,nowknownasthegeocentricmodelmodeloftheuniverse.Theauthorcites
3、passagesofscripturewhichheinterpretsoriginallyinordertosupporthisthesis,Ancientworldmap,from"ChristianandattemptstoarguedowntheideaofasphericalearthbyTopography",byCosmasIndicopleustes.stigmatizingitas"pagan".AnearlysurvivingreferencetotheworkisbyPatriarchPhotiosIofCo
4、nstantinopleinthe9thcenturyAD.Photiuscondemnsthestyleandsyntaxofthetextaswellasthehonestyoftheauthor.MorerecentauthorstendtoagreewithPhotiusonthestylisticpoints,buttofindtheauthorgenerallyreliableforgeographicalandhistoricalreferences.EdwardGibbon,forexample,said"then
5、onsenseoftheMonkwas,nevertheless,mingledwiththepracticalknowledgeofthetraveller"anduseditinwritingTheHistoryoftheDeclineandFalloftheRomanEmpire.[1][2]TheTopographyisoftencitedasevidencethatChristianityintroducedtheideaoftheflat-earthintotheworld,andbroughtintheageofig
6、norance.Thelatterpagesofhisworkaredevotedtorebuttingthecriticismofhisfellowmonksthatwhathewassayingwaswrong.Herepeatedlydenounces"thosereprobateChristianswho,...,prefer,throughtheirperversefollyordownrightwickedness,toadoptthemiserablePaganbelief
7、xxthatearthandheavena
8、respherical,andthatthereareAntipodesonwhomtherainmustfallup."RaymondBeazley,inthefirstvolumeoftheTheDawnofModernGeography(1897),said[1][2]TheplaceofCosmasinhistoryhasTheworldaccordingtothebookisaparallelogram.beensometimesmisconceived.Hisworkisnot,asithasbeencalled(in
9、theearlieryearsofthiscentury),thechiefauthorityoftheMiddleAgesingeography.For,onthewhole,itsinfluenceisonlyslightly,andoccas
