Psalms 19:2-7 (Coeli enarrant Gloriam Dei)

Antique copperplate engraving from the Physica Sacra depicting an early model of the solar system.

The Physica Sacra was a monumental 4 volume work of natural theology that took over 10 years to complete during the Age of Enlightenment. Called the “Copper Bible” for the enormous amount of metal required to engrave the 762 plates used in total, each image depicts a particular Bible verse or story and corresponding scientific explanation. This elaborately bordered page depicts a heliocentric diagram of the solar system, ringed by astrological symbols of the Zodiac. Underneath this “sun”, one can see 18th century astronomers taking measurements using scientific instruments such as sextants and telescopes. The title is Latin for “heavens declares the glory of God.”

Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was a Swiss scholar and naturalist born in Zurich in 1672. Although trained as a physician, he had one of the most extensive fossil collections in Europe during the 18th century and believed they were a result of the Biblical flood of Noah. The Physica Sacra was a work designed to reconcile facets of natural science with, in his mind, biblical facts available in the Old Testament. The intersection of science and theology was a critical component of the Age of Reason and Scheuchzer’s work helped to lay the foundation for later scientists like von Humboldt and Darwin.