“Faith and Science”: A Christian Perspective on Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

November 13, 2024

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It comes as a surprise to no one who knows me well, that I am a huge anime fan. Anime has been the longest, most consistent input in my life aside from my faith as a Christian, and my immediate family. I generally find anime considerably more innovative and insightful than Western media. It’s characters explore the depths of the human psyche. You may or may not be a fan of anime, regardless there is one show that I’d like to put on your radar and encourage you to watch: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth.

Orb, as I will refer to it, takes place in medieval Poland, and follows the lives of several characters who are trying to prove the Heliocentric theory (The now know fact that the Earth revolves around the sun). They are opposed by the strict state Church, cracking down on such heretical beliefs. It is well known that the Church believed that the Earth was the center of the universe for a long time, and cracked down on those who believed otherwise as heretics. It may seem strange that such a show would be portrayed through a medium that we generally associate with children’s television, but I assure you, it works.

Fantastic Character Depth

The content of this show is interesting, but the characters are what will keep you watching. Rafal, is a young prodigy who is about to attend university at the age of twelve. An adopted orphan, Rafal has always excelled at understanding how to win the admiration of others, and to make the right decisions. He informs his primary school class that he intends to study theology to roaring applause, only to have his teacher alert him to the fact that this means he must devote everything to theology. This means giving up his interests in astronomy. Hubert, a first-time offender heretic who has recanted his belief in Heliocentricism, joins Rafal’s household on parole, explains his theory, and convinces the boy of the value in not always making the “right” , “practical” decision. Rafal begins to practice astronomy again, helping Hubert with his research, who needs him as the Church’s torture has left Hubert blinded. Nowak, an ex-mercenary inquisitor, an interesting man himself, closes in on Hubert and Rafal…

Another thing the show has is a fantastic opening theme, a hallmark of anime. A good opening theme primes the audience’s thoughts and emotions for what’s in store. Check out Orb’s theme here:

Opening Theme by Sky Perfect Pictures

Thought-provoking Quotes

“Your enemy is a resilient one. The thing you all oppose isn’t me. Nor is it heretics. It’s part imagination and part curiosity. In short, it’s the truth itself. It spreads like an epidemic. Not even the host can control it. It’s not the sort of harmless thing that can be tamed by an organization.

An apt and thought provoking interpretation of truth. All truth exists, but it must be discovered. In order to be discovered, someone must have the imagination, curiosity, and indeed the faith, to believe in it before it is the Truth. In this way all knowledge comes from faith. Furthermore, if something is true, it cannot be stopped or controlled. Falsehoods, on the other hand, may contain a grain of the truth fortifying it, but the truth will eventually derail them. Truth does not need defending, only advocating.

Hubert: “In that case, is there beauty in such truth? Is the universe you described beautiful?” Rafal: “Well, it does seem a little too complicated. With this model, every planet has to be calculated separately. The way the movements fail to form a single orderly system.. doesn’t seem rational. In that sense.. it’s not very beautiful.”

Rafal: “Do you wish to deny the existence of God?” Hubert: “It’s the opposite. I do it because I believe in God. Most people believe that this world is an ugly place filled with greed and corruption, while the afterlife is pure and beautiful. But, I can’t accept that. This world created by God is surely the most beautiful of all.”

The God of this universe is the God of science, rationality, and beauty. The way everything comes together in a single, orderly, rational way proclaims His majesty. An all powerful being that has the ability to create everything we see and know wouldn’t make a flawed universe where the rules of the universe happen randomly “just because.” It would be an ordered universe of patterns and laws, beautiful and perfect. Many Christians today believe and defend falsehoods. They used to defend Earth-centrism. Today, they campaign against the accepted age of the world, evolution, and more accepted, scientific thought. These Christians are hurting our faith more than helping, because they are driving away individuals who could otherwise believe, and straining on a gnat.

Orb’s Lesson to Christians: Faith and Truth

Some Christians hold that the entire Bible is absolute in Truth, and that each word should be taken literally. This is a stumbling block that must be corrected in order to save more souls. I do not mean to say that supernatural things in the Bible are impossible. I believe in the supernatural as well as the natural, and that an all powerful God has domain over both. Rather ask yourself, is this supernatural thing happening exactly as described critical to the story of the Bible, or not? That is to say, is it critical that the creation of the world happens in six days or that the great flood story happen exactly as described? No. Is it critical that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, capable of miracles, without sin, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven? Yes.

The origins of this world are prelude to the greatest redemption story of all time, and I believe that God guided man’s hand towards a Bible that first in foremost is a tool. It’s primary purpose is not to be a history book, but to draw us towards Him. Human knowledge is gradual and based in story-telling. For thousands of years our progress was sustained through stories around the campfire. Ancient humans may not have been able to comprehend complex ideas like dark-matter or black holes, and they definitely wouldn’t have been able to sustain the knowledge absent writing. Truth would have best been preserved if condensed into a story. “Let there be light” and a six day origin story where stages of the universe are created over time sounds a lot like a great way to convey creation to ancient humans, while still alluding to the scientific truth.

Conclusion

Circling back, Orb: On the Movements of the Earth examines the relationship between those who seek the Truth and those who would try to confine it for the sake of power. It explores interesting concepts, and interesting characters faced with difficult human challenges. As Christians we must remember that we are on the side of Truth; Jesus is the greatest truth. By propping up clear falsehoods beside that, we are damning souls. I encourage you all to join me in watching this interesting show. I am interested in seeing where it goes. The first three episode are available to stream on Netflix.

Trailer in Japanese

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Anime

Comments

9 responses to ““Faith and Science”: A Christian Perspective on Orb: On the Movements of the Earth”

Rick McCord

December 1, 2024

Isaac, you are indeed a fantastic human being. To do all the things you’ve done at such a young age is nothing short of miraculous, compared to the youth of today. You need to write a book as your words so gracefully flow off your messages. Laurie and I fell in love with the idea of walking the Camino after watching the movie The Way but our age caught up wit this and I fear we’ll never be able to accomplish that. Your photos are so brilliant they almost don’t look real. Love your webpage and your video of Malden. I wrote a book on Ag Flying and had it published by Palmetto Publishing. If you ever want their contact info just let me know. Great job young man and can’t wait to follow your journey. I figure in less than 10 years you’re going to be snatched up by some Fortune 500 company doing what you love the most. Also love your Faith. God Speed Isaac and may God continue to Bless you in all you do.

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Karuru

January 16, 2025

This is truly an amazing amazing post, I am watching this anime right now and it just kind of fell on my radar on a bored night, looking to find something new to watch. When I saw that the show and characters were fairly Christian, I was pleasantly surprised and truly hooked. I was even more hooked when the nuance and interesting dynamics of characters showed up, theology, astronomy, heresy and religious oppression, dude it was all there, and it made it all the more perfect when I saw characters of various kinds somehow make great apologetics for god. As you pointed out, there were some STRONG lines in the dialogue of the characters that communicated reasons to not believe in a god of disorder, oppression and confusion, as often people get wrong. Instead, these characters were fighting for the truth, believed that there is no such thing as tension between the god of the bible and science, they’re fundamentally in harmony and that’s what this show so refreshingly shows.

I am at Episode 6 as we speak but man this is amazing and I’m binging this thing.
Finding this thought provoking piece on it is truly a blessing, I needed to know that other Christians were giving this thing a watch too. What a wonderful discovery today.

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1. Isaac Hampton
  
  January 16, 2025
  
  Thank you for the comments! Glad to hear there are others appreciating this project like I am. I pray for more awesome projects like this that get us thinking and seeking the truth!
  
  Also, I’m fairly new to this whole website and blog thing. Do you mind if I ask how you found me?
  
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  1. Karuru
    
    January 19, 2025
    
    Amen to that man,
    
    Yeah no problem, I was so in awe watching the show that I was looking to see if anyone else had found this show, was discussing it, and perhaps saw it from a Christian lens as well, anyone who watches this show, regardless of who they are could like the show, but the take away they’d have might be different than the Christian.
    
    So first I looked on google but only saw some reddit or Mal conversations, then decided to ask ChatGPT more specifically if there was anyone talking about this at all, and that’s when your blog was part of the sources. Big win haha.
    
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Jonathan

February 11, 2025

Hey Isaac,

Thank you so much for writing about this. I was curious about watching this anime as many people online had been praising it for its deep character and story writing. However, knowing the premise was about a “science vs the church” story, I was wary of wanting to watch something that would be berating my worldview as a Christian. I’m glad to see that someone from a Christian perspective was able to explain and vouch for the shows authenticity and nuance to the flaws of Christian men, not the flaws of the Christian faith. It reminds me of the nuance shown in the Christian characters in Vinland Saga Season 1, and I am now definitely interested in giving Orb a watch!

God bless you!

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1. Isaac Hampton
  
  February 12, 2025
  
  Thanks for commenting! I personally love media that makes Christians question our assumptions! That might sound like questioning our Faith, but I believe that’s healthy, and helps us become more useful Christians.
  
  Iron sharpens Iron, and it’s good for us to question interpretations of scripture and to ask ourselves why we believe what we believe. Otherwise how will we be strong enough to face the winds of adversity and show other lost souls the way?
  
  Good Christian media does not shy away from tough questions or censor evils existence. That doesn’t mean we should consume media that glorifies sin, but if a show puts sin in its proper place, showing its temptation, its allure, sure, it’s short term gain, however leaving open the question of its ultimate merit, then I see that as informative. The darkness contrasts the light, and puts everything into perspective about why Faith in Christ is important! Thanks for reading my two cents!
  
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Thomas

March 26, 2025

I don’t know if anyone here ever finished this show, but as you go deeper you may see that it raises many direct questions about religions and man-made God in general. It’s very clear that this show is not just some criticisms about the misconduct of Christians, but the core problem of any dogmatic religion in general. This is the case because any criticism of believers are also inevitably criticism of the scriptures—which are products of human activities. Many of the issues and atrocities alluded in the show still exists in this day—albeit in more subtle forms. A bit more detail:

– In Orb, there is an in-depth discussion about how religious orthodoxy needs not reflect truth. This was very true in the Middle Age. And it is still very much true today. In modern Christianity, there is still many discriminations against “sexually-deviant people” leading to things such as conversion therapy. In some orthodox islamic country, insulting Islam can lead to blasphemy and even a death sentence. Orthodoxy is the reason why organizations such as ISIS exists. And the reason why this is still happening is not just because they are bad people—but because they are following their scripture closely. Scriptures which have very little to do with the reality of today—since they are often based on the barbaric reality of thousands of years ago.

– So you might be wondering, can’t we just then pick the good out of the scripture and discard the bad (or interpret the bad differently)? Well, technically that could be possible if you’re a rational person, but that would be an anti-religious thing to do. There are many instances in the shows where characters try to do it (e.g., Antoni the new bishop, Jolenta-supporting inquisitor). Even the modern Christianity has problems with it, because this is akin to cherrypicking and showing a lack of faith.

– In the show, there is an allusion to the naturalist God. But as it turns out, that thing is not really a God at all but nature itself. So when they talk about reforming the religion, they are essentially talking about dismantling man-made religion itself (e.g., the entire Christianity narrative). This is very much relevant nowadays, since as science progresses there is a tendency for more passages of the scripture to be overturned (and that is what the phrase “Your enemy is a resilient one” really means). Earlier you were alluding to Christians arguing against well-established scientific facts, but this is something Christians must do because Christians are losing almost all of their facts (including the facts about Jesus Christ), and must cling to them in order to not lose their faith. The only way at this point to believe in it would be to maintain some sort of blind faith—and pretend that the fact-related passages in the scriptures are supernatural. All of these occur at a time where people gradually come to realize that it is possible to be spiritual without religion.

– At the surface, it might seem like this is just a show criticizing its believers protecting the geocentric model. But as the show goes on, we see that it’s much more ground-breaking than that. It alludes to how a kid “discovers” that God doesn’t exist through the scripture’s rampant contradictions. It alludes to the hypocritical vow of poverty. It alludes to how religion controls other humans to their benefits. These are things that are still rampant up to these days (and even manifest in this blogpost too).

In brief, the point is that Orb is not a show to help Christians repent their past behaviors. It is there to highlight the fundamental problems of religions and get people out of the Dark Age (and the “Truths” that believers often like to speak about). In this day and age, many people have come to realize that the teachings such as the Golden Rule and “Love thy enemy” does not require a religious book. You can be morally upright without believing stories that contradicts facts or cannot be verified, without believing in stories created by fallable human beings before science even existed. This show is a stark reminder that you may have been profoundly fooled.

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1. Isaac Hampton
  
  April 15, 2025
  
  Your argument treats “religion,” “orthodoxy,” and “scripture” as monolithic. It does not acknowledge the diversity within or among religious traditions.
  
  The show is arguing against those who would constrain freedom of thought for power sake, but don’t think that means the show is saying that means everyone is free to think or believe whatever they believe to be true. There is absolute truth in this universe.
  
  Your argument jumps from condemning groups like ISIS to suggesting that “following scripture closely” naturally leads to barbarism. This is a slippery slope and neglects the broader context: most religious adherents do not support violence. Are you a religious expert in Christianity or Islam, and can say with authority that this violent interpretation is what following scripture closely looks like, and not the millions of peaceful adherents?
  
  The idea that Christians “must cling” to outdated facts or argue against science paints a picture that doesn’t reflect the nuance of actual theological and scientific discourse. For example, many Christians such as I accept evolution, the Big Bang, and modern cosmology while maintaining their faith. I lay out how this aligns with the Bible. It’s evolution of thought. Due to the fine-turning of the fundamental principles of the universe, many scientists believe in a multiverse theory, rather than consider intelligent design theory. Is this “clinging to outdated facts”? I wouldn’t say so. It’s evolution of thought.
  
  Your claim that “you can be morally upright without religion” is true in the sense that those who don’t acknowledge the government’s authority can still follow that government’s laws, but then you have to ask yourself what morality is based on? Is it absolute or subjective? Is it democratic? Say a culture deems child sacrifices or slavery as morally right, then is it moral? If you believe that there are some things that are wrong no matter what anyone else thinks that that means that morality is absolute. If that’s the case then what is this absolute morality or justice based on? You might acknowledge that religious systems have served as the basis for lifting us out of anarchy and barbarism, but that they are no longer needed as now we know what is right and have a moral system. To that I would say that’s like owning a factory, firing the maintenance staff, and expecting everything to run as normal.
  
  Your argument fails to recognize this complexity.
  
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RSS Agregator

May 10, 2025

Reading your piece felt like walking through a lush garden of ideas, each one blooming with vibrant insights that invited both contemplation and joy. Your words move with such effortless grace, and the way you bring together seemingly disparate thoughts into a cohesive whole is nothing short of magical. It’s a rare gift to make complex ideas feel so accessible, yet so profound.

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