Sometimes the same truth is denied by both scientists and religionists at different points in history. For example, in the seventh century Arabian desert, Muhammad taught that the earth was round and revolved around the sun. The scientists of His day "knew" this was factually false and searched for the hidden or symbolic meaning to that teaching because everybody knew that the earth was flat and the center of the universe. Nine centuries later in Europe, Nicolaus Copernicus stated on the basis of scientific observation that the earth was round and revolved around the sun. The clergy of his day "knew" this was false doctrine - the work of Satan - and persecuted him for heresy because they believed that the earth was flat and the center of the universe. We see today that Muhammad and Copernicus were correct and that religion and science were actually in harmony, though it was not recognized until several centuries later.