Galileo Galilei Religion

Ptolemy, a Roman astronomer came up with the theory that the universe revolved around Earth and all the creatures inhabiting it (Doc. C). This theory, The Geocentric Universe of Ptolemy, was adjusted by most of the people during The Middle Ages. However, much later on, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, disagreed with Ptolemy’s theory. With his use of math and reason, he came up with a new theory called The Heliocentric Universe of Copernicus (Doc. C). He said that the universe & Earth itself revolves around the sun. The Church denied this theory because they did not want to be proven wrong. If the Church was wrong about this part of the universe, this would then cause man to wonder what else they could be wrong about, or even lied to them about. This new theory taught men to think for themselves and not to rely on the Church for

The letter was made public and Church Inquisition consultants pronounced Copernican theory heretical. In 1616, Galileo was ordered not to “hold, teach, or defend in any manner” the Copernican theory regarding the motion of the earth. Although it stopped Galileo from teaching what he believed for a few years, seven years later he would be right back on the same track.

His more relaxed viewpoint on the interpretations of the Bible and scripture allowed him to accept the Copernican theory. He even justified his stance through principals. The first principle was called biblical limitation. “I should judge that the authority of the Bible was designed to persuade men of these articles and propositions which, by science, or by any other means than through the very mouth of the Holy Spirit.” This principle overall explained that the bible could only be understood and interpreted correctly by the Holy Mother Mary. This gave a justification against claims from previous scholars such as St. Aquinas and St. Augustine. These two scholars took ideas for the overall argument from interpretations of the Bible made from either themselves or those before them. Therefore, Galileo believed that the interpretations were false. This allowed for science to not come in conflict with Catholicism as no one truly understood it. Another principle was the priority of physical demonstration. This principle stressed more on the empirical evidence before scriptural evidence. For this principle, Galileo focused primarily on nature and this allowed him to protect the concept of the Copernican theory from the bible. Since he used empirical evidence on nature, it allowed him to determine that the sun was at the center of the universe. Thus, observation, a major part of scientific

Similar to Huck's willingness to face punishment for illegal activity and nonconformity, Galileo went against the Catholic Church's beliefs and declared that the Earth went around the Sun. An Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo Galilei invented the telescope in 1609 and his observations supported Copernicus' theory that all planets revolved around the Sun. However, Galileo's belief faced much opposition as it did not follow the ideas of the Church, which had monumental influence on society at that time. This indeed set the scene for an individual's clash with the ideals of society. Although Galileo did not want to instigate conflict, he could

In the midst of this, Cardinal Bellarmine wrote him a letter explaining why his ideas were not going to be accepted. He said: “But to want to affirm that the sun really is fixed in the center of the heavens and only revolves around itself (i.e., turns upon its axis) without traveling from east to west, and that the earth is situated in the third sphere and revolves with great speed around the sun, is a very dangerous thing, not only by irritating all the philosophers and scholastic theologians, but also by injuring our holy faith and rendering the Holy Scriptures false” (Document B). The Cardinal explains how Galileo is contradicting the teachings of the theologists, philosophers, and the Bible. Also, he is doing a dangerous deed because the Church was afraid of these contradicting ideas because they could have destroyed the perspective on the Church and caused a major decrease in power. Galileo contradicting the Church impacted the future by causing more people to begin and question the ways of life, leading to new

It is evident that the Catholic Church realized their inaccuracy of their theory of the function of the solar system. After several centuries, the church accepted the truth in the theory of Galilei’s heliocentrism theory. The Timeline further explains that in, “1939: Pope Pius XII called Galileo a hero of research”(Doc A: Line 14). Galileo was no longer known as heresy of the Catholic religion but rather a hero that drew the line between reality and belief.

Galileo Galilei was also a supporter of the Copernican Theory. Galileo believed the earth, and other planets, rotated on its axis around the unmoving sun. He used his new invention of the telescope to prove Copernicus’ theory. With the telescope, Galileo found sunspots on the earth’s moon, which gave proof to him that the heavens were not perfect and changeless but were more like the changeable earth. iv He also discovered Jupiter and the four moons that revolved around it. He only discovered one moon revolving around the earth. Galileo therefore stated if Jupiter were to revolve around the earth, then the earth would have to have at least four moons, and it doesn’t. v The Church objected Galileo’s theory because the Bible said the sun moved through the sky. Being totally rejected by the church, Galileo was forced to take back what he had written and was also prevented from any further teachings of his theory. Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church for his ideas. The Church succeeded in silencing Galileo but couldn’t stop the advancements in science.

Over two centuries ago the Catholic Church tried Galileo, because he published his book in 1632 that supported the heliocentric ideas that originated from Copernicus. The church claimed that the heliocentric theory went against scripture. During this time the Catholic Church believed in the idea that the Earth was at the center of the universe. This was called the geocentric theory, which had been around for nearly 1500 years. Galileo was tried less than a year later in 1633. The trial was private, because the church feared the community would support him, because he was one of the most achieved astronomers of their time. The church’s committee unanimously voted that his book, the Two Chief World Systems violated his

“Letters on the Solar Spots” was made public in 1613. Copernicus’s theory was openly discussed in this letter (Galilei and Drake, 145). Copernicus proposed than an axis-revolving Earth circumnavigated around the heart of the universe, the Sun (Andrade, 120). Father Lorini, a Dominican friar and professor of ecclesiastical history in Florence, was among the first to criticize Galileo for his Copernican views (Linder). The Copernican theory contravened the belief of the Holy Scripture that the Earth was in the middle of the universe (Andrade, 125). Lorini used Joshua 10:13 and Isaiah 40:22 as support. Joshua 10:13 states that “So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven”. Isaiah 40:22 talks about “the heavens stretched out as a curtain” above “the circle of the earth” (Linder). Galileo’s “Letter to Castelli” in December of 1613 was a reply to the condemnation he received due to his beliefs about the Copernicus theory. Galileo proposed in the letter that certain things in the Scripture were not to be taken literally. This letter only increased the amount of criticism towards Galileo (Andrade, 125). Father Lorini then took the drastic step of getting the Catholic Church involved. Lorini sent an altered copy of “Letter to Castelli” to the Roman Inquisition. Lorini altered the text of the letter to make it appear that Galileo directly pronounced the Scriptures as false. Lorini was not the only enemy of Galileo however. Father Tommasco Caccini was also a staunch opponent of

Even though Galileos beliefs were held in practicing Catholicsim, his writings were showing evidence for “Copernican heliocentrism.” The Catholic Church, however, disapproved of heliocentricity, feeling that it was contrary to the statements in the Bible: if God created human beings as His supreme creation, He would place man at the center of His cosmos. (At that time the more literal Biblical interpretation was prevalent with the church fathers, especially among the Dominican Order, facilitators of the Inquisition)2 However, real power layed with the Church, and Galileo's arguments were most fiercely fought on the religious level. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine insisted that Galileo furnish more adequate proof of his new theories before he would be allowed to teach them as true or even as probably true.

One of his biggest and most significant discoveries was the confirmation that the sun was the center of the universe. This idea of a sun-centered universe is called a heliocentric universe. This idea was first proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus. The Catholic Church believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. This is called a geocentric universe. When Galileo announced his discovery it was immediately denied by the

Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems uses powerful logic and simply described concepts to overcome the Aristotelian bias of the populous and argue in favor of Copernicus’ heliocentric view of the universe. Copernicus theorized that the earth, along with the other planets in the sky, is in motion around the sun. The Aristotelian’s geocentric worldview, that the earth is the motionless center of the universe, was deeply ingrained into the minds of the people and the teachings of the church. Galileo’s argument had to be not only incisive and logical to have any sway, but it also had to avoid offending or denying the ancient principles of thought proposed by Aristotle. He walked this delicate line between educating the public and

You have been teaching everyone that the Earth is in the middle and the sun has it’s own axis, but you are wrong. Copernicus had wrote a book about why the sun is in the middle and not the sun. If you would read it and not ban it, you would see why this theory is true. And one of the scientist, Galileo Galilei had also prove this theory. I know the bible had said that the Earth is the center but that is not true. You would believe that religions beliefs is always the answer, but there is also science and math and many other things that can be right too. I am not saying that the bible is wrong but I am saying how this particular thing is wrong and need to be taught a different

Galileo's championing of heliocentrism and Copernicanism was controversial during his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system.[4] He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism because of the absence of an observed stellar parallax.[4] The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, which concluded that heliocentrism was "foolish and absurd in philosophy, and formally heretical since it explicitly

His invention of an improvements of the spyglass lead him to build telescope which let him observe “the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the phases of Venus, sunspots and lunar surface” (History.com). His discovery of the phases of Venus supported that planets orbit around the sun and the observation of the moons of Jupiter supported the heliocentric model of the solar system. The pope read to the people while they listened, therefore the Europeans believed everything the Church taught was right. The Church taught their followers that the Earth was the center of the universe. If anyone opposed the Church’s doctrines they were banished, the Church installed this fear so followers wouldn’t question. Once Galileo published his discoveries Europeans had another source and questioned what the Church was teaching. For instance Galileo wrote a letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany and he wasn’t afraid to say what he believed, “I hold the sun to be suited motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs while the earth revolves about the sun.” Galileo transformed the way the Europeans thought because his discoveries caused people to question if the Church was right or if science was right. The Church’s authority was weakened because the European were unsure of what to believe. Galileo’s astronomical discoveries sparked controversy between Europeans and the