Often Times Ideological Conflict Arises Not Because Of Facts

With each new development in science comes conflict, mostly from those who don’t believe that science follows the teachings of their religion or allies with their beliefs in an almighty power or God. Looking back in history at some of the great names in human scientific achievement, such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Darwin, we see that with each genius discovery came some outcry from religious groups. Nikolaus Copernicus was one of the first pioneers of science. Until 1540 science had long been a servant of the Christian religion, but Copernicus brought about change, and with that change came persecution. Copernicus’ work, although not immediately and widely accepted, lead directly to the undermining of centuries of assumption and superstition. He was the first to state that not only was the earth not the center of the universe, but it also orbited the sun. Later in history came Galileo who brought Copernicus ' ideas to practical fruition. He was also on the receiving end of much religious persecution, even to the point of living out his last years under house arrest, forbidden from writing and publishing. Then in the 1800’s Charles Darwin researched and published revolutionary biology books on the theory of evolution, his most widely known book being “The Origin of Species”. Even today, long after his death, his works receive much religious debate; religion today is no more apt at dealing with scientific theory than it was hundreds of years ago; this is because it is a

However, it is the human's job to produce “the happiness of the good and the punishment of the evil” (Document 12). This, promotes the fact that our minds are stronger than we think. John Calvin supported astronomy (Document 2). Calvin supported this because of its connections to Moses and the book of Genesis. However, he also went against the Catholic Church and supported astronomy probably because he was Protestant and just wanted to support what the Catholic Church disagreed with. The Church didn’t want to let Galileo spread his ideas about the moon because they knew that it discredited many of their beliefs (Document 3). The church didn’t want Galileo to prove them wrong so that others would stop going to Church. The Pope made Galileo recant what he had said. The church did this to make sure that more people didn’t stop going to church which was their source of money. Walter Charleton, an English Doctor and natural philosopher said that “It appears so impossible that atoms.... could fix themselves into so vast and symmetrical a structure as the World. The creation and arrangement can be connected to no other cause, but to an Infinite Wisdom and Power” (Document 8). In this document, Walter Charleton states how far science can go and only God could have made such an amazing object which is our

This previous revolution caused much more controversy than desired, but to finally accept it, it required a generous amount of open-mindedness. This liberality seems to be what Galileo is really yearning to get out of his Western audience. Essentially, this infamous letter really kicked off the start of the Scientific Revolution; Galileo proves this by being the first to acknowledge the idea of questioning the reason of what is inside the bible, something Descartes more than likely looked at as he was creating his own discourse approximately 20 years later. Although Galileo is still is a Christian and believes the bible is indeed true, as Galileo reiterates “...the Holy Bible can never speak untruth.” (57), this query seemed to be one that would pop up sooner or later, it just happened to be sooner. To be clear, this idea to separate faith and science is in fact based off of the foundation of the bible, which Galileo claims as well in his letter. Galileo even promptly says, “nor is God any less excellently revealed in Nature’s actions that in the sacred statements of the Bible.” (58) First of all, these ideas and questions couldn’t have been assumed at all without the Nature included in God’s Word Himself, and the realization to divide the two had to have derived from inquiries about unknown logic within the pair. This separation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just unheard of which would give it that negative

Alexander and Nichols states that in today’s time the secular media tends to show reports on conflict between the Church and scientific findings. The “conflict” between the two realms has existed for many centuries, but there are some misconceptions associated with the conflict history. One famous story, in particular, is known and continually misused as an example of science vs. religion. The Galileo Affair is known by many as the pivital proof that religions shun and mistreat scientific findings. Ernan McMullin provided an excellent article about the events that occured within the Galileo Affair. Most individuals misinterpret the situation due to the powerful Catholic Church trying to prevent Galileo from sharing his findings. The truth is that the Galileo Affair was not a science vs. religion battle, instead it was science vs. science. The following summary of the Galileo is from McMullin’s article. Galileo used a telescope to observe moons orbiting Jupiter, and his findings ended up verifying Copernicus’s ideas associated with the Heliocentric layout of the universe. The conflict happened because the Heliocentric layout greatly conflicted with the accepted Geocentric layout taught by Aristotle. The Geocentric layout was the reigning paradigm, and the Catholic Church supported the layout because it was matched with some interpretations of

The distinction between science and faith is a complicated system in world history. That discrepancy and relationship between religion and science is a fragile issue that still can be witnessed today in some form. The cases of Galileo Galilei and Joan of Arc showcase this uneasy relationship. Both Joan and Galileo were put on trial for their unique beliefs about certain issues. Both of the trials were ultimately of a religious nature, with some politics thrown in the mix. Joan of Arc was labeled a heretic by the English and Galileo was put under suspicion with his ideas about the cosmos and how celestial bodies moved in the sky He became a follower of the Copernican system. “All his observations lent credence to the unpopular Sun-centered universe of Nicolaus Copernicus, which had been introduced over half a century previously, but floundered on the lack of evidence.” These two individuals certainly had the conviction for their beliefs, yet, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and Galileo was put under house arrest for the rest of his life,

At the same time, the church was against these scientific discoveries. Despite incredible discoveries, the church arrested Galileo. Catholic church claimed hat Galileo geocentric model is false, and science was not working for the people. In fact, the reason behind Galileo arrest was a church was losing its power to the people. Galileo discovery of the telescope made church show scorn feelings towards him. They started showing hostile feelings against him and finally arrested him. But, “letter to Don Benedetto” has well expressed Galileo’s discoveries and its truthfulness. In the letter, Galileo has answered all the concerns of the church. “So to the third question: that of these two motions of the Sun produces day and night, the Sun’s real motion or that of the Primum Mobile? The answer has to be that day and night are the result of the motion of the Primum Mobile, and the Sun’s own motion produces not day and night but the changing seasons, and the year itself” (Source: letter to Don Benedetto”). His arrest did not stop thinkers for research. But, this made them focus more instead. People started raising questions against the church about the Galileo’s arrest. The church, in fact, responded vigorously, and, perhaps surprisingly, that response did not exclude the growth of science (pg. 474). People started revolting against the church. People knew science was the backbone of the development and the

When scientific revolution started, scientific revolution established a method emphasizing observation, experiment and the testing of hypotheses. But original thoughts were deep-rooted and hard to change at that time. (P.386, Chapter 16). Old theories and religion were challenges existing during that time. Galileo had courage to insist his own thoughts when arguing

The Church view Galileo’s idea as a threat as Church was losing power as the Protestant Reformation occur several decades agos early,

The political conflict that engulfs Galileo in Florence arises from the Church’s need to discredit the Copernican theories that “[get] rid of heaven”. The inquisition was the Church’s response to conflict, and although the

Galileo felt that the common opinions of others should not satisfy another’s curiosity and others should not be made to believe the opinions of others. The church as well as others that interpreted or preached from the Bible distorted the information and Galileo thought that those who did this should not be allowed to speak or preach about it.

Through the use of the two quotes by Galileo and Pope John Paul II, Postman proposes that the use of religion and science can provide the bases for morality and human improvement should one be free from dogmatic judgement towards religion or science. Postman further emphasizes this common theme present in the quotes by juxtaposing the two figures, Galileo being an important contributor to the fields of science and Pope John Paul II holding one of the highest positions in the Catholic Church, the two figures of which are almost antithetical to each other given their roles. Following the essay’s theme of religion and the new age of information being similar through the use of blind faith, this juxtaposition further accentuates the religion/science

The Infuriated Monk’s faith to the Bible makes him question Galileo’s theory and having doubts on Galileo’s idea. If Galileo’s research is precise, then people will lose faith in the Bible. When Galileo was in Rome, he went to Cardinal Bellarmin’s house and finding himself surrounded by scholars and astronomers. In Bellarmin’s house, the people were mocking Galileo’s idea. Bellarmin strongly disagrees with Galileo’s way of thinking and responded, “Tonight the Holy Office has decided that the theory according to which the earth goes around the sun is foolish, absurd and a heresy. I am charged, Mr. Galilei, with cautioning you to abandon these teachings.” (Brecht, 79). Cardinal Bellarmin doubts Galileo’s Heliocentric view because he believes that people should have faith in the Bible, instead of trusting a foolish person who is not chosen by God to interpret the Bible. The Cardinal wants Galileo to let go of his teachings, and have faith in the Bible. The Cardinal is expressing how heliocentric view is heresy, and is showing how devoted and faithful he is with the

The Renaissance was a time of remembrance. In Science specifically, it was the order of the universe that was brought up again and argued over. During the Renaissance, ideas from the past flourished. Discussions and disagreements involving topics other than the Universe from ancient times were encouraged greatly. The Roman Catholic Church, the power house of the decade had some dark secrets that were close to being revealed by those in the science field. The church was set on supporting old discoveries and theories, and they were not planning on changing their beliefs about the universe. Because of The Catholic Church’s hunger for power and absolute control of the people, astronomers had a difficult time showing the world what was right from wrong.