Introduction
The thesis paper will reveal that Galileo’s notions of the sun’s stability and the earth’s movement illustrate the conflicting Science-Religion theory. Galileo supported Copernicus’s opinion about the sun’s stability and the movement of the earth strongly despite strong oppositions from the Holy Church. Although he depicted aspects of honesty concerning the opinions of the sun and the earththroughout his trial, the Holy Church still held otherwise and commanded to oppose his opinions.
Scientific Theory about Heavenly Bodies
According to scientists, heavenly bodies are not stationary but move in a circular motion. However, Philolaus, the Pythagorean, believes that “just like the sun and the moon, it revolves around the fire like an oblique circle. Heraclides of Pontus and Ecphantus, the Pythagorean, make the earth move, not in a progressive motion, but like a wheel in rotation from west to east about its center.” The earth has been said to move around the sun, which remains stable at its position. According to Copernicus, the sun is at the center of all heavenly bodies and it maintains stability. However, other heavenly bodies are arranged in a certain manner and rotate around the sun in a circular motion. In his trial, Galileo describes how he had come to Rome to explain to the Cardinals the hypothesis of Copernicus about the heavenly spheres arrangement.
In the statement, it is clear that from Copernicus’s perspective, Mercury was nearer to the sun, followed by Venus, Moon, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and finally Saturn. From the source, various scientists further held various researches concerning the heavenly bodies. Galileo thus deeply researched the old Ptolemaic model about the universe, which stated that earth is at the center, is in motion and the new Copernican model of the universe. In Galileo seconds Ptolemaic and Copernican models about the motion of the earth in his book which had various contradictions with the Catholic Church. He proves the Copernican astronomy system, which states that the heavenly bodies, including the planets, revolve slowly around the sun. Thus, according to the scientific theory of Pythagoreans, the heavenly bodies’ arrangement can be mathematically proved by simply observing how the heavenly bodies revolved on regular basis
The Holy Church notion about Heavenly Bodies
The Church draws its references about all the creation from the Bible. According to the church, God is the creator of all things in heaven and earth. The book of Genesis thus elaborates how God created the heavens and earth and all the living creatures and heavenly bodies. On the fourth day of creation, it is stated that God created the heavenly bodies. He saw well in all that he created. According to the Church, God was the creator of the earth and all the heavenly bodies. He placed the bodies in their positions and was pleased with what he saw. The orderly arrangement of His creation was pure intelligence that cannot be depicted by any man.
Galileo versus the Church
The opinions of the astronauts about the motion and evolution of the phenomenon objects contradicted with the opinions of the church about the same objects. For that reason, the church created opposition for the astronauts, who had different opinions about the heavenly bodies. According to the astronauts, the heavenly bodies were arranged and moved in a certain motion. The bodies moved in a uniform circle with the sun remaining in the center. On the other hand, the church believed that the opinions were abhorrent to the Holy Church and that the scientific notion had to be accepted suppositionally. The differing opinions thus led to the trial of, Galileo, who had clearly shown his opinions about the heavenly bodies. He depicted the characteristics of honesty in his trial and was finally forced to curse himself for holding opinions against the Holy Church.During his trial, he was asked various questions concerning the contradictions that were held against the church towards the heavenly bodies.
He clearly states how Lord Cardinal Bellarmine had told him that Copernicus’ opinion towards the earth’s motion and the stability of sun could be held as an assumption and not a fact. Therefore, people were not supposed to believe it. He further states that he was commanded by Bellarmine not to defend Copernicus’ opinion since it was just a hypothesis. Due to the commands given to him towards supporting Copernicus, the latter brings further contradiction between Galileo’s book and the Church. The book that discussed both Ptolemy and Copernicus models was greatly rejected and banned by the Holy Church. He was forced to admit that the earth was stationary although he had contradicting opinions. However, he testifies that, given time, he would prove his opinions about the earth’s motion and the sun’s stability despite it having a strong opposition from the Holy Church. However, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church suspected him of heresy for publishing his book, which had differing opinions with the Holy Church. Although he defended himself on 10th May 1633, he was forced to make recantations against himself on 22nd June 1633. He was forced to curse any aspect of heresy, in writing or in verbal, and thus swore not to commit such violations in future.
Galileo Perception towards Religion
Galileo’s trial thus leads to his opinions towards faith and religion. In his view, the Principle of Accommodation should be used to interpret the scriptures, which are identified to offer contradictions to the natural philosophy. For instance, he illustrates the Holy Book of Genesis 1: 17, which states, “God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” Galileo thus elaborates that the scripture could create contradictions since the person interpreting the scriptures at that particular time accommodated the language used. He further believes that human agents, who are directed by the Holy Spirit, wrote the Bible. Therefore, he argues that the human agents, who wrote the scriptures, were more concerned with spiritual matters and not natural truths.
Although the Catholic’s view towards the Scriptures and the books of nature are in agreement with Galileo’s opinions, their opinions differ on the matter of nuance. The latter thus draws the readers to the Galileo’s perspective about heavenly bodies in a spiritual manner. Although God is the creator of all heavenly bodies, the manner in which he placed the bodies in heaven to offer light to the world is expressed in a manner that humans could understand. Through the Holy Spirit, human authors were given the power to write the scriptures to deliver the message to other humans. However, the manner in which different humans interpreted the scriptures was different. Humans thus hold different perceptions on the forces of nature, which are the reason scientists, explain the forces of nature with differing opinions with the Holy Church. Therefore, he elaborates the sun’s stability and earth’s motion using the scriptures. For instance, he illustrates from the book of Ecclesiastes 1:5-6, which states, “the wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, even returning to its course.” From the scriptures, Galileo thus justifies his opinion on the motion of the earth.
Conclusion
The theory of other scientists such as Aristotle and Kepler need not be explained here. Galileo’s firm stands are an inspiration to all scientists whose opinions contradict with the general public. His trial with the Holy Church, all the way to his recantation, is a pure clarification of his contradictions with the Church. His trial is thus declared as a harsh treatment of the Church towards science. Therefore, it can be concluded that the scientific theory, which clarifies the sun’s stability and the earth’s movement, is in contradiction with the Church and further research need be done to affirm the fate of the latter. Further research is thus recommended to justify Galileo’s trial as well as recantation to provide further recommendations for future similar incidents.
Bibliography
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Whitten, Daniel. 2014. "Matters of Faith and Morals Ex Suppositione: Examining the 1616 Inquisition Proceedings Against Galileo." Tooth & Claw 11 (2014): 9-18
