Posted on 02/23/2019 4:49:34 PM PST by pcottraux
The Truth About Galileo
By Philip Cottraux
Galileo. His name invokes the image of a brave scientist standing up against religious authority. The story goes that he discovered the earth is revolving around the sun, proving we are not the center of the universe. The Catholic church, threatened by this, had him arrested and burned at the stake until he recanted his findings. Galileo is remembered as some sort of atheist folk hero, suffering the consequences for his heroic stance against superstition.
This is the version most people learn in school. I remember it from high school world history class. Galileo has become a go-to accusation against Christianity, as if his findings represent the first step in the inevitable demise of religion. But like many atheist rewrites of history, this is largely a myth.
Galileo Galilei was born in Italy in 1564. The part of the story most atheists leave out is that the brilliant astronomer was a devout Catholic his entire life. In 1608, word got out of Hans Lippershey’s invention of the telescope in the Netherlands, opening up a never-before seen window to the heavens. Not content to repeat Lippershey’s results, Galileo invented his own more advanced telescope.
To say that Galileo’s subsequent discoveries weren’t revolutionary would be wrong. For centuries, mankind believed that the celestial bodies were perfect, governed by different physical laws than Earth. Galileo was the first to observe sunspots (Isaac Newton would take this further, proposing that the law of gravity is universal). But perhaps more significantly, he found four moons orbiting Jupiter (we now know Jupiter actually has sixty moons), and proposed that Earth itself is logically revolving around the sun, not the other way around.
This idea wasn’t really new. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a similar heliocentric model. Galileo only proved it. There is some atheist lore about Copernicus also being a “martyr for science,” but this is even less credible. Copernicus was also a devout Catholic and his proposal was hardly controversial; in fact, the church barely noticed it. Since he died of natural causes the same year his theory was published, there is obviously no evidence of any persecution.
So why was Galileo’s discovery so upsetting? According to the atheists: “Because Christianity is superstitious and religion=bad, ha ha.” But there’s far more to the story that needs to be unpacked. The first problem for Galileo was that his findings couldn’t have come at a worse time because of a recent seismic change: the Reformation. Protestants felt a heliocentric model contradicted the following Bible verses:
-Psalm 93:1: The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.
-Psalm 104:5: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.
-Ecclesiastes 1:5: The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
Since these scriptures are in poetic books, Christians today have no trouble interpreting them as mere expressions by ancient people with limited knowledge of the cosmos. But in Galileo’s time, the Catholic church was on edge about losing members, and there was a great fear that his findings would cause more defections.
The other question that needs addressing is why the church believed in an earth-centric solar system in the first place; and it’s not because of the preceding Bible verses. The back-story is even more complicated. While atheists laugh at Medieval Christianity for believing the sun revolves around the earth, they ignore that this came from the influence of the Greek philosopher Aristotle.
Aristotle is one of history’s greatest thinkers; his contributions to scientific philosophy are immeasurable. He also more or less created the field of biology; his rigorous classification of organisms was so ahead of its time, it’s still in use 2,300 years later. Aristotelian theory was incorporated into Christianity by Thomas Aquinas, another of history’s great theologians, in thirteenth century.
However, most of Aristotle’s astronomical ideas haven’t held up as well. He thought the celestial bodies were perfect, revolved around the earth, and were governed by separate laws of physics. One has to take into consideration that ancient Greece was limited in its observations of the heavens. Pragmatically accepting new findings and unemotional abandoning disproved ideas is crucial to scientific philosophy. This approach makes science constantly self-correcting, leading to the wonders it has given us for the past millennia. Sadly, Aristotle himself would have likely been thrilled at Galileo’s discovery and would want the world to abandon his astronomical model in favor of it. To label new evidence heresy was completely missing the point.
Even still, Galileo wasn’t denounced initially, but met with mixed reactions. Jesuit astronomers accepted the heliocentric model. But the next problem on Galileo’s were enemies in the church with a vested interest in his downfall now had the perfect opportunity to strike. Chief among these was Father Caccini, who publicly insisted “Geometry is of the devil and mathematicians should be banished as the authors of all heresies.” Interestingly enough, while the charge of “atheistic discoveries” would come later, at first Galileo was accused of witchcraft.
Despite the controversy, the church allowed Galileo to publish his findings as long as he presented a balanced approach. His book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was framed as a dialogue between a geocentrist and heliocentrist, moderated by an impartial narrator. But the author’s bias was obvious, to say the least. The book just added fuel to the fire.
In 1633, Galileo was tried before the Roman Inquisition. He was ordered to “abjure, curse, and detest” his life’s work. His publications were banned and he was placed under house arrest. While this is certainly unfortunate, the degree to which he was persecuted has been largely exaggerated over the years. He was paid full pension and the story of him being burned at the stake until he renounced his views is pure fiction (this was actually the fate of Giordano Bruno in 1600 for teaching pantheism).
The long-term effect on humanity is also misrepresented; the traditional claim is that egomaniacal mankind thought the universal revolved around us until science said otherwise. But while the sun revolving around the earth seems to have been common, typically Christians viewed God at the top of the universe and the world being just above hell at the bottom. Earth was viewed as a sort of cosmic dumpster. Far from “putting man in his place” Galileo demonstrated that the celestial bodies are imperfect, and finding our place in the solar system actually elevated mankind to a higher state.
Ultimately, Christianity was not harmed by Galileo. Like most scientific discoveries, the church overall adapted and survived. Other than some fringe groups (such as the appalling recent flat-earth movement), few are left who question the scientific consensus of the earth’s tiny but special place in the universe. Sadly, because of historical misconceptions and downright lies about cases like Galileo, the battle lines have been drawn now more than ever. Religion should not be afraid of science, or vice versa nor science religion. The two coexisting in harmony will make a better world for us all.
Give it back!!
I don't deny that entirely, but as I said, Aristotle's model was more popular (due to the influence of Thomas Aquinas) until Galileo...you also can't deny that the telescope made it more or less undeniable.
That part of the story was always problematic to me. I mean, they didn't have a dial to turn it down. Would they have doused it in water?
Look, I'm Protestant so you're not going to find me defending the Catholic church, especially during Inquisition times. But I'm reacting to the extreme exaggeration and untrue lore surrounding Galileo that carries the implication that he was persecuted because Christianity as a whole is a superstition that was threatened by the discovery of a heliocentric universe. THAT needs to be debunked, because the story is way more complicated.
(I also try to discourage against "heroes and villains" narratives in history as much as possible--things are rarely so black and white).
I usually put posts in religion but this was aimed at correcting historical misconceptions moreso than promoting the truth of any religion over another.
But thank God you’re here to explain to all of us how wrong history is
Cognitive dissonance like that is usually a sign I've hit a nail on a head somewhere. So thank you.
I love history when it's TRUE.
The modern Roman church’s actual activity regarding science today is the best apology Galileo would have ever asked for. That mean’s far more than some farcical apology. I’d bet a paycheck on it.
No argument.
Not meant as an insult, but when were you in school? My high school years were 1998-2002. My tenth grade world history teacher taught this version of the story with great relish. She DESPISED Christianity (personal issues) and made no bones about it. She loved teaching us that the flood was a myth and jumped at the opportunity to portray Christianity in a bad light.
As a Christian myself, my faith was somewhat damaged after school. Until I started independently researching and finding out much of what I'd learned in that class was false. In fact, almost everything I learned in high school was a lie or propaganda.
And I'm not trying to build a straw man, as atheists have confronted me with this version of the story in attacks on Christianity. I'm trying to present the claim honestly before addressing it.
It took you three days to think up a response?
Really?
hmmm
Or, it could be that I was busy having a life outside the internet and was just now getting around to responding to people.
The Planets (the wanderers) puzzled astronomers for thousands of years until Aristarchos provided the model that explained 2 things. First a simple explanation of how the solar system worked and second how the sun which was so large compared to everything was actually positioned. IOW why would such a large body be traveling around a smaller body.
Hmmm... you start your post with a lie. Why should we even read the rest of it?
To disprove it. Because a lot of people believe it.
Just try the second paragraph... especially the last sentence...and go from there. (You’re going to feel very silly when you do)
Well, they even missed the start of that statement.
“The story goes that....” makes it pretty clear that you later will be debunking the story.
I recommend the film “Galileo,” about his astronomical conflicts with the the Catholic Church hierarchy, of the 1600’s. It’s available to stream for free through the service “TV Time Feature Films” channel on Roku, for example.
I see my telescope post at #20, with the pic of the leaning cylinder of Pisa, Galileo's town of birth.
Galilee is "galil", the Hebrew word for a cylinder. The root is all about revelation (unrolling) and rolling, circular motion and so forth.
Galileo was famous for his cylinder:
Come to think of it, so was Cyrus, aka the "Gentile Messiah."
Let's Roll..
Just Released....
Leo & Layla’s History Adventures with Galileo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVlOLGN-Z7M
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.