Galileo Galilei was an outstanding figure in the Renaissance. Through his work as an astronomer, Galileo was able to prove Copernicus’ theory of the existence of the heliocentric model. The heliocentric model is the depiction of the earth rotating around the sun, rather than the geocentric model that depicts the sun revolving around the earth. Galileo’s observations were subject to harsh criticism by the Roman Catholic Church because it was thought that Galileo was contesting the infallible truths of the Bible. In his Letter to Grand Duchess Christina, Galileo defends his research by making the argument that his research is not opposed to the message that is prescribed by the Bible. Galileo states that if one were “to confine oneself to the unadorned grammatical meaning, one might fall into error” (Galilei, FYP Handbook, 167). Galileo is arguing that it is not man’s job to interpret God’s creation and likeness, nor is the Bible describing God. Rather, Galileo believes that through examining the physical world that God created, man can come to understand the inner workings of God’s creation.
The Church uses a literal interpretation that puts humans at the center of the universe due to renaissance ideologies, such as humanism. Elements of humanism are quite clear in the geocentric model because it places humans at the center of the universe and furthest away from God due to falling from grace because of original sin. This idea coincides with the idea that the universe was made for humans found in Genesis. Therefore, in order for the ideas within Genesis to remain uncontested by science, the Church created the indisputable interpretation that that a geocentric model is the only rational model that validates their beliefs and the Bible. This concept was problematic to Galileo because he believed that it is not the place of the Church to define the works of
During the Scientific Revolution, the struggle between faith and reason was exhibited through Galileo and his discoveries. The Catholic Church during the time period of the Scientific Revolution did not approve of any outside scientists who came up with new theories and observations. The Church believed that all information about how the world worked was in the bible and that was the only right source. In an excerpt from “What is Scientific Authority?” written by Galileo in 1615, it states, “Showing a greater fondness for their [Catholic Church’s] own opinions than for truth, they sought to deny & disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them…” Galileo Galilei himself knew that the Church was not willing to approve of new ideas from other scientists, but only from the teachings in the Bible. Later on in the excerpt, Galileo writes, “They [Catholic Church] hurled various charges &…made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to understand properl...
Galileo had many problems trying to introduce the Copernican theory to be relevant. Scripture from the Holy Bible was one problem that Galileo had to face. Ca...
The whole controversy started with Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus was a German astronomers and mathematician. Copernicus was also the one who hypothesized a heliocentric universe. When his theory of a heliocentric universe was first introduced, no one really paid much attention to his theory. Sixty years after Copernicus 's death, the
In papal Rome in the early 16th century the “Good Book” was the reference book for all scientists. If a theory was supported in its holy pages, or at the very least not contradicted, then the idea had a chance of find acceptance outside the laboratory. Likewise, no theory no matter how well documented could be viewed with anything but disdain if it contradicted with the written word of, or the Church’s official interpretation of scripture. For these reasons the Church suppressed helio-centric thinking to the point of making it a hiss and a byword. However, this did not keep brave men from exploring scientific reason outside the canonical doctrine of the papal throne, sometimes at the risk of losing their own lives. While the Vatican was able to control the universities and even most of the professors, it could not control the mind of one man known to the modern world as Galileo Galilei. Despite a wide array of enemies, Galileo embarked on a quest, it seems almost from the beginning of his academic career, to defend the Copernican idea of a helio-centric universe by challenging the authority of the church in matters of science. Galileo‘s willingness to stand up for what he held to be right in the face of opposition from Bible-driven science advocates set him apart as one of the key players in the movement to separate Church authority from scientific discovery, and consequently paved the way for future scientific achievement.
Copernicus was a Polish astronomer born in 1473, in Thorn, Poland and died in 1543. He entered the University of Krakow in 1491 and studied there for four years. In 1496 he joined the University of Bologna in Italy to study church law and studied astronomy on his own time. He was asked to make a new calendar using the geocentric theory, the theory that the sun and moon orbit the earth. He found several flaws with this system and was bothered by it and went on to discover that the planets actually orbit the sun. Galileo supported Copernicus’ theory when he made discoveries with the telescope. We consider Copernicus to be the founder of modern Astronomy.
Galileo received harsh criticism for this theory since it went against the church’s beliefs and teachings. In his letter to Madame Cristina de Lorena, Galileo explains he thought the clergymen were “displaying greater affection for their own opinions than for true ones” meaning that they too intolerant to accept the truth found in science. Instead of embracing theories developed through experimentation, Galileo claimed the priests hid behind the Scripture without providing proof of its claims. Religious figureheads believed that since the bible said that the Earth revolves around the Sun, Galileo was going against the bible and God. However, Galileo maintained that the bible should be read symbolically since its claims are clearly not scientifically true. Galileo insisted that the bible was written in such a way so that everyone would be able to understand it through figurative lessons and explanations and thus should not be interpreted
The scientific revolution consisted of the old paradigm and the Geocentric Model as seen in the Geocentric vs. Heliocentric Solar System picture. This paradox of the Earth being the center of the universe was the box of truths that everyone sat on and believed in. Philosophers such as Aristotle and the Aristotelian way of thinking proved this paradigm. Along with Aristotle supporting this theory, so did the Catholic Church. If the Church supported the Geocentric Model, then anything that goes against it and says its wrong, is going against the church. The revolutionary aspect of this piece is the New paradox that challenged the old paradigm. The one scientist to thank for this challenge of the paradigm is Nicolaus Copernicus, the creator of the Heliocentric Model. The idea of the Sun being the center of the Universe instead of the Earth blew everyones minds and completely kicked them off of their box of truths. Science created many changes that Philosophers and Scientists all had to answer. Thus making the scientific revolution a big part of why the renaissance was revolutionary.
After hearing of this great invention, Galileo was quick to develop himself a telescope; providing the means to make revolutionary discoveries about the universe, that accosted orthodox doctrine of the time. In 1609, Galileo first looked up to the heavens with his telescope. In doing so, he discovered Venus’ phases, and some of Jupiter’s moons, which are now named the Galilean moons. The discovery of Venus’ phases showed that Venus orbited the sun, and the discovery of the moons of Jupiter proved not everything orbited the Earth; these were two crucial components of the Copernican theory. The Copernican theory stated that the solar system was heliocentric, which defied Aristotle’s and the church’s doctrine of the geocentric theory. Later, Galileo discovered sunspots, further abnegating Aristotle’s long held doctrine, which stated the sun was perfect. The Catholic Church
which the Church had found no fault until Galileo had started to present it as reality, was
Throughout history, many people have had good impacts on the lives of others around them. Few men, though, can say that they’ve greatly impacted the entire world in a positive manner. Galileo Galilei is one of these men. Not only did he challenge the ideologies that people had just blindly accepted for years at the time, but he can be seen as one of the (if not the) most central figures of the 17th century scientific revolution. This period contained a number of shocking developments that conflicted with the views society had held regarding the universe--and more specifically, the Earth around them--for over a millennium.
In his Letter to The Grand Duchess Christina, Galileo challenged the widely accepted religious beliefs of the time, claiming that the conflict lies in their interpretation, not the context. In Galileo’s eyes science was an extremely useful tool that could and should have been used in interpreting the Scriptures. He argued that “the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven not how heaven goes” (Grand Duchess). The purpose of science was not to counter what the bible teaches; rather its purpose was to help explain the teachings of the scriptures. Furthermore, it was “prudent to affirm that the holy Bible can never speak untruth-whenever its true meaning is understood” (Grand Duchess). However, because of the terminology in which the bible was presented the perception of what the Scripture defined as truth was skewed. The Bible was written so that the common man could understand it and follow its commandments. The people also showed a greater inte...
Galileo Galilei was an Italian scientist, often referred to as “the father of modern physics”. He was one of the inventors of the telescope and a strong proponent of Copernicanism. Galileo used his invention to make astronomical observations which supported Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the universe. These discoveries led to a fierce dispute, because they contradicted the theory which was prevalent at the time – that the universe followed a geocentric model, a theory, which had been accepted by the Catholic Church. To address this dispute, Galileo wrote a letter to Tuscany’s Grand Duchess Christina, in which he presented his position on the relation between science and religion, stating that the Bible does not contradict science.
Science contradicts the bible in many ways according to Galileo because scientists are looking further into and past what the bible says. So therefore scientists have different meanings of what the bible says. Scientists are more complex than the bible and it words. He explains this by saying that in the bible you will find words that say the sun moves and the earth stands still.
Galileo Galilei was an Italian philosopher born in 1564. As an adult, he didn’t believe the universal geocentric theory of the planets and heavens which was established by the Catholic Church. The church taught that the Earth was the center of the universe and everything revolved around our planet. Another theory that the Church supported was that the Earth stood still while the sun rose and set every day. Society in the 1500’s believed that the Pope spoke for God through a divine connection and to against the church was to go against God. To speak out against the church in this time was strictly taboo. If one was to speak against the church was considered to be heresy, which is exactly what happened to Galileo. Galileo invented the telescope and began studying the heavens above and noticed that changes within the stars and planets. He noticed that the “stars” that surrounded Jupiter moved. He came to the conclusion through rational thinking, that the Copernicus’ heliocentric theory was correct. Copernicus was a scientist and philosopher whose theory proposed that the sun was stationary and the heavens orbit around the sun. Galileo tried to convince the church not to aboli...
Galileo is one of the greatest scientists in the world, especially at that moment. At that