Galileo Dbq

Galileo was seen as a heretic at first, causing the church to ban the spreading of his theory, but after several investigation they recognized that the Italian was truly correct. Galileo Galilei was once considered as a heretic, however, centuries proved that he was not a heretic, just a user of the mind’s inquistary that lead him to be scientifically

A quote that may support this theory comes from a document written by Galileo himself to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany. “Showing a greater fondness for their own opinions than for truth, they sought to deny and disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them” (Document A). In the context, Galileo is saying how he had just proved this was the truth using math, science, and the technology he has available to him. Although these statements include evidence that can persuade one to believe Galileo was a not heretic, there is also compelling information that can prove

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.

In the history of the Catholic Church, no episode is so contested by so many viewpoints as the condemnation of Galileo. The Galileo case, for many, proves the Church abhors science, refuses to abandon outdated teachings, and is clearly not infallible. For staunch Catholics the episode is often a source of embarrassment and frustration. Either way it is undeniable that Galileo’s life sparked a definite change in scientific thought all across Europe and symbolised the struggle between science and the Catholic Church.

According to the Church at the time the Bible held all truths, but Kepler and Galileo believed that there was more that could be learned. Galileo stated that he believed that God created the universe in a particular way, and that it was the mission of humans to figure it

Towards the conclusion of Galileo's letter he offers an argument of truths. The argument basically states this: if the truth of the Bible conflicts with the truth of fact, and two truths cannot contradict, then one or the other is wrong. Since the truth of fact cannot be wrong, except for ignorance, then the scientific interpretations found in the Bible may therefore be in err. Galileo's doesn't exactly feel that the Bible is wrong, he is just providing one more argument towards the difference in science and the Bible. The errors themselves, he states, are most likely due to the inability to "affirm that all

to have people accept his hypothesis, as a fact is one of the major problems

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

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.

Firstly, Galileo’s purpose of the letter was to discourage the church from accusing Copernicus’s De Revolutionbus in 1543 with heresy. The church, in desperation to defend itself from this new “science”, resorted to the Bible for protection (Moss, 1983). The church used literal interpretations of the bible such as the support of “earth-centered” system for selfish motives as demonstrated in the passage “They say that since theology is the queen of sciences, she need not bend in any way to accommodate herself to the teachings of the less worthy sciences” (Halsall, 1997, p. 8), as it was the duty of the church to ignore such speculations against theology.

There will always be a battle between religion and science, it is a truth universally acknowledged. Galileo attempted to make the two compatible by suggesting that the truth can only be sought out if the notion under consideration can be accurately tested and if the opposing view can be founded as false. Galileo’s goes into depth about the truth of scripture and the sciences, intertwined with the reason of man, in his letter to Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of

His discoveries made him infamous in the eyes of the Church and changed how people look at the earth with respect to the Universe. Being so proud of his remarkable discoveries he decided to Duchess Christina. “I discovered in the heavens many things that had not been seen before our own age.” (Ch 16, Doc 4) He writes of his findings and how they were criticized and he was ridiculed for his findings. They denounce his new perception of the world, but Galileo knew that new discoveries would have “consequences” and that people would turn against him.

Although Galileo was correct, his theories were not accepted until they were later discovered true. This is another example of people not thinking clearly and judging something based on the thoughts of people who have a higher status in society. But in time, when people realized that Galileo was right, they started to believe in his theories. The Church also realized this and couldn’t deny the truth in science. In 1758, the church lifted the ban on the works supporting Copernican theory, and by 1835 dropped its opposition to all of Galileo’s theories.

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.

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