Galileo"s Scientific Revolution Against the Church.

             The scientific revolution was not only a challenge to a government but was also a challenge to a deeply rooted religion. The Church, having been influenced by Greek philosophers, viewed the world as a creation by God, complete with lawfulness, regularity and beauty. In the seventeenth century Galileo Galilei peered into the heavens with the newly invented telescope that changed humanity"s view of itself, nature and God. Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter, the sunspots and a crater-filled moon, all of which contradicted the teachings of the Church. When Galileo published his findings the revolution began against the Church. A rebellious Galileo stood firmly and in solitude challenged the Church to accept scientific fact over philosophical principles. The Church realized Galileo challenged more than philosophical thought he also challenged the Church"s authority. The Galileo rebellion consisted of two events, the first occurred in 1616, and the second seventeen years later in 1633.

             Early in 1616 the Church"s position is made rather clear when Cardinal Robert Bellarmine wrote the pope concerning Galileo"s recent discoveries, "I am informed that Signor Galilei transfers mankind from the center of the universe to somewhere on the outskirts. Signor Galilei is therefore an enemy of mankind and must be dealt with as such. Is it conceivable that God would trust this most precious fruit of his labor to a minor frolicking star?"(Taylor 141). Galileo in response wrote a long, open letter on the irrelevance of biblical passages in scientific arguments, ".holding that interpretation of the Bible should be adapted to increase knowledge and that no scientific position should ever be made an article of Roman Catholic faith.""(Taylor 142). Galileo had the misfortune to bring his discoveries to public attention at just the wrong time, a time when sensitivities in regard to questions involving scriptural interpretation and Church authority were at their most intense.