Galileo 2

A detailed Summary of Galileo 2

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

In 1633 the charges filed against Galileo were far more serious, this time no scientific theory was on trail. Rather it was Galileo's acceptance of and obedience to the 1616 decision that came under question. It was a matter of authority now, not truth. This authority was making new and quite different demands on Galileo. "Seen in this light of the matter Galileo's personal trail in 1633 was not whether a scientific theory was consistent with the Bible, but rather was whether Galileo had attacked the centralized authority of the Church by his apparent violation of the injunction of 1616" (Shea 202). In the previous year, Galileo had published what was to become his most famous book, the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. Galileo's rebellious action prompted the Church into immediate action, causing the charges of heresy to be filed against him. Galileo was left defenseless on the charges and was compelled to renounce his findings and was sentenced to life imprisonment, swiftly commuted to permanent house arrest. The charges filed ended the Galileo rebellion with the Church, "The famous formula of adjuration, which he was forced to read, was intended to bend - or break - his will rather than his reason" (Fantoli 423).

Shea, William R. Galileo's Intellectual Revolution. New York: Neale Watson Academic Publications, Inc., 1977.

Taylor, F. Sherwood. Galileo and the Freedom of Thought. London: C.A. Watts & Co., Limited, 1988.

Galileo's conflict with the Roman Catholic Church has long held a belief that this was a special

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Category: Science